It also presents me with an issue because it’s not cold, so a jacket that’s not part of a suit may look odd. I need something to cover my holster, though. In the end, I decide on an oversized checkered shirt, buttoned over a t-shirt. The gun is at my hip in the holster, the shirt hangs below it, and the check pattern and its looseness disguise the shape of my weapon.

I bought a few oversized shirts for just this reason. It wasn’t easy finding something big on a guy built like me, and I had to go to a specialist store for tall, husky men, and get a triple XL.

A spray of cologne and I’m ready to go. One last check in the mirror to ensure my gun isn’t showing, and I go knock on Carolina’s door, which is closed. It’s daytime, so her alarm isn’t set.

“One moment,” she calls out.

Two minutes later, she opens her door, and I almost do a double take. Her hair is curlier than usual and swept to one side, falling in tumbles over her left side. She’s wearing more make up than I’ve seen her wear before in any of the footage or photographs. Her eyes are rimmed in a brown shade, and they stand out as a striking blue against that. Her lips are a glossy, shimmery pink, and she smells of rose and something deeper, a hint of pepper maybe.

“Ready. I need to grab Brutus.”

“You’re bringing him?”

“Er, yes. I take him everywhere with me. He hates being left alone.”

“Do you take him to work?”

She laughs. “Absolutely. They love him there. They’d kill me if I didn’t bring him.”

“They allow dogs in bars?”

“I think it’s more like a pub, and yes, lots of places do. Not as many as continental Europe, sadly. They’re much more dog friendly over the channel, but it is becoming increasingly common here.”

“Don’t your men friends mind Brutus in bed with them?” I ask suddenly. Why the fuck did I ask that? Also, where did my mind supply that weird turn of phrase from? I want to take it back, but it’s out there now.

“Men friends?” She purses her mouth. “Have we gone back in time? My lovers, do you mean?”

The image of her with a string of men visiting her bed has me both suddenly turned on and also pissed. A strange possessiveness rises in me, one I’m not used to feeling.

“I’m ignoring that question,” she says with a shake of her head.