Page 47 of Damaged Protector
“I own the house.”
“Yeah, but the electric bill, water, internet…”
“I paid those bills on my own long before you arrived. You’re not giving me any money.” His voice was as hard as steel, signaling that there was no room for argument.
I argued anyway. “I wouldn’t feel right, Hawk.”
His pink lips vibrated as he blew out an exasperated breath. “How about you pay me with services rendered.”
You mean like… I brushed that naughty thought away.
“I could be your butler,” I offered.
Hawk laughed and shook his head. “This isn’t an episode of Seinfeld. It’s completely unnecessary for you to pay anything, but if you’re going to insist, we could call it even if you made lasagna for me once a week.”
I put on my bargaining hat. “Three meals a week, including lasagna, and I purchase the groceries.”
He thought about it for a long moment before speaking. “You can buy the groceries for the lasagna, and I’ll cover the rest. You need to save your money.”
Thinking about it, I knew it still wasn’t quite a fair deal, but at least I’d feel like I was contributing something. And it wouldn’t really be that long. I was moving into the graduate student dorm in August.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“I was thinking of something else,” he said, taking the next exit with the speed and smoothness of a racecar driver. “You said you wanted to rent studio space to teach some dance lessons, right?”
“I’m thinking about it,” I said, wondering where he was going with this.
“If it’s just private lessons, you could use the workout room at the house. I’m not sure it’s big enough for a group class but should be good enough for one-on-ones.”
If I said I was stunned, it would be a severe understatement. “That… that would be amazing,” I gushed. “Are you sure?”
“Yup, it’s fine. I can work out in the mornings or when you’re done.” He whipped the truck into a parking garage beside a high-rise building covered with blue mirrored glass. “We’re here.”
Well, I guess it was decided then.
“This is so nice,” I said when we exited the elevator on the fourteenth floor. The floors were navy-blue marble with flecks of gold, and a large wooden reception desk was backed by the words DFW Security Force emblazoned in a slanted font on the wall.
“We have the entire floor,” Hawk informed me. “We just recently moved into this building, and we have a lot more space. Used to have to share offices, but we all have our own now. Except for Woody and Taz. They share.”
“They’re married, right?”
“Yup.” With a hand between my shoulder blades, he guided me toward the reception desk. “Morning, Lisa.”
The dark-haired beauty flashed a brilliant smile. “Good morning, Mr. Gentry. I have a few messages for you.” She held out a sheaf of small, pale-blue notes, and he took them.
“This is Mallori, Cam’s cousin. She’s interviewing to take over Journey’s job while she’s out.”
“Oh, fantastic!” she sang. “I’m afraid she’s going to pop at any moment.” Her warm brown eyes shifted toward me. “Good luck with the interview, Mallori. I’m sure you’ll be great.” Her voice was a sweet drawl, wrapping softly around her vowels, and I instantly liked her.
“Thank you. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Enough chit chat,” Hawk grunted, leading me toward a door to the left of the desk.
Lisa stuck out her tongue at his back, and I liked her even more.
“Watch yourself, Lisa,” he said without breaking stride. What the hell? Does he have eyes on the back of his head?
Adorable peals of laughter followed us as he swiped a card through the reader, and a blue light flashed. When the door clicked, we went through into a hallway with dark-blue carpeting.