Page 106 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
He said something under his breath that sounded like “living dangerously,” and I swatted his shoulder. Whereupon he pulled me close for a quick, hard kiss.
“Noon.” The way he said it was both warning and promise. He looked at Barney, who nodded.
“Okay, now that we’re all settled on the time, go! I’m going to be late!” I shooed Nico away. He gave me one last kiss before climbing from the car and reluctantly closing the door.
He stood at the elevator lobby, watching us drive away, until we rounded the garage corner and he fell from our sight.
As it turned out, Barney had no trouble at all getting through security at the studios. He had a quiet conversation with the head of security when we arrived, showed him some paperwork, dropped a few names, shook hands, and that was that.
Apparently being a former cop, former military badass, and current bodyguard of a famous person—and having a license to carry a concealed weapon—gave you some serious cred.
He stayed in the background while I worked, out of the way but within eyesight. My client was so worried about her face she barely even noticed he was there. The time flew by, and when I was finished with the job, we still had over an hour left before we needed to pick up Nico. Which gave me an idea.
“I want to make a quick stop by my house, Barney.”
I sat in the front seat with him as we exited the studio lot, because being by myself in the backseat as he drove just seemed strange. He sent me a pained look.
“No can do. You heard what Nico said. We have to go straight back to—”
“I know, I know, but we’ve still got an hour before we’re supposed to meet him, and I need to get some clothes. I’ve been wearing the same three outfits for over a week. C’mon, it’ll only take a few minutes. I’ll just run in and run out.”
His hands gripped tighter around the steering wheel. “Don’t make me choose between him and you, Kat.”
I knew where he was going with that. Obviously I wouldn’t come out on the winning side of that coin toss. I had to try another angle. “Look. Nico wants you to make sure I’m safe, right?”
A curt nod. Barney could tell I was up to something.
“And the only way to really make sure I’m safe when I’m not with him is if I’m with you, right?”
Barney adjusted his tie, and stroked his thumb and forefinger over his tidy goatee.
“And I think we both know that it would be much better for you to accompany me to my house to get some clothes, than for me to drive there myself. Say, in the middle of the night. When you’re not around, and Nico is sleeping.”
Barney’s eyes widened. “Why the hell would you do something like that?”
“Because I need to get my stuff! And nobody seems to know how to find Michael, so I have a bad feeling I’m going to be stuck without most of my clothes for the foreseeable future, because Nico basically has me under house arrest.”
“Just ask him to take you to your place later, then.”
I didn’t mention I’d already tried that tactic. Nico had responded by saying he’d hire a per
sonal shopper to come to the Shack to get all my measurements so I could get a new wardrobe.
I didn’t want a new wardrobe. I wanted the one I already had.
“But we can take care of it right now, and won’t have to inconvenience him at all. And I’ll make sure he knows you didn’t want to,” I hurried to add as I saw his expression sour, “but I forced you to do it when I said I’d sneak out of the house anyway. So you’re actually doing both of us a big favor.”
Barney tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. He looked at me sideways. He shook his head, and I thought I’d lost, but then he turned the car in the direction of the freeway.
I squeezed his arm. “Thanks, Barney. You’re the best.”
“Yeah. Don’t forget to tell that to Nico when he’s got my head on the chopping block.”
“Don’t worry, it’s all going to be fine. Ten minutes and I’m out. Easy peasy.”
Barney grumbled, shaking his head again, clearly not happy with the position he was in. I felt a twinge of guilt, but I still thought Nico was being over the top about this whole safety thing.
Until, that is, I swung open the front door of my house, and looked inside.
