Page 42 of Seductive Nights

"Hi, I just texted you my address."

"Oh," she said, "I didn't see. Hang on, I'm gonna look."

When she responded, she sounded surprised. "Isn't that the Governor's Mansion?"

He chuckled. "That it is."

"Do you own it?"

"I do."

"When did you buy it?"

He chuckled. "Why all the questions?"

"Well, I didn't even know it had been for sale. That place has been sitting there empty as long as I can remember."

"It was, but it just worked out that I had a friend who had some knowledge of the former family and contacted them privately. They were all excited for a private sale, so we quietly made the deal."

"Well, I'll be," she said softly. "Aren't you the sly one? And I missed out on a commission."

He laughed. "I'm sorry about the commission, but I was glad to get the deal done."

"Was it in decent shape?"

"Yeah, it was all right. I mean, some things had fallen into disrepair from sitting, and you know the humidity here and such. Luckily, they had kept the heat and air conditioning on. Even though they had the air turned up to eighty-five, it did keep the place from getting moldy. But I've had it completely remodeled since then, thanks to my friend Quinn, and now it's just my home sweet home."

Margo laughed. The sound of her laugh was melodic and sexy. The little deep undertone she had kind of did something to him. The hair on his arms stood up.

"Okay, so you'll be over at six?"

"Yes, I'll be over at six. Can I bring something?"

"Nope, I've got this covered. Just bring yourself. And a smile."

She laughed again, and he closed his eyes to listen to the sound.

"All right, I'll see you then."

She ended the call, and he whistled as he took the empty dishwasher racks and glasses back to the kitchen. As he came back out, he was still whistling and had a little skip in his step until he saw Sierra walking into the bar.

"Mother of ass," he muttered.

He quickly spun around and stepped back into the kitchen. "Jose, are you ready to wait tables?"

"I am."

"Can you please take care of the redhead? She just walked in."

"Sure thing."

Maybe she'd appreciate a male server instead of a female. Not that he wanted Jose to have to deal with bullshit. He would handle that if it came to that. But he knew he didn't want to have anything to do with her. Jose exited the kitchen and Jace went outside and began setting up the new Tiki bar that he had just had Quinn's crew build. It wasn't finished quite yet, but it was certainly operational enough that they could have basic drinks, beer in the coolers, and their Sandbar Punch, so the servers didn't have to go all the way inside when refilling drinks. It would make things easier for them. And the best part, boaters and swimmers who were hanging out on the sandbar could walk up and not have to go inside to get drinks. Win-win. He was all about winning.

24

Margo peeked in on Carley to see how she was settling in and getting familiar with the software and files. "How are you doing?"

Carley looked up from the computer screen and grinned. "I'm doing well, I think. I managed to log in. I've checked the seven properties that Logan has under contract, and I even managed to click into them to see what the status was on each one."

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