The Property Brokers by Sandi Lynn

Chapter 23

Myles

Before heading out of the office for an appointment, I stopped by Grant’s office to speak with Bella. When I arrived, I saw her sitting at her desk with her assistant. Before stepping inside, I lightly tapped on the door frame.

“Hey, Myles. If you’re looking for Grant—”

“I’m not here for Grant. I just came to congratulate you on your first sale at the West 21 building.” I smiled.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“If you can sell the penthouse, then the rest of the apartments should be a piece of cake.”

“I’m not worried.” She grinned.

“I know you aren’t. I need to get to an appointment. I’ll talk to you later.”

As I sat in the back of the car, stuck in traffic and on my way to an appointment, I couldn’t stop thinking about Cassandra, and I certainly couldn’t stop thinking about our time together. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent her a text message.

“Hello, beautiful. How is your day going?”

“Hi, handsome. My day is good. Did you enjoy the cranberry muffin I sent with you this morning?”

“I did, among other things.”

“You’re bad, Mr. Roman. Call me later? The bakery is pretty busy.”

“Of course. Talk to you later.”

I smiled as I placed my phone back in my pocket. When I first met Cassandra, all she was to me was a pretty face, but after our conversations, I found she was smart, and she knew exactly what she wanted in life. I liked her enough to want to take her out again, which was rare for me. I normally saw a woman once, slept with them on the first date and then never called them again. But Cassandra stimulated me in more ways than one. Maybe I was just bored with the younger, flaky women I normally took out. They only thing those women saw were dollar signs when they looked at me. It had been a long time since I’d met an intelligent woman that I was attracted to and that could hold an adult conversation. The one thing that bothered me was the fact she admitted she wanted a relationship with someone. I wasn’t looking, nor did I want such a thing. I was treading on dangerous waters, and I needed to be very careful where Cassandra Peters was concerned.

* * *

Grant

Wow. Bella had done to Ian what I’d pretty much done to her. And yet she had the audacity to treat me the way she did because of it. The only difference was she sent him a breakup text. But nonetheless, it wasn’t any different as far as I was concerned. Maybe she had her reasons for doing it the way she did. I had my reasons, but we’d only been together five days, not over a year. I wanted to know why she did it, and I was sure as hell going to find out tonight. I already knew she wasn’t the sweet, shy and innocent girl I’d met all those years ago, but fuck, that was not right the way she handled it.

I arrived home around six forty-five. After quickly changing my clothes, I started the grill on the terrace and prepped the steaks. I’d bought a pre-made salad which I’d thrown in a large salad bowl and threw the already baked potatoes in the oven on warm.

I heard the ding of the elevator, and when I looked at the clock, she was right on time.

“I’m in the kitchen,” I shouted. “Straight ahead and to the left.”

“Nice place.” She set a white box down on the island.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I wanted to. I stopped at Cassandra’s bakery and picked up a delicious looking apple pie. I figured since fall was almost upon us, it would be appropriate.”

“Apple pie is my favorite. Thank you.” The corners of my mouth curved upward. “I need to get these steaks on the grill. I have a bottle of wine on the counter if you’d like some.”

“Thanks. Can I pour you a glass?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

I took the steaks over to the grill and Bella stepped out and set my glass of wine down on the table.

“Are we eating out here?” she asked.

“We can if you want to.”

“I’ll go get the plates and set the table.”

“They’re in the cabinet to the left of the stove and the silverware is in the drawer below.”

She was trying to put on a happy face and act like she was okay, but her eyes told me a different story.

“By the way, how do you like your steak cooked?” I shouted.

“Medium rare is fine.”

“A girl after my own heart!”

She returned to the terrace and started setting the table for dinner. I wanted to ask her about Ian, but I wasn’t sure if I should. The steaks were done, so I took them off the grill and placed them on a plate in the center of the table.

“Can you grab the salad from the refrigerator while I take the baked potatoes out of the oven?” I asked.

“Of course. This is a great looking salad. You made this?”

“Yeah.” I grinned.

“Just like you baked those potatoes on the ‘warm’ setting in the oven?” A smirk crossed her lips.

Busted.

“The only thing that matters here is I grilled the steaks.” I gave her a wink.

She slowly shook her head with a smile as she took the salad out to the terrace. After we took our seats, I picked up my glass of wine and held it up to her.

“To Bella. Congratulations on the sale of the first penthouse in the West 21 building. May you sell as many more as quickly as possible.”

She let out a laugh as she tapped her glass against mine.

“Thank you. I think Cassandra is already head over heels where your father is concerned.”

“Why do you say that?”

“When I stopped in the bakery on my way here, I asked her how their date went, and she was beaming from head to toe. She said they’re going out again tomorrow night.”

“Yeah. My dad told me he was taking her out again. I’m not reading too much into it. He’s not interested in having a relationship with a woman ever again and Cassandra won’t change that for him.”

“That’s sad. They look cute together.”

“I agree. But it’s how he is.”

I wanted to change the subject and quickly before she decided to ask questions about my mom.

“Are you okay, Bella? I mean, from the events that transpired this afternoon?”