Alejandro called me the next day, first thing in the morning. We’d had a lovely dinner at his place, after which Udo had brought me back, early in the evening. But dinner with this man was difficult enough, and the intensity of his parting kiss had left me shaken. So I hadn’t slept much last night.

I managed to grab my phone and squinted at his name. Was I the only person in the world who was unhappy to be awakened by the Lord of Rock and Roll? I scooted farther under the covers to take the call.

“Deborah!” He enthused a little too much, which made me wonder what was going on. A man so famous and desirable couldn’t possibly want me this badly. Sure, in my fantasies, we fell instantly in love. But in real life, it didn’t happen. So I couldn’t figure it out.

I mumbled my response through a pre-caffeinated fog. “You seem happy.” Some people are more chipper in the morning than others, and Mr. Sunshine seemed like one of those early risers. His gentle laugh warmed me and brought me fully awake. Okay, perhaps it really wasn’t so bad to get a personal wakeup call from a world-famous rocker. So what if his desire was mysterious? Just thinking about his hot mouth made me start to liquefy. I had to take a moment to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming.

But what he said next assured me that this was no dream. “I got the money early, and I’m ready to buy the guitar today. When can you bring it over?”

Whoa, what? He was rearranging the deal? Not good. Now I understood why he seemed so excited—he was playing games, being the important person and commanding others. I needed to be careful here.

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He seemed to be cutting out his business manager, doing the deal himself and at his place. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, so I probed politely. “I thought we were doing the deal at George’s.”

“I’m relieving him of his duties for this deal. I don’t trust him anymore, so I got the money myself. When can you bring over the guitar? To my place, by the way.”

So George was out. For the most part, I was relieved by this change. First of all, I’d get to finish the deal four days early, which would get me home sooner. And secondly, I wouldn’t have to deal with George. The stories of his thugs and their aggressive tactics fed directly into my fear of bad con repercussions and disturbed me more than I wanted to admit. All in all, I was glad to be done with Alejandro’s ruthless business manager.

Alejandro called me the next day, first thing in the morning. We’d had a lovely dinner at his place, after which Udo had brought me back, early in the evening. But dinner with this man was difficult enough, and the intensity of his parting kiss had left me shaken. So I hadn’t slept much last night.

I managed to grab my phone and squinted at his name. Was I the only person in the world who was unhappy to be awakened by the Lord of Rock and Roll? I scooted farther under the covers to take the call.

“Deborah!” He enthused a little too much, which made me wonder what was going on. A man so famous and desirable couldn’t possibly want me this badly. Sure, in my fantasies, we fell instantly in love. But in real life, it didn’t happen. So I couldn’t figure it out.

I mumbled my response through a pre-caffeinated fog. “You seem happy.” Some people are more chipper in the morning than others, and Mr. Sunshine seemed like one of those early risers. His gentle laugh warmed me and brought me fully awake. Okay, perhaps it really wasn’t so bad to get a personal wakeup call from a world-famous rocker. So what if his desire was mysterious? Just thinking about his hot mouth made me start to liquefy. I had to take a moment to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming.

But what he said next assured me that this was no dream. “I got the money early, and I’m ready to buy the guitar today. When can you bring it over?”

Whoa, what? He was rearranging the deal? Not good. Now I understood why he seemed so excited—he was playing games, being the important person and commanding others. I needed to be careful here.

He seemed to be cutting out his business manager, doing the deal himself and at his place. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, so I probed politely. “I thought we were doing the deal at George’s.”

“I’m relieving him of his duties for this deal. I don’t trust him anymore, so I got the money myself. When can you bring over the guitar? To my place, by the way.”

So George was out. For the most part, I was relieved by this change. First of all, I’d get to finish the deal four days early, which would get me home sooner. And secondly, I wouldn’t have to deal with George. The stories of his thugs and their aggressive tactics fed directly into my fear of bad con repercussions and disturbed me more than I wanted to admit. All in all, I was glad to be done with Alejandro’s ruthless business manager.




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