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With that, she just walks away. And I glance toward Ronan, still wide-eyed and in shock, to see him smirking shamelessly in his chair.
RULE #27: IF YOU WANT A MAN’S HEART, YOU HAVE TO WIN OVER HIS BEST FRIEND FIRST
Daisy
It’s past two when I’m cut from the floor, and I nervously ascend the stairs toward room nineteen. “She has a private room like you?” I ask Ronan. His hand is delicately resting on the small of my back as we go.
“Yes,” he replies.
“You’re not mad she’s stealing me away?” I say, when we reach the hallway in between rooms nineteen and twenty-one. He pulls me in for a kiss.
“I did have plans for you, but they can wait.”
Just then the door opens, and Eden is standing there, staring at us with a lopsided smile. “Oh, what plans? Can I join?”
“Maybe next time,” he replies with a wink.
“You can stick around, you know,” she tells him.
He shakes his head, looking at me. “Nah. You probably want to talk about me anyway.”
“We do,” she says with a wicked smirk.
“Where will you be?” I ask.
“Just next door.” Then he fishes into his back pocket and pulls out a matte black card. “Come in when you’re done. No rush. Have fun.” Then he presses his lips to my cheek as if he’s dropping me off for a playdate.
As I’m shut in with Eden, I try to relax as much as possible. When I heard she had a private room, I was sort of expecting a literal sex dungeon, but this is cozy and feminine. The bed is a rich blue and gold piled with pillows and on the right side is a soft-looking sofa and a large lounge chair with a fuzzy white rug in front of it.
“This is not what I expected,” I mumble as I walk slowly into the room, looking around. She’s at the wet bar on the opposite side, uncorking a bottle of wine.
“Well, don’t poke around too much,” she replies with a laugh. “It’s just well-disguised.”
I chuckle to myself as I step closer to the bed, noticing the metal rings bolted to the headboard.
“Have a seat,” she says sweetly as she carries two glasses of wine to the couch. I can’t stop looking around, wondering what she must do in here. I’ve heard enough stories about Madame Kink to know it must be very…well, kinky.
“I hope you don’t mind me stealing you from Ronan tonight. I was just excited to get to know you, now that you’re dating.”
Something about that worddatingmakes my blood run cold. Not that I don’t want to be dating Ronan. Hell, at this point, he has my heart. There is no fear of commitment in this case. But that secret I’m harboring from him feels louder and more ominous every time I think about how good things are going with him. My happiness is salt in the wound.
“I don’t know if I’d really call it dating,” I say awkwardly, as I climb up onto the sofa and take the glass of wine she’s poured for me.
“Well, aside from the fact that you’re living with him and he just took you to Paris.” She laughs as she takes a sip and watches me over the rim of the glass.
“Okay, you’ve got a point,” I reply.
“He seems really happy, and he obviously cares about you a lot.” That statement feels like a punch to the gut. I swallow, my heart pounding in my chest.
“And you want to make sure I’m not just leading him on for his money?” I reply as a question.
“Bingo,” she replies, before taking another sip.
“I’m not,” I say, trying to sound convincing, which isn’t hard because it’s the truth. I’m not using Ronan for his money. I don’t even want it. I mean, if she knew the truth, she’d know that I already have more than a little bit in my name. But that’s not really something I want anyone to know at this point. “It was never about the money.”
She tilts her head to the side. “It’s hard to take a personal jet to Paris and claim the money doesn’t make a difference.”
When I start to defend myself, she holds up a hand. “Listen, this isn’t about you, I promise. I’m sure you really do care about him, but I’ve been friends with Ronan for seven years. He pulled me out of a really bad place and gave me a chance to start over, and it meant more than you could ever know. He never asked for a thing in return because everything he does is selfless. And for that reason, I’ve watched him get his heart broken again and again. He acts tough, but he’s—”
