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I scrunched my nose even though I didn’t find the idea as disgusting as I let on. “Let’s not do that. Adam would never let me hear the end of becoming a cliché. The musician who falls for her bodyguard.”
He went silent, letting his hand fall away from my face. As soon as it was gone, I missed it, but I also refused to ask for it back. Instead, I lifted the armrest between our seats and scooted so close, Ronan had to let me tuck under his arm.
“This isn’t a boyfriend thing?” he murmured against the top of my head.
“Nope. Close friends. Plus, I’m sleepy and you’re comfortable, even though you’re made of marble.” I was touchy-feely with all my friends, even the men, but I didn’t want to climb on top of them and kiss their lips raw the way I did with Ronan.
He was stiff under me, his breathing slow and measured. I sat up, frowning at him. “Are you okay?”
His eyelids lowered to half-mast. “I’m grand. You?”
Ronan was straightforward and blunt, almost to a fault, but I could tell he was holding back. He was displeased, probably with me. I didn’t like that. Not one bit. But if I prodded, forced him to answer what was going on in his mind, he might give me an answer I wouldn’t like.
“Am I getting in the way of your work?”
“You aren’t.” He shook his head and heaved a sigh. “Youaremy work for the next three days.”
There was a line—and he’d drawn it. I guess it was right beside mine, which was the very thin barrier between casual lovers and…more. While I was toeing my own line, wondering what it would be like to cross it, Ronan had just firmed his up, reminding me he was with me because he was being paid to be here.
“I don’t need guarding right now.” I sat up and unbuckled my seat belt. “Feel free to take a nap or do whatever you need to do.”
I was about to slip my feet in my shoes to escape this little moment fraught with tension. The cabin lights were dimmed, and Adam, Callum, and Roddy were most likely asleep at the front of the plane, but maybe they weren’t and my legs could use a stretch. Before I could go anywhere, the flight attendant stopped at our row. She was everything one might imagine a flight attendant on a luxury private plane would look like. Statuesque and blonde, her features were perfectly symmetrical, teeth flashing white, and she smelled like a damn garden. Her uniform fit her like a glove, showing off every single smooth plane and curved line.
Normally, I’d look at a woman like this and admire her for owning her shit. She clearly knew how good she looked, and I appreciated that confidence. But when she leaned over Ronan and brushed her full tits against his shoulder, my claws came out. Bitch would be lucky not to end up ejected from this aircraft.
Her focus was on him when she asked if we needed anything. I had a feeling she’d taken a look at his tailored slacks and collared shirt unbuttoned at his throat and assumed he was an executive, notthe help.
To his credit, Ronan barely blinked at her before he turned to me. “I’m fine for now. Iris? Would you like something? Water? Tea?” he asked.
“I have my lemon water, so I’m square. Thank you.” I batted my lashes at him and smiled sweetly. He stifled a laugh and turned back to the flight attendant, who was leaning over his chair far more than necessary. Her uniform top had magically come unbuttoned, giving us a generous peek of her tits.
“We’re good here.” Ronan barely spared her a glance.
“Are you sure?” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I could offer you a warm towel or a tour of the plane if you’d like to move around a bit. The view up front is really nice.”
“I said we’re good here.” He removed her hand from his shoulder, his tone hard, brooking no argument. “I’d appreciate you not touching me again. You seem to have forgotten your job is to make your passengers comfortable when, in fact, you’ve done the opposite of that.”
She shot up straight, muttering something unintelligible and wringing her hands. “Of course. I a-apologize, sir.” Then she hurried down the aisle to the front of the plane, far, far away from the stern, beautiful man in the seat beside me.
“She’s going to tell all her flight attendant friends about you,” I teased.
He glared at me and took my chin in his hand. “Don’t ever let someone treat you that way. All of us are here because ofyou. That woman is your employee while working this flight, and she just ignored you in favor of me.”
I curled my fingers around his wrist but didn’t shove him away. Instead, I lifted my chin and leveled him with a steady stare. “I like to catch my flies with honey, but believe me, if you hadn’t told her off, I would have.” My lips tipped at the corners. “But that was incredibly hot. She was absolutely gorgeous, and you didn’t pay her a single second of attention. Thank you, Ronan.”
His hand slid down to my throat, and he tugged me closer so we were nose to nose. “You don’t have to thank me for doing my job.”
“That was only about you doing your job?” I was almost panting. He had that effect on me and didn’t even have to try. This was why my line was becoming razor thin. I didn’t even know where it began and ended with him anymore.
“Nothing about you is ever just a job. I think I’ve been extremely clear on that. Let me say this: if I was only your lover and nothing more, I would have said the same thing to her. My job will always be to protect you and stand up for you, even when our contract ends.”
Heat bathed my chest in a way so unfamiliar, I squirmed in my seat and closed my eyes. Ronan grumbled at my retreat, but he didn’t fall back this time. He only tugged me closer, half on his lap.
“I’m not your dad, Iris. I like to be in charge and in control of situations. It makes me sane in a world that’s too damn unpredictable. But I’d never shove you in a back room to keep you for myself. That’s not what you need, and it surely isn’t what I want to give you. But if you feel me squeezing you too hard, tell me, and I’ll do my damnedest to ease up.” His lips brushed mine. It wasn’t nearly enough, not after he’d just delivered a soliloquy that might as well have been Shakespeare to my ears. “Okay,meala?”
I melted into him, circling my arms around his neck. “You’ve dealt with a lot of difficult women, haven’t you?”
He huffed a short laugh. “In my day.” The rough pads of his fingers stroked my cheek and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I don’t consider you one of them, for the record.”
