me than a promoter with benefits while I was in town.
I popped into her office Monday afternoon. “Got any plans for tonight?”
She looked up from a tablet, her features softening as her expression transformed from corporate professional to sex kitten right before my eyes. “A few. Those new items I ordered should be delivered sometime today.”
I groaned inwardly, remembering our online shopping spree. I was on a mission here and had to stay focused. “Excellent. Before we get to that though, I thought we’d go to Roland Heights.”
She blinked. “Why?”
I shrugged and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Because I’m hungry for pho, and I distinctly remember you telling Lydia that you knew of a place in Roland Heights that had the best Vietnamese food around. In fact, you said a lot of things, Ms. D’Agolino, that lead me to believe you’ve been holding out on me.”
She sat back and raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing about her lips. “Holding out, huh?”
“Absolutely. Here I am, a VIP in your fine city, and I’ve seen very little of it.”
“I can arrange some tours for you, Mr. Logan.”
I crossed her office with slow, deliberate steps, liking the way her eyes latched on and followed me. I laid my hands flat on her desk and leaned forward. “I want a private tour, with a private tour guide.”
“You do, huh?” Her eyes glittered.
“Oh yeah. Someone who wouldn’t mind giving me the real SoCal experience, the way only a local can.” I grinned and dropped my gaze to her cleavage and then looked back up to her eyes. “I tip quite well.”
“Yes, you do,” she murmured.
“So, you’ll make it happen?”
Eva stood up and closed the gap between us, her eyes filled with challenge. “That’s what I do, Mr. Logan. Take care of the needs of our VIPs.”
A growl rose up at the back of my throat. “Your VIP. Singular. We’re both aware of the pitfalls of misspoken plurals.”
She laughed. “Very true. All right, Mr. Logan. You’re on.”
~ * ~
The pho was excellent, I was happy to report, as was the company. It was nice, walking around with Eva on my arm. Even better, no one recognized me. For a few hours, we were just like any other couple out for a quiet dinner.
An added bonus: knowing our special online purchases were waiting for us back at the house built up a sense of anticipation as we slurped those rice noodles.
“Tonight was fun,” I said later that night as she lay warm and naked on top of me.
“It was,” she agreed.
“We should get out more often. Experience the local flavor. Go places. Do things.”
“What kind of things?”
“I don’t know. You know the area. What do you suggest?”
She lifted her head and propped it on her hands, now flattened across my chest. “Well, this isn’t your first visit to LA. What have you done?”
“Not much.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Why not?”
I caressed her ass, loving the feel of it beneath my palms. “Because I’ve never had such a sexy, capable, personal tour guide before.”
She stretched and pressed her lips to mine before settling back on my chest. “All right. But every time we do something, you have to tip me like you did tonight.”
“Deal.”
~ * ~
Eva handled my request like she did everything else—perfectly. Because she was working long days, we were limited to short evening excursions during the week.
Every few nights, she had something planned, usually something that involved visiting some hole-in-the-wall place that I would have just passed by had I been on my own. From the outside, they were nothing to look at, but when we stepped inside, it was a completely different story.
We visited the Santa Monica Pier. Mostly, we just walked around and watched the street performers, but we rode the Ferris wheel twice. Some of my favorite moments were when we made out like teenagers high above the ground.
On the weekends, we had more time. We rented birds—electric scooters—and explored downtown LA. Went to Venice Beach during the day; listened to street musicians, hand in hand; and then relaxed at one of the many rooftop bars. We hiked Mount Baldy and visited Joshua Tree National Park.
She took me to Malibu where we watched surfers. We cruised the Pacific Coast Highway and saw the seals in La Jolla. I’d done some of those things before, but doing them with Eva was like experiencing everything for the first time. Especially since she had a way of making them different and exciting.
“Have you been to the Hollywood sign?” she