Ask For It by Selena Blake Page B

houses. That's really impressive. How many have you flipped?”
    “Four. I bought my first condo because it was really cheap. But it needed a lot of TLC. Greg promised that he could help with it. It took us about nine months to finish and by then, the neighborhood had picked up. Greg found another property close by. We were able to sell the first place pretty quickly.”
    “All condos?”
    “So far.”
    He stretched his arm across the back of the booth again, trying to keep his urges in check. It was hard when her silky blouse gaped open and gave him a glimpse of what lay underneath. He’d had his hands and mouth— Nope. Not going there, Wyatt.
    “What's your biggest horror story?”
    She thought for several seconds.
    “I found a rat in the duct work once.”
    “That's it? I had visions of Hoarders or rotting floor boards or something.”
    “It was dead.”
    “Eww.”
    “Yeah. And Greg wasn't around to get rid of it, so double eww. It’s not like you can flush a rat down the toilet.” She made a cute scrunched-up face that had him laughing so hard his sides hurt.
    Another plus five for the fearless woman.
    “Are you working on one right now? A new condo?”
    She nodded and held up a finger while she finished off another meatball. He was glad that she enjoyed them as much as he did. Somehow he’d known she would.
    “Yeah. It’s almost done. Greg just texted me that he’s got the paint for the deck. I ordered the knobs for the new kitchen cabinets. We’re just about ready to put it on the market.”
    “Wow.”
    “I can’t do it until October though.” She made the cute scrunched-up face again.
    “Do what?”
    “List it. For taxes reasons I live in the apartment for a year so it’s technically my house and I’m not taxed like a business. It usually only takes about six months of work because we don’t do hard reno. Mostly cosmetic stuff. Updating to a more modern style. Greg buys another condo and lives in it. So we fix and sell one every six months.”
    He pushed his empty plate away and propped an elbow on the table so he could watch her. “That’s really smart. Again, I’m impressed.”
    He hadn’t always had the business sense he did these days. It would have been so easy to blow his money if his momma hadn’t sat him down when he’d first signed with the pros.
    “Tell me about your family. Is Greg your only sibling?”
    “No. I have two older brothers.”
    She ate in silence for a few minutes. He could tell she wanted to ask him a question but was holding back. But hell, his life had been open book up until a year ago. What could she possibly want to know about him that she hadn’t read in a newspaper? Or written about herself.
    “Parents?”
    “My mom died four years ago. But my dad still lives in Atlanta. Technically, he’s my step dad and they’re my step brothers, but he’s my real dad, you know?”
    “Yeah.” He definitely understood that. He’d been born in Baltimore and dropped on the doorstep of the local fire department. Two months later his parents had adopted him and moved him to New York City. It didn’t matter that they weren’t his birth parents or that they didn’t even have the same skin color as he did. They were his parents. His real parents.
    For several long moments she fiddled with the pasta, silent and pensive. Then, as if making up her mind about something, she perked up. “Enough about me. I want you to scoot over there and start talking.”
    “What?”
    “I want to finish my meatballs and I can’t do that if I have to keep answering your questions.” She softened the request with a kiss to his cheek.
    Chuckling, he pushed to his feet and switched sides. “This isn’t so bad. Now I can look at you easier.”
    She finished off another meatball, wiped her mouth and then smiled across the table at him. “I don’t suppose you could get Antonio to give up his secret recipe?” The sexy little eyebrow wiggle almost did him in.
    “Not on your life