Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I sigh.
I hope this isn’t a big mistake.
The only reason I offered him my apartment in the first place was because he insinuated that I wouldn’t want to be associating with the likes of him. Because I’ve been constantly scrutinized because of the privilege I was born into, I immediately went on the defensive and assumed he was calling me an uppity bitch. So, to prove that I wasn’t, I did the “logical” thing and opened my home up to a complete stranger.
Well, almost complete stranger.
I take a seat on my couch and enjoy my final moments of total privacy.
A few moments later, he knocks on the door.
I open it. His long dark hair is pulled back into a low ponytail this morning. I force back a chuckle. Rock stars and their long hair. I don’t get long hair on men. My brother Dale wears his hair long, and his wife loves it. Most women do. But long hair on a man has never been my thing.
Except on Dragon. I have the strange urge to pull the band out of his hair and watch it flow over his broad shoulders.
And damn…he has broad shoulders.
He’s only about six feet tall, which is short to me since my father and brothers are all over six two, but his mere presence makes him seem bigger.
I open the door and gesture for him to come in.
He carries a medium-sized duffel bag—camouflage print—and a backpack. That’s it.
Imagine having everything you own in only two bags.
“I’ll show you to your room,” I say.
He nods and follows me.
I open the door. “It locks from the inside so you can have some privacy while you’re in here. You’ve got a queen-size bed, and here’s your en suite bathroom with a tub and shower. There’s some shampoo and toothpaste in here, but you’ll need to get the rest of the stuff yourself.”
He nods again.
I swallow, cross the room, and open the door to the closet. “And here’s your closet.”
He drops his jaw. “A walk-in closet?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck,” he says. “I’ve never had one.”
“Well, you do now.” Though I doubt he has enough clothes in those two bags to fill it.
His eyes are wide, but his face remains motionless. “This is great.”
“Glad you like it.” I inch toward the hallway. “Go ahead and get settled in. I assume you’ll get your own groceries and make your own meals. I’ve cleared off a shelf in the pantry, and I’ll do one in the fridge for you.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem.” I turn and start to leave.
He clears his throat. “So about compensation.”
My heart flutters. Why is every conversation with this man so unsettling?
I turn around and paste a smile on my face. “Don’t worry about that. You just concentrate on staying sober, and you’ll of course be responsible for your own meals and toiletries.”
He frowns. “I’ve got to pay something, Diana.”
I blink. “What can you afford?”
He takes a deep breath and fixes his eyes on the floor. “Well, not much at the moment. But I plan to start taking private students for drumming. And then of course, once Jesse and Rory are both back from their honeymoons, the band will start performing again.”
“Then let’s just leave it for now.” I turn again, but I stop. I crane my neck back into the room. “By the way… Where exactly are you planning to take students?”
“Not here. Don’t worry.”
I look around. “Where are your drums?”
He takes another deep breath and looks out the window toward the mountains. “They’re still at the Pike place, in the garage. If I get any students, I’ll rent a studio and drums here in the city.”
I nod. “Good enough.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing anyway. You know, to practice.”
“Good.”
That means he has enough money to at least do that. Brianna told me that all the band members got a signing bonus of ten thousand dollars when they agreed to open for Emerald Phoenix in the UK and Europe, but I doubt Dragon was compensated much after that since he only performed once. They had to bring in a substitute drummer.
“Okay, then.” I place my hand on the doorknob. “Go ahead and get settled. I’m going to go down and talk to security about getting some keys for you. We use key cards here. You’ll have one for the main building so you don’t have to use the intercom every time you want to come up, and it will also get you into this penthouse.”
“One key for both?”
I clear my throat. “Yeah. We’re on the cutting edge of technology here.” I regret the words as soon as I speak them. They sounded pretty condescending.
But he doesn’t seem to take offense.
“I appreciate it,” he says again.
“You’re welcome,” I say with a little bite in my voice.
His eyebrow twitches, but he doesn’t say anything. He just leans down and opens one of his duffels.