All of Me by Tiffany Patterson

Chapter 7

Lena

Twenty-five minutes after climbing into my rental, I pulled into the parking lot of LS Investigation. Micah Townsend’s private investigative firm. Jodi worked with him.

The day before, Jodi and I had spoken, and she said I had an open invitation to visit the firm if I needed anything. I didn’t need anything specific, but given that Rayven left, it was likely my need to connect with someone that made me come to show up unannounced.

I figured I could ask Jodi if she wanted to go out to get something to eat. It was after five-thirty, and she had to be leaving the office soon.

A bell sounded as soon as I opened the door to the offices. My gaze swept around the lobby, complete with black leather chairs, a television mounted on the corner wall, and lots of greenery around a beautiful water fountain.

At the center of it all sat a large, half-circle wooden desk with a glass counter. I could barely see over the top until I moved farther into the lobby. That was when a smiling Jodi popped her head up from behind the desk.

“Lena,” she greeted. “How are you? Is there something wrong with the house?” Her nose scrunched up on a worried look.

“No.” I waved her question off. “Nothing wrong at all. Rayven left, and I thought I’d stop by to see if you wanted to go out for dinner or something?”

It sounded so lame after I said it out loud. Jodi was a newly married woman, barely back from her honeymoon for a week. She likely couldn’t wait to get home and spend some alone time with her husband.

“If you’re busy, we can plan another time,” I quickly added.

She didn’t answer right away, as she stared down at her desk, writing something down on a Post-It note.

“Sick of all of that writing already, huh?”

“What?” I hated the surprise that must’ve been evident in my voice.

Jodi directed a pointed look at me. “Music. Writing your next album. That’s what you came down here to Texas for, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, sure,” I answered, glancing around the lobby.

“How’s it going?”

“Great,” I said and hoped she overlooked the high-pitch of my voice. “It’s going really well. You know. The words won’t stop coming. Thought I’d get out for some fresh air to give my brain a little break.”

I clamped my lips shut to keep from blabbering on. The more you talked, the more obvious the lie became.

“You know what, I’m sure you’re busy,” I said when things got too quiet. “I should’ve called ahead. I’m so used to everyone accommodating my schedule that I forgot I’m not in LA anymore.” I laughed one of those stupid laughs you do when you’re uncomfortable as hell.

“No,” Jodi said right before I turned back for the door. “It’s okay. I was shutting down for the day. Micah insists that I end work at a reasonable time.” She rolled her eyes. “He’ll be barreling up the hall any minute to make sure my computer is off.”

She sucked her teeth. “Overbearing ass.”

The words weren’t the nicest, but there was no heat behind them. I noticed that she had to smother a smile to keep up the look of annoyance.

A lump of emotion formed in my throat. I remembered back to two years earlier when I was sick with the flu. Even after taking all the vitamin C shots and all types of elixirs meant to make me feel better, I still could barely stand, and my throat felt like it was on fire.

When I told Nate to call the venue and have them reschedule or give the audience their money back, he laughed in my face.

“Scared money don’t make no money,” he’d said.

When I told him I wasn’t scared that I was sick, he laughed again. “Your value is in your voice and those words. You start canceling shows over a little cold, and everything will dry up.”

I performed that night and the following two nights. I got so sick and exhausted from doing those shows that I wound up in the hospital. I was severely dehydrated and had lost five pounds over three days.

“It must be nice to have someone looking after you like that,” I said.

Only upon looking at Jodi did I realize that I’d said those words out loud instead of in my head like I meant to.

“You’re better off without that son of a bitch, to be quite honest.”

My eyes widened, and I burst out in a laugh at her bluntness. Jodi tended to say whatever was on her mind. It was one of the traits I liked about her. After working in this industry since I was a teenager, with people who smiled in your face right before they put the knife in your back, her bluntness could be refreshing.

“It’s after five-thirty. That damn computer better be off,” a deep, male voice, I identified as Micah, filled the silence.

A second later, Micah Townsend’s imposing frame filled up the entryway between the lobby and the hallway. His eyebrows were narrowed as he peered down at Jodi.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” Jodi quickly replied while pressing the button to turn on her computer screen again.

A whimpering sound caught my attention. Glancing down, I spotted a huge dog moving from behind the counter where Jodi sat. I didn’t even know the dog was there. This same dog had been at the couple’s wedding reception. They introduced him as Hound like he was a member of the family.

“He’s telling you he’s ready to go, too,” Micah said, gesturing toward Hound.

“He was fine until you came out giving orders and whatnot,” Jodi replied. “Lena’s here to go out to dinner.”

Micah turned toward me. “My apologies for not seeing you,” he said, dipping his head. “How are you, Lena? Is there an issue with the house?”

Words stuck in my throat, which was strange. What was even weirder was that his voice reminded me of his brother’s. While Micah and Gabriel didn’t look terribly alike, they both had a presence about themselves that mirrored one another’s.

I could see how any woman would find Micah Townsend attractive, but it’d taken a bold woman like Jodi to get him to commit.

I cleared my throat. “No, nothing’s wrong with the house. I’ve been in the writing cave all day and thought dinner out with someone might be nice,” I explained. “But I can see you’re busy.”

“Stop that,” Jodi insisted. “We’re done for the day, right?” She looked toward her husband.

“You are,” he said pointedly. “I still have a call to make.”

“Fine, while you do that, I’m going to give Lena a tour of the place. How’s that sound?” she asked me.

I smiled. “I’ve never been given a tour of a private investigative firm. Sounds interesting.”

“Let me lock the front door first,” Jodi said after Micah went back down the hallway to his office. “All right, come with me,” she instructed, heading toward the hallway. Hound was hot on her heels.

“Micah’s office is the other way.” She pointed left. “We’ll stop by his office at the end since he’s on a call.”

I followed down the long hall, noting the pictures of famous Texas sites and scenery on the way. A few images were of Micah dressed in a law enforcement uniform and then the infamous cowboy hat. I paused and looked closer.

“Your husband was a Texas Ranger?”

Jodi stopped. “There is no was. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. And yeah, that’s him.” The pride in her voice was unmistakable. “Cleared all his cases, too. Except for one, but we solved that one last year.”

She waved me on to an open door on the right.

“This is mostly where the magic happens. But don’t tell Micah I told you that that.” She laughed.

“What’s up, Mrs. Townsend?” one of the guys in the spacious office asked. In the office sat a long, wooden desk with two computer screens mounted on it.

“My name is Jodi,” she corrected. “I swear, since tying the knot, everyone in this office has forgotten my damn name,” she griped.

“We’re just making sure to show the lady of the office some respect.” He turned to me, and I remembered that face from the night of the wedding. The only problem was, there were two of them with the same face.

“Sy, you remember Lena,” Jodi added before giving me a wink.

I guess the confusion was evident in my expression.

“Don’t let it get ya down,” Sy said. “Most people can’t tell my brother and me apart.”

“You called me?” another male voice that sounded exactly like Sy’s interrupted.

That was when Sebastian, Bass for short, entered, reintroducing himself.

“I’m a big fan of yours, Ms. Clarkson,” Bass said, almost shyly.

He was tall and gorgeous, and yet his bashfulness made him fall on just this side of adorable.

“Thank you. Please, call me Lena. No need to be formal.”

He nodded, and his gaze circled the room as if looking for someone. “Your security isn’t around?”

I squinted. “Oh, you mean Rayven?” I shook my head. “She left a little while ago.”

Bass frowned as if disappointed. I wondered what that was about.

We talked for a few minutes, and Jodi told me that Sy and Bass were the firm’s techies. While they were trained PIs as well, they also could be called on to handle all of the company’s computer needs.

After leaving their office, she showed me the offices of a few other PIs, both of which were out of the office working separate cases.

“Lastly, we have our own little training area,” Jodi said, opening the door to a huge gymnasium. The gym looked as if it spanned the size of my condo back in Los Angeles. Spread around the room were mats, an actual jungle gym, a rock wall, and tons of workout equipment.

“This is huge,” I said. “Do you work out here?”

Jodi shrugged. “Now and again,” she answered. “Most of the guys who work here prefer it. But Micah and I go out on hikes and runs around the house. We’re going to start using this place to train our next dog.”

I peered down at Hound, who whimpered as if he understood her words.

Jodi gave him a side-eye. “We’re not replacing you.” She gave him a loving pat on the head and underneath his chin.

“He gets upset when I mention another dog.” She leaned in and whispered, “But ever since he was shot last year, he’s lost his step a bit, so it’s time for a new dog for the office.”

She explained it so casually. But I’d been shocked when she told me everything that happened between her grandfather’s murder and Hound getting shot while protecting her.

“Micah should be off of his call by now,” she said. “Let’s go tell him we’re headed out to dinner. Any idea what you want to eat?”

I shrugged while I followed. “Honestly, I haven’t eaten much today. Anything sounds good right about now.”

“There are a bunch of great places to eat in town,” she told me before knocking on Micah’s closed office door.

“Hey … oh, Gabe, I didn’t know you were visiting,” Jodi said as soon as she pushed through the door. “How’d you get in? I know I locked the door.”

“I have a key.”

“Oh, right,” Jodi commented.

“Came by for a visit with my eldest brother …” Gabriel explained before his words trailed off, and he looked over Jodi’s shoulder.

I could feel the moment he spotted me on my skin. Those pink lips spread wide with a smile.

“Once again, my instincts landed me in the right place at the right time,” he said as he strolled closer. “Lena, what are you doing here?”

I sputtered, searching for an answer to his relatively simple question. I’d sung in front of thousands of people, for presidents, modeled for top photographers, and had my face splashed on some of the most popular magazines in the world.

None of those experiences felt as intimidating or as nerve-wracking as standing underneath Gabriel Townsend’s gaze with that wolfish grin on his face.

Yet, I called on those experiences to push my feelings aside, lifted my chin, and looked him directly in the eyes.

“Jodi and I are going out to dinner.”

My stomach nearly curled in on itself when his smile widened.

“Wouldn’t you know it? I was just talking to Micah about going out to dinner.”

“No, you weren’t,” his brother said somewhere from behind him.

“There’s a great place not too far from here named The Tavern. They have the best burgers this side of the Mississippi,” Gabriel said, not missing a beat or paying his brother’s comment any attention.

“The Tavern sounds excellent,” Jodi interrupted. “I’ve been craving a burger all day. Why don’t all four of us go?”

How Gabriel’s smile could grow even broader, I’ll never know, but it did.

“Two steps ahead of you, sis,” he said while continuing to hold me with his gaze. “I’ll give you a ride.” Gabriel took me by the elbow.

“I have a car.”

“It’s rush hour. The fewer cars on the road, the better,” he replied.

“Gabriel, I can drive myself.”

He paused, right in front of the door.

“What?”

“Usually, I don’t like when people use my full name. I’ll make an exception for you.”

“Gabriel,” I said again.

He ran his tongue across his bottom lip, and my mind blanked.

“That’s it,” he said, low, almost murmuring. “Now, let’s eat.”

I wound up in Gabe’s Camaro on the way to a restaurant. While Micah and Jodi followed behind us, I still felt eerily alone with this man. Not even two hours earlier, my cousin had warned me to be careful of him … yet, somehow, I ended up in his car.

* * *

Gabe

I glanced over at Lena, noticing that in the ten minutes we’d been driving, she hadn’t moved an inch. She stared straight ahead with her hands clasped in her lap.

I’d gone over to LS Investigations to speak with Jodi about Lena, but as luck would have it, I didn’t need to speak with my sister-in-law. Lena was already there.

I turned the dial to lower the rock music playing and asked, “Are you really afraid of heights?”

Finally, she turned to me with a wrinkle in her brow. “Huh?”

“Heights. You mentioned you’re afraid of them,” I reminded her. “Is that true?”

She parted her lips but quickly snapped them shut before she stared off for a moment.

“What is MMA?” she asked, avoiding my question.

“It stands for mixed martial arts.” I paused and smiled. “Why? Are you interested in learning to fight?”

She let out the cutest grunt before shaking her head. “Yeah, right.” She laughed. “So, you get into a cage with some guy that wants to take your head off for a living?”

“That’s more my part-time gig now. I have other endeavors.”

“Like managing fighters, right?”

I nodded. “My partner and I are looking to represent a range of athletes. But our roster so far is mainly fighters.”

She nodded. “Okay … so, MMA stands for mixed martial arts, but what does it mean?” She emphasized the last word.

“It’s a combination of different forms of martial arts and fighting styles,” I explained. “Boxing, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Muay Thai, and more.”

“How are you supposed to learn all of those different ways to fight?”

“It’s impossible to learn all of them.” I glanced over at her. “Most fighters grew up learning one specific fighting style. They get really good in whatever form and then incorporate a few others as they grow in the sport. That’s the shortened version of what typically happens,” I explained.

“Which martial art did you start in?”

“I didn’t start in martial arts,” I said. She leaned in closer, as if interested in learning more.

“I didn’t take up sports until high school. I started wrestling, and my talent for it became obvious early on.”

“Let me guess,” she interrupted, grinning. “You were Mr. All-State or whatever.”

With a chuckle, I nodded. “Junior and senior years in college.”

I’d earned a free ride on a wrestling scholarship and wrestled all four years.

“I knew it.” She snapped her fingers. “And you won a championship.”

The smile on my lips slipped, and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. The pain of the betrayal that caused me to lose the championship was still a sore spot.

“No. I didn’t win,” I said, my voice harsher than I anticipated.

When it grew quiet, I glanced over at Lena. I mentally kicked myself for letting my emotions get the best of me and responding the way I did.

“It was a tough loss, but I’ve won plenty of matches and fights since then. Lesson learned.”

“What was the lesson?” she asked.

“Never let ’em see you sweat.”

She lifted an eyebrow.

“We’re here.” I turned into The Tavern’s parking lot. It was an American cuisine restaurant and bar with a southwestern feel. They had the best burgers in town.

“Thank you,” Lena said when I held the passenger door open for her.

I slid my hand to the small of her back as we started for the main entrance. Lena’s steps faltered, and she almost tripped.

She looked up at me, eyes wide.

“Problem?”

She didn’t say anything, which I took to mean my hand was okay where it was.

Jodi and Micah entered behind us, and we were seated on the outdoor patio area within minutes of our arrival.

Naturally, I took my seat next to Lena. Right after we sat, I spotted her looking over both shoulders, staring around at a few of the other patrons.

“What’s the matter?” Jodi asked before I could get the question out.

I frowned in annoyance, not for the first time wishing it were just Lena and me out for dinner.

Lena leaned into the table, her fingers playing with the white linen napkin that held her utensils. “Are you sure, uh, it’s safe here?” She hesitated, biting her bottom lip. “Not safe. I mean, secure, private?”

Laced in her voice were concern and uncertainty.

“No one’s going to bother you here,” I said, bringing her attention back to me. For good measure, I tossed my arm around the back of her chair, trailing my fingers down her bare shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about someone taking a picture of you if that’s your concern.”

She sat back in her seat, her eyes darting over her shoulder before returning to look at me.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been out in public. Aside from your wedding. Not since … I guess everyone knows.”

I had no idea what she referred to. I started to ask her since what, but our waitress chose that moment to approach our table to take our drink orders.

“Lena, Jodi played me some of your music for the first time a while back. You’re very talented,” Micah said.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, I liked that album …” He paused and snapped, turning to Jodi. “Which one was it?”

“Broken Kisses,” Jodi and I said at the same time.

Three pairs of eyes looked back at me. I shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

While the expressions on Micah and Jodi’s faces were ones of surprise, Lena’s slight frown and drooping eyelids looked as if someone had just told her that her music was completely bogus instead of complimenting her.

But she caught herself, and her expression instantly changed, and she smiled at Micah. “Thank you, Micah. Jodi said my style of music isn’t what you usually listen to. So it makes me happy to hear you liked it.”

Why did I get the impression that wasn’t the total truth? I recalled back to the first time I’d met Lena, all those months earlier. My date that night had mentioned the Broken Kisses album, and Lena’s facial expression dropped before she covered it with a smile.

Right then, I made it my mission to find out what all of that was about. That was one of Lena’s most successful albums. She won two Grammys for that album, including Songwriter of the Year.

Yes, I had looked it up.

We made small talk for a while until our waitress brought out our food. I’d convinced Lena to try the bacon cheddar burger after she admitted to giving up eating vegan a year ago.

“Good, ’cause this is Texas where BBQ is the eighth wonder of the world,” I’d said, eliciting a laugh from her.

After taking her first bite, Lena’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she let out the sexiest groan I think I’d ever heard a woman make with her clothes on.

“I went vegan because a nutritionist once told me that dairy was bad for my vocal cords,” she said after swallowing the first bite. She peered down at the burger in her hands and shook her head. “Lucky thing I don’t have any performances lined up right now. This cheddar is so amazing.”

I chuckled, happy to see her enjoying her meal. “Texas cows make that cheddar. The burger, too.”

She wiped her mouth with her napkin, pausing to look over at me.

“The Tavern gets all their food locally sourced.”

“Very cool.” She nodded. “Then I don’t feel so bad for eating this,” she said before taking another bite.

I enjoyed watching her devour her food more than I wanted my own dinner, which never happened.

As the time ticked on, the four of us continued talking. Micah and Jodi ended up showing us photos from their honeymoon in Turks and Caicos.

Lena mentioned having vacationed at the same hotel they’d stayed at years before. I listened, but movement on the other end of the patio caught my attention.

There stood two guys with three chicks. They were talking low, and now and again, would peek over at our table. The women would giggle and nod before turning back to one of the guys.

Silently, I watched as one of the idiots took out his phone and pretended as if he were taking shots of the scenery. Yet, I could tell he had his camera pointed directly at Lena. He didn’t notice me watching, and after a while, he placed his phone back in his pocket.

Minutes later, the group got up and started to leave.

“Hey, I need to go to use the restroom,” I said to the table. “Be right back.”

I kept my gaze trained on the group as they exited through the front entrance of the restaurant. I jogged a couple of steps to catch up with them once they were in the parking lot.

“Hey,” I called out, stopping the guy I saw taking the pictures.

“Hey, man— Ow, fuck,” he grunted in agony when I grabbed him into a wrist lock that forced him down to this knees.

“What are you doing?” one of the women yelled, but I ignored her.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Let me go, man,” the asshole groaned and begged, trying to pull his wrist free.

“The more you pull, the worst it’s going to get,” I told him, my voice deceptively calm. “I asked, do you know who I am?”

Blinking, he peered up at me and nodded. “Y-You’re Gabriel Grey Wolf.”

“Excellent, then that means you’re well aware that this wrist lock isn’t half of the amount of pain that I can reign down on your body, right?”

His face was beet red, and his eyes full of water as he nodded again.

“Great. Pull out your phone.”

“Wh-What?”

“Pull out your fucking phone,” I demanded, tightening the wrist lock.

He shrieked in pain. “Okay, okay.” With a shaky hand, he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.

“Delete whatever pictures or video you just took inside.”

He looked baffled, as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

“Do it. Now.” I twisted his wrist harder.

“You’re hurting him,” one of the chicks squeaked.

“Do it.”

He nodded and almost dropped his phone as he did what I told him to.

“Show me.”

He turned the phone to face me, showing he didn’t have any pictures or videos of Lena.

“Delete it from the cloud.”

I held firmly onto his wrist while he deleted the images from any storage. “Now, make your friends do the same.”

They all tried to push back, but I twisted their friend’s wrist harder.

“Unless you want to see his bone pop out of his wrist before the night’s over, I’d do as I asked.”

He begged his friends to listen, which, eventually, they did. Once I ensured that they deleted any pictures of Lena from their phones and cloud storage, I released his wrist.

“Learn to respect people’s privacy, dipshit,” I growled as I pushed him away.

“I’m calling the police,” the other guy, who’d primarily remained silent, said as he backed away.

“Do it and see if I don’t stick your phone up your ass.”

His eyes widened, and he elbowed one of the women out of his way to get to his car.

They all scurried into the car behind him. The tires squealed as he peeled out of the parking lot.

I returned to the table to see Micah, Jodi, and Lena laughing.

“Hey, Lena was about to show us her party trick,” Jodi said.

“I’ve got to see this.” I retook my seat next to her.

Lena’s eyelids fluttered, and she turned away slightly. “It’s not a big deal. Just something I can do.”

“Then I need to see it,” I said.

She shrugged. “I can’t. We don’t have any music.”

“Yes, we do,” Jodi insisted. She pulled out her phone and placed it at the center of the table. “Hm, let’s see.” She tapped a few buttons, and a song started playing. “Go.”

Lena smiled. “Easy. Linkin Park, ‘Numb’. Came out in 2003 off their Meteora album.”

“Okay, that was an easy one to get you warmed up.” Jodi scrolled through her phone again. “I don’t even know what this song is.”

She played another song.

Closing her eyes, Lena let out a small moan. She swayed a little in time with the melody.

“Jessie Ware, ‘Say You Love Me’. Released 2014 off the Tough Love album. Fantastic album, by the way.”

Lena swayed a little more before she opened her mouth, and the most beautiful sound came out. I didn’t typically describe shit as beautiful, but that’s what it was when she began singing the words to the song.

Her voice embodied a slightly deeper level of soul than the original singer, but it sounded almost as heartfelt.

I about stopped breathing while I listened to her. It was as if she was in another world. I was confident I could spend an entire day watching her in her element like this.

I came close to snatching Jodi’s phone off the table and hitting replay when the song ended.

“Sorry, I get carried away sometimes,” she murmured, tucking her chin and pushing a stray curl behind her ear.

“No apologies needed,” I said.

“What he said,” Jodi added. “But, that’s still not fair. That song has over a hundred million views on YouTube. Anyone could’ve heard it before.” She picked up her phone and bit her lip, searching for another song.

“Try this one,” I said, finally catching on to Lena’s trick. I thought this one might trip her up.

I pressed play on my phone from my curated playlist. Within moments the hard chords of the guitar began playing while the lead singer started in with the lyrics.

Lena’s face wrinkled, and I knew I had her.

That was before she surprised me.

She grinned and snapped. “That’s a good one. ‘Pull The Trigger’ by Tetrarch. Released in 2017 from their Freak album.”

“No shit,” I exclaimed, stunned by her accuracy. “No way.” I shook my head. “You must be on the same record label as them or something.”

Her smile instantly dropped, and her eyes darted to the side. “I wish,” she mumbled.

“You’re a fan of heavy metal, too, huh?” Micah asked.

“Good music is good music. Tetrarch’s lead guitarist is a badass Black woman, too.”

“Diamond Rowe,” I said.

Lena smiled. “She’s cool in real life. I’ve met her a couple of times.”

“You’ll have to introduce me.”

She snorted.

Her mood lightened, but I hadn’t forgotten about the way she sobered when I mentioned the label thing. That was another thing I made a mental note to find out about.

“It’s time for us to get going,” Jodi said sometime later. “Love and Hip Hop: New York comes on in twenty minutes. I like to watch it when it first airs.”

Lena gave her a funny look. “You watch that show?”

Jodi let out a laugh. “Never would’ve thought I’d want to, but ever since leaving the PR business, it’s the closest I come to the messes I used to clean up.”

As soon as the words were out, Jodie slapped her hand over her mouth, and her eyes grew wide. “Shit, Lena. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Lena let out a humorless laugh. “Don’t be sorry. It’s only the truth.” Her voice was nonchalant.

We paid for our meals and exited a few minutes later. I held the car door open for Lena, observing as she got inside. She brushed against my body, and I caught sight of a vein in her neck pulse.

“Thank you,” she almost whispered.

“You’re into rock music, huh?” I asked, turning out of the parking lot to head toward LS Investigations to retrieve Lena’s rental car.

She gave me a sideways look. “What? You think because I sing one type of music, I can only listen to that type?”

I let out a chuckle. “Defensive much?”

“Sorry,” she murmured, relaxing her shoulders. “Often, in my industry, you come across people who like to put you in a box. It makes it easier to market you.”

“Is that why you’re down here in Texas?” I asked. “To break out of that box?”

She hesitated before answering. “Not quite. I’m just here to write music. Solitude helps.”

“And how is the writing going?”

“Great,” she responded.

“You almost made me believe you.”

Her eyes widened before she looked away. The silence grew between us, which I didn’t like. I could’ve turned on some music, but I preferred the sound of her honey and milk voice whether she was singing or talking.

“Jodi used to represent you?” I asked into the stillness within the vehicle.

“The PR firm used to,” she answered. “Technically, they still do, I guess.”

“But it was Jodi who used to clean up your messes, as she put it?”

Another pause. Too bad. I wasn’t about to let it drop. I waited for her response, glancing over at her expectantly.

“Something like that.”

“Something like that or that exactly?”

She sucked her teeth. “Am I being interrogated?” She turned her body fully toward me. “Are you planning to sell anything I tell you to a gossip blog or something?”

I reared my head back and gave her a searing glare. “Do I look like one of those lame dumbasses who’d do something so pathetic?” My tone was as sharp as hers was accusatory.

She didn’t say anything immediately. Instead, she continued to stare before easing herself back in the passenger seat.

“Jodi has cleaned up a couple of my messes over the years.” She snorted. “Truthfully, most of them weren’t even made by me.” She shrugged. “Nothing outrageous, to be honest. Some of them were even manufactured.”

“Really?”

“Ever heard of the saying, all news is good news?”

It was my turn to snort. “Yeah.”

“A lot of people in my world take that very seriously.”

She sounded tired, weary. I reached over with my right hand, taking her hand into mine. I squeezed it comfortingly. Warmth shrouded my skin at the small but meaningful, skin to skin contact.

Lena’s hold on my hand tightened as well before she snatched it back. I caught her glaring at me from the corner of my eye.

“We’re here,” I said as we arrived at the parking lot where Lena’s rental sat.

When she reached for the door handle, I stopped her with a hand to her thigh.

“Let me.”

I got out and circled the front of my car, opening the door for her.

“Thanks,” she told me before trying to move around me to get to her car.

I sidestepped, getting in her way.

“What are you doing?” She glanced around. Those plump lips fell ajar. “My cousin taught me self-defense.”

I stepped back, only slightly, with a smirk on my lips. “She seems like the type who’d teach you how to fight.”

“She is,” Lena assured.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” I told her. “You’re safe with me.” I’d never made such a promise to any woman before. Yet, the thought of taking those words back didn’t sit well with me either.

Lena’s shoulders eased, and the fear that played at the corners of her narrowed eyes toned down.

I lifted my hand and traced my pointer finger across her collarbone. She shivered but didn’t move away.

“I wanted to know if your skin was as soft as it looked since the first night we met.”

“Is it?” she asked, whispering.

“No,” I answered. “It’s softer.” I took a step closer.

Her eyes widened again before she blinked and shook her head. “No.” She pressed a palm against my abdomen, pushing me away.

The shove wasn’t harsh, but I took a step back.

“I am not in Harlington for any unnecessary entanglements.” She took another sidestep and held up her finger when I started to move closer. “No. I’m solely here to write. That’s it.” She pivoted on her heels and headed for her car.

“I’ll follow you home,” I said from the driver’s side of my car.

She paused, and the overhead lighting in the parking lot afforded me the chance to see the wrinkle in her brow.

“To make sure you get in okay,” I said. “These roads get dark as hell at night.”

I held up a hand. “There’s no talking me out of this. Either you allow me to follow, or I’ll put your ass back in my car and drive you home myself. What’s your choice? Option A or option B?”

I waited for it to sink in that I wasn’t budging on the matter. She was new to town and not used to the sometimes winding roads. It was dark. Who knew if a stray deer or another animal could run into the street?

“Fine,” she relented before getting in her car and slamming the door shut.

I let out a laugh as I got in my vehicle. This was bound to be a fun ride.