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While Kimmie sat there, gaping at their guest, Ella had hopped up and rushed around her desk. Her hand was extended—the true picture of professionalism. She wouldn’t be surprised if he decided he wanted Ella to take care of his real estate needs.
“Yes, Ella, this is Jesse Fulton. Jesse, this is Ella Wayne. She specializes in single-family homes.” Kimmie blurted all that out in one big burst. Why had she said all that? She knew the answer. She felt the need to let Jesse know that Ella didn’t normally handle multifamily properties like high-rise condos. Just in case he wanted to pull a switcheroo or something.
“Nice to meet you.” Jesse shook her hand, then looked at Kimmie. “You ready?”
Ella stepped back, smiling over at Kimmie. Her expression said, “Well…are you?” but she said nothing. Just stared at her friend with a big grin.
“Sure.” Kimmie walked around the desk, glancing at Ella before following Jesse out the door. Ella obviously thought everything was fine. Otherwise, she would have suggested riding along. Ella had good Spidey senses when it came to clients.
“Have fun, kids!” Ella called out as Jesse held the door open for her. He frowned at Ella, but the expression seemed to veer more toward confusion than disapproval.Was this woman for real?she could almost hear him thinking.
Yes. Yes, she definitely was.
“Nice car,” she commented as he opened the passenger-side door for her.
“It’s a Bugatti.”
He sounded pretty proud of that. She bit her tongue, deciding not to say that the word “Bugatti” meant nothing to her. He may as well have said “fiddlesticks.”
The inside of the car was just as spaceship-like as the outside. Everything was rounded, even the seats somehow. When he pushed a button and the car fired up, she thought for a brief second that they were about to take off like a rocket. The engine was so ridiculously loud, she couldn’t imagine the car staying on the ground.
“It’s a little early for lunch,” he commented. “But I know this great rooftop breakfast place… If you’re up for something like that.”
Living outside the city, Kimmie missed out on all the fun downtown places. Granted, she definitely got her fill of the restaurants and coffee shops thanks to having so many showings downtown. But she could count on one hand the number of times she’d enjoyed a rooftopanythingdowntown.
“Sounds good to me,” Kimmie said.
She felt a little queasy at the mention of eating with this guy. He drove a crazy nice sports car that was just weird enough to probably be expensive. The cost-of-a-house expensive. She didn’t know if she was current enough on her table etiquette to eat breakfast with someone this rich.
Business. This was business. If she treated it like that and not adate, she’d be fine. She just needed to impress him enough to make this deal happen.
That was what she told herself anyway.
3
Business. This was business.
That was what Jesse kept telling himself as he sat across from Kimmie. But it was hard to focus on discussing amenities and fees when she looked so distractingly beautiful in the early autumn sunlight.
Kimmie sipped her orange juice through the champagne glass she’d requested. Odd request, but he had to say, it only added to the list of ways she intrigued him. There was something about her that made him want to put his schedule on hold and get to know her better.
But he didn’t really have time for that.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, fidgeting with his glass of water while he talked. It gave him something to look at besides those long lashes that framed her intense green eyes. “Selling is probably a good idea.”
Kimmie nodded. “I found a few listings, but I wanted to know just how far you’re willing to go outside of your immediate area. There are some nice places in The Gulch—”
“No Gulch.”
She blinked in surprise, and he realized how abrupt that had probably sounded. He had nothing personal against The Gulch. He just wasn’t into the bar scene. Jesse liked being in the heart of downtown, where he could run and grab a cup of coffee before heading back to his building to work for a while.
“Broadway?” Kimmie asked. “Because—”
“No Broadway. Away from the honky-tonks if possible.”
Kimmie nodded slowly, clearly assessing him. She looked as though she was finally starting to figure out who he was.
“Not much for the nightlife?” she asked.
