Page 79 of Sweet Temptation

And it didn’t matter who actually had eyes on her at any given moment; Summer was my client and my responsibility.

I felt that way about all my clients.

At least that’s what I kept telling myself as her pale-blue eyes flashed in my mind.

When I parked my bike alongside Maddox’s in her driveway and burst through the front door—the new lock was in, but it was unlocked—I found Maddox in the living room, power drill in hand.

“What happened? You didn’t answer your phone.”

“I was drilling. And putting out fires here. Didn’t know you called.”

“What fires?”

“Summer came down here crying—”

“What? Why didn’t you call me?”

His eyebrows went up. “I didn’t think it was an all-stations-alert situation. Nothing happened. She just yelled at me about some key—”

I was already heading for the hallway. “Where is she?”

“Upstairs,” he said, following me. “She’s fine.”

“Stay there,” I barked as I jogged up the hall. I took the stairs to her bedroom two-by-two, really hearing myself in my head.

What the fuck.

Since when was my client’s emotional management in my job description?

And yet I was mildly livid that Maddox didn’t call me because she was crying.

I knocked on her door. “Summer?”

She opened the door. She wasn’t crying, but she definitely had been. She was dressed now, makeup on, but her eyes looked pink and a little puffy. She looked fucking sad.

“Ronan,” she breathed.

The tension in my chest loosened at the relief in her voice and her eyes. If I had a heart, it probably would’ve skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She sighed. “I couldn’t find the house key, you know, the one from the coffee can? I got all freaked out thinking someone took it and… I kinda yelled at Maddox. Then I found it, in a dresser drawer. I forgot I put it in there. It was incredibly stupid. Does Maddox think I’m a diva now?”

“It’s alright,” I said.

And who the fuck cares what Maddox thinks.

“I actually forgot they’d just changed the locks. I totally panicked.” Her blue eyes gleamed with tears. “I think… this whole thing is getting to my head.”

“That’s totally natural,” I assured her.

It was. Unfortunately, I’d had other clients who’d been stalked. Threatened.

Attacked.

And I knew.

For weeks, months, even years, an event like this might play out in her head, working its way through her psyche, manifesting in any number of ways. Fear and anxiety and emotional meltdowns.

Strides forward and setbacks.

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