a fairly competent computer user, but she's our resident tech genius. I'm just smart enough to let her do what she's good at."
"Most bosses aren't that smart." He shrugged. "I played with the maps she sent me last night. I don't think it would be that hard to set up a system. Sell it to other realtors maybe, or offer it as a service to buyers."
Interesting idea, but it had a couple of obvious flaws. "And lose my competitive advantage?"
"Nah." Josh flashed that grin again. "The maps are cool, but the genius is in Lizard's head. You can't sell that. It would be a useful tool that might make you a lot of money, though - and you guys would still have the best maps in the city."
His eyes got hazy for a moment. "Or you could offer it on an exclusive-licensing basis to one real-estate team in each metro area. No competition for you, big advantage for each of them."
Lauren was a smart businesswoman. She appreciated Josh's quick mind and grasp of her business. But the fact that he got Lizard? That was making her totally melty. "It sounds like an interesting idea. The maps are Lizard's - have a chat with her." She debated a moment and went on instinct. "You might go slowly with it. She's not quite as convinced as I am that she's a genius."
Josh's face didn't change, not even a flicker. But she felt her words land - and the empathy and curiosity that followed. "Sounds good. First I want to buy a house, though."
Lauren heard the mental clomping that signaled Lizard in the vicinity. "Here comes the woman who can help you with that." She swept up her papers. "I'm in the back office if you need me."
More points to Josh when he waved vaguely in her direction and turned toward the door, looking for her assistant - with an eagerness in his mind that gave Lauren's heart happy flutters.
Lizard set the paperwork down in front of Josh. "Okay, here's their counteroffer. They came down some on price, but I think we can do better - the place is vacant, and not every buyer's going to be thrilled with the new baby next door." Josh, on the other hand, had already offered to babysit.
He glanced at the papers. "Did they agree to the earlier move-in date?"
"Yes." After a long conversation trying to convince the selling agent that her client was for real. "With a cash offer, we can move things along pretty quickly." She'd spent hours on the phone with bank people and insurance people and paperwork people, making sure they could get the rich-but-crazy Joshua Hennessey into his new house in exactly one week.
Josh grinned. "Sorry. I told you I was going to be a pain-in-the-neck client." He looked around. "Got a pen?"
Crap. "You really shouldn't sign this one. They'll come down on price." She was sure of it. The selling agent probably sucked at poker - she'd had "wishy-washy" written all over her face. "Let me go back to them one more time. They're just getting greedy because they know you're in a hurry."
"I hate hotel rooms." He shrugged, easygoing - and mind totally made up. "And it's just money."
He was going to sign it - with a year's salary worth of wiggle room still on the table. Lizard gritted her teeth, glared at him, and swallowed her pride. Yo, Lauren - can you come here a minute?
Lauren's head poked out of her back office seconds later. "Can I help with anything?"
Lizard folded her arms. "Yeah. Tell him it's dumb to sign this counteroffer. They'll come down another forty grand, maybe more."
Lauren leaned back against the doorframe and assessed Josh. "You gonna sign it?"
He grinned. "Yeah."
"Can you afford it?"
Another grin, slightly embarrassed this time. "Yeah."
Lauren shrugged. "Give the man a pen."
Lizard blinked. What had happened to her boss's fabled negotiating skills? "How come you're on his side?" Then she swung around and glared at Josh, who was totally smirking. "And why do you think it's funny?"
Josh just looked at her for a moment. When he spoke again, he sounded almost impressed. It did weird things to her gut. "How many real estate agents would be trying to talk me out of signing this deal?"
She had an answer for that. An answer Lauren had taught her, damn it. "All the smart ones. We're supposed to keep clients from doing things they'll regret later."
"I won't regret this." His eyes were clear-blue amusement -