Page 24 of Dangerous Rhythm

After a quick goodnight to everyone who was still there, Curtis followed Lina down the stairs. Marie walked out with them. At the door, she said good night to Lina before she turned to him, stood on the tips of her shoes and kissed his cheeks.

“It’s good to see you, handsome,” Marie said. “I wish it was under a different circumstance, but I’m glad you’re here,cher.”

Curtis smiled at the pretty blonde. Marie was one of the few women he’d adored because she was so straitlaced but such a badass underneath that buttoned-up business suit. They’d had fun while he’d been in Paris and gone their separate ways as friends.

“Bonne nuit, Marie,” Curtis said.

Still grinning big after watching Marie walk away, Curtis turned to find Lina standing casually a few feet away with her hands in her jacket’s pockets, studying him with a speculating look on her face.

eleven

“If you want to invite her in, I’ll give you space,” Lina said, surprising Curtis. She gestured with her chin to where Marie had gone. “But you better make your decision quick. She’s almost at the gate.”

Curtis’ brows rose at her words, a little peeved at her innuendo. “Is that what you think of me? That I want to bang every pretty face?”

“You banged that one already,” Lina said as a matter-of-factly.

He didn’t deny it. “We had fun. We’re just friends now.”

“Like the woman running out of your apartment yesterday?”

This time his brows jammed together at the bridge of his nose, thinking back to yesterday and who was she talking about? It flooded back to him.

Jill.

“Shit, was that only yesterday?” He rubbed his hands over his face in disbelief.

“A lot happened since,” Lina said, sounding shockingly understanding instead of judgmental of him for forgetting whom he slept with just twenty-four hours ago. Or was it thirty?

“Jill and I scratch each other’s back—so to speak—when we need to. No strings attached.” Curtis wasn’t sure why he felt the need to explain himself.

Lina just shrugged. “This way?” She gestured to the lit path toward the other side of the property.

Curtis started following her when he stumbled over his own feet. “Whoa.” He grabbed her shoulder.

Lina deftly steadied him by putting an arm around his waist. “Not drunk, huh?”

“I’m not that drunk,” he insisted and threw an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe I just like having you around to catch me when I fall.”

She finally laughed at his cheesy line. “Where’s this studio you’re sleeping in, anyway?”

He grinned. “Why Lina, can’t wait to get me to bed, can you?”

“You got that right.” Her amused response was an improvement in their dynamic.

After months of trying to get her to break out of her security-team-leader persona during the last tour, he’d gotten a few smiles out of her. But she hadn’t made it easy on him. She had the hardest will to break. She was the Untouchable, after all.

They reached the studio and climbed the short stairs to the door.

“The key’s in here somewhere.” Curtis started patting his pockets, then he had a bad idea he probably shouldn’t try with Lina. But his buzzed brain made him bold. “Try my left front pocket. I can’t reach it.” It was the side pressed against her.

Lina eyed him with suspicion, but Curtis just looked at her innocently. She dipped a hand into his pocket and stopped at the midpoint just around his pelvis.

“I didn’t realize guy’s pockets go so deep,” she murmured as she dove lower. “What do you do with all this room?”

Curtis sucked in a breath as her palm pressed against his crotch, almost brushing his boys as her fingers searched for the key. But in a flash, the pressure left him.

“Found it.” She brandished the single key and stuck it into the lock.

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