My last bodyguard job had been with a young pop star who’d taken my attention personally. Where I was concerned for her safety because of duty, she interpreted it as my undying affection. It had been...uncomfortable at best.
Ms. Grayson was only the last in a string of famous women who’d left a lasting impression—and not in a positive way. Despite Iris’s charm, I didn’t doubt she’d end up any different. Something about the combination of fame and beauty made for bad bedfellows.
“I don’t know.” Finn rubbed his scruffy chin. “Ms. Adler did not strike me as the kind of woman who’d follow you around like a lost puppy. Not like the last one.”
“A gorgeous thing, isn’t she?” Aileen had pulled up our Iris file on her computer, which she had rushed to compile late last night and early this morning.
“She is. There’s no sense in arguing that.” Planting both feet on the floor, I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “I’ve got some calls to make to get the plan I’ve written up implemented. Are you two finished gossiping like two wee schoolgirls?”
Finn rocked back in his chair, grinning. “Never. Aileen brings out the best in me.”
“Feck off.” Aileen turned back to face her computer, mumbling around the unlit cigarette in her mouth.
Needing away from my desk, I went to the kitchen for a soda and space. Never one to take a hint, Finn followed, smug as a big arse bug.
He leaned an elbow on the high bar counter as I swallowed down my ginger ale.
“I’ve been listening to The Seasons Change all afternoon.”
I placed my empty can down, swiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Have you?”
“Mmm. Can’t say I was a fan before this, but I surely am now. Your girl likes to sing about sex, and she’s dead clever about it. Iris is all about the metaphors.”
Finn and I had been friends a long time. I trusted him with my life, and I didn’t say that lightly since we’d been in life and death situations during peacekeeping missions. But there were times I didn’t particularly like him—this being one. He liked to press buttons and watch the rise he caused.
“Don’t you have a job to do?”
He only chuckled, hint either sailing over his head or being ignored. “I do. I can take a minute to chat with my pal, though.”
I crushed the can under my fist and tossed it in the small recycling bin Aileen kept under her sink. Then I took my phone from my jacket pocket and waved it in his face. “I’ve got calls to make. No time for chats.”
He nodded toward my phone. “Appears what you’ve got is a text from Ms. Adler.”
Snatching my hand back, I typed in the password and checked my messages. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from grinning when I opened hers.
She sent a picture of herself with Daisy in front of a green screen picture of the Grand Canyon with the message:Sorry, Daisy wanted to go for a walk and we went farther than I thought we would…
I tucked it away. “Ms. Adler is home safe.”
He gave me a dubious look, but my face must’ve warned him off saying anything else. He wandered back to the office, and I sat at the bar, making calls to secure Iris’s apartment.
I’d been unsettled since seeing Iris sing at the Goodmans’ party, and it had only gotten worse spending time with her in close quarters. If I was being honest, it was also since she revealed the details of herarrangement—and I tried to maintain honesty on all fronts, including with myself.
It was attraction and intrigue, nothing more. No doubt as I spent more time around her, even that would wane.
I was counting on it.