Page 113 of Sweet Temptation

“Right.” I watched as he put his phone away. “I guess I can breathe a sigh of relief, then.”

“Yeah.”

I waited. I tried to absorb it. I repeated his words, over and over again, in my head.

The restraining order came through.

But I didn’t feel… anything. Just a lingering unease, maybe. The one that had been with me ever since that night.

“Why don’t I feel relieved?”

Ronan sighed. “I know. It’s a cold comfort, right? I’m not gonna kid you that he agreed to this out of the goodness of his heart, because he saw the error of his ways. He agreed to it because he doesn’t want to do time.”

“I see. Well… thank you for letting me know. And for looking out for me.”

“I’m—”

“Please. Do not say you’re just doing your job again.”

He shut his mouth.

“Don’t diminish it,” I said. “You’re my hero right now, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.”

He was silent for a moment.

Then he said, almost to himself, “It’s a fucked-up world.”

“I prefer to think of it as a beautiful world,” I said.

My unease must’ve been coming through, though, because he looked me in the eye and assured me, yet again, “You’re safe, Summer. He’s not getting near you.”

And he sounded so sure of that, I really wanted to believe him.

Chapter Fifteen

Summer

The Toronto show was nothing short of fantastic.

I wore my new warrior-chic outfit, complete with the fabulous headpiece that made me feel like some medieval tribal queen. After the show, I hit several afterparties, staying out most of the night with old and new friends.

Ronan escorted me everywhere I went, though he never said much.

It seemed to me that ever since our little face-off in Vancouver—when he’d seemed to think I was planning to go home with someone after my show—he’d been a man of even fewer words than usual.

I did catch him checking me out, though. More than once. He seemed especially taken with my white suede thigh-high boots.

Or maybe it was the glimpse of naked skin just above them.

The next day, when we landed in Montreal, he escorted me shopping. While I tried on clothes, he stood just beyond the dressing room area, watching me go in and out of the dressing room as the sales girls brought me clothes.

I didn’t bother asking his opinion on what I chose.

I didn’t even try to flirt.

Clearly, he was in a bad mood. A dark cloud had been hovering over his head all day, and I did not want it raining on me before tonight’s show.

No matter how safe he was keeping me, my career really couldn’t afford a hulking bodyguard with a bad attitude, exuding doom and gloom in my wake.

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