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“You’d have made one hell of a real estate investor.” Dev flashed a cheeky grin. “You have no idea how hard it is to convince most investors that in a fight for a lowball offer, no contingencies are the best weapon.”
“Low ball? Whose side are you on?”
“Why, my client of course.” Dev dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You’ve got five days to figure out this bird thing, because on day six there will be a herd of contractors rolling in to start turning this wasteland into your dream.”
His cousin was right about one thing, if he saw this deal all the way through, Baron Studio Productions would be more than a dream, it would be a little heaven on earth. A few more strokes of the pen and the execution date was in place. There was no backing out now. Handing the pages to his cousin, he pushed to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me. I have a phone call to make.”
Judging by the knowing sparkle in Dev’s eyes, his cousin knew who the phone call was to. Grinning like the cat who’d swallowed the proverbial canary, Dev held the pages up. “I’ll get this scanned and off to the executor and title company.”
“Thanks, man.” Another few seconds and Craig was alone. Cell phone to his ear, he listened to the number he was calling ring once, twice, three times, and pondering what message he would leave when voicemail kicked in, he was surprised at the velvety voice on the other end.
“Hello.”
“Kate?”
“Yes.”
He could hear the question in her voice. “It’s Craig Baron.”
“Oh.” The simple and curt one word response had him preferring the confusion to irritation.
“It was nice running into you the other day.” He waited for her to say something, but greeted by only silence, he hurried on. “I was hoping I could convince you to join me for lunch, or maybe a cup of coffee if you prefer?”
Silence lingered uncomfortably. He came within seconds of rambling on about wanting to help save whatever animal she was invested in when she finally spoke up. “I guess I can do that.”
Since he had no idea if she was talking lunch or coffee, he decided to do what he’d done his whole life. When given an inch, take a mile. “Great. As it turns out, my day just cleared up and I’m free for lunch today. How about I pick you up in an hour?”
An hour! Kate’s mouth went totally dry. Swallowing a jar of peanut butter would have been easier than peeling her tongue away from the roof of her mouth, never mind producing a coherent sentence. “Uhm.” Could she be ready in an hour? Did she have something she needed to do? Absurdly, all rational sense seemed to have leaked from her brain. She couldn’t remember if she was coming or going. “I, uh, think so.” Could she sound any more lame?
“Wonderful. Are you still living on Mossvine Lane?”
“Yes. I am.” How the heck did he know that? Suddenly this little impromptu invite felt…creepy.
“Glad to know Google actually gets some things right.”
“Oh.” Somehow that seemed to make sense. After all, hadn’t she come home from the escapade at the barn and Googled Craig James Baron herself? “Then I’ll see you in an hour.”
“An hour,” he repeated before adding a polite “see you later” and hanging up.
She was still staring at her cell phone screen when a co-worker came up to her. “Is it ticking?”
“Excuse me?” Kate shifted her gaze to Debra.
“Your phone. You’re staring at the thing like it’s a ticking time bomb about to explode.”
Maybe that was it. Maybe having lunch with one of the most eligible bachelors in the state, one she’d had a full-blown crush on for the better part of her four years in college, was nothing more than a disaster waiting to happen? After all, what did she have in common with Texas Royalty?
“Earth to Kate.” Deb waved a hand at her.
“Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.”
“The turtle nests or the barn owl?”
“Huh?” Kate blinked, quickly processing what her friend had said. “Oh. Neither. Well, maybe the owl.”
“Well, that’s clear as mud. Talk to the Fish and Game guy yet?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah. He’s going to let me know when he can meet me at the barn.”
