Page 39 of Gin & Trouble

“My dad insisted I take self-defense training.”

“Right. I remember now. You loved it so much, you enrolled in martial arts classes.” I led her down the hall and stopped outside the hidden door.

She stared as if shocked I remembered the details of her life.

Surprise, sweetheart. I never forget things that are important to me.

Rubbing my hands together, I did my best Joker imitation. “Ready to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

“That’s so cute, you think you’re scary. Well, mister, I’ve seen scary and you don’t have his smile.” She didn’t miss a beat with her Harley Quinn impersonation.

I liked it. I liked it a hell of a lot, and so did my cock. Clearing my throat, I muttered, “Never do that again unless we’re naked.”

Julia’s eyes widened but I couldn’t tell if she was offended or amused. “Hurry up. The suspense is killing me.”

“As you wish.” Pressing the secret button, I opened the door and took a flourished bow.

The woman of my dreams walked inside my favorite place on the planet and stopped in her tracks. “Wow…this is…” She shook her head. “I expected it to be the size of a guest bedroom.”

I couldn’t help but smile. One of the things I loved most about her, besides her love of all things geek, was her appreciation for tech. “This used to be a separate studio apartment. I had the original entrance closed off and this door installed.”

She took a few more tentative steps. “There’s so much, I don’t know what to admire first.”

“This set up is for my day job.” I nodded to a semicircle-shaped desk with three monitors. “But you’re not here for the boring stuff.”

“That’s boring?” She laughed. “It’s like the Taj Mahal compared to my cubicle.”

Resting my hand on the small of her back, I guided her deeper into my lair. “There’s a fridge, snack cabinet, and microwave over there.”

“Nice.” Julia gasped and practically ran to my collection of old-school arcade games. Of course, she stopped to caress the rarest one. “Is this an original William’s Blaster Cockpit?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I wiggled my brows.

Holding her arms out wide, she spun in a circle like the nun-turned-nanny fromSound of Music. “How do you get any work done in here with so many distractions?”

“Who says I work?” I nodded to the specially made gaming chairs and ginormous monitor. “That’s where I play with you every night.”

She settled into the Scandinavian-style lounger. “It’s amazingly comfortable. No wonder you’re able to go for so long.”

I bit back another inappropriate comment. She’d had a bad day, and I sure as hell didn’t want to scare her off by coming onto her. But Julia in that chair was making it—and me—hard.

The curved designed positioned her body in the most intriguing way. I’m talking knees raised, back arched, breasts up, awesomeness. My mind immediately conjured images of her stretched across the butter soft leather—naked.

Get a grip, Marchionni. She’s here because she’s in danger. Not to play with your joystick.

I seated myself on the adjacent chair. “I’ll send someone to your place to pick up your things. Just make another list.”

“I’ll have my sister pack a bag for me before she leaves town and have my friend drop it off tomorrow.” Her eye twitched and her smiled deflated.

I was beginning to wonder if the eye thing was a nervous tic, or a tell. “Are you sure you can wait that long?”

“As long as you have an extra toothbrush and some sweats, I’ll be fine.” Her plastic smile returned. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here.”

“It’s whatfriendsdo for each other.” The word tasted bitter, but we had to start somewhere, so friends it was—for now.

Glancing around, she said, “I’m sorry I ghosted you this past week.”

“Did you really have the flu?”

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