“I guess this is a good way to test how much she trusts me already,” I said as I lowered the flowers a little. I’d gotten a colorful bunch of them. It wasn’t the first time the florist had seen me there, and I was certain that it wouldn’t be the last.

I knocked on the door a few times and waited. Last night hadn’t gone as planned. I’d gotten word that things were starting to quiet down about me back at home, so I thought it’d be safe to bring Bianca with me to the club. So much planned. It’d all gone to ruin.

Nothing but more wasted time. God, I hate that.

My foot tapped rapidly, prompting me to knock on the door a few more times. “Bianca, are you there?” I asked, putting my ear to the door. As soon as I felt the door pulling away from me, I straightened my posture.

“What is it, Dustin?” she asked sourly. The look on her face was a little more than a pout. I could tell she was upset with me, but it didn’t look too difficult to reverse the effects.

“Came to see ya. I’m sorry that you ended up having a bit of a rough night. Mind telling me what happened?” I raised the bouquet up to her. “These are for you, by the way.”

She looked apprehensive taking the flowers, but her acceptance showed me that she was still in my grasp. Relief washed over me as she gestured to the armchair and asked, “Come in?”

“I’d be glad to,” I replied, walking past her and sitting down on the chair. “Forgot how nice some of these rooms could be.”

Bianca kept her eyes on the flowers, seemingly refusing to look at me. “I don’t know why you’re pretending to care right now, Dustin.”

But pretending is what I do best. “What do you mean? I genuinely want to know why you couldn’t enjoy your night. I can say right now, that I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave you like that.”

“Who were those guys, anyway?” she asked, suddenly staring me in the eyes.

“Just some work buddies. They had to talk to me about some boring shit that shouldn’t have interrupted our time together.”

She smirked a little. “You make it sound like it was a date or something.”

“You trying to say you wouldn’t want to go out with me?” I asked with a smirk in return. That’s it. You can’t stay mad at me.

“I do admit that your taste in entertainment is…different.”

“And what’s wrong with different?”

“Nothing. I think it’s kind of nice, actually. The only thing I don’t like about it is getting pressured into ‘dancing’ by lowlife creeps. Kind of kills my vibe, you know?”

Why do I feel the need to find this man and gut him like a fish? “That’s horrible. I’m sorry you had to experience that… Hey, that kind of thing only really happens at night. Most people wouldn’t dream of doing it during the day. What if I offered to take you out on the town right now to make up for last night?”

She shifted a few times uneasily, pulling on a bright white pedal. “I don’t know… After last night, I’m not sure how much I can trust you, Dustin.”

“Really? Here I was thinking I was a free man…” I looked away from her, a deep sigh leaving my lips.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re my attorney. I thought you knew I was a good person. You said you didn’t think I could do it, right?”

“Yeah, I did…”

“Then just trust me here, too! You think I wanted to leave you to get prodded at by some creep?” I turned to Bianca and got up, taking her free hand into mine. “I’ll never do that to you ever again. You have my word as a free man.”

She tried to avoid my eyes but failed, my hands holding tightly onto hers. “You really mean that, huh…?”

“Yes, I really do.” God, look at those eyes. There’s something in them… Never seen that before… The sincerity in my voice didn’t feel forced out of me for once. “Nothing’s going to harm you…”

“All right, Dustin. I’ll trust you. Just this once, okay?” she said with a smile. I released her hands and shared the smile with her. From the corner of my eye, however, I caught a glimpse of something red on her bedside table.

Curious, I walked over to it and nearly bit through my tongue. “Bianca…” I started to say, picking the red card up from the table. “What is…this…?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think they’re from the staff or something like that. I just keep finding them in my room sometimes.” Oh, God. They know she’s here…and that she works for me.

I thought I already had enough of a mess on my hands. “Oh, okay. I was just wondering is all. Thought I’d seen the cards at a fruit stand or something.”

If things get serious, Bianca will have to worry about more than just creeps tailing her at parties. At least she’s only getting these little warning signs. They’re probably for me anyway.

“So, you know where you want to take me first?”

I set the card down slowly and then turned to face her. Clapping both of my hands together I said, “I was thinking the beach would be a great place to visit! Lots of friendly faces and fun can be had there. I will warn you though, people let their sensualities take them whenever and wherever they want in Brazil. You think you can handle it, Bianca?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can handle it,” she replied with a warm smile.

“Great! I can’t wait to show you my favorite spot.”