Page 244 of Sweet Temptation

He smirked a little, studying my face. “Are you telling me that the great, sexy party queen, DJ Summer, is going off the market?”

“Come on, Ronan. I’ve been off the market for a while now.”

That made him smile. I loved the way his eyes crinkled and the lines of his face softened.

“Fuck, you’re gonna be a hot old man.”

He chuckled. “I hope so. So you don’t get bored of me…”

“Ronan,” I said seriously, “I want you to know… The fact that you’re so strong and protective are two of the things I love most about you. But I’d never use those things for my own gain. I’d never manipulate you and use that giant soft spot of yours—”

“Soft spot?”

“You know you’ve got a massive soft spot.”

“I do,” he admitted, with a small sigh. “It’s Summer-sized.”

I grinned, then said solemnly, “I swear to you. I would never use it against you, or use it to try to control you. Like I told you… you’re a free spirit, Ronan Sterling. And I love that about you, too.”

“I love your free spirit, too. Feel like I kinda want to spend the rest of my life trying to keep up with it.”

I grinned, and damn, the angels were back. This man was gonna kill me. I was gonna die of a heart attack in bed one day.

But what a way to go…

“Then I guess we’re both agreed that we’re doing this thing. Together. You know, despite the fact that we’re both kinda terrified of getting hurt, again…”

“Yeah,” he said. “I want that.”

“I want you.”

“Then I guess there’s no problem.”

I brought his hand to my mouth. I brushed my lips lightly over his battered knuckles. “And maybe tomorrow you tell me what happened to your hands.”

“Yeah.” He groaned. “Maybe I do. And maybe it’s time I bring on another bodyguard to watch your back, because I’m too emotionally involved to see straight where you’re concerned.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that. I hadn’t expected him to say it. But I could feel the naked honestly in his words. It felt like… regret?

Clearly he was worried about me, but he was even more worried, maybe, about his ability to protect me.

“Do you think that’s necessary?”

“I’m not willing to lose you just because I had my priorities confused, Summer.”

I tightened my grip on him, gently. “I don’t want to lose you, Ronan.”

“Baby, you’re not gonna lose me.” He rolled over me, and while his weight pinned me to the bed, he looked deep in my eyes and said, “I’m gonna make damn sure you never have to.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Ronan

I was up early in the morning, well before Summer. I couldn’t sleep anyway.

Just kept going over last night in my head.

I’d already called Naveen and Brody, after leaving the motel with Maddox, and gave them the short version of what happened. But as the sun was coming up, I slipped out of bed and went downstairs, sat down in the sunroom, and called Jude on the road.

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