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three lifetimes, so it was time for something good. And Nola felt good.
    I thought about changing into a different shirt to cover up my tattoos, but I kept the V-neck on. It would be a test. If she were repulsed I’d know I needed to work that much harder to convince her to be with me, and if she loved them I would be one step closer to claiming her heart.
    When I was done getting dressed I jogged to my garage and jumped into my vintage Mustang on the way to see my girl. Traffic was pretty light so I got to the Getty Center early. I took the elevator to the main floor and waited near the tram that would take us up the hill to the museum.
    I waited, and waited, and waited. After several tense minutes I started to get nervous. What if she didn’t show?
    I checked the time; she was 15 minutes late and I was starting to panic. What if something happened to her? What if she changed her mind? What if she had a boyfriend who told her she couldn’t meet up with me?
    I froze. Fuck . I never even thought to ask if she was single, not that it would stop me if she wasn’t. Her boyfriend would just have to get out of the way because Nola was mine, and nobody was going to stop me from getting what I wanted.
    I took out my phone and scrolled for her number. I was about to hit send when the elevator dinged and she came bounding out the door.
    Fucking gorgeous.
    “Hey Scout! I’m sooo sorry I’m late. The bus made like every single stop and it took way longer to get here than I thought it would. I’m sorry for making you wait.”
    Nola was smiling, but her cheeks were pink with embarrassment. Did I make her nervous or was she just worried about being impolite because she was late?  I hoped it was me.
    “The bus? You don’t have a car?”
    “Nope, no car,” she said still smiling and it took every ounce of my willpower not to grab her head and taste her lips.
    “Are you some type of green fanatic?” I joked. “Save the trees and all that?”
    She giggled and I never wanted that sound to end. “No, just a broke college student. I know everybody in L.A. drives, but it’s not so bad. I get a lot of reading done on the bus.”
    “But don’t you work late sometime? How do you get home?”
    “I usually get a ride from my friend Tara,” she said, and I felt a little relief. I was hoping she wouldn’t say she took the bus at night. I could only imagine what kind of wolves were out there looking to devour a sweet girl like Nola.
    “...And if she can’t take me I call Uber or Lyft, or hop on the bus.”
    Dammit. My chest constricted and I gritted my teeth. I could not have my Nola on the bus or in the back of some random guy’s car. Not late at night, hell, not even during the day, the risks were just too great. I’d heard about girls getting assaulted by those fake taxi drivers, and I shuddered to think about what I’d do if something happened to Nola.
    “I see,” I said, already wanting to buy her a car.
    “So, ready to go up? Have you ever been here before?” she asked, staring up at me. Again, I wanted to kiss her, but resisted.
    “Nope, never. I’ve been meaning to, but just never seemed to find the time.”
    “Cool. I’ve been here a million times, so you’re in good hands,” Nola said, smiling and I damn near had a heart attack because her smile hit me straight in the chest. “C’mon, I’ll show you around.” She tugged on my shirt and pulled me toward the line for the tram, and my dick swelled at just the hint of her touch against my stomach.
    I walked behind her and forced myself to think of something that would make my erection go down. When I caught a guy gawking at her breasts my mood quickly shifted from arousal to rage.
    I wanted to smack his eyes out, but I’d probably look like a jealous psycho, so I shot daggers from my eyes instead. As we got closer to the man, he still didn’t seem to get the hint that I would beat the shit out of him if he didn’t stop ogling Nola’s tits, so I stepped in