“Hey, Ronan,” she called.
I raised my brows. “Yes?”
“Was one of the thousands of forms I signed an NDA?”
Frustration filtered through my bones like smoke. How could she have gotten this far without reading every word she signed her name to?
“Of course we have a nondisclosure agreement,” I gruffed.
Her toe twisted on the ground, the very picture of innocence. “Just making sure you remembered.” She tugged off her hoodie and walked over to where I sat, tossing it on the chair beside me. “I’m going to sing a couple songs I’ve been working on, but nothing leaves this room, all right?”
Tipping my head back, I met her clear blue gaze. “What if I sing in the shower?”
She fucked with me, I fucked right back.
After a moment of hesitation, she leaned in and made another infuriating X on my chest with her nail. “As long as you’re alone in the shower, have at it, Pavarotti.”
She sauntered away, adding an extra sway to her already sultry hips. I sunk down in my chair, stretched my legs out, and shifted the fabric around my cock. What was it about this woman that left me feeling out of control? Lack of control wasn’t something I enjoyed, yet here I was, half hard from one short round of banter.
In the back of my mind, I knew my reaction to Iris was due to the way we met. My brain had trouble categorizing her as a job when I’d once been on the verge of burying myself between her thighs. That was hard to forget, especially when she tossed around her pinup girl femininity and blatant sensuality like the most delicious candy. Her smart mouth and impossibly stubborn personality should have made her easier to resist, but damn if it didn’t make this particular woman doubly enticing.
Pushing away my thoughts, I paid attention to the beauty at the center of the room. Iris was perched on a stool with a guitar in her lap, facing her bandmates.
“This is what I have so far. It’s not finished yet, and I’m always open to your creative input.” She licked her lips and chewed on the bottom one as she tapped her palm against the belly of her guitar. “Okay, here we go.”
Iris played a simple tune, but her lyrics and the way she sang them were anything but. She infused her words with anger while keeping her voice mellow and even. Rodrigo kept time with his sticks. Adam’s eyes bounced between her fingers and face. Callum closed his eyes, head cocked in her direction.
The room listened, and Iris spoke to us in melody.
They gave me a gun, said sit still, girl, look pretty
I put on my red lipstick, said no thanks, that deal’s shitty
What did they expect me to do with that ammunition?
I blew up the world, hey, I call that ambition
I cut my teeth on girl power
And bled on the glass of a broken ceiling
They wonder why I’m a thorn, not a flower
And why I keep leaving the boys’ club reeling
Don’t look so surprised
When I sharpen my nails like knives
Where does this power get me?
It’s not even safe to walk down the street
They said you gotta have a man
At your side to protect from his brethren
This world squeezed a rock