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“I’m sorry about your bed and room getting destroyed,” she said, guessing again as to why he was being an ass.
He shrugged. Because every time he spoke, he revealed way more than he was comfortable revealing.
“Okay, cards on the table, I already had my security go through your background to get you clearance.”
His eyes went wide and he blinked at her.
“That’s why I didn’t offer right away last week. I had to make sure they would approve. They’ve been really strict after the stalker thing a couple weeks ago.”
“What stalker thing?” Asa asked, his chest churning with alarm and anger.
She waved a hand. “Oh, some guy broke into my house in LA and security found him in my bed.” She made a face. “It was all over the news, I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”
He scratched the side of his neck. He hadn’t seen it because he had her muted everywhere.
“Anyway, you’ve been approved! Yay.” She waved her hands in a lowkey celebration. “I have the place for six months. It’ll give you time to rebuild your savings without having to sleep here.” She looked down at the couch beneath her.
It probably looked pretty sad from her perspective.
He licked his lips, trying to get moisture back into his mouth. “You’re really staying in town a while?” he asked, realizing that avoiding her wasn’t a plan he could keep.
And also realizing he didn’t really want to.
She blew raspberries. “Yeah. I’m—” She shook her head like she didn’t know what to say. “I’m taking some time off. From all of it.”
“But what about your album?” he asked. She’d been so excited about it just a few months ago. “You really shelved it?”
A pained look crossed her face. “Indefinitely.”
“Why?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“Asa,” she said, like he knew better. “You know why.”
He rubbed the back of his neck as heat gathered in his chest. This conversation was barreling right toward the place he wanted to avoid.
Right back to that night where they’d talked and talked andtalked.
Fuck.
She was so easy to connect with.
She was too damn likable.
He knew he should be rude and end the conversation. Tell her to leave. Risk Nikki’s wrath.
But he couldn’t.
When it came to Zara, he was just too damn weak to commit to the asshole bit anymore.
And just like that, he let go of the edges of emotional distance he’d been clinging to by his fingernails. He fell, fell, fell, into the warm, cotton-soft rapport he had only found with her.
“It got worse?” he asked.
“So much worse,” she confirmed with an eye roll. “And I could release it. I could. It would be a legal battle with Logan because he wants credit. But even then, you know everyone will read into it. Everyone will pull apart the lyrics and dissect them looking for clues as to why I’m the villain. Looking for the proof of all that I’ve been accused. They’re determined to paint me as a gimmick or a fad or worse, a fake.”
He gave her a look. “You arenotthe villain.”
Her lips curved into a sad smile like she didn’t quite believe him. And he should have stopped, but something took over and he couldn’t.
