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He had to see her.
But now, as he followed her through the small crowd to the bar, he wondered if maybe waiting would have been the best idea. He’d severely underestimated just how powerful his attraction to her was. It would be completely inappropriate to do anything about it, considering she was his real estate agent and he was trying to find a way out of agreeing to sell his property.
“Jesse!” the bartender, a warm and friendly guy named Thadius, called out. “What’s up, man?”
“Not much.”
“This guy works too hard,” Thadius said to Kimmie.
“Kimmie, this is my favorite bartender, Thadius.” Jesse stalled at that. He wasn’t sure how to introduce Kimmie. Was she a friend? A real estate agent? Hisdate?
What didshethink she was?
“Nice to meet you, Kimmie. Welcome to our little party. What would you like to drink? Wine? Beer? Mixed drink?”
“I’d love a water with some lemon if you have it,” she said.
“You’ve got it.”
Jesse grabbed both drinks, added a generous tip to the receipt, and led Kimmie toward one of the many seating areas. Normally, he’d search the crowd for signs of someone he knew, but tonight, he looked for a place where they could get some privacy.
A loveseat was open over in a corner. There was a couple sitting on the sofa across from it, but they were so caught up in each other, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t even notice someone was nearby.
“I’ve never been to one of these,” Kimmie commented as he handed over her drink and focused on his own.
“You’ve never been to a happy hour?”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean a rooftop event like this. I’ve brought plenty of clients to the top of these buildings, but never at night, and never when anything like this was going on. Maybe…”
Jesse waited, taking a sip of his drink before setting it on the table next to him. Kimmie was lost in thought, and after a few moments, he was sure she might not even tell him what she was thinking.
“What?” he finally prompted.
She shook her head. “No. It’s a silly idea. I was just thinking maybe I could get clients to join me for one of these. They’d get to meet the other tenants—”
“One problem with that. It’s open only to residents.”
“But they didn’t check our IDs or anything. And I’m not a resident.”
Jesse was a familiar face up here. It did surprise him that nobody had questioned Kimmie’s appearance here, but he wasn’t the first resident to bring a date to one of Lyric Tower’s residents-only events.
“Why don’t you talk to the condo association?” he asked. “I’m sure they’d be cool with you holding a special networking event up here. Especially if there are a bunch of condos open.”
He was pretty sure there weren’t many condos open. If there were, she would already know about them. But he was trying to help.
Their gazes met, and the intensity in the stare sucked all the air out of his lungs. He just wanted to stay here on this sofa with her for as long as he could.
“Bacon-wrapped fillet bite?”
The voice cut into the moment, making Jesse suddenly aware that they weren’t alone. But the scent of bacon and beef wafted over to him, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since lunch.
“This is the best part,” Jesse said, reaching over to take two napkins, handing one to Kimmie. He grabbed one for himself and, while Kimmie was getting one, wondered if it would be rude to take two.
“Oh, wow.” Kimmie took a bite of the small appetizer, chewed, and swallowed. “This isamazing.”
“There’s more coming,” he said. “But I could whisk you away for dinner after this if you’re hungry.”
Was he crossing the line? He definitely didn’t want her to think he was hitting on her if she just thought of him as a client. But that stare they’d shared—he was pretty sure a stare like that wouldn’t lie.
