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Pushing back from his chair, he stood. “Let’s go take a look.”
Three hours later, he was picking at a sandwich and running the numbers. The house was a mess with trash everywhere and it looked as if it hadn’t been remodeled since the seventies, but the layout was good. He'd have to get his contractor out there to confirm, but unless he found something dire, the comps in the area looked good.
Right on cue, Kevin strolled in. “Freddy’s going to stop by the house today. He said he can have an estimate together by tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Daniel said. “Cosmetically, the house is in bad shape, but I didn’t see any major structural damage.”
“I’ll start drawing up the offer so it’s ready.”
One of the downsides this part to his business was that things moved fast. If he saw something that interested him, he had to jump on it. Waiting, even a week, could mean missing out on a great deal.
As four o’clock rolled around, his thoughts returned to Ali. Not that she hadn’t been on his mind all day, but he was no longer able to avoid the issue before him. With none of his rental properties available for the foreseeable future, the only option was for her to stay where she was. With him. At his house.
Thinking about it had him feeling panicky and he didn’t like it. He’d had trouble falling asleep the night before. He kept imagining her lying in her bed down the hall, the sheets brushing against her skin as she moved.
The ache in his groin began to grow and he knew he needed to change the direction of his thoughts. He needed to get out of there. Do something. Anything to take his mind off her.
Slipping into his coat, he said goodbye to Kevin and headed toward the gym. Granted, he had a workout room at home, but he was in the mood for a good hard swim.
He waved to Carly seated behind the reception desk and made his way to the locker room to change. It was still early, so he had the pool to himself outside of a mom teaching her daughter how to float on her back in the shallower end.
Daniel fixed his goggles over his eyes and dove into the deep end. Water rushed over his ears as he let his momentum carry him. When he popped up for air, he’d traversed almost half the length of the pool. It felt good to release some of the tension he’d been bottling up.
With each lap, he felt better. He concentrated on his breathing, on the way his body felt moving through the water.
He popped out of the water along the pool’s edge and lifted his goggles. The mother and daughter had left, but they’d been replaced by a group that looked to be doing water aerobics.
Glancing at the clock, he realized it was getting late. He wanted to be home when Ali arrived.
He groaned and dunked his head under the water to wash away his thoughts. Why was he so attracted to her? Why couldn’t he find someone closer to his own age he wanted as much as he wanted her?
Both good questions, but he didn’t have an answer to either one of them.
Ducking under the lane markers, he swam to the ladder and hoisted himself out of the pool. While doing laps had helped in the moment, they weren’t the solution. He had no idea what the solution was, but swimming hadn’t been it. At least, he’d gotten a good workout in.
The drive home only took twenty minutes, but it felt much longer. He kept checking the clock to see how much time had passed. When he finally pulled into his driveway and maneuvered his SUV into the garage, he didn’t miss the fact that Ali wasn’t there yet. He’d hoped to beat her home, but given it was already almost six, he’d worried she’d be there waiting for him.
The thought occurred to him that maybe she’d stayed in the city. Had she gone to visit Kim? Or...someone else?
The possibilities were endless. She was young, single, and independent. There was nothing and no one tying her down.
That thought conjured up an image of her tied to his bed and he groaned. He had to find a way to stop thinking about her in that way.
Gathering his coat and briefcase from the back seat, he made a beeline for his liquor cabinet and poured himself a shot of whiskey. It burned going down, but he welcomed it.
His phone rang and he removed it from his pocket. The part of him that hoped it was Ali warred with the part that prayed it wasn’t.
Flipping the phone over, he realized it was a video call. He clicked on the link to accept and was met with his daughter’s smiling face. Her eyes bright with excitement.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, honey.” He moved into the kitchen and took a seat at the island.
“I wasn't sure if you’d be home yet.”
“You have good timing. I just walked in the door.” Daniel grinned. “How’s Kansas City?”
She glanced over her shoulder at something and then back at him. “It’s good, Dad. In fact, I have some news.”
