Rocketing to my feet, I threw apologetic looks to my friends as I strode for the door, gripping my beer bottle in my fist. Ronan better have a very good reason for showing up here or he’d be the proud recipient of a bottle to his big, beautiful head.
Dominic snagged it from me just as I passed him. When my eyes flared with surprise, he chuckled.
“I can hear your thoughts. No braining the bodyguard,” he admonished.
“Fun sucker,” I muttered.
Dominic had locked the front door up tight, which made me smile. I peered at Ronan through the peephole, and my smile grew. He paced the carpet on the other side like a caged animal. I could almost hear his roar. Then, as if he knew I was there, he stopped and looked directly at the peephole, mouthing my name.
I took my time unlocking each of the four locks, knowing he probably heard the clicks, then I cracked the door open and peeked out.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
He cocked his head, jaw fluttering with tension. “No hello?”
Oh, this man chose to be both an asshole and smart-ass. “Hello, Ronan. Why are you here?”
His chin jerked. “I should ask you the same. Unless you moved, this isn’t home.”
Incensed, I opened the door wider so he could feel the full force of my wrath. “It’s really none of your business where I am. If I’d wanted you to know, I would have told you.”
“Actually,” he smacked his palm against the door, ensuring I didn’t close it on his face, “it is very much my business. I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you are, Iris.”
I wanted to hiss at him like a snake and sink my fangs into his thick, unbreakable neck. Instead, I shot venom at him. “So, I should bring you to my dick appointment? That wouldn’t be awkward or anything.”
His nostrils flared, but he maintained his composure. “Are you saying that’s what this is? You’re at this apartment to get laid?”
I made an X on his chest with my nail and peered up at him from beneath my lashes. He grabbed my hand, enveloping it with his palm, holding it between us.
“What if it was, Ronan? Wouldn’t you feel a little silly for interrupting?”
He tugged me closer and let the door fall shut behind me so we were both in the hallway. “Do you sleep with married men now?”
I flinched at the accusation. “No, I would never. Why would you say that?”
“Because…” he tilted my chin up with his knuckle and spoke in a hypnotically slow rhythm, “this apartment belongs to Dominic Cantrell and his wife, Claire. Unless you’re their third now…”
My hand shot up to slap his face, but he was much too fast, catching my wrist before I could even graze him. “You can fuck right off, Ronan Walsh.”
“Gladly. Once you come with me and I tuck you away safely in your apartment.” His hold on me was just short of painful, and he glared at me like he was inches from murdering me or fucking me against the wall.
“I’m not leaving with you. God, who do you think you are? You don’t get to make decisions for me or dictate where I go. You’re my employee, remember?”
I could hear his molars gnashing as he held himself back. “I haven’t forgotten what my job is.”
We were both panting, furious, and shaking. He gripped me like he had no intention of ever releasing me, and the hell of it was, I didn’t fight him. Our eyes were locked, fire passing between us as silent seconds ticked slowly, leaving space between them for one of us to spring into action. If he were closer, shorter, more reachable, I would have bitten his marble skin to see if he could be hurt. To find out if he was human. To make him feel.
Heat emanated from the taut muscles he hid beneath his expertly tailored finery. My toes collided with his, sending the panicked message to my brain that we weretooclose. I should have been afraid of this man whose practiced control was on a razor’s edge. I started to say something, to tell him to back off, to ask him to move closer, probably something I’d regret, but I never had the chance to find out.
The door flew open so fast, I would have fallen backward if Ronan's grip on me hadn’t been ironclad.
“What the hell’s happening out here?” Dominic steamed from behind me. “Get your hands off her.” He clamped his hands on my shoulders, tugging me gently away from Ronan. Of course I didn’t budge. Ronan wasn’t letting me go.
I glared up into Ronan’s steely eyes until he tore his attention off Dominic to look down at me. “Let me go and introduce yourself to my friend, Dominic Cantrell. Then maybe I’ll let you meet his wife, Claire, if you can behave yourself.”
His hold on me eased, as did Dominic’s on my shoulders. Testosterone filled the air around us like a fog, thick enough to choke on. I’d never fantasized about being the crème in a man sandwich, and this reaffirmed my position. One chest-beating alpha male was more than I could handle on a good day. Two, and I was ready to go hide in the corner and snuggle with Daisy.
The two men shook hands even as Ronan kept his long fingers wrapped around my upper arm. Dominic tipped his head toward his apartment.