Saving Dallas (Saving Dallas 1)

“Do you have to leave?” I asked, still frowning.

“Unfortunately baby, I do. Riding a Harley and making love to you don’t pay the bills, although I wish it did.” I smiled in relief. He was going to work. I admired his dedication, which was much like my own.

“Well, hurry back or I may be forced to do something that will result in you reprimanding me,” I said grinning.

“Oh, baby. How I wish you would.” He kissed me hard, leaving me breathless and stood to leave. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And with that, he was gone.

Chapter 12

The next few hours flew by as I busied myself with work. I responded to every email in my inbox and went back to review some previous ones I had over looked. My office in Tupelo contacted me about some rental properties they were having some issues with. Apparently the tenants had been somewhat destructive and had not held up to their end of the deal. They had received a notice of eviction, and were now giving threatening calls to the office manager.

I didn’t have many homestead rental properties; I usually just dealt with commercial unless I purchased a company who already had them. This was one of those cases. We had had issues with these same properties before. When people moved out, I did not rent the houses to anyone else. I fixed them up and sold them.

I only had two tenants left. One was an elderly lady whose children wanted her in a rental house, because of some issues with her life insurance. They claimed she couldn’t have any property in her name and it was easier for her just to rent. It sounded shady to me, but they always paid on time and the woman was very kind.

The other property, housed a median income family. I had attempted to contact them on several occasions to see if they would be interested in a rent to own deal, but I never received a response. My branch manager was at his wits end, so I emailed him letting him know that I would be there Tuesday to handle the matter myself. I would go talk to the family and see if there was a way we could work something out that didn’t include them trashing the place, or me throwing them out on their ass.

My phone rang and I scrambled to the other room find it. It was Luke, and my pulse immediately quickened when I saw his name. “Hey baby!” I answered.

“Baby? And what ‘fraid tell have I done do receive that endearment?” Luke asked laughing. I never used pet names, so I was just as shocked to hear me say it as he was.

“Do you prefer Luke?”

“You can call me whatever you want, as long as you don’t call me late for supper and speaking of which, what would you like?” After last night, I really didn’t want anything heavy.

“How about something light?” I asked, hoping he didn’t have a big ribeye steak in mind.

“Something light, hmm. How about a grilled chicken salad?”

“Sounds delicious.” Just saying it made me realize how hungry I was. It was already two o’clock. Where had the time gone? “Ok, I’m gonna swing by the store. I’ll be there in about an hour. Anything else you want me to pick up?” he asked, I could tell he was in a really good mood.

“No, just hurry. I miss you.” It was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“I miss you too babe. I promise to hurry,” he said, sounding very pleased with my confession.

“Ok, bye.”

“Bye babe.” I hung up the phone and fell back onto the bed. I felt as if I were living in a dream. How did I get so lucky?

I decided to make use of my time, to hopefully make it pass faster. I cleaned up the bedroom, making the bed and picking up our clothes off of the floor. In the bathroom I wiped the counters down and rinsed out the tub, taking note that Luke’s house was very clean. The floors were spotless and everything was dusted and in its place-other than the few items we had strewn from last night.

Luke must have a maid. The thought agitated me, but I tried not to dwell on it. Having nothing else to do, I sat down on the leather sectional in the living room and switched on the T.V. Luke had all the channels satellite offered, including the movie and porn channels. I flipped through until I found a sitcom re-run, and then settled into the side of the couch.

“Honey! I’m home!” I heard Luke yell from the kitchen. I took my time, turning the T.V. off and pulling myself from the couch, I leisurely made my way into the kitchen. I didn’t want to appear overly anxious to see him, even though I was. Luke was digging something out of the fridge when I walked in.