Page 14 of Sweet Temptation

“Then how about you have dibs on the next one.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m fucking tired of everyone thinking I need to get fixed up just because I’m thirty-five and single.”

Andre laughed. “The only reason they’re setting you up is because they think you’re a catch, and they want to see your cold ass melt. They can’t wait to introduce you to their hot single lady friends. I’d love to get that kind of endorsement.”

I looked at him.

Andre was a big dude, fit, gainfully employed, and he wasn’t ugly. He wasn’t winning any beauty contests either, objectively speaking, but he was a great guy. Warm-hearted, fucking brave, and always good for a laugh.

He was a hell of a lot nicer than I was.

“You don’t get hooked up?” I asked him.

“Not like you do, fucker. And not with women who look like that.”

Huh.

“You think I should go back,” I said, just to be an asshole, “give Roshana another chance?”

“Fuck, yeah. You serious?”

I shook my head. “Not happening.”

“So, life’s just one giant, gorgeous-woman buffet for you, huh Ronan Sterling?”

“You know, it really is,” I said, just to piss him off.

Andre coughed, and muttered something that sounded distinctly like Eat a dick.

My phone rang through the speakers in my car, and a name popped up on the screen on my dash.

Brody Mason.

I glanced at Andre, who raised an eyebrow.

I answered the call. “Brody. This is Ronan. I’ve got you on speaker here with one of my guys.”

“Hey, Ronan.” Brody’s voice filled the car. “Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night.”

“No problem. What’s going on?”

“We’ve got a situation with one of my musicians. The police are at her house right now with a canine unit. Some guy tried to break in. I’m on my way over there from North Van, and I have one of my guys responding. Wondering if you can put a body on the house for me tonight, and we can talk in the morning about a possible ongoing situation?”

“Yeah. Of course.” I let off the accelerator, slowing down. We were on a residential street, a few blocks from Andre’s place. “Where?”

“Arbutus Ridge. I’ll text you the address so you can put it in GPS. I’m just getting in my car.”

I stopped my car in the middle of the dark street. We must’ve been close to the scene. “I’m in Dunbar right now, just off sixteenth.”

“I’ll see you there, then?”

“Yeah,” I said, making the decision on the fly. “I’ll be there when you arrive.”

“Perfect. See you soon. And thank you.”

“You got it.”

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