“You can have the interior redone if you want,” I tell her.
She looks at me like I’m nuts, then shakes her head. “You’ve done more than enough already. And this room is so pretty.” She opens the blackout curtains and looks out into the garden. This side has a view of the arch that’s covered with passion fruit vines. She sighs. “Those flowers are just gorgeous.”
I check to make sure everything’s acceptable for Klein’s stay. The walls are covered with a silky, textured paper, but she might want to have a painting hanging instead. I make a mental note to move the piece in the living room she spent the most time staring at up here.
“I love your home. Thank you for letting me stay.”
“It’s nothing. Where would my newly homeless fiancée live, if not with me?”
Rose colors her cheeks; her eyes lower. I’m glad I spent the money to make my place appear homey. Otherwise, she might’ve noticed all the security cameras—although none in the bedrooms—and fingerprint locks on all the doors. They aren’t engaged now because I’m home, but if an unauthorized person’s inside, they lock every door. If Mom or anyone working for her tries anything, they’ll be stuck.
I take Klein to the home office and have her press her thumb on the print reader, then have her enter her own passcode to get inside the house. “Wow. You’re really serious about security,” she says.
I hesitate for a couple of heartbeats, debating whether to tell her about Mom, but it…just seems too messy. Besides, I’m not planning to bare my soul—that I might be like Zoe Dunkel. “I’ve had a burglar or two.”
“Seriously? But this is such an exclusive area.”
“Not exclusive enough, obviously.” I can’t sleep easy unless I know my home is secure against intrusion. Mom can’t even fly a drone over without my knowing about it. And I have guns and the training to use them. All my licenses and permits are up to date.
My phone buzzes. I check the message.Great.
“What is it?” Klein asks.
“Gina Rad.”
Klein makes a face, her eyes full of sympathy. “She doesn’t have an appointment.”
“I know, but she’s in the office, sobbing because her life will end unless she sees me.”
“Let me guess. She’s panicking because the contract she signed against your advice just came back to haunt her.”
“Exactly.” My crappy mood is marginally improved by Klein’s understanding.
She waves me away. “You go ahead. I’ll be fine.”
I hesitate, not wanting to leave her alone. But Gina won’t go away until she sees me. She could make a mule seem indecisive by comparison.
Klein shoos me away. “Really. I’ll just spend my time exploring your house and resting.”
“Call if you need anything,” I say, although I’m certain she won’t unless the house burns down—or worse.
Chapter Sixteen
Ailee
As soon as Josh is gone, I inhale deeply.Oh my God.I had to hold my breath when he put his finger on my mouth. He only did it to shut me up, but the contact sent a jolt through me. I lie on the sofa and stare at the lights breaking off the crystals. I instinctively tried to flick my tongue over his skin. Thank God my brain suddenly kicked in, because I might’ve tried to pull the finger into my mouth and suck.
Just thinking about it makes my body heat. Not sure why—it’s not like I ever got hot and bothered about sucking a finger. But I wanted to run my tongue over his knuckles, taste the salt on his skin, test how far I could push his control. Then—
I cover my flaming cheeks with my hands.Come on, Ailee. Stop thinking about sucking Josh.
My phone rings with a call. Max.
“Hey,” I say.
“Oh my God, are you all right? I saw the news! I’m so freaked out!”
“I’m fine. The whole building’s toast, but I was able to escape before it got serious. I don’t think anything from our unit survived except my phone. Hopefully you didn’t have anything valuable in there…?”
