Page 36 of Guarding the Rock Star
“What happened when they took you?”
I told Chloe about overpowering Monica and leaving the basement only to run into Mark.
“You took that guy down yourself? That’s really impressive. He’s huge.”
“Thank God for those martial arts lessons,” I laughed. “Although Wanda and the guys were coming in just as it happened, so I would have been fine either way. At least until Mark woke up. I had the benefit of surprise the first time, I don’t know that I could have gotten the drop on him so easily the second.”
“I’m sure your girlfriend would have saved you,” she teased.
“She’s not my girlfriend. At least I don’t think she is.”
I sank my chin down onto my hand glumly.
“Tell me what happened with your...with Wanda so we can figure out how to fix it.”
I told Chloe about the conversations we’d had about fated mates and being single and what Wanda had said to me this morning.
“Well, this is super easy to fix,” Chloe said.
“It is?”
“Yeah, you just need a grand gesture.”
Wanda
I stared at my computer screen glumly, the words all jumbled and meaningless. It had been three days since I left Tasha’s penthouse, and I was starting to realize she wasn’t going to contact me. I’d been worried that her sudden desire to be with me forever was related to the adrenaline and forced proximity of our situation, but I’d still hoped that our time together meant something to her. I’d thought that once we were apart, she’d feel this hollow pain deep inside the way I was, and the strong desire to be close to each other again.
Turns out I was wrong. Any feelings had been one-sided and now I was clearly destined to live the rest of my life alone and unhappy. I sighed deeply.
“Christ on a cracker Diaz, you’re sighing so loud every fuckin’ supe in the building is getting depressed.”
I looked up as Lois strode into the room, dressed in her trademark outfit of camo pants and a tank top. She looked a little sweaty, which meant she’d either just come from working out or her mate had stopped by for a lunchtime quickie.
“Are you finished viewing those security camera recordings?” Lois asked.
“Yeah,” I lied. Damn it, I needed to get on that project right away.
“They were blank,” Lois barked. “Plus, have you forgotten shifters can smell a lie?”
I slumped down in my chair. “I’m sorry, Boss. I’m just not on my A-game this week.”
Lois plopped down in the chair on the other side of my desk, her gaze uncharacteristically soft. “You’re missing your mate, Diaz. How long are you going to let this go on?”
“I left the ball in her court,” I said. “I want her to come to me freely.”
“No one comes to love freely, Diaz. It’s all fate and biology and whatever else makes us fall in love with someone. Love isn’t a choice. Nurturing it, that’s the choice.”
She leaned forward and patted my hand, which was weird because Lois was not a touchy person. “Take the rest of the day off. Go find your mate and figure things out.”
When I opened my mouth to argue she held up a finger, fortunately a pointer finger. “That’s an order Diaz. Get the hell out of here and don’t come back until you’re mated up.”
She pushed to her feet and stomped out. I waited about two minutes before deciding that Lois was right. I logged off the network and locked up my laptop, then took the elevator down to our private parking garage. And that’s where I ran into Tasha.
She was standing by her car with a bunch of balloons and what looked like a stuffed animal. Behind her, her driver Nate gave me a friendly wave through the window.
“Tasha. What’s going on?” I asked in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“Chloe said I owed you a grand gesture,” she said quietly, her voice uncharacteristically unsure. “So, I spent the last couple of days trying to think of something. I thought maybe I could do the thing with the posterboard flashcards...”
