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Jace clenches his jaw in annoyance, but then finally releases Lionel. He doesn’t step back, though. Instead, he remains standing there right behind Lionel, towering over him like the grim reaper himself.
Embarrassment and a hint of pain shine in Lionel’s eyes as he straightens from the table and rolls his shoulder back into its proper position. And because Jace is standing so close, he has to carefully edge around him to get away from the table. I shoot Jace a glare. He just shrugs.
Lionel scratches the back of his neck and gives me a sheepish smile. “That was not how I had planned to say hi.”
I chuckle. “Well, to be fair, all our meetings do seem to be a bit unconventional. Given that last time I saw you, I was straddling you on a living room floor.”
Jace’s gaze snaps to me.
It makes smug satisfaction ripple through me, and I don’t bother suppressing the grin on my lips.
“A friend, huh?” Jace says.
“Yeah.” I lift my shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. “We met at a party this weekend.”
His gaze sharpens. “So you don’t actually know him.”
At the table, Aurora and Jenn watch the verbal sparring match with rapt interest while Lionel edges a step away from Jace.
Anger sears through me at Jace’s demanding tone. No one speaks to me like that. And certainly not my bodyguard.
“We need to have a talk,” I declare, locking hard eyes on him. “Come with me.”
Before he can even reply, I turn around and stalk towards the small, secluded corridor that leads towards the kitchen and the back rooms. The walls here are made of black tiles, and there is a fake plant in the corner to make it look a bit fancier. But the staff barely use this corridor at this time of day.
Once we’re halfway down it, and away from the prying eyes of everyone in the coffeeshop, I spin around to face Jace.
“You listen to me and you listen well.” I stab a finger into his annoyingly hard chest. “You do not treat my friends like that.”
He stares right back at me. “If you met him at a party this weekend, he’s not your friend. He’s an acquaintance at best.”
“It doesn’t matter. You should not have done that to him.”
He crosses his arms. “I don’t like the look of him.”
A frustrated sigh rips from my lungs, and I rake my fingers through my hair in annoyance. “Oh, so that’s it, huh? It’s because he’s a guy.”
“I never said that.”
“Then why didn’t you do the same thing to Jenn and Aurora?”
“I’ve already told you, I got a bad vibe from him.”
I give his chest an angry shove, which unfortunately isn’t enough to push him back. But he does uncross his arms and raise his eyebrows in silent question. Fury courses through me, and I shove at his chest again, trying to slam him up against the wall. It doesn’t work.
So instead, I raise my hand and hold up a warning finger. “I will not tolerate this kind of macho bullshit. If you think that just because you’re my bodyguard, you can stop other men from touching me, you’re wrong.”
“I never said that. You can fuck whoever you want.” A devilish smile curls his lips. “As long as I’m there.”
Heat sears through my veins. Embarrassment or anger or… something else.
I take a step forward, trying to back him up against the wall. But the bastard doesn’t step back, so I’m forced to settle for glaring up at him instead.
“Let’s get something straight,” I say, infusing my voice with steel and unflinching authority. “You work for me. So when I give you an order, there is only one acceptable response. And do you know what that is? Yes, ma’am.”
His eyes glint, and he takes a step forward. And because of his sheer size, he actually succeeds in doing what I tried to do. Backing me up against the wall.
I try to stop before I reach it fully, but he plants a hand against my collarbones. With a firm shove, he pushes me up against the wall.
