Page 9 of Seductive Nights

"All right, I'll take a raspberry iced tea, please, and thank you."

"Coming right up." He hustled behind the bar as she pulled her laptop out. Watching from the corner of his eye, he noticed she got right to business.

She didn't waste time looking around, and she didn't seem to be interested in dawdling either. Excitement and nervousness coursed through his body.

He'd been working here after all, and finally, the owner decided to sell. A quick handshake deal and then a rapid, "We'll meet you at the bank, get the money, and I'll take off."

Within a week, this bar was his. And he'd busted hump since that day.

He set Margo's raspberry iced tea on the table and sat down across from her. She typed on her laptop for a few minutes. At least it seemed that long, and he started to feel foolish sitting there waiting for her to finally address him. Then he was irritated with himself for sitting here like a lap dog begging for a treat.

She finally started asking him questions. "The asking price on this place is one hundred twenty-five thousand. I know the owner is motivated. I also know there's one other person who has inquired."

He shook his head. "What are you saying? Do I need to offer more than the one hundred twenty-five thousand? Has that other person put an offer in?"

"Well, I'm not allowed to tell you that. I do work for the seller. I'm just telling you one other person is also interested."

"Okay. How about this? Offer five thousand more. Quick sale, cash, I can get the money tomorrow. No contingencies. I don't need an inspection. I'm actually going to bulldoze the place down."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really? What are you going to do with it?"

"I'm going to expand my bar. My food business has gone crazy. We need more room in the kitchen, and I'd like the bar here to be wider so we can accommodate more people. And I need a buffer per the town council of thirty feet around the perimeter, and I don't have that with that building standing there. So I need it."

"All right. That sounds impressive. It sounds like you've thought about this quite a bit."

"I certainly have. And if that person, the other interested party, makes an offer more than mine, will someone let me know so that I can counter?"

"Well, the owner will let you know whether or not they accept or reject the offer, and if there is a counteroffer, they will counter your offer with, I assume, more than what the other offer is for."

"Okay. So it's not just going to be sold out from under me without me getting the opportunity to make another offer."

"No. It won't be sold from under you without allowing you the opportunity to make another offer. Once you have an offer in play, we'll see it through. Though if the owner outright rejects your offer, there isn't anything in play."

"Perfect."

Margo typed out things she needed. "So you don't need an inspection. You don't need a financing contingency. You just want it as is?"

"Yes, that's correct. I'm fine with all of it. The only thing I want is a clear title."

Margo nodded. "It has a clear title. I've already confirmed that with the title company, so you should be set to go."

She handed him a little handheld computer that looked like a bulky phone. It was connected to her computer. "When the X appears on the screen, please go ahead and sign your name. This is the actual offer. Closing next week. Cash. No contingencies. No inspection."

The X appeared. He quickly signed his name with his finger.

"And then this is the inspection report. Not that you need it, but I have to prove that I showed it to you."

She slid the Inspection Report across the table to him. "When the X appears, please sign that screen."

He glanced at the Inspection Report and signed his name as the X appeared.

She had a couple more forms for him to sign. Something about sewer inspection or whatnot because they're close to the beach. He didn't care about any of that, so he signed his name on all of them. And then she said, "And finally, you're giving the owner until this time tomorrow to accept or reject your offer."

"Yes, ma'am. Twenty-four hours."

She smiled and took her hand-held device back after his final signature. Her fingers brushed his lightly, and that gave him a little thrill. It didn't seem to affect her in any way, shape, or form. Maybe he was losing his touch. Women normally liked it when he flirted a little bit.

That brushing of the fingers. That was always a little flirt mode, wasn't it? Then again, she'd just recently lost her husband, so she was grieving.

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