Page 42 of The Long Game

Her flirty smile, which I have never seen, is damn cute on her sweet sixty-two-year-old face. The attention he is giving her is more than she gets from a lot of people as she is shy and lacks the confidence that my dad has been working to boost with her for the last twenty-three years.

“Come by anytime Sebastian if you want to chat more about Parisian art. Believe it or not, it’s not usually a conversation starter with the masses. And I’ll give you my special mac and cheese recipe… Lexi’s been trying to get it for years!” she giggles.

Sonia was an artist in her younger years but couldn’t break through. She became a receptionist for my dad in her thirties but when she has down time, she can be found in the breakroom looking through art magazines and coffee table art books.

“Ok, I might just do that. If you end up going to the pop-up art showing that I mentioned earlier, come find me. I’ll introduce you to the artist, my client. He could talk your ear off about how the lighting in France is superior for painting a picture. I think you two would hit it off.”

He turns to me.

“I’ve taken up enough of your day and I have some pressing phone calls to make too. I just wanted to see you up close formyself. Now that I have, I will escort Ms. Sonia back to her desk.”

He looks back at Sonia and she’s beaming.

“See you around? Maybe we could run into each other? Downstairs? Around lunch?”

“Actually, I’ll be headed down to the cafe at lunch tomorrow to grab a bite with family who are in town.”

“Ok, well maybe I’ll see you down there anyway. See you around, Lexi.” He smiles and turns to leave, guiding Sonia down the hall.

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Tucker

By the time I make it back to my truck from Lexi’s office, Sabrina and I have made plans to meet downtown to see what properties we can find. I told her I wanted to look for homes close to the Benson’s, and she about laughed me out of town. It’s a highly sought-after neighborhood but I know what she did for Lexi. She’d pull a rabbit out of a hat for me, too.

I promised her I didn’t care about cost, size, or condition. “Just get me anything within walking distance to their house, even if you have to bribe someone to move.”

“I don’t understand the rush, Tucker. Let’s take our time… expand to outside city limits. You can get so much more house, and there are some gorgeous estates out there,” Sabrina tries to convince me.

“Failure isn’t an option here sis. It’s all or nothing.”

“It took me six months and finding a place that wasn’t even listed to get Lexi into her dream neighborhood. Personally, I think she overpaid for the place, but it is a killer location, and they don’t pop-up every day. Wait a second!” she yells out. “Please tell me this has something to do with Lexi Benson.”

“What are you talking about?” I deny.

“Are you kidding me, Tucker! A cactus plant could read the dirty thoughts you were having about Lexi when she was anywhere in proximity. It’s always made me a little uncomfortable being around you two. I was never sure when you would eventually pounce on that poor girl, and I didn’t want to be anywhere near to witness it. Honestly, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The Evans’ looks… it’s a true curse.” Sabrina and I share a dad, so I know exactly where she’s going with this.

“How does your husband live with you?”

“He does it easily. Want to know what he likes best?” she teases.

“NO! Jesus! Not if I ever want to have a boner for the rest of my life.” I shake off horrifying images and try to get back on track. “Listen, I’m not sure if there is or isn’t a future with Lexi Benson… but if I don’t get this house, I might miss my shot. I’ll spend whatever it is. I don’t care if your commission is so big it sends Henry to medical school! Get me a house on that street. Any house. I don’t care if it’s a trailer. ANY HOUSE!”

Henry is my five-year-old nephew and from the things I saw him putting up his nose, he’s less the “doctor type” and more the type keeping a doctor’s salary paid.

“Ok, got it.” She laughs. “We might have to get creative then. I will look at any homes that have been listed in the last few years. I’ll see if anyone backed out that might be ready now. You’ve spent a lot of time in that neighborhood. Any chance you’ve got friends in the area that you could have circulate that you’re looking to buy a house? Maybe someone has considered wanting to move but hasn’t made the leap yet? Getting to them first with a solid offer might be our best shot with such little notice,” she suggests. “I’ll get my assistant to start digging into old listings and I’ll send out a companywide text to see if anyof my associates have leads. I’ll meet you down at the Benson house in an hour, and we’ll start door knocking. If you want an offer in today, we have to hit ‘em hard and fast.”

“I’m not above begging. And I have one specific house in mind. Mr. Mckinny’s house, the house across from Tom and Shiela Benson’s. I want to start there,” I say.

“Good. Work on that Evans pretty-boy pout you do so well, and we might have a shot. See you in an hour.” She hangs up.

Chapter Thirteen

Lexi

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