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Iris
Ronan was slow to put me back on my feet.Nothing about the way he was holding me was professional, and we both knew he wasn’t respecting his own boundaries, let alone mine. I felt how bunched his muscles were, how tightly he held himself. The thing about tension was, it either had to ease or something was going to snap.
“Fine. Ten minutes, then I’m taking you home.” He bent forward to drop me, careful not to drag me over his dick. But I’d already felt it hard and thick on the back of my thigh while I’d been dangling. He couldn’t hide his reaction from me.
From the feel of it, it really was a shame I couldn’t stand this man since there wasso muchof him to enjoy. And we might have had a good time together if I’d never gotten to know this side of him, but there was no going back now. Ronan Walsh probably considered foreplay to be ordering me to come and expecting me to comply at the force of his command.
Ronan unlocked his door, sighing as he held it open for me to enter. I was hit with the full force of his scent of soap and cloves, mixed with a tinge of smoke. The layout was smaller than Dom and Claire’s—who lived in the penthouse—and cozy where theirs was airy.
I ran my fingertip along the plush, cracked leather couch in the living room and swept my gaze over the dark wood bookcases filled with books as thick as my arm. There were no knickknacks to speak of, but that was no surprise. On the wall was a great portrait of what had to be Ireland, a stone cottage nestled in rolling hills of green.
“It’s nice.” Peering over my shoulder at Ronan, I arched a brow. “Very manly.”
He stayed close behind me, and even though my back was turned, his presence was impossible to ignore. He was my dark shadow as I snooped around his apartment, opening cabinets, sniffing his soap in the bathroom, and finally entering his bedroom.
I paused at the threshold to see if he’d stop me, to declare this space too personal. Since he didn’t, I trailed around the room. His bed was a king, with a heavy, rustic headboard and footboard. A thick, muted tone rug lined the wood floor, warming the space. I would have complimented Ronan on how comfortable his bedroom felt, but his ego didn’t need stroking. Instead, I wandered to his dresser and opened the top drawer.
Ronan made something of a growl, but again, he didn’t stop me. I honestly had no interest in rifling through his underwear, but I did it anyway to goad him. Next, I went to his bedside table, sliding open the top drawer. It was empty except for a box of condoms and a bottle of lube.
I tapped the bottle. “Always prepared for fun times.”
“Mmm.”
I sat on the edge of his bed, crossing one leg over the other, leaning back on my palms. Ronan rested his elbow on his tall dresser, letting his eyes rake over me.
“So,” I raised both brows, “you’re tracking me?”
It had taken me a few minutes to put two and two together. When Ronan texted me earlier, he already knew I wasn’t at home. He must’ve found me at Dom’s and Claire’s through a tracking device.
He lowered his chin. “I am.”
“Did you ask for my consent?”
He was so unaffected by me being in his space. Expression unreadable, as always. Body finally relaxed, muscles loose. Ronan didn’t care one single iota that I’d discovered what he’d done.
“I did. When you signed the paperwork for your alarm system, there was a separate area explaining the app I’d be using to track your location through your phone. You both signed and initialed it. I can show you the contract if you’d like.”
I blinked at him, and my fingers curled into the downy soft comforter, balling it in my fist.
“You knew I wouldn’t read it.”
“How would I know that? I read everything before I sign it. You should too.”
If I hadn’t had a death grip on his bedding, I would have flung myself at him and clawed his smug eyes out. “How did you even install an app on my phone without me noticing?”
In two long strides, he ate the much-needed distance between us and towered over me, his hand out. “Give me your phone. I’ll show you.”
With reluctance and mistrust, I slid my phone from my back pocket and handed it over. Ronan sat down on the bed, no more than a foot apart from me. His thumbs glided over the screen, then he pointed at a map icon I must’ve noticed but easily dismissed as having always been there.
“This is the app. I’m the only one with access to it. I installed it when I went over your new security system with you.” As always, he didn’t elaborate or offer excuses for his piss-poor behavior.
“That’s it? No apologies?”
He turned his head, shattering me with the hammer of his gaze. “It is what it is. You would have fought me on it, so I bypassed that conversation and did what I felt was best for you. I’ve never had a client so intent on evading me before. I don’t know what to do with you, Iris. This week, I’ve watched you travel to the little park by your apartment from my phone twice a day and I’ve said nothing.”
My eyes rounded. “Because you knew I was taking Daisy for a walk. Today you didn’t know exactly what I was doing and you couldn’t stand it, could you?”
His glare could have chiseled a diamond.
