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I looked down at my phone before Lloyd could make it to my office. Shameek had sent me a few texts. I just stared at the text as my mind drifted back to our last few nights of sneaking between each other’s houses.
“Hey, I came bearing caffeine and paperwork. I figured one would make the other easier to tolerate,” he said.
“Not you remembered my order,” I said, taking the cup from him.
“You order the same thing every time. It wasn’t exactly a test of memory.”
“Still impressive. Most men don’t listen or pay attention.”
“Not the average man. Believe it or not, most people don’t listen. Men just get blamed more.”
I laughed and opened the folder he placed in front of me.
“What am I looking at?”
“The management proposal for the commercial property you decided not to sell after I spent forty minutes explaining why selling it was financially irresponsible.”
“Oh.” I laughed. “Now you can talk reckless because you think you know me.”
“One dinner and one dance changed our entire professional relationship.”
“Obviously,” I said as I started reading.
He had been right about the property. I hated to admit it, especially to his ass. The building was bringing in too much money for me to let it go because I didn’t want people calling me.
“This says the company takes eight percent.”
“They do, but they handle everything. Rent collections, maintenance calls, annual inspections, and lease renewals. You receive reports and distributions. They receive the headache.”
I nodded. “I like it.”
“I figured you would.”
I flipped the page. “What about capital repairs? I’m not giving some company unlimited authority to spend my money because somebody says the roof looks old.”
“There’s a threshold. Anything under twenty-five hundred can be approved without contacting you. Anything over requires written approval, unless it’s an emergency threatening the property or tenants safety.”
“Lower it to fifteen,” I told him.
“Done.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Not business,” he said.
“Here we go.”
Lloyd leaned back in the chair with his coffee. “Why does every conversation that isn’t about business make you suspicious?”
“People always want something.”
“I just wanted to know if you enjoyed your lunch with Jaharee?”
I stared at him for a minute.
“How do you know I had lunch with Jaharee?”
“Calm down. I’m not tracking you. She called me yesterday and asked me for a good accountant to help with her new business venture.”
