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“Four hundred a month,” she quickly answered. She’d memorized that from Ella’s email.
“Same as Lyric Tower.” He nodded, turning in a circle to get a full look at his surroundings. Then he walked to the window. “Not the best view.”
The windows were huge, but when Kimmie walked over to stand next to him, she saw what he was talking about. Both his current building and this one overlooked rows and rows of high-rises and other buildings. But this view was just…off. It didn’t have the charm his view did.
“Is that a top priority?” Kimmie asked.
He didn’t answer. But suddenly, he stepped away from the window and looked at her. “What are the amenities?”
“Amenities?”
She knew what he meant by amenities, of course. But she wasn’t able to study that before he snuck up on her. She could look at her screen now, but he’d know she had a cheat sheet. She definitely didn’t want him to know about that.
“We’ll go check them out,” Kimmie said. “Do you want to tour the rest of the unit?”
But Jesse was shaking his head before she got to the end of that sentence. “If the amenities aren’t there, I’m not in.”
Kimmie frowned. “Didn’t you tour when you put the offer in before?”
Now he looked sheepish. She knew from his quickly averted gaze that he’d put an offer in on this place, sight unseen. He’d been eager to snatch up the first penthouse suite that became available. But now that he was in one, there was no reason to move unless he found something better.
Correction. Unlessshefound something better.
So, even if he didn’t buy this one, touring with him would give her an idea of what he wanted. It was well worth it to erase that frustration.
Yes, that was why she was excited about getting in the elevator and heading up to the roof. That was the only reason. It had nothing to do with getting to spend more time around this man.
Confined in a small space alone with him again, Kimmie was suddenly all too aware of his nearness. The subtle woodsy scent of what was probably his aftershave threatened to overwhelm her senses. But it was more than that. She felt drawn to him. Like a magnetic force was pulling her in his direction.
Nervously, Kimmie peeked at her screen, scrolling down until she found the bullet-point list Ella had thoughtfully provided. She was able to scan the list and get the information she needed while Jesse stepped out.
Kimmie had been up here before, but she couldn’t remember the finer details. She somehow stepped it up, though, as soon as they were out of the elevator, going into full tour guide mode.
“We have a saltwater pool with a large sunbathing ledge,” she said, sliding her phone in her back pocket so he wouldn’t know she’d been fed the information. “There are also private cabanas and an area to walk your dog.”
He turned to look at her. “I don’t have a dog.”
“You could. In this building, anyway.”
There it was. The other building didn’t allow dogs.Yet. Apparently, they were discussing waiving that restriction for Luke Kelly. Some of the condo association board members felt that having one of the biggest names in country music as a resident was well worth it.
Kimmie wasn’t mentioning any of that to Jesse, though. The goal here was to get him out of the unit so Luke could do his magic.
“The kind of dog I want belongs in a house with a big yard,” he said. “These grassy patches are for... Well,that.”
Kimmie followed his gaze to just behind her, where the door had opened and a woman had stepped out with a tiny white furry dog on a leash. Yeah, she saw his point there. But his words had piqued her curiosity. Did he plan to live in a high-rise forever, or would he someday settle down? Maybe have a house with a big, fenced backyard for the type of dog he wanted?
“Let’s go check out the gym,” Jesse suddenly blurted. He was already through the door. She had to rush to catch up with him.
5
Sometimes not getting what you want was a good thing. That was the lesson Jesse had learned from his afternoon tour with Kimmie.
Just a few months ago, he’d been pretty bummed to hear he’d been undercut on his offer on the condo they’d just toured. And now he realized that if he’d gotten this place, he would have missed out on the great building where he now lived.
“Need a ride?” she asked.
They were standing in front of the building they’d just exited. Jesse was thinking about walking back. It was only a few blocks to his building, after all. But he couldn’t seem to shake this feeling that he wanted to spend more time with Kimmie Hart.
