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Kate wasn’t sure what to say to that. Technically, yes, she was. As far as she knew, flings didn’t include exclusivity. But at the same time, dating someone while sleeping with someone else didn’t seem right.
“It’s complicated,” she said, and he chuckled.
“Been there,” he said. “Well, why don’t I make it an open invitation, and if you find yourself uncomplicated, give me a call?”
“Yeah, sure, that’d be great. Thanks for calling. Talk to you later,” she said quietly before hanging up.
When she turned back to Adam, he was standing a foot from her, frown on his face.
“Sorry. I thought that was going to be about the deal,” she said, walking around him back to her desk.
“What did he want?”
Since he’d obviously heard her side of the conversation, she assumed it was a rhetorical question and ignored it. “Let’s get back to business. What’s jumping out at you?”
When he didn’t answer and continued staring at her, she shrugged. “What?”
“He asked you out.”
“And?” She raised an eyebrow. “You think he’s the first person to do that?”
He ran a hand through his hair, clearly flustered. They weren’t in a relationship, so he had no particular right to be upset, and he knew it. Whatcouldhe say? “Well, no. But, I mean…”
“Exactly. Let’s just focus on the deal,” she said primly.
“Fine. I’ll take Norman’s offer to buy my stuff. His offer was a little lower than the top bidder, but he’ll buy the whole lot, even the few underperformers, which makes a little less money worth it. Plus, I liked him better.”
“Agreed. The fact that he’ll take them allisa real hassle-saver. Okay, so for sure?”
“Yep. Then on the properties to declare…What do you recommend?”
“It really depends on whether you want to switch to commercial or stay with residential. There are pros and cons for each. I’ve made a list on page seven of the packet.”
“Of course you did.” He laughed, but picked up the packet and thumbed to the page she mentioned. “I’m leaning toward going commercial. Spencer and I are going tomorrow to check out the fixer-upper you and I looked at last week. I want his take on it before I rule it in or out.”
“Sounds good. I’ll put the top four on the list and then wait for you to give me a one-to-four ranking once you figure it out.”
“How about we tentatively make the commercial building on Park Ave our main target? The fixer-upper on Trent Boulevard the main backup. And the apartment building on Oak Street as the second backup. One of those three should be able to close, right?”
“I would hope so. I’ll throw the other apartment building on, just in case, but it would be a last resort.”
“Sounds good. So, we done for today?”
“You are. Now, I have to make all this happen.” She smiled. “As soon as I get the deal with Norman written up, I’ll let you know so you can review and sign everything.”
After he left, she thought about his reaction to Colton asking her out. He didn’t seem happy about it, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could say or complain about. If he wanted an actual relationship with her, he’d have to man up and say so. Unless and until that happened, they were still off the books and keeping it casual. Maybe a little of the green juice would make him realize he wanted more than just temporary.
She didn’t want to let herself hope that this thing with Adam might turn into something more. But what if it did? What if she was the one to finally get him to realize how great love could be? She couldn’t count on that though. He’d been very clear from the start that he didn’t do commitment, and she’d have to take him at his word.
“Think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?” she mumbled to herself.
The pragmatic part of her was already considering Plan B. When this thing with Adam ended, should she consider Colton as a candidate for her husband-hunting expedition? Why not? He was gainfully employed, handsome, honest, and smart. She’d put out some feelers to find out what caused the divorce. What if his wife left him because he’d cheated or had a gambling problem? Or what if he was totally jaded on marriage now and didn’t want to settle down again? She wouldn’t consider it if he was only looking for a rebound hookup.
The work she had to do distracted her from further rumination, and she spent the afternoon elbow-deep in contracts. When she finished, she doodled around looking for houses that might fit Adam’s criteria for his mom, grabbed some fast food on the way home, and then fell into bed that night, exhausted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The next morning, Adam was still peeved about some guy asking Kate out, and equally peeved that he was peeved about it. Why should he care? A temporary, no-strings thing had been his idea, so he had no grounds to make a fuss. The twinge of jealousy was a strange feeling, but it would pass soon enough.
