Never Have A Baller's Baby: A Bad Boy Pregnancy Romance by Lena Skye Read Free Book Online Page B

deal more confidence than she felt.
    He tore his gaze away from Malaika and looked at Naomi. A polite smile came over his face and he held his hand out to take hers.
    “I’m Reginald Davis. My friends call me Reggie. Thank you for meeting with me today.” He gave her a nod as they shook hands.
    “I’m so sorry about your father. He was one of the best men I’ve ever known.” Naomi spoke gently.
    “Thank you. His loss was tough to take. He was the best man I ever knew. I hope to live up to his standard.” Reggie smiled at her.
    “Well, shall we have a seat? It seems there is business to discuss.” She invited him over to the sofa at the center of the room, and he followed her and sat down. Keisha and Malaika sat down in chairs beside them.
    “This is Keisha; she’s my assistant and receptionist.” Naomi introduced Keisha, who smiled brightly at him and shook his hand. “And this is Malaika, who is a designer here at the firm.”
    Malaika reached her hand to him to shake it, and he held her hand a bit longer, smiling genuinely at her. “It’s quite a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he answered, holding her eyes with his. She smiled at him and withdrew her hand from his slowly.
    He turned toward Naomi then. “You have a lovely place here.”
    “Thank you, Reggie. We’ve worked hard on it. I’m glad you like it.” Naomi smiled at him and told herself to be certain to start off on the right foot with him.
    “My father mentioned your business more than a few times when he was alive. He had nothing but good to say about you and the ladies here,” Reggie began, looking at her more seriously as he spoke
    . “I understand that he wanted you to be able to stay here, and he kept you here all of this time. I’m glad that he did that, but because he’s gone, things may change. We’ll have to talk about it. I’d first like to know what your plans are, and then I will be glad to fill you in on what changes I have coming up in the future.”
    Naomi felt her heart begin to pound, and she tried to keep as calm a face on as she could manage. “Well, we love being here, and as you said, we’ve been here a while. We’re established here. I’d like to keep the business here, if I could. We want to keep it exactly as we have it now.” She kept her tone friendly while making her intent very clear.
    He nodded. “I thought that might be the case.” He pursed his lips a moment and his smile faded somewhat. “I’m sorry if this causes you any kind of trouble, but for myself, I can’t keep this building. It’s more work than I have time to handle, and I’ll be frank with you; it’s the smallest property that I own. It’s not worth my while to keep it; to be honest.”
    Naomi’s heart pounded its way straight into her throat.
    “There are two people who are interested in buying the property. They have each made a considerable offer, and I am probably going to choose the higher of their two bids. Because my father thought so highly of you, I want to honor that and make you an offer. If you can at least match the highest bid, I will sell the building to you. The sale date is the end of this month.” He stopped speaking then, and watched Naomi, waiting to hear what she would say.
    Naomi could barely breathe, let alone answer for a moment. She forced herself to breathe. Malaika saw her struggling, and jumped in to her rescue.
    “I’m curious, Reggie, would you need all of the money at once, or would you be able to take any kind of payments over a period of time if Naomi was to purchase the building from you? Is there any other kind of option?” She gave him a smile, and he returned one to her, his face softening quite a bit.
    He looked truly sorry as he shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, that actually wouldn’t be possible. It would need to be a complete sale for the full price at the end of the month. Fortunately, it’s the beginning of the month, so you have a full thirty days to make your