Page 17 of Flirtatious

“Well, Chloe and Ivy, the two women who look alike, they’re my makeup artists. Crystal is my hair stylist. She’s the one with the look that could turn a man to stone. I’m guessing you’ve seen that look already, though.”

I try to remember if any of the women stared me down like she wanted to turn me to stone, but I can’t recall that. Maybe I was too busy being in shock that they all thought they should traipse down the hallway in the middle of the night like they’re at Mardi Gras.

Mia continues, “Mitchell is my personal trainer. I guess he’s easy to figure out since he’s the only man. Fair warning, he’s got a thing for guys with great bodies, so don’t be surprised if he hits on you.”

“Sorry to disappoint Mitchell, but I’m straight.”

She shrugs like my announcement means nothing. “He won’t care. He has a type, and as far as I can tell, you’re it. To be honest, he must be distracted tonight because if he was paying attention and saw you standing up there in those shorts, I know he would have made a move on you.”

Fucking terrific. Yet another infuriating distraction in this house of madness.

“Tiffany is my choreographer, and Ainsley is my life coach. Oh, and Ginger comes whenever I need new clothes. She’s my personal shopper.”

“I assume I’ve met Tiffany since there was at least one of the women dancing all the way down the hall,” I say and then realize she just said one of those people was her life coach.

“What the hell is a life coach?” I ask, curious to know since I’ve heard people claim to need one more than a few times in the past.

“Ainsley helps me out with focusing on the positive.”

I don’t even try to hide how stupid I think that is. “Ainsley, the life coach who needs someone to clue her in that she should have manners enough to keep her voice down after midnight. Is she the one who sounds like she’s birthing goats in her room right now? Because whatever that is, it’s obnoxious. And why do you need hair and makeup people?”

My frustration seems to amuse Mia, and she smiles and shakes her head. “Men. They never understand the importance of hair and makeup. I need them so I don’t look like some washed out hag on stage.”

“Somehow I doubt you could ever look like a hag, but fair enough. Why do they live here, though? You’ve looked fine without them for weeks. On the road, I understand. Here? I don’t get it.”

“I’m surprised you have a problem with the Three Musketeers. I would have thought you’d look down your nose at Ainsley out of all of them.”

Laughing at how easily she read me about that, I look up to see her life coach waving some item of clothing out her window. “I think she’s trying some new moves your choreographer taught her. Either that or she thinks that’s the way to get your attention. Whatever it is, I’m not seeing the use of a life coach.”

Mia’s expression turns serious, and she looks down at her feet in the water. “She’s all that stood between me and losing it a while back. She makes me see my life has a lot of positive in it when I have a hard time finding it.”

“You’re a gorgeous woman with incredible talent and a voice millions of fans around the globe love, and you live on an estate that ninety percent of the people in this world can only dream of seeing, forget about owning. There. Now you can tell goat girl to go away and maybe I can get some sleep.”

She turns to look at me with shock written all over her face for a long moment. I can’t imagine why, although I doubt she’s used to people talking to her like that. But it’s not like anything I said wasn’t true. She’s all that and more. Why she needs some flaky woman to help her focus on the positive is beyond me.

“You…you can take one of the rooms in the east wing, if you want. That way you can get some sleep.”

I can’t help but be surprised at her offer. The east wing is where she and her mother have their rooms. For a second or two, I consider declining, but then a loud howl from one of her crew convinces me that if I don’t, I might never get a moment of sleep again.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. I wouldn’t be any good to you or anyone else if I’m always exhausted. I wouldn’t want my protection of you to suffer because of that.”

We sit silently looking at one another until suddenly she jumps up. “It’s nothing. I’m still the same spoiled star you can’t stand. This doesn’t change that. Goodnight, Liam.”

As I open my mouth to correct her, she hurries away before I can tell her I don’t feel that about her, especially after she was so generous to give me a room away from her noisy crew. A twinge of guilt pinches at me that she truly believes I can’t stand her.

I’m supposed to be her protector, the one person she can count on to keep her safe. What kind of bodyguard am I if she thinks I feel that way toward her?

CHAPTERSEVEN

Mia

I rushinto Ainsley’s room and slam the door behind me, pressing my back to it to make sure no one can follow me in here. I need to talk to someone, and out of all the people in this house, Ainsley is the one I can trust the most.

She looks up from whatever yoga pose she’s in that makes her look like some kind of deformed pretzel and her eyebrows shoot up into her forehead, the only sign that she’s surprised to see me. I usually let the crew settle in before I begin demanding anything of them.

“Sure, come on in. I guess I should be happy I decided to wear clothes for my evening stretch. You do remember I prefer to do this in the buff, right?” she says in that crabby voice she uses on me when I’ve overstepped my bounds.

I want to explain to her that this is my house, so there are no bounds, but I don’t, preferring to keep her as an ally for what I have to say to her. “Sorry, but I’ve seen you naked dozens of times, Ains. Why aren’t you doing your pretzel thing in the buff like always?”

---