I hung my head, glad for any excuse to look away from the great rocker. “I must be a disappointment to you.”
He put the guitar back on the wall, then he lifted my chin to look at me. Warmth radiated through my body, and I allowed myself to return a smaller smile. This was so messed up! All I wanted to do was throw myself at him and kiss him again. Instead, I had to kick myself on the inside to keep myself focused.
Alejandro shook his head slowly. “No, Deborah. You’ve yet to disappoint me.” He let go of my chin and walked over to a big metal door by the side of the room. “Are you ready for the special guitar collection?”
“You have even more?” I looked around the room, which had over fifty guitars in it. “How many guitars can one man own?”
“The ones out here are mine. But George has his own collection that he keeps at my place. Let me show you.”
So the rumors were true. I was about to see George’s fabled collection of stolen guitars. Alejandro turned to a keypad next to the door. Although he covered it with his other hand while he entered the code, I could see the movement of his button-pushing hand, which was enough. Aunt Franny, a keen observer of the human body, had taught me when I was little to read the muscles and bones in a hand pressing a numeric keypad. What can I say? Old habits are hard to lose.
The room with George’s collection was more like a vault: austere, windowless, and protected by a door that belonged on a bank safe. A dozen guitars hung on the walls of this room, and a thirteenth was displayed on a pedestal in the center. In stark contrast to Alejandro’s guitars, these were much more securely protected in glass cases. I noticed alarm wires on each case and quickly spotted cameras, laser beam emitters, and a few other high-tech security features. George clearly had a different approach to the care of his valuables.
I gave Alejandro a grin. “Nobody gets near George’s collection.”
“No. He doesn’t even like it when I show it to people. Don’t tell him I let you in here.”
“If he’s so sensitive about it, why does he keep it here?”
“Because I’ve got space for it and better security. And because he can come here whenever he wants.”