Page 24 of Flirtatious

The way he says that, so intense and in that deep voice of his, frightens me. Taking a step back, I try not to be freaked out, but I can’t stop myself. I feel vulnerable, something I hate.

“Really? It was that bad? Why would my mother do that?”

Liam frowns, making his very attractive face look even more serious than it usually does. “Because she’s not a security specialist. For what it’s worth, either was Michael. I am, though, and I’m telling you I can’t stay as your head of security with such slipshod protection surrounding you.”

Every word out of his mouth sounds more terrifying than the last, and I feel myself start to become overwhelmed by fear. I need to fight the urge to hide in my shell and never come out again, though. I’ve learned that from Ainsley.

“Liam, I can’t live like I’m some caged animal. Even out on tour, I need to feel normal. I can’t perform if I’m freaked out with people hovering over me like I’m always in danger.”

“You won’t have to be.”

He says that with such certainty that I want to believe him. “You say that, but four more guards means exactly that. I’ll be trapped.”

Liam’s face turns hard for a moment, and I brace for him to fight me more on this. He doesn’t, though, pleasantly surprising me.

In a soft voice that might be even sexier than his usual deep voice, he says, “Mia, my one and only job is to protect you. That’s it. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

I let out a heavy sigh and shake my head. “Why does it have to feel so oppressive?”

Still in that soft tone, he answers, “I don’t want it to feel like that. I promise we’ll be invisible. You’ll probably forget we’re even around.”

I look up to see a kind expression on his face. “I doubt that.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t know we’re around. I promise.”

When I stare into his blue eyes, I secretly hope I won’t forget he’s around. I like knowing he’s nearby. He drives me nuts and every person in my crew hates him, but I’ve grown to like Liam being in my life. I didn’t know how much I needed to truly feel safe until he came along.

“I just don’t want to feel like a prisoner, Liam. That’s all.”

“And I don’t want to feel like your jailer.”

Not able or even interested in fighting him on this anymore, I nod and let out a sigh of surrender. “As long as I don’t have the four of them hanging around constantly.”

“You won’t.”

“I mean, you being around is enough. Four more of you and I think I might go crazy,” I say with a smile.

He understands I’m attempting to be nice and smiles back. “So you’re okay with me being around? I can only imagine how much your entourage hates that.”

“A lot, but you aren’t working for them. You’re working for me, and as long as you agree that I do what I want, when I want, we’ll be fine.”

Suddenly, all the softness and happiness in him fades away, leaving that hard man I met the first day he came here. The intensity in his gaze frightens me now as he looks down into my eyes like he’s trying to make me understand something I refuse to.

But then he begins to speak, and I know he’s still the man I’ve grown to enjoy having around me.

“Mia, I would lay down my life if it meant you were safe. If that’s a problem, maybe you should tell me now so I can resign and VIP can provide you with another head of security. But if you want to be sure you’re safe, then I need to do my job and that may mean you don’t get to do what you want whenever you want.”

For the second time in this conversation, he’s mentioned resigning, and both times, my chest tightened at the mere words. I don’t know why, but I hate the thought of him leaving and not being in my life anymore. I don’t understand it since we barely know each other, but the pain in my chest tells me I want him to stay.

Even more, Michael never made me feel this safe, and never once did he say he’d die for me.

So I quietly relent and give Liam what he wants. “I can live with that. And the four more guys.”

That makes him smile, and for a moment, I get lost in how sexy he looks when he gets what he wants. “I’ll start working on that this afternoon so we’re ready for when the tour kicks off next month.”

“Thank you. For everything,” I say, wishing I had more to discuss with him as he moves to walk away.

I can’t think of anything, so he keeps moving toward the hallway, looking back at me as he says, “You’re welcome, but there’s no need to thank me. It’s my job.”

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