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I stayed put. “No. This is my home.”
“This is unsafe, is what it is. Tomorrow you can come back—when it’s daylight and the door and windows are fixed.” He moved back to the entrance. “Echo, come on, boy.”
My traitorous dog wagged his tail and followed.
By the time they reached the porch steps, I realized I had no choice and followed. I grabbed Echo’s leash from the front table and closed the door as best I could behind me.
“My place on Wilshire,” Josh told the driver after the three of us were settled inside the car. He said it as if he had more than one house.
I stroked Echo’s head. “You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. I promised to keep you safe, remember?”
“It’s okay. I can go to a hotel.”
“No way. I’d never forgive you if you didn’t let me keep my promise.”
“Never?” I scoffed.
“Never,” he growled.
The knight-in-shining-armor routine was corny and cute, but the guy needed to get a sense of humor.
For a moment I considered arguing, but instead leaned against him. “Thank you.” He’d been the one good thing in this shitstorm of a day. His warmth flowed through the clothing between us and comforted me.
During the ride, all I could do was wonder who would attack me like that. No names came to mind. I’d told my neighbor more than once to keep his dog off my lawn in very un-ladylike language. Outside of that, I couldn’t think of a single one of my neighbors I’d had a cross word with—not even the father of the kid who’d hit a baseball through my window last year.
The driver pulled into a circular drive and stopped in front of a tall, dark building. Josh got out and started around the car.
I didn’t wait. I opened my own door. Fuck this lady shit. I took Echo to the nearest shrub to let him lift his leg.
As we approached the building, a doorman held the glass door open for us. Mr. Moneybags here had a damned doorman at his place. I’d never been to a building with a doorman before, unless it was a hotel.
“George,” Josh said. “This is Miss Nicole Rossi. Please add her to the approved-visitors list.”
Approved-visitor’s list?Like you needed an invitation to get in the door? Sandy would never believe this.
“Will do, and a pleasure, Miss Rossi,” the old man said as I passed him.
“You too, George,” I managed.
Once inside the elevator, I expected Josh to punch the button for the top floor. Instead he hit twenty-one, one shy of the penthouse, but still sky high by LA standards.
The corridor we exited into only led to two units. Based on the size of the building, that made these units bigger than most people’s freestanding homes. He slid his key into 211, and the door opened into an even more monstrous room than I’d expected.
I let Echo off his leash.
“This way.” Josh waved me down a hallway and opened a door on the right. “You can sleep in here.”
I stepped into the guest bedroom, which I was not surprised to see was bigger than my master at home. Echo followed me. A bathroom and a walk-in closet were to the left and a king-size bed to the right. The window overlooked Wilshire Boulevard.
Josh returned with a USC T-shirt. “To sleep in.”
I accepted it. “Thanks.” With both my bags in the belly of a broken plane in Iowa, anything was welcome.
“The bathroom is fully stocked. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I’m directly across the hall if you need anything.” He stood motionless for a few seconds. “I guess that’s it. Goodnight.”
“Thank you,” I said as the door closed.
