Page 59 of Sweet Temptation

Holy shit. I’d just made the stoic bodyguard laugh. Barely, but still… A nice little shiver ran down my spine at that deep, alpha tone of his.

Encouraged, maybe, I pulled out my phone. “Would you like some music?”

“It’s your home. Like I told you, you’re not required to entertain me.”

“Humor me. Entertaining is what I do.”

“Music is fine,” he said.

“Music is better than fine,” I corrected him. “But I’ll take it.” I scrolled through some artists in my music app. “Now, to figure out what you like. Don’t tell me.” I studied him.

He stuffed his mouth with rice, like, I’m not telling you anything.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Please tell me you like music.”

“Everyone likes music.”

“You’d think that would be true, but there are some real weirdos in this world.”

He took a sip of water, and I couldn’t tell if maybe he was blocking another chuckle.

“Okay, let’s see. Security guy. Works out…” I looked him over gratuitously. “Dresses well. Was a real piece of shit in his younger days…”

“And where do you get that from?”

“Educated guess.”

He considered that. “How young are we talking?”

“Young. Like, you were an absolute nightmare in adolescence. But you chilled out when you hit adulthood. Am I right or what?”

He muttered, “You might actually be right,” and took another bite of food.

“I knew it. Likes good food. Likes a challenge. I mean, that much is obvious, given your line of work. Likes his women sexy, obviously. But also… smart,” I ventured. “And likes his music… hard, but not too heavy. I’m guessing you still like the stuff you listened to in those angry teenage years? Reminds you of a simpler time, when you were free to tell people to fuck off right to their face.”

He glanced at me, and there was a definite glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Hmm. How old are you?”

“Thirty-five.”

“Uh-huh.” I hit up Google. “And you know who was fucking huge… when you were seventeen? Ha. Got it.”

I put on 3 Doors Down, “Kryptonite.” And gauged his response.

“Did I nail it, or did I nail it?”

“I’d have to say you nailed it.”

I beamed. “Admit it. You had the CD, didn’t you?”

“On repeat. It skipped when I drove over bumps in my first car and I still listened to it.”

“Of course you did. That was back when CDs were a precious commodity. Everyone had those tower shelves in their living rooms loaded with them. Imagine all those fuckers all over the bottom of the ocean right now.”

“Shit. I never thought of that.”

“Do you still have your CDs and your CD towers?”

---