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“I need to watch every single one of those.”
I snort. “Want to practice all the moves too?”
His eyes grow hot with his slowly unfurling grin. “You can tie me up any day.”
ChapterTwenty-One
LUNA
I half expect Manuel to open the door when I arrive at Violet’s loft apartment. But the stoic security guard is nowhere in sight when the country singer flings open the heavy, metal door to her home.
“Oh, good. I was worried you were going to back out on me.” Violet smiles wide, stepping back to wave me inside.
“This is nice,” I offer, gesturing around her place. The loft is smaller than I thought it would be. Not that it’s small. The place has ceilings high enough for two floors, and my guess is the square footage is the same amount as in my whole house. But from what I can see, this main room is all there is other than an open door that leads off to a bathroom.
I spy Violet’s bed arranged against a brick wall on the far side of the space.
“I like an open floor plan,” the singer explains, striding over to the kitchen area, her bare feet padding lightly across the hardwood floor.
I guess this apartment makes sense when I connect it to Violet’s personality rather than what I expect her net worth is. Open, airy, honest. And then there’s the array of instruments hanging on the spaces of wall between each tall window.
The complete exposure makes it even clearer that Manuel isn’t around, unless he’s hunkered down in the clawfoot tub.
“No security shadow today?” I follow her to the butcher-block kitchen island and see a neatly arranged selection of finger foods. A lot of them we bought together on the grocery store run.
“Nope. Figured my self-defense coach wasn’t someone I needed to worry about.” Her warm, welcoming expression falters. “Shit. Was that wrong? Should I be on guard here too?”
“No.” I hold up my hands, trying to show there’s nothing she needs to worry about from me. “I don’t want to train you to distrust everyone in your life.” Even though that’s kind of par for the course with me. “You’ll become paranoid if you live like that.”
Violet’s tension drains away, relief suffusing her face. “Okay. Yeah. He lives just across the hall though. If I need him.”
“Really?”
Violet nods as she pulls open her fridge. “My brother bought the apartment. He’s the one who hired Manuel. Do you want something to drink?” She rattles off a list of beverages, and because I’m trying to get comfortable in this whole Violet-is-my-friend thing, I accept a beer.
That earns me a beaming expression. “If you’re drinking a beer, then that means I can! Hell yeah!”
My mouth creeps up in a smile when she passes a cold bottle to me. But what she said just before the drink offer sticks in my mind.
“Your brother really bought a place for your security guard in your building?”
Violet takes a deep draw of her drink before answering. “He’s overprotective. Not without cause. But I already told you about that.”
She had. When Violet and I first met, she described an incident with a delusional fan that almost ended in her losing her life.
“I guess I’m not surprised by what he did. More that your brother is the one doing it.”
Shit. Put a woman in front of me who’s offering to be my friend, and I suddenly start picking at inner scabs that should be left alone.
Violet hops up on a padded stool and then pats the one beside her. Hesitantly, I join.
“You got some brother problems too?”
I shrug, then take a long pull from my beer. The fizz and subtle hint of alcohol put me at ease, and more truth leaks out of me.
“Yeah, but not like you. I guess I’m always the one trying to be the protector.”
Violet smirks. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
