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Melissa flipped her hair over her shoulder, crossing her legs at the table she was seated at in the coffee shop a few days later. She took a sip of her steaming hot latte, savoring the taste and the accompanying jolt of espresso. Tyler had texted her at six in the morning, no doubt on his way into base, but she could’ve done without the early morning wake up call.
Not that he’d seen a problem with it.
This was her third cup of coffee already, and she’d probably need more to get through her jam-packed day.
She adjusted her trendy off-the-shoulder sweater, smiling as a man glanced her way as he headed out the door. Wearing her pale pink sweater paired with her snug dark-wash jeans and knee-high boots, she felt sexy and sophisticated.
Not to mention more comfortable than prancing around in those power suits and sky-high heels.
Still, she had an image to maintain. She liked to look her best showing homes. If wearing business suits with stilettos made her feel powerful and put together—not to mention sexy and in control—then so be it.
Tyler certainly hadn’t complained.
Her phone buzzed on the table, and her eyes widened as she saw that it was the sellers of the home Tyler had put an offer in on. “Hello?” she said, lifting her cell to her ear.
“Hi Melissa. We’ve decided to go ahead and accept Tyler’s offer. What’s the next step we need to take to move forward?”
Melissa grinned. “Fantastic,” she said. “I can meet you in the office to sign the papers. Tyler’s on base, but I’ll try to get a hold of him and see if he can meet me, too. Once both parties have signed and are in agreement, we’ll set up a settlement date.”
“Wonderful. At first we had wanted to see what other offers came in after listing the home, but after some consideration, we decided to go ahead with his offer.”
“I understand,” Melissa said smoothly. “Once the papers are signed today, I’ll take the listing down. We can take the lockbox off the door, too.”
“I’m so sorry,” the woman gushed. “I know you worked hard to get it photographed and listed over the weekend. We just didn’t know what we wanted to do.”
“It’s no problem. That’s my job,” Melissa assured her. “Goodness, I’ve listed some houses only to have the seller change their mind and take it off the market.”
“That’s horrible!”
“Nature of the job,” Melissa said, taking another sip of her latte. “Some have second thoughts about selling, some decide to rent. Sometimes a job offer or something falls through and they end up not moving.”
“Goodness, I can’t imagine. We’ll sign the offer papers and get them to you right away. Can I leave them at the office if you’re not there?”
“Of course. I’ll get in touch with Tyler, and then we’ll be all set.”
“Fantastic. Talk to you soon.”
The women said their goodbyes, and Melissa flipped her laptop shut. So much for getting a lot of work done here. She grabbed her suede jacket, slipping it on over her pale pink sweater. Packing up her things, she grabbed her latte and headed for the door.
***
Melissa looked up as Tyler sauntered into her office a couple of hours later, trying not to stare. He had on a tee shirt that showed off his muscular arms and khaki cargo pants, his green eyes gleaming in amusement as he watched her.
“What’s so funny?’ she asked with a frown.
“You. Ogling me.”
“I wasn’t ogling you,” she protested, a feeling of warmth surging through her.
He smirked, coming to a stop at her desk. “I don’t mind, beautiful. A gorgeous woman like you, looking at me like that? It’s not exactly a hardship.” His gaze roamed over her, his lips quirking. “I was trying to figure out what looks different about you today, and I just got it—no suit or stilettos.”
“I hadn’t planned on any meetings today,” she said smoothly. “I was working remotely from the coffee shop in town.”
His eyes landed on her bare shoulder. “I like this look,” he said in a low voice. “It’s—softer on you.”
“I’m not soft,” she scoffed.
He chuckled. “I beg to differ. But I don’t want to get in too much trouble,” he added with a wink. “This is an office, not a date.”
Melissa rolled her eyes, standing up from her desk. She was even shorter without her stilettos on, barely coming up to Tyler’s shoulder as she rounded the desk. She forced herself to look up and meet his gaze. “I didn’t realize you dated.”
“Date. Flirt. Call it what you want. My thoughts still aren’t appropriate for this venue.”
“Not surprising,” she said dryly as he chuckled. “Here are the papers. Just sign where I’ve marked, and I’ll take the listing down from the database. We’ll get an appraisal and settlement date and be all set.”
“Sounds great,” he said, grabbing a pen from her desk and bending over to sign the documents. He scrawled his signature at the bottom and then stood up, gazing down at her. “So that’s it? Seems a little anticlimactic.”
She laughed despite herself. “Should we have balloons and a parade after your settlement? Maybe try to get it made into a national holiday or something?”
“Hell yeah. I worked damn hard to buy a place of my own. After moving around all the time? Spending years going wherever the military says? It feels good to say that I’ll finally have my own home. I’m not much into decorating and that girly shit, but I’ll set up a monster grill out back, have my buddies over—be all set.”
“I can understand wanting somewhere to call your own. Especially after moving around and deploying a lot. You don’t think you’ll get sent somewhere after this assignment though?”
“Negative. I’m not planning to re-up.”
“Oh,” she said, surprised. That changed things in a way. She’d assumed he’d eventually want to rent or sell when he moved on. But to find out he was really planning to stay?
Wow.
“I assume you own your own place?” he asked.
“You assume correctly. It’s somewhat rare to find a realtor not interested in real estate. Many own multiple properties—rentals and what not.”
“You could start your own show like that couple on TV—flip houses or something.”
“And move out to the west coast?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “No thanks. What’s so funny anyway?” She cocked her head to the side as he chuckled, his green eyes sparking with amusement.
“You. It’s cute as fuck when you wrinkle your nose like that.”
“I’m not soft, and I’m most definitely not cute.”
“You’re attractive as hell, Melissa,” he said with a laugh. “But sometimes? Yeah. Definitely cute as fuck.”
“Well, don’t let the word get out,” she said, crossing the room to make copies of the documents. “Real estate can be a cut-throat business. That’s why you always see me in suits when I’m showing homes. I have to keep up a professional demeanor.”
“I don’t mind this look,” he said, his eyes heating as she crossed the room back toward him. “So what are you doing this afternoon anyway?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m working. Same as most people, I suppose.”
“No way. Not any more you’re not. We’re going out to celebrate.”
“Celebrate? We haven’t settled yet.”
“They accepted my offer. That’s damn good news to me. And hell, I’ve been on base since six-thirty this morning.”
“Don’t I know it,” she muttered, rounding her desk to file the papers.
“What? You didn’t appreciate my early morning text? I just wanted an update before heading in.”
“I think maybe you just enjoy torturing me.”
“That too,” he agreed, not missing a beat. “But I’m not going back to the office on a beautiful day like this. No way. It may be winter, but the sun’s out. Come on. Lock up or whatever you need to do. Shut down your laptop. We’re heading out.”
“We?”
“Yeah, we. I don’t bite. Not unless you want me to that is,” he added with a grin.
“You’re impossible. And where would we be going exactly?” she asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you?”
Those green eyes nailed her with another heated haze, and her heart unexpectedly fluttered. He took a step toward her, knowing he had her. Knowing she’d do whatever he wanted. “Implicitly.”
