Bound(The Mastered Series)(25)
“Isn’t it fortunate I planned to cook for you at my place?”
So maybe hot sex was on the menu for tonight. She smiled. “Sounds delicious.”
“Let’s go.”
Amery upended her drink and took his hand as he led her outside. No worries about driving since she’d walked to the bar. She’d even worn jeans in case Ronin had driven his motorcycle.
But out on the street he stopped beside a black Lexus SUV. He opened the passenger door. “You look disappointed.”
“I kind of like the bike.”
“Next time.”
Once they were tooling down the road, she said, “I don’t know where you live.”
“Same as you: where I work.”
She frowned. “You live in the dojo?”
“On the top floor. And also like you, I own the building.”
“What else is in the building?”
“Dojo offices and additional training areas take up the second and part of the third floor. I rent out the fourth floor to businesses that don’t have much walk-in traffic but needed office space.”
“How long have you owned the building?”
“Bought it ten years ago. Needed a ton of work. My priority was the dojo. Then my living space. It’s just in the last six years the middle floors were updated and ready to rent out.”
“So, do you have instructors and students just pop into your place to say howdy?”
Ronin shook his head. “It’s no secret I live on the top floor, but access is limited.” He circled the area twice. “The downside to this area is the lack of parking.”
“Sucks when you have to haul groceries, doesn’t it?”
“That’s why I don’t have a membership at Costco.”
He had a better sense of humor than Amery had credited him for. She headed for the front entrance, but he snagged her hand and led her to the alley. “Back door.”
“Afraid you’ll get waylaid and need to show a technique or ten to some poor struggling white belt?” she teased.
“No.” They stopped in front of a rusty steel door. He unlocked a small metal box, which housed a keypad, punched in a code, and the locks popped.
“Fancy.”
“Safe,” he corrected.
Amery could hear the sounds of the dojo as they cut down a narrow hallway. They stopped at another door, which also required a key card for the code box. Through that door was an elevator bay with two elevators. They rode in silence to the fifth floor and got off.
She followed him down a short carpeted hallway and he stopped in front of a set of double doors. Another swipe of the key card, another code.
“I’m starting to feel like I’m in a spy movie.”
Ronin held the door open for her. “Almost there.”
Before her was another elevator. She faced him, her mouth open. “You have a private elevator to your apartment?”
“Keeps the riffraff out.”
She laughed.
“It’s no different than standard high-rises. The top floor always has a separate elevator.”