“Okay.” He lifted his phone and started scrolling through the C’s. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Now that he’d found the perfect one, he thought as he exchanged smiles with her, he wasn’t letting her go.
* * *
“Hey, man,” Callan greeted Will the next day. “I didn’t expect you to come out personally.”
They had both pulled into the driveway of the Cape Cod at the same time. Callan approached Will as he climbed out of his Dodge Ram and greeted him with a quick back-pat embrace.
“It worked out well for me, actually,” Will said. He motioned towards the backseat of his truck where colorful balloons filled the space. “I’m out and running around anyway. Today’s the day of my girlfriend’s birthday party and this place was on my drive to her new dance studio where we’re having it.”
“Oh, right. I remember meeting her at the Michael Sanderson Center opening. She’s a ballerina, right?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. Well, I appreciate you working me in around your game schedule. I know things are getting hectic for you guys with the team gearing up for the playoffs.”
“That’s the truth.” Will’s intense gray-blue eyes turned to the house. “This is a nice place. I looked it up after you called. I haven’t seen a listing for it. It certainly would’ve caught my eye.”
“It’s not officially on the market yet. My agent heard about it from a friend of the owners. She’s waiting for us inside.”
It felt odd referring to Roxy as his agent, even if that was true. They hadn’t exactly defined their relationship outside of saying they were exclusively seeing each other. Besides, it felt like he’d be cheapening her as a professional by calling her anything else to another industry professional.
“By the way,” he added as they stepped onto the front porch, “she’s a huge baseball fan, so if she acts weird around you, that’s probably why.”
Will grinned. “Really? How does that hit the ol’ pride?”
“Like a crosscheck to the balls. But I think I’m winning her over to hockey.”
In fact, she had told him the day before that she wanted to attend the team’s preseason home opener. He had mentioned inviting Rashied and one of his friends, and she offered to sit with them. He had secured their tickets that morning and was looking forward to playing with them in the arena.
He and Will entered the house. “You in here, Rox?” he called out.
“Rox?” Will echoed as Roxy responded, “In the kitchen.”
“Uh, yeah,” Callan responded with a shrug. “Short for Roxy. Which is short for Roxanne.”
Will gave him a steady look that had him clearing his throat.
“We’re kind of a thing,” Callan said in a low voice.
“Ah. Guess that’s one way to win her over to hockey.”
Will’s smile told Callan he was joking, which was good. Callan didn’t think Javy would appreciate his team’s closer showing up with a broken nose.
Fortunately, Will’s attention turned to the house, avoiding further awkwardness. “I see they carried the Cape Cod architectural style throughout the interior, too. The ceilings are lower than many contemporary homes.”
“Makes it cozier, don’t you think?” Roxy said.
She was striding up the hallway with a tape measure in her hand. She looked sexy as hell in a pair of simple black pants, a rosy colored sleeveless top, and black heeled strappy sandals. She had swept her hair back at the temples, revealing a pair of rose-gold hoops in her ears. Her smile was welcoming as she reached them and extended her hand to Will.
“Hi. I’m Roxy Wagner.”
“Will Campbell,” Will said, returning her handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And I happen to agree about the cozy feel.”
“Right?” Roxy sounded as though she was the proud homeowner showing off to a visiting guest. “So much charm. I was just taking some measurements in the kitchen. I thought it might save you some time.”
“It won’t hurt.”
Callan trailed behind them as they started going room by room talking about the scope of the renovations he wanted to make. He chimed in when requested but otherwise let Roxy take the lead. It brought him great pleasure seeing how much she was enjoying herself. Despite her initial hesitation, he knew he wouldn’t have to work hard to convince her to help him out by overseeing the renovations while he was traveling in the months ahead.
“So, what are you thinking of offering for this place?” Will asked Roxy once they completed their walk-through.
“After reviewing the comps in the area with similar square footage and considering what you’ve shared as far as things that would need updating for the home to sell for top dollar, I think an offer of one-point-four million is quite competitive.”
Will’s eyebrows lifted as though she had impressed him. “That’s dead-on what I was going to suggest.”
Roxy smiled again. “Great minds, I guess.”
“Yeah. Hey,” Will said as he dug into his back pocket and produced a business card, “do you ever do any work with property investors? The Realtor we’ve been using for the past six months was just implicated in a scandal and I’m looking elsewhere. You’ve got a great eye and grasp of the market, and you’ve shown me you know your way around flipping and renovating.”
Callan exchanged a look with Roxy. Big news had broken within the real estate industry the day before about Bentley Kamps. It seemed a whistleblower—they suspected Darcy—had gone to the licensing board and revealed that Bentley was working under the table with agents who needed the money to acquire hot leads from new and inexperienced agents so he could secure the sales and commissions. An investigation was underway. Regardless of the outcome, Callan was certain Bentley’s career in Atlanta real estate was as over as Darcy’s.
“I’d be honored to partner with you,” Roxy said. She took Will’s card and walked over to her purse to hand him one of her own. “I appreciate you asking me.”
“Great. One less thing I have to do today,” Will said with a grin as he pocketed Roxy’s card. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to have my dad, Frank, reach out to you to schedule a meeting.”
“I look forward to it.”
Just as Callan was beginning to feel like a fifth wheel, Will returned his attention to him. “I’d say with everything you’re looking to do here, Murph, we’re at about one-fifty to two hundred K depending on the exact finishes you choose. We could have it done in about eight weeks if the house isn’t being lived in and there aren’t a lot of special orders or unexpected complications.”
Adding in the time it would take to negotiate with the homeowners, purchase the home, and wait for them to move out, that would put him well into hockey season. He once again exchanged glances with Roxy. One corner of her mouth lifted.
“Yeah, yeah. Of course I’ll help.”
He grinned and extended a hand to Will. “Sounds good, man. Thanks again for coming out here. We’ll be in touch once we close. Why don’t you get yourself to your girlfriend’s birthday party?”