After a minute of sniffing her silky hair and stroking her soft skin, I couldn’t bite my tongue any longer. “Can I ask a personal question I really have no business asking?”
She brought her head up and tapped my lips with her fingertip. “You’re going to ask about me sleeping with women, aren’t you?”
“I’m curious.” How the hell could I not be?
“And you find it hot?” She raised a brow like she already knew the answer.
I thought about it, remembering the way I wanted to rip the world apart at the seams when I saw Megan Mills touching her at the club. “No, I wouldn’t say that. Two women I don’t know? Sure. The woman in my bed? No. Thinking about you withanyonemakes me want to hunt that person down and erase you from their memory.”
Her lips curved as though she was enjoying my display of insanity. “Lucky for you, there aren’t that many to hunt down.”
I picked up her hand, straightening her index finger while the others curled inward. “One. Remember? The only one you’ll be thinking about.”
She picked up my hand and repeated what I had just done to hers. “I don’t need to know your number, but I think I should get to ask the same of you. One, Ronan. No ex-wives playing with your hair if you want to come to me and fuck me bare. That’s a deal breaker.”
I shook my head, grinning at my little possessive monster. That came as a surprise, but I liked it more than I should have. “No ex-wives. Liz lives in LA anyway, but she’s not an issue.”
Her lip snarled, like hearing me say Elizabeth’s name offended her. “Okay. I’ll trust you on that.” After a moment of hesitation, she touched her lips to mine and tousled my hair. “I’ve been with women and men. I don’t have a preference. For me, it's about the person. Is that a problem?”
“It’s not, as long as I’m the person you prefer.”
She laughed softly and rolled her eyes. “God, I don’t know how I ended up with such a bossy man. You’re exactly the opposite of my type, but I kind of like you.”
“I kind of like you too,meala.”
Her eyes narrowed, and those plump lips pursed into my favorite shape, a little pink heart. “I know what that means. I used Google translate. Why am I honey?”
“It wasn’t a secret. You could’ve asked.”
“I was suspicious you were calling me a bitch.”
A laugh rolled through me. “Never. I’d never do that. I call you honey because you smell like I’ve fallen into a pot of the stuff and you’re as sweet as it is. I hope you like it, because I don’t think I can stop now.”
“No, don’t stop,” she rushed out. “I really like it.”
“I really like when you tell me what you want.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m good at that.” She shifted closer again, resting her head under my chin and curling her legs up in my lap. “I heard you visited Logan.”
“I did.” I tensed under her. It hadn’t been my intention to tell her about the visit, but I wasn’t terribly disappointed she had found out. I would go to great lengths to keep her safe, and it was important she understood that. “Has he bothered you since?”
“No. I haven’t spoken to him since we broke up.”
“That wasn’t what I asked. Has he bothered you, Iris?”
She paused, hesitated, only for a fraction of a second, but my ears picked it up. “No, he hasn’t. I received an abusive letter in the mail, saying all the same old things, but he must have sent it before your visit. Nothing since.”
A red mist hazed my vision. “That motherfucker…you need to tell me these things right when they happen. Don’t wait for me to ask.”
“I just shut it in my drawer and haven’t thought about it. I’m not scared of Logan, but the level he’s stooped to makes me sad.”
“I get that. You still have to tell me. Can’t protect you if I don’t know.” I clenched my jaw, and my toes curled into the hardwood beneath them. If I didn’t think Iris would behead me, I’d hunt Logan Bryant down for more than a talking-to.
“I’ll tell you.”
I tried a different tack to maintain the scrap of sanity I still had. “What about Megan?”
She sighed. “Not Megan either. I told you she’s not a problem.”
My arms involuntarily gathered her tighter against me. “She showed up at the same place as you.”
“Coincidence. She’s fine, Ronan. It’s Logan who’s the asshole.”
I dropped it. The last thing I wanted was to get in a real fight with her. But we both knew I wasn’t letting the Megan issue lie. I’d be looking into her even more now, checking her movements and whereabouts. She wasn’t coming near Iris again, not without a prior invitation.
And I’d make sure that invitation never happened.