The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn
Chapter 10
Bella
I settled in bed for the night and Duchess jumped up and curled herself next to me. Reaching over, I began petting her soft fur. Slowing closing my eyes, I fell asleep and dreamt of a memory that was created fourteen years ago.
“You look really pretty.” Grant smiled as he took my hand and led me inside his suite where music was playing.
“Thank you.” A bashful smile crossed my lips.
It was the second day and second time we were spending with each other.
“Where’s your dad?” I asked.
“He met some woman and they’re down at the beach.”
“I thought your parents were married and your mom couldn’t come because she got sick.”
“Uh, yeah. I kind of lied. Sorry about that. They’re divorced. I guess I was too embarrassed to tell you that.”
“Oh. It’s cool. Lots of kid’s parents get divorced.”
“Before we head out, I’m going to have a glass of scotch. How about a glass of wine?” He held up the bottle.
“Your dad won’t care?”
“Nah. He’s cool.”
He poured some in a glass and handed it to me. Slowly bringing the glass to my lips, I took a sip and he chuckled.
“You don’t like Sauvignon Blanc?”
“It’s fine.”
He stared at me and cocked his head.
“Have you ever had wine before?”
I swallowed hard because I was embarrassed to admit it. Who hadn’t had wine at sixteen?”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to drink it.”
“No. Actually, it’s pretty good.”
Over the speakers in the room, the song “You Want to Make A Memory” by Bon Jovi started playing. Grant took the glass from me, set it down and grabbed my hand.
“What are you doing?” I laughed.
“I like this song and I want to dance with you.” He flashed a sexy smile as he twirled me and then pulled me into him.
We swayed back and forth to the melody as his arms were wrapped around my waist and mine around his neck. The smell of his cologne invaded my senses. Crisp, clean and woodsy. A smell I would never forget. Our eyes gazed into each other’s, and my knees grew weak. I felt as if I was melting in his arms. He leaned forward and brought his mouth mere inches from mine and hesitation was the enemy. With a subtle movement, our lips touched as the song still played. My body trembled as our soft kiss turned intense and his tongue met mine. I’d kissed boys before, but I had never been kissed like that. I broke our kiss and shyly smiled while he brought his hand up to my cheek and gently stroked it.
“You’re so beautiful, Bella. I’m really happy I met you.”
“Me too, Grant.”
My eyes flew open and as my heart raced at the speed of light, Duchess let out a meow alerting me that I had disturbed her slumber. What the hell was I thinking accepting his offer?
* * *
It was five-thirty a.m. when I climbed out of bed, threw my hair back into a ponytail and slipped into my running clothes. As I ran along the Hudson River, the sun rose, and more people emerged to get their morning run and bike ride in before starting their hectic day. It was six a.m. when I dialed Ami. I knew she was up because she went running at that time every day.
“Hey you.”
“Hey. I need to talk. Are you running?”
“I just left the house. What’s going on?”
“Grant came over last night.”
“And?” she asked.
“I accepted his job offer and now I’m regretting it. Being near him has brought back so many memories of Hawaii. Memories I fought so hard to forget. Not only the memories of our time together, but the memories of how I was after. I knew this would happen. I thought I was over it all.”
“You’re going to have those types of memories. He was your first love, and he broke your heart. That’s something that never goes away because first love never dies. But you can’t let it control your life. Let’s meet for dinner tonight at Coco Pazzo in SoHo. I’ll call and make the reservations and we can talk.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
“I have my last patient at six-thirty, so I’ll make reservations for eight o’clock. Just take a deep breath. You’re not that same young girl anymore.”
“I know.” I let out a sigh. “Thanks, Ami.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tonight.”
By the time I got back to my apartment, showered, and dressed, it was twenty minutes after seven. I had ten minutes until Grant was picking me up, which I couldn’t believe I agreed to. Duchess rubbed against my leg so I bent down, picked her up and gave her a kiss.
“Wish me luck today,” I said to her as she purred.
The knock at the door startled me as I set her down and opened it.
“Good morning.” He grinned.
“Good morning. You could have just shot me a text and I would have met you downstairs.”
“I could have done that. I guess it’s the gentleman in me.” He smirked.
Gentleman my ass.
“Are you ready?” He looked at his watch.
“Come in for a second. I just need to grab my purse.”
As I walked to the bedroom, I snickered when I heard him tell Duchess not to rub against his expensive designer suit.
“Ready.” I opened the door and we headed down to the lobby.
“My car is just down here,” Grant said as we stepped onto the sidewalk.
He opened the door to his Range Rover, and I slipped inside.
“Bella, this is my driver, Mateo. Mateo, this is Bella Marcus. She’s a new broker at The Roman Group.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mateo.” I extended my hand over the seat.
“The pleasure is all mine.” He lightly shook my hand.
I would admit that sitting in the back of his car was a little uncomfortable and weird. Not as weird as it was having him at my apartment last night, but nonetheless, weird. As I sat there while he was texting on his phone, the same clean, woodsy smell invaded the space in the back. The same smell that drove me crazy fourteen years ago.
“My dad wants me to go with him to check out a building this afternoon, so I’m going to send you to a listing pitch I have scheduled at West 18th in Chelsea.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Mateo pulled up to the building on Fifth Avenue and Grant and I both climbed out. Stepping through the double doors, I looked around the modern lobby.
“We occupy floors sixteen through eighteen. Floor sixteen is the financial floor. Seventeen is where my office and my team are. And the eighteenth floor is where my father’s office is and his development team. I’ll take you up to meet him first.”
“I’ve already met him, remember?” I arched my brow as we stepped inside the elevator.
“Right.” He smirked.
When the doors opened to the eighteenth floor, a young woman with auburn colored hair sat behind a glass desk.
“Hi, Grant.” She smiled in a flirtatious way.
“Hi, Lacy. This is Bella Marcus. She’s a new broker I hired.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lacy.” I extended my hand.
“Nice to meet you too,” she spoke with uncertainty when she placed her hand in mine.
“My father is in his office, right?”
“Yes. He just got in a few minutes ago.”
We walked down the hall and to the large corner office made up of glass.
“Hello, son,” he spoke as he stood up from his desk.
“Dad, you remember Bella?”
“Wow. Look at you all grown up.” He smiled as he walked over and kissed my cheek. “It’s good to see you again, sweetheart.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Roman.”
“Please, call me Myles. Welcome to The Roman Group, and congratulations on closing that deal.”
“Thank you. It wasn’t hard.” I smirked.
“I think you’re going to do just fine here.” He gave me a wink.
“I’m going to take her down and introduce her to the staff,” Grant spoke.
“Okay. Meet me in the lobby at one o’clock so we can go take a look at the building.”
We took the elevator down to the seventeenth floor where Grant introduced me to everyone.
“The other end of the floor is currently being renovated. Once it’s done, you’ll have your own office. For now, you’ll have to share mine,” he said as we stepped inside his oversized office space. “There’s a small desk by the window over there with a computer.”
“And how long until it’s complete?” I asked.
“About a month. Do you have a problem sharing an office?”
“No,” I said as I looked around.
“It’s really good having you here, Bella.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.” I gave him a small smile as I walked over to my desk and set my purse down.
