“Hey! What was that for?” I asked and swatted him back, suddenly realizing he’d led me back to my car.
“You need your keys to unlock the door,” he said slowly. “To get your change of clothes.”
Opening my purse, I unhooked my keys and handed them to him.
He looked from the keys to me and back with a look of exaggerated confusion on his face. “What mystical sorcery is this? I’ve never seen a female find her keys that fast in real life. Wait a minute. Was that a magic trick? Oh, please tell me I’m on one of those reality shows right now.”
A giant gust of wind blew, right that very second, and slammed my large, heavy purse right into his abdomen, producing the most beautiful, “Oof!”
“It’s called a carabiner hook, you big dufus. I don’t know why other women, or at least the ones you’ve been around, don’t use them, but I’ve kept my keys on one since I was eighteen years old. I clip them inside my purse or on the strap, and I hang them up in the same spot as soon as I get home. It’s rare that I ever lose my keys. And let me take this moment to make it clear that if you hide my keys and try to claim I lost them, I’ll superglue your balls to your taint while you’re sleeping.” With that, I pointed to my keys. “You gonna unlock it or keep palming my fob?”
He clicked unlock while staring at me with an odd look on his face. “I think I’m supposed to be putting you in the crazy pile and sending you on your way, but I’m strangely turned on by your threat. You got any more where that one came from?”
Ignoring his question, I shook my head and reached into the trunk to retrieve my bag when a tattooed forearm filled my vision. “Are you new here? I know you can do it, but when I’m around, you don’t have to, and I don’t want you to.”
“Thank you,” I said and stepped out of the way. “And for the record, I’m not offended by chivalry, but I appreciate your concern for my feelings.”
He smiled shyly. “My mom was a very laid-back woman. She didn’t have many rules for us growing up but being respectful of others and minding our manners were two she was strict about.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman. I’d love to hear more about her sometime.” I genuinely did. It’d been almost a year since my mom died, and I cherished every chance I got to share my favorite memories of her with someone.
I followed him in through the back to his room a few doors down on the right. I’m not sure what I was envisioning his room to be, but it wasn’t a bedroom just like any other bedroom you would walk into.
He noticed my expression and laughed. “What did you expect?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Wood paneling on the walls, popcorn ceilings, a variation of orange or brown carpet, a lot of dust, and I was definitely anticipating some sort of musty smell.”
He laughed so loud I just knew he’d have the entire club knocking on his door in a matter of minutes. “Shhh!” I insisted and ran into the bathroom without grabbing my bag. “Damn it!” I whispered and whirled around to get it. However, Bronze had moved it to right outside the bathroom door. “Thank you,” I called while snatching my bag and quickly closed the door.
After changing into a new shirt, I realized I needed to change into a different pair of jeans, which led to another pair of shoes, followed by a change of jewelry, and finally, another style of bra. When I emerged almost fifteen minutes later, Bronze was sitting on the edge of his bed, bouncing a beautiful baby girl in his arms. She turned her head toward me and grinned.
“Hi there,” I cooed and wiggled my fingers in the air.
“Blue, this is Sloane. Sloane, this is my daughter, Blue Talon Black,” he said proudly.
“She’s beautiful,” I whispered, mesmerized by her stunning blue irises. “Did you name her Blue because of her eyes?”
He laughed and shook his head. “No, I didn't. I always said that’s what I’d tell people, but since you know the real story, it was because she was wrapped in a blue blanket when she was first given to me.”
Realizing I had inadvertently brought up a sensitive subject, I changed the subject