A few paps had found the alley, probably spotting the sleek, black Escalade idling there and banking on Iris making an appearance. I dropped my hand from her neck as soon as they came into view.
Iris didn’t fight me as I ushered her into the back of the SUV, but she did pause to smile at the cameras and give a wave. It rankled me, but I stood my ground, keeping her safe and my opinion to myself.
I dropped into the front seat, and we were on our way. Bill lost any tails we might’ve had, turning several extra times to be sure. Iris’s silence was explosively loud. Bill kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror, tsking under his breath.
I knew I had hell to pay for losing my temper. I’d never touched a client the way I had Iris. Something came over me, a furious instinct to protect her, above my normal, professional mode. But it had been mixed with irritation over her desire to be seen by the cameras. It wasn’t my place to be irritated, and being seen was part of her job. If she didn’t unleash her wrath on me, I’d do a fair job of giving myself lashes.
At Adam’s building, I climbed out of the SUV and opened Iris’s door for her. Her movements were stiff and careful, avoiding my gaze like I wasn’t there. That continued on the thickly silent elevator ride to her floor. Outside Adam’s door, she paused with her hand on the knob.
I’d crossed boundaries, stepped over lines, behaved unprofessionally. I wasn’t sorry, not in the least, but the onus was on me to make this right.
“Iris—”
She held up a hand. “No.” Swiveling around to face me, she wore a mask of righteous anger. “If you ever touch me like that again, you’ll need to seek medical attention because your balls will be jammed in your throat. Don’t you dare think because you’re being paid to protect me, you have any rights to me. You don’t. You were so out of bounds to Joaquin and Kyla—”
“Who’s Kyla?”
Her pretty lips parted, and a huff pushed out. “The receptionist you treated like dirt beneath your shoe. I would fire you right now if I didn’t think Saul Goodman would just hire you right back.”
I nodded. “He would.”
She hissed, mouth curled into a snarl. “That’s all you have to say?”
“I did what I thought was right with the information I had at the time. But I shouldn’t have touched you in that way.”
Her hands balled at her sides. “Is that your twisted version of an apology? Because it fucking sucks.”
Tucking away some of my pride and my own righteous anger, I bowed my head and met her furious gaze. “I’m sorry, Ms. Adler.”
One jerk of her little chin and tight press of her lips was the only indication she’d heard me. She stared me down like I was a raving stranger and she was trying to decide if I was harmlessly crazy or about to detonate.
“Something to think about while you cloak yourself in your anger toward me: someonedidcall the press. Unless it was you—”
“It wasn’t, you asshole. When would I have called them? Between writhing in pain or falling into a trance? And to what end? Hmmm?” She raised her brows like she wanted a real answer.
“We need to get out of the hallway if you would like to continue this conversation.”
She braced both hands on the jamb, blocking the doorway, as if I couldn’t move her with a sweep of my arm.
“No, I’m quite done with you, Mr. Walsh. I think you need some time to quietly contemplate why you feel the need to intimidate and belittle people who don’t behave exactly as you want them to. You could call my father and have a nice chat, since the two of you are so much alike in that way.”
Her words hit me like a gut punch, but I didn’t know how to respond. She was right, but I still wasn’t sure I’d go back and change anything even if I could.
No, I probably wouldn’t.
“I apologized and told you it wouldn’t happen again. That’s all I can offer.”
Reaching out, she drew an X on my chest with her black fingernail. “Empty air, Ronan. Doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t feel it, and there’s no way you feel sorry.”
I caught her hand in mine, slowly lowering it back to her side. “You should think about who might have called the paps, Iris. Who knew where you were going today?”
With an exasperated groan, she spun away from me and unlocked her door. Taking a step inside, she turned back with narrowed eyes.
“You know what the worst part is?” she asked.
“I don’t,” I replied.
She leaned her head against the edge of the door, biting her bottom lip. Slowly, she let it free from her teeth. My stomach twisted, and my dick stirred to life at the sight of her like that. It didn’t matter how mad I was at her or how furious she was with me, her mouth was so sexy, it obliterated all sense and logic.
Voice lowered and husky, she went on to tell me. “The worst part is when you grabbed me and held me against you, in the seconds before I got mad, my panties wereflooded. I was so turned on by your big-strong-man show, it was shameful.” She released a dry, humorless laugh. “It’s too bad you ruined it by being you.”
With that, she quietly clicked the door shut in my face.
I walked away, unsure if I’d just been badly beaten in that sparring match or if I’d come out on top. Then I found myself questioning why the hell I was sparring with the woman I was supposed to be protecting in the first place.
That scene back there wasn’t me. I blamed it on spending hours with her in that small room with all that bare skin on display. Lines were blurred, and I acted out of character.
My professional wall would be back in its rightful position the next time I saw Iris.