Page 33 of Flirtatious

The guy clearly knows how to take care of his body, but Christ, what the hell is that shit?

After pouring myself a glass of iced tea, I head out to sit at the dining room table. Nobody else comes into this room, so it’s the perfect place to avoid any of the crew who might show up.

I hear a noise and look up from my phone expecting to see Cecelia with my lunch. But it isn’t her. Instead, Ainsley stands in the doorway glaring at me for the fourth time today. Goat girl sure does hate me. Why, I have no idea.

Nor do I care.

“Sitting down for a nice lunch, Liam?”

Her tone says she’s planning on saying something else after that, but I really don’t want to hear it because then I’m going to want to reply. So I force a smile and nod before returning my attention to the news headlines on my phone.

“You have a pretty nice gig going on here. I hope you appreciate it.”

Ah. So that’s where we’re going with this today. The life coach who does nothing, as far as I can tell, wants to know if I appreciate how great my job here is. It might be great if I didn’t have to deal with her and the rest of Mia’s crew.

I ignore her, even as every cell in my body screams at me to remind her how sweet a gig she has going on here. At least I have a purpose around this house. An actual job that involves tasks I have to complete.

She merely has to get her aura into the right zone or whatever the hell she does and fill Mia’s head with positivity. How goddamned hard could that be living here? This house has every luxury a person could want, the estate is kept beautiful by a legion of gardeners and landscapers so it’s like living in paradise, and her entire job here is to be a cheerleader.

But Ainsley doesn’t take the hint and sits down at the table with me. I feel her angry stare practically boring a hole through my face. Somebody wants to have it out with me today, although I’m not sure why.

When I finally finish reading a story about how the Bucs are probably going to be looking at rebuilding their offensive line before next season, I calmly lift my gaze and see her still staring at me. Jesus, she is an angry person. Maybe she should go find some of that Zen she claims to know so much about.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

I want to add the nickname I call her—Goat Girl—but I figure I don’t need to goad her into getting even angrier than she looks right now. I’m thinking at any moment, steam will come shooting out of her ears.

“You’ve been a big influence on Mia lately, and I’m not sure it’s a positive one,” she snaps, almost spitting the words at me.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly, weighing how much I want to lay into my client’s life coach today. I’d love to tell her exactly how little I think of her, but Mia is close to this person and the last thing I want to do is upset the delicate balance I’m trying to achieve with her.

“I think you’re confused, Ainsley. I’m the chief of security here. I work for Mia. I’m neither positive nor negative. I simply do my job and that’s it.”

Her eyes narrow, and she points toward the grounds outside the window. “Javier is chief of security here, so I’m wondering why you need to live here at all if you’re the person who’s responsible for Mia’s safety off the estate.”

“I’m over Javier,” I say in a sharp tone to match hers. “He works under me. Is there some problem with Mia’s protection that you’d like me to look into? If not, we have nothing else to discuss since you’re in charge of whatever you do, and I have an actual job here.”

Ainsley’s green eyes grow wide and full of anger. Fuck, I should have stopped myself at the question I asked her instead of continuing on to insulting her, but I’m tired of all of Mia’s crew. I have a fucking job to do. Why can’t these people understand that?

“What I do for Mia is none of your business, Liam. All you need to know is I don’t think you’re a positive force for her, and I can’t allow that to be.”

She can’t allow what to be? This woman and her positive force nonsense is grating on my last nerve right now.

“Aren’t you in charge of making her see the positive, Ainsley? I would think that’s your job to take care of. As I said before, I am neither positive nor negative. I’m simply the person in charge of her security. So why don’t you go find your center or whatever the hell you do and leave me alone to eat my lunch before I have to go back to my actual job on this estate?”

By the time I finish speaking, my voice is loud enough that Cecelia pokes her head into the dining room to see what’s going on. Turning to look over toward the doorway, I give her a smile that disappears the moment I return my focus to the life coach.

We stare each other down for a long moment before she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. I watch in confusion, hoping to God she isn’t planning on staying here and meditating or whatever she does all during my lunch.

After she lets the air in her lungs out in a long exhale, she opens her eyes and smiles, but it’s clearly forced. “You’re right. I am in charge of helping Mia see the positives in her life. I care about Mia a great deal. She’s my friend, and I’m concerned that how you see her is affecting her negatively.”

Surprised by the sudden change in her demeanor, I rethink my desire to continue to fight with Ainsley and nod, still unsure what the hell her problem is but willing to at least listen now that she’s not acting like she wants to attack me.

“I’m not sure what you mean. I see Mia as a client. She requires security, and that’s what I’m here to provide. What I think of her or everything that surrounds her here doesn’t figure into that.”

As if someone turned on the nice switch on this woman, the life coach leans forward toward me and says in a low voice, “Mia is a good person. She’s not spoiled or cruel, like the social media assholes say she is. She would give someone the shirt off her back if they needed it. But she’s very susceptible to the people around her and how they feel about her. I sense you think she’s not as terrific as she actually is.”

“I don’t think she isn’t a good person. I’m not sure what’s made you say all of this to me today, but I think Mia is a talented woman with gifts many people in this world would love to have.”

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