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4
PIPER
Carefully, I placed the electric violin in its case. After the way I’d thrown it down before going after Robbie earlier, it was a wonder I hadn’t broken it, but it was completely undamaged. It was my favorite violin to perform with, so it was a relief that I didn’t have to replace it.
Once it was secure, I handed the case over to my assistant. “Put it on the bus and make sure Hymn has eaten,” I instructed Flint. “If she hasn’t, order her something, and don’t leave until it arrives.”
He made a note on his tablet with a stylus, his expression never changing. That was one of the things that both amused and annoyed me about him. No matter how happy or pissed off I was, Flint’s facial expressions never changed. It was rare to get a reaction out of him. But he was amazing at his job, and I knew I would be completely lost without him.
My parents had hired him two years ago, right after I’d graduated from Juilliard and my work schedule had picked up. The pressure had started to give me anxiety, which had interrupted my sleep schedule. I’d never been one to sleep a full night—a few hours and I was good to go the next day. When that had been cut even shorter, my dad had asked Emmie to find someone to help keep my work life in order. But Flint had gone above and beyond, organizing my entire world.
Now, I got to sleep the few hours I needed uninterrupted. And I knew as long as Flint was around, I didn’t have to worry about forgetting or missing something important throughout the day.
“Still no word on who my date is?” I asked my PA hopefully.
“None, but the limo arrived ten minutes ago. I spoke to the driver, and a member of our security team will be riding with him. If, for any reason, you become uncomfortable with how the date is going, just let him know.” His gaze drifted over my clothes. “Are you sure you don’t want to change first?”
“She’s beautiful the way she is, Flint,” Cannon announced as he walked up behind me. His hands came down on my shoulders and squeezed firmly. It felt so good, I nearly moaned as my head dropped forward without my permission. “There’s no reason for her to change.”
I only allowed myself to enjoy his massaging fingers for a few moments before I shrugged him off. “Make sure Hymn eats,” I reminded my PA. “I shouldn’t be too late getting back to the bus, but if I haven’t returned by three, or you haven’t heard from me by that time, then send out a search party.”
“Will do,” he said with an incline of his head. “Have a good time, and try not to get arrested.”
“It was only that one time,” I muttered.
“Hold up,” Cannon said with a laugh. “Are you saying you’ve been arrested before, sugar?”
I turned to glare at him. “It wasn’t my fault. My date at the time pissed off some guy on the way into the restaurant. He was huge, and the guy I was on a date with…wasn’t. When we were walking out after dinner, he ambushed us. I knew there was no way I could do anything physically, so in an effort to get the guy to stop beating on my date, I picked up a rock and threw it through the window of the nearest car in hopes of setting off the car alarm and scaring the asshole away.”
“The car belonged to an off-duty cop,” Flint commented in his deadpan voice.
“It accomplished what I hoped for,” I muttered sullenly. “And the charges were dropped once the cop heard the whole story…and I paid for the damages.”
“The charges were dropped because Emmie Armstrong convinced the cop that dropping them was in his own best interest after her son-in-law dug up dirt on the man,” Flint amended.
Amusement danced in Cannon’s blue eyes. “Sounds like your date is going to be kept on his toes tonight, Pipes.”
“Let’s hope not.” I shuddered. “I better go. The sooner this starts, the sooner it can end.”
“Have fun,” he said with a smirk.
I just barely refrained from sticking out my tongue at him as I walked away. Ugh, he always brought out the childishness in me. I knew I needed to work on that so others would take me seriously, but it was just so damn hard. Eighty percent of the time, I wanted to punch him in the face. I refused to think about what I wanted to do to him the other twenty percent.
It wasn’t hard to find the limo. As soon as I neared, the driver stepped out of the front, as did a member of our security that I recognized. Seeing him made me feel a little better about going out with someone I didn’t know.
The driver opened the back door. “Good evening, Miss Bryant.”
“Hi,” I greeted and bent my head to glance inside for a first look at my date. When I discovered the space empty, I turned back to the driver with a frown. “Where did they go?”
“He’s running behind,” I was informed. “Please have a seat inside. There are drinks and snacks. It shouldn’t be a long wait.”
Having to wait only made my trepidation over the whole date escalate, but I stepped into the back of the limo and tried to make myself comfortable. Opening the mini fridge, I took out a bottle of Diet Coke and sat back to sip it. I pulled out my phone and checked my emails and a few messages, but time seemed to drag as I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, the back door opened, and I couldn’t help but gasp when my gaze locked on to a pair of familiar blue eyes.
“What the fuck?” I yelled as Cannon slid across the bench seat and the driver closed the door for him.
“Hey, sugar,” he said as he combed his fingers through his damp hair. “Sorry it took so long. I needed a shower after sweating so much onstage earlier.”
“No way,” I denied, shaking my head. “This is a joke, right?”
“Nope.” Leaning forward, he grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and uncapped it. Chugging half the contents, he slouched down with a relieved sigh. “Damn, that tastes good. My throat is on fire.”
“You couldn’t possibly be the one who spent fifty thousand dollars to go on a date with me,” I sputtered.
“How impossible could it be if it’s actually happening?” he asked with a sardonic twist of his lips. “If it makes you feel any better, I promise not to get either of us arrested tonight.”
“Gee, thanks,” I snipped.
Laughing, he stretched out his long legs. “Relax. This is for charity. Believe it or not, I have a vested interest in Feed the Music. They do great things, and I’m just doing my part to help out.”
Hearing that made me relax a little. “Then, thanks, I guess.” The shock was slowly starting to fade. “Let’s get something clear before this date starts.”
He downed the rest of the water and capped the bottle before turning on the seat to smirk at me. “Hit me with it, sugar.”
Another little thrill went through me when he called me “sugar” yet again. Why I liked it, I had no clue, but the fact remained that I did. Pushing that annoying little tidbit aside, I glared at him. “Do not expect anything sexual to happen.”
He lost the smirk. Those blue eyes of his darkened as he clenched his jaw. “Would you be implementing that rule if someone else had won the date?”
“Absolutely. I don’t put out on the first date, regardless of who the person is.” I raked my eyes over him dispassionately—even though just looking at him made my mouth water. Damn. “Not that I was worried about either of us wanting to hook up, but it has to be addressed.”
“Noted.”
“Good.” I relaxed back into the buttery softness of the seat. “Now that we have that out of the way, where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” He pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. “Come here. We need to take a few selfies to start the night off with. It was a condition that I had to agree to or I would forfeit the date.”
Swallowing a groan, I moved closer. Cannon wrapped an arm around my waist, tilted his head against mine, and then snapped a few pictures. I tried to smile, but even without seeing the results, I knew it came across as overly forced.
“Come on, Pipes,” he chided when he looked at them. “This is for your charity. Make the world think you’re having a good time.”
Huffing, I schooled myself and then pasted on a more genuine smile. Cannon put his head on my shoulder while he tickled my side with his free hand, making me squeal just as he clicked a burst of pictures.
“Much better,” he murmured, keeping his head on my shoulder as he flipped through the photos. “This one is my favorite.”
He didn’t let me see it before he was posting it to Instagram. When I opened the app on my own phone to check it out, he snatched my phone from my hand. “I have my own rule,” he informed me as he shoved the device into his pocket. “You can’t have your phone for the entirety of our date.”
“I have to take selfies too,” I reminded him.
“I’ll take them all and send the best ones to you.” He finally lifted his head from my shoulder. “I don’t want you distracted with social media and other bullshit tonight. I want all your attention.”
“Fine.” I gave in ungraciously. “You did pay fifty grand for my time, after all.”
He lowered his head until I felt his breath on my cheek. “I would have paid even more if I needed to, sugar. There was no way I was going to give up this chance.”
Goose bumps popped up along my entire body. As I struggled to fight a delicious shiver, I realized I was in trouble.
