Page 1 of Problems

PROLOGUE

RONAN

"What do you do for a living?"The man that sat across from me wasn't who I was constantly thinking about, but he was going to be my replacement for the night. I was at my wits end with Jack O'Brien. I was hired to protect him, and everything had been going great until he grew up and started flirting with me. Not to mention he pulled at parts of me that needed to stay far away from him. His dad was my boss, the head of the Irish mob in New York. There wasn't a more off-limits man than Jack.

"Is it a secret or something?" His eyes widened as he looked me up and down. "Do you work for a celebrity?"

"No."

His teeth sank into his pouty bottom lip and I couldn't help but picture Jack instead. His pout was cuter. His nose always wrinkled up and the freckles on his face made him look younger.No, no, don't start thinking about him.

I sat up in the chair forcing myself to move on and forget. Impossible. Fuck, who was I kidding? I'd been trying to forget my desire for Jack for well over a year. I was no closer than I'd been back then.

"Are you not into this? I can go." The guy said.

I hadn't even bothered to learn his name. I knew why; it wasn't Jack and no matter how often he told me his name I was more than likely to forget it. When did this even happen to me? When did the wayward teen I was tasked with watching turn into a bratty man that lit a flame of desire in me?

"No stay. I'm sorry. I’m not normally like this." I wasn't. If my dear mam saw me she'd slap me in the back of the head. I didn't treat people like this regardless of my troubles.

"Are you sure? If you're not into this..."

I wasn't but I needed to try something. "I work as security."

The man stared at me for a long while before smiling. "Okay, I'm guessing it's a secret or else you'd boast about what company or celebrity you work for." His head tilted to the side and his light brown curls fell over his forehead. "Want to just get out of here?"

I was taken aback by his forwardness. Then again, he was younger than me. Maybe the wine and dine era was over. I knew I was old fashioned. I wanted to get to know a person and understand their likes and dislikes before sleeping with them.

"Are you finished with your drink?"

He glanced down at his watered-down amaretto sour and shrugged. "Are you wanting to sit here any longer? We don't have to kid ourselves. You're hot and this is a one-night stand, right?"

I barely held back the flinch at the mention of a one-night stand. "You deserve—"

The man shook his head. "What is up with you? You're giving total daddy vibes and that's great but you're not available for that, right?" His head tilted to the side as he studied me. It was as if he was trying to see who I was.

Right, it wasn't supposed to be more than getting Jack out of my system. I'd chosen a man who looked similar enough that I'd be able to squint and pretend it was Jack. It would be one and done. Simple, and yet I hadn't made a single move to get up from the table.

"Never mind you're too hard to read." He huffed in annoyance when I kept my face impassive and my body relaxed. "We don't even know each other’s names, you don't have to think this hard about it."

The man reached over the table and wrapped his small hand around mine. They were too soft. Jack had calluses on his fingers from holding pencils for long hours. I stared at our joined hands as my stomach rolled in unease. I had to stop this. Nothing would ever happen between us. I could never let it happen.

"Okay."

The man smiled brightly up at me and flagged down the waiter. He reached into his pocket, but I already had the cash out and laid it on the table.

"My drink wasn't that much."

I glanced down at the two-hundred-dollar bills. It wasn't a lot, but it was more than enough to cover the two drinks the man had. I felt bad for wasting everyone’s time. We didn't even get to try the food at the restaurant.

"I'm starting to regret not knowing your name."

The guy winked at me as he stood up. I was nearly a foot taller than him, another thing that was different than the boy I shouldn't want. Jack was tall and lean. He was only a few inches shorter than me.

I'm messing this all up.

"Did you drive?" the man asked. He wove his arm through mine and pressed against my side.

Ants instantly crawled up my side and the need to pull away ate at me. I forced the repulsion down.Maybe this won't work if his touch feels wrong.

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