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Still frowning, she wasn’t trying to get away, nor was she attempting to claw my eyes out as I’d feared.
“Tell me you feel it, Iris.” My mind raced ahead two steps. If she didn’t feel the same, I’d have to show her. Prove it. Locking her away in my apartment probably wasn’t an option, but it would be next to impossible to resist the pull of keeping her to myself.
She swiped water from her eye, still scowling at me. “Are you asking to be my boyfriend?”
I cupped her throat with both hands, tracing the underside of her jaw with my thumbs. She swallowed in my hold, her eyes soft and trusting.
“Aye, that’s what I’m asking. I’ve been completely lost in you since the beginning. I accepted casual because of the circumstances. Those circumstances have ended, and I’m no longer willing to hide that you’re mine.”
Her nose crinkled. “And you’re mine?”
I dipped my head, brushing my lips over her little nose then her snarly lips. “Of course I am.”
Her shoulders dropped, palms skating down my slick sides. “I need…”
“You can tell me what you need.”
She sucked in a breath then burrowed her face in my chest. “If we do this, if it happens—”
“It’s happening,” I growled. “No ifs.”
She huffed but left my declaration alone. “I need you to be okay with who I am. Not just the woman, but the fame, the lifestyle. I don’t want to change, Ronan. That doesn’t mean I won’t shift and make room for you, but I like who I am. If you don’t, let’s stop right now.”
“Iris.” I backed her into the tile wall, my hands still cuffing her throat. “I can’t say I’ll always be excited about the fame, but I wantyou. I have no intention of letting you go, so I’ll get used to what I need to.”
She swallowed hard, her lids heavy, half hiding her sky blues. “Why do you want me?” The question didn’t sound right coming from her perfect, plush lips. “You’re so polished and mature with a collection of beautiful suits and an entire history, I’ll never be able to wrap my head around it. And I’m this gritty little girl whose only collection is the ink on my skin and—”
“No.” I covered her mouth with my hand. “We’re both standing here naked and all the shite you just listed doesn’t touch us. Our outsides don’t match up, but when I’m with you, I feel connected. When I watch you sing and play your instruments, when I see you with your sister and your friends, I’m blown away I get to be in your orbit when I’m just an old man with a failed marriage, a fucked knee, and—”
She covered my mouth this time. “Stop it, Ronan. I get it, okay? We’re both losers who are meant to be together.”
I grinned behind her hand and nipped at her fingers until she let me go with a squeal. “That’s right, pet. Who else would take us?”
She laughed and slid her arms up my chest to circle my neck. “We’re really doing this? I haven’t had a boyfriend in years and years. I’ll most likely be terrible at this.”
Scooping her into my arms, I lifted her so we were eye to eye. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing my standards are incredibly low.” I nipped at her smiling lips. “We’ve been doing this. I’ve just let you call it casual so you didn’t get spooked.”
Her nose wrinkled. “You don’t have me figured out.”
My forehead fell against hers. “I do, and I like it.”
“I likeyou, you ass.”
I smacked her arse twice. “Calling me names for no reason...I don’t know, baby girl, I think you’re already rocking this girlfriend thing. Way to go.”
She drew an X in the center of my chest with a matte blue fingernail. “There’s more where that came from.”
Giving her another smack, I growled and rocked my hard length against her. “I’m counting on it.”
Iris Adler was going to give me a run for my money, and I was going to enjoy every damn minute.
