You guys? He’d said it as if he wasn’t American, as if hewasn’t part of us. Whatever “us” was. “Well, most Americans have some Irish blood in their DNA, so it’s not entirely without reason. Anyway…”
I headed up the stairs, Eamon on my heels. “The guest bedroom is here. If you’ll give me a few minutes, I’ll put fresh sheets on.”
I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had guests stay over. The room was probably really dusty too. Oh well, not much I could do about that right now.
“Bathroom’s here.” I swung open the door to the tiny bathroom with the claw-foot tub where I loved to soak after a long day of baking. “I’ll put some towels on your bed.”
I turned around to find Eamon studying me. “What?” I asked.
“Where’s your bedroom?”
I pointed at the door opposite his room. “There.”
“You’re not gonna show it?”
Hell no. I left it in an absolute mess of a state. No way was I showing him what a disaster zone it was right now. “It needs to be tidied. And cleaned.” He didn’t seem convinced, so I added, “And a bedroom is very private. I have things in there that are…personal.”
“Personal…” He quirked an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“That’s none of your business.”
That was like a red cloth to a bull as his face lit up. “Oh, do tell. You got some naughty toys in there, perhaps?”
I cursed that stupid blush that always showed up so clearly on my skin. “Like I said, none of your business.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Aw, why not? Sex toys are nothing to be ashamed of, you know? I have quite the collection myself.”
I could not believe this guy. “I hope you realize how inappropriate and unprofessional this conversation is. It’snot giving me a lot of confidence in your ability to keep me safe.”
His expression changed in a flash, like someone had flipped a switch. Gone was the teasing, the sexy grin, the playful wiggling of eyebrows that had made my stomach flutter despite my irritation. In its place was a hard line of his mouth, a tight jaw that looked like it could cut glass, and eyes that went from warm and mischievous to ice cold in the span of a heartbeat. The transformation was so complete, so sudden, that I actually took a step back.
This wasn’t the flirty, slightly unprofessional detective who’d been making jokes about sex toys thirty seconds ago. This was someone else entirely, someone who looked like he could handle whatever dangerous situation came his way without breaking a sweat. Someone who suddenly reminded me that he carried a gun and knew how to use it.
“I can promise you nothing will happen to you while I’m guarding you, protecting you. Don’t ever think I’m not taking that seriously because I joke about everything else.”
I had to swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry as the weight of his words and that intense stare settled over me like a heavy blanket. “Okay.”
“And if we want to play our parts as boyfriends seriously, you have to stop being so uptight all the time.”
“I’m not uptight!”
“Sweetheart, you’re tenser than a virgin on a wedding night. Live a little. Go with the flow. I promise it won’t kill you.”
He was wrong on every account. I wasn’t uptight. I was practical. Responsible. Careful. So I was a little tense, so what? Anyone in my situation would be walking around like a bundle of nerves. Twenty-four hours ago, my biggest worry had been whether Gia’s wedding cake would survivetransport, and now I was hiding from mobsters with a man who made my brain short-circuit every time he smiled. Excuse me for not being totally Zen about the whole thing.
“Pardon me for finding it hard to crack jokes about sex toys while the mob wants to kill me.”
“You have at least another day before that threat is real. They’ll need some time to figure out who betrayed them.”
I blinked. “That’s not the reassurance you think it is.”
He waved his hand. “All I’m saying is that you should use this time to get used to having me around. You can’t react like a prim and proper maiden every time I touch you or so much as look in your direction.”
I crossed my arms. “I do no such thing…and I have every right to protest when you’re being inappropriate.”
“Like asking you about sex toys?”
My cheeks heated all over again. “Yes, like that.”
