Page 20 of Master Baldor
“You need this for your work?”
I nodded my head vigorously, not trusting myself to speak.
He grinned. “Then let’s go. We can stop there on the way home.”
As we drove to my place, I fidgeted in my seat, fraught with thoughts of negativity.
What would he think when he saw where I lived? Would I no longer be worthy?
Shut up and stop being stupid.
Noah pulled up across the street from my building, gazing around at the parked vehicles.
“Are you looking for him?” I asked in a whispered tone.
“I am looking for anyone who looks like they don’t belong here.”
Almost as if rehearsed, a car pulled out across the street and took off, quickly disappearing around the corner.
The hairs on my arms rose. Somehow, I just knew that was the creepy guy from online. I felt the blood drain from my face. Reality just slammed me with a real-life challenge, and I was afraid, but not willing to admit it to Noah.
“Hey, Shelby. Look at me.”
I couldn’t resist the command in Noah’s tone and turned my head to face him.
“Don’t be afraid. You’re with me and I will protect you. But I believe you are in genuine danger. I have a friend who does the security for the club. I’ll get ahold of him and have him install security, and maybe he’ll even catch a glimpse of the guy so we can track him down.”
I nodded my head and gulped in an attempt to dislodge the lump in my throat but was only partially successful, my agreement sounding like a strangled seagull.
Noah smiled and patted my leg. “Don’t worry about a thing. Now that he seems to be gone, we can go upstairs as well if you need to, so let’s get in there and grab what you need.”
Noah took a firm grip on my hand as we walked up the three flights to my apartment. I shakily unlocked the door and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his reaction to my grungy home.
“How unique.”
Huh? I opened my eyes and saw him looking at my plant hanger made of wire clothing hangars. It was from a DIY hack I found on one of my friend’s YouTube channels.
“Aren’t you the inventive one?” He gazed around the room, which was itself a DIY project. “You are a very clever girl, Shelby.”
See dumbass, our place is cool.
“Are we taking this?” He pointed at the one console I hadn’t taken downstairs because the bag was already too heavy.
“Yes, and the rest is in the locker.”
“Do you want to bring the plant? He might get thirsty while you’re gone.”
“How did you know he’s a he?”
Noah chuckled. “Just a hunch. What is his name?”
“Albert. I don’t have those watering sticks because I spend most of my time at home. He’ll get thirsty, and lonely. Yes, please, Noah, I would like to bring him.”
Noah unhooked the top hangar from the hook and handed it to me and scooping up the tendrils sweeping the floor, placed them over my arm.
He walked into my bedroom before I could stop him. “What about this?” He came out holding a teddy bear whose nose was partially missing, picked off years ago by a nervous little girl who was afraid there were monsters under her bed.
My cheeks flamed seeing Sir Charles in Noah’s hand. He noticed my blush and grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He marched over to the unit and picked up the console like it weighed nothing. “Let’s put his in the car first and come back for the bag.” He took the key from my hand and locked the door. He took Albert and handed me Charles. How did it look, I wondered as I followed him down the stairs and out the door. A young woman with a teddy bear in her arms with a big, powerful man. Would people think he was my sugar daddy? Would I mind if they did?
That had no simple answer, at least not while I was living it. Maybe I could journal that in with my perfect night entry. I’d always been alone and never shared who I was with anyone. Even Dahlia only knew what I allowed her to know. Yet here I was with Noah, on our first date and he knew about my place and my crafty side, my Middle side and now that he’d seen my place, he’d also seen my love of the 80s. It felt like he’d pried me open, and it was a little unsettling.
That and my livelihood going to someone else’s home was unsettling and the fact it was all temporary. Maybe if I played it like a role in one of my games, I would survive the eventual heartbreak that was bound to happen when the coast was clear, and he sent me home.
Guarding my heart would be essential, or never mind being back as I was before tonight. I’d be worse off because I’d have lost the one thing I wanted most—my perfect Daddy. Back in the car, Noah asked if I was ready, and when I nodded, headed for the exclusive end of town, to the land of palaces and money.