Chapter 2 #2
“Shit…” His smile expanded. “The way you’re all starry eyed over this damn kitchen makes me think you need to be the one dropping a stack on this place.”
“This place costs more than a stack.”
He chuckled. “I’m aware, I was speaking generically, but you get my point. You’re feeling this spot.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s a beautiful house and my thoughts about it aren’t relevant. What’s important is that you’re feeling it. Can you see yourself here?”
His brows pinched and he swung his eyes around the massive kitchen, giving me another opportunity to admire this beautifully crafted man. You did your big one with him, Sky Daddy…
When he took too long to respond, I opened my big mouth. “If you want to invite a family member or girlfriend to offer their opinions, I’d be glad to schedule another visit…”
He slowly turned his eyes on me and the arrogance in his expression made me cringe.
“My brother won’t give a damn about my crib and no girlfriend, so you’re all I have, pretty. What you think?”
I opened my mouth and closed it several times before I managed to ignore the “you’re all I have” part because he didn’t mean it in the way my wayward heart was trying to receive it.
“I think we have seven houses left on the list and once we view them, you might have a better idea of what you like or don’t like. ”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’ll put in an offer.”
“What…why?”
“You’re not very good at this, are you?” I was offended by the amusement in his expression and tone.
“If by this you mean selling houses, then yes, I’m great at this or I wouldn’t be here with you now.”
“Then do your thing and let me put an offer in instead of trying to convince me to let you drive me all over the city in that little ass car of yours looking at houses I don’t vibe with.”
I huffed in annoyance. “You vibe with this one?”
He nodded and tugged at his beard. “Yeah, I do. It’s nice, all the shit I guess I’m supposed to expect for how much I know this is gonna run me is on the checklist, but it feels good. Isn’t that what you said my determining factor needs to be?”
“Yes, but I mean, maybe one of the others will…”
He smiled at me, exposing beautiful teeth. “You gonna let me buy this or you gonna keep trying to talk me out of this? ’Cause if I leave, I’m going to tell my agent to just pick one and that shit is gonna be on your conscience when I’m living in a place I’m not feeling.”
“Oh, well, yes, let’s work on putting an offer in.”
“What’s it listed at?”
I unlocked my phone, navigating to the list I kept for today’s tour. “Two point four.”
“How long has it been on the market?”
I blinked because why the hell was he asking that. Did he moonlight as a real estate agent? When I took too long to respond, he arched a brow, demanding my response. “A hundred and twenty-two days.”
“Aight, make a two point two cash offer with a ten-day signing date.”
“Cash?”
“Yeah, cash. You counting my pockets, pretty?”
“What? No.”
He smirked. “I’m not balling like that but with my contract I can afford to lock this down. I don’t need much so I’m willing to invest in a house while I stack my bread and I also want to be settled before the season starts.”
“Oh, right. Makes sense. I’ll get started on that and send the contract over for you to review before end of day.”
He nodded and yanked at his beard. “We’re done then, right?”
“Yep, we’re done.”
“Aight, let’s dip.” He hopped off the counter and left the kitchen. I did a happy dance for securing my first multi-million dollar property. The commission would give me some breathing room and the purchase would buy me time to get more sales under my belt so Kinsley wouldn’t fire me.
The drive back to The Metropolitan was pretty much the same.
Kove was scrunched into my passenger seat, ignoring me with his earbuds in, but I was too geeked about my first multi-million dollar sale to care.
When we made it to the entrance, however, he made sure I had all of his contact information to get the contract to him and also demanded that I have his number when that wasn’t necessary.
Sovoya had made it clear she would be the point of contact for the purchase because the property wouldn’t be listed as a personal asset of Kove’s but instead would be secured from a discreet business entity he owned. However, the man wanted my number so I handed it over and accepted his.
As soon as I pulled away from the hotel, I maneuvered through the touchpad of my car to call my mother because holy shit, I’d just made a multimillion dollar sale and wanted to share the news with someone.
She was always my go-to and pretty much my best friend.
My mom and I were close, and as much as I loved my father, I was truly a mommy’s girl.
“Hey there, girlie, how did it go?” she answered in her cheery optimistic voice that had me grinning.
“My client asked to put an offer in on the first house we viewed.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep, didn’t even want to see the others. So not only am I inches from my biggest sale ever, I have the rest of the afternoon to myself. I cleared my entire day expecting to be driving all over the city with him.”
“Oh congrats, baby.”
“Thank you.”
“What are we congratulating?” I heard my father question in the background.
“Xiah is about to get her first big sale.”
“How much?”
“ Two point four but we’re putting the offer in at two point two since it’s been sitting for four months.”
“That’s good, sweetheart. Look at you knowing how to read the market.”
I cringed because—although I was well aware people were more willing to negotiate houses that sat for extended periods of time as well as cash offers, so I’d fully planned on suggesting coming in a little lower than asking with the offer—he’d beat me to it.
Regardless, this was happening so I didn’t correct my father.
“Told you I would make this work.”
“You did, honey. We’re so proud of you,” my mom added.
“Thank you.” I smiled brightly. “Now if I can get three more of these before the end of the year, I’ll be set. He’s a newly drafted Royals player so I’m going to casually ask that he send his teammates my way.”
“You absolutely should, honey. I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job so I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want to help you gain more clients,” my mother stated proudly.
I wrinkled my nose a bit because I couldn’t guarantee that he thought anything about me.
The man truly didn’t express his thoughts very openly.
In fact, I was pretty much the deciding factor in him making the purchase.
But I would still ask for the additional business, because what did I have to lose?
“Yep, I’m amazing.” I teased.
“You’re my child, Xiah. Of course you’re amazing,” my mother confirmed.
“Thank you, Mommy.”
“So what’s the plan for the day?”
I shrugged as I entered the bypass that would take me downtown. “Not sure, I’m going to reach out to his agent to let her know he picked a house then work on the contract. After that, I might grab lunch and maybe bake something.”
“Xiah, don’t stress about this sale. You worked for it, you earned it. Everything will be fine.”
I smiled because she knew me so well. “I’m not stressed. Honestly ,I feel very confident.”
“Mmhm, but you’re about to bake.”
“This is more about me being inspired by my dream kitchen than an ‘I’m worried about closing this deal’ baking session.”
“Ohh, send me the link to the property so I can see the kitchen. It has to be impressive if it’s your dream.”
“I will when I get to the house. It’s very impressive.”
“Alright, honey, I’m about to catch an early movie with your dad. Send me pictures of whatever you bake.”
“You know I will.”
I ended the call and mapped out the ingredients needed for my cookies to make sure I didn’t need to do a quick grocery run before I got home. Contract, cookies, and celebrating. Today was going to be a great day.