James glanced over and winked. “I thought we could check out some of the houses I’ve been looking at.”
“We haven’t been to the beach in forever!”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t the words so much as the tone that had her looking over. “I didn’t mean it like that, Daddy. We’ve just been busy.”
“I should never be too busy to take my little one to her favorite place.”
“Well, we’re going now, so that’s all that matters. Can we go to that little seafood place we like tonight?”
“Whatever you want, Livvy.”
Satisfied with his answer, she settled in again. The drive only took a couple of hours, and they didn’t talk much. He seemed happy to let her control the radio, which hardly ever happened, so she took advantage and played all of her favorite songs.
When they pulled up in front of the huge blue house, Olivia gasped with delight. “Isn’t this one of the ones you showed me the other night?”
“Yup. The owners are still renting it out while they’re trying to sell and they happened to have an opening this weekend. I thought it would give us a chance to see if we really liked it.”
“I love it! Let’s make an offer.”
James laughed and shut off the car engine. “Let’s take a look around before we make any decisions, Livvy.”
“Do you have the key? Can I go inside?”
“There’s a code in the glove compartment. Go ahead, I’ll grab the bags.”
She popped open the compartment and grabbed the paper. The code was only four digits, something she wasn’t keen on. If they bought the property, she’d see if they could change it to something longer, or if she’d need to get the locks changed out. If they needed new locks, that was several hundred dollars they’d need to consider when negotiating the price.
The squeal she let out when the door opened wasn’t in the least bit dignified, but she didn’t care. The foyer was breathtaking, with tile floors and a high ceiling. Then again, as much as she loved that initial ‘wow’ factor, the high ceilings meant high energy bills. Something else to consider.
Olivia wandered from room to room, noting where updates were needed and cooing over amenities she liked. The Jacuzzi in the master bath was a particular favorite. Maybe she could talk her daddy into a sexy bath later.
James was dropping their bags on the floor of the master bedroom when she walked back out of the bedroom. When he opened his arms, she ran to him, nearly knocking him over when she threw her arms around his neck. “It’s amazing! There are a few upgrades I’d like to make if we bought it, but nothing we couldn’t hold off on if we needed to. Did you see this view?”
Grabbing his hand, she dragged him to the French doors she’d left standing open. The deck looked out over the ocean, with nothing but pale sand between them and the crashing waves. “It’s perfect,” she said with a sigh.
“I’m glad you like it. We can put an offer in tonight.”
“What?” She nearly elbowed him in the face when she spun to face him. “We can what?”
Grinning, he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of months, and this place in particular has been calling our names. I wanted to be sure we could make it happen before I got your hopes up. I talked to Bryant and he loves the idea of getting a place together. He said he trusted me, and I happen to know the woman listing the house so I told her we were interested. She has the paperwork ready to go as soon as you say go.”
If his arms hadn’t been around her, she very well might have toppled over the railing of the deck. “Are you serious? But we haven’t applied for financing or, or, or any of the million other things we have to do. And this is the first house we’ve looked at.”
“Between us and Bryant, we’d be paying cash. He’s putting up about seventy percent of it, so he’ll make the most off the rentals. But at least this way we wouldn’t have a second mortgage to worry about. And if you want, Melanie is more than willing to show us a few other listings we’ve discussed tomorrow.”
“I think we should at least look at our options. We’re talking about a huge investment. Where the hell would Bryant even get that kind of cash?”
“You know how he is. He lives well below his means. And he’s had a few lucrative cases lately.”
“But still.” Running the numbers through her head, she nibbled at her lower lip. “I saw how much they were asking for, James. Are you sure he can afford it?”
“We’ll lowball it. They’re asking too much and the house has been on the market for almost a year. Between that and paying cash, I think we can cut the price down significantly.”
She let the worry over the finances and the dozens of other details recede to the back of her mind and smiled up at him. “Have I told you lately you’re a genius?”
“You haven’t.”