“I have band practice Sunday,” I said.
“Text me the time. I’ll pick you up.”
“Okay.”
His fingers flexed on my back. “No arguments?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I think I’ve had enough of that for today.” I turned fully to him with my hand on my doorknob. “By the way, those walks I took with Daisy? I either had Adam or Mrs. Kraus with me. I know they’re not special forces trained like you, but Iamtrying to be careful.”
His mouth barely quirked, but I saw relief in the slight sag of his shoulders, the movement of his fingers on my spine, how his head inclined toward mine.
“Thanks for telling me. Now I won’t have to go home and pull my hair out.”
“Aw, no.” I reached up and ruffled his perfect hair. “Don’t do that, it’s so pretty.”
He dodged out of my reach, giving me a real smile. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the arse, Iris?”
I popped my hip and lowered my eyelids. “What do you think?”
He chuckled, glancing away. “I think I’m glad I have a tracker on you, otherwise you’d slip through my fingers before I even realized you were leaving.”
Something heavy hung between us. A history we didn’t have but recognized in each other. Maybe someone had slipped through his fingers. I knew I’d let myself slip away more times than I should have.
“That’s very true.” I opened my door and turned back. “One more thing.”
He waited, cocking his head to show he was listening.
“I usually run in the park a few times a week. Adam went with me a couple times, but it’s not really his thing. Do you…?”
“Ah…” he rubbed his jaw, “my knee doesn’t do well with long distance running. But Finn will go with you. I’ll have him get in touch.”
My lips parted. “You trust Finn to watch over me?”
“I trust Finn with everything.”
He was so solemn, leaving no room for doubt, I decided I trusted Finn too. Which meant I must’ve trusted Ronan. That was a mind blower, since Ronan had already proven himself to be deceptive to get what he wanted.
But what he wanted was to keep me safe, underhanded tactics and all.
I started to push my door closed. “Bye, Ronan.”
Right before my door clicked shut, he responded, “See you,meala.”