Page 135 of Sweet Temptation

He didn’t notice.

“Well,” Summer muttered, “maybe his next client will be even less annoying.”

“Nah,” Andre said, totally oblivious to the subtext. “You’ll probably be the last one anyway.”

“What?” Summer sat forward. “Why?”

“Well, the last one was supposed to be the last one.” I cleared my throat, loudly, but Andre didn’t even glance at me. “After that, he was supposed to be retiring his bodyguard services. We threw a party for him and everything. That was the night we met you, actually.”

It was like a record scratch. Summer actually shut off the music.

“What?” she repeated.

“Tell her, bro,” Andre said, like he wasn’t even sure why I wasn’t jumping in to speak for myself.

Like I wanted her to know any of this shit?

“Tell her how you said you’d never take another bodyguard assignment.”

I shot him a look and found him smiling at me. The smile fucking faded at the look on my face, though.

In the backseat, Summer said, “Why did he take this one, then?”

“Uh… Brody Mason is an important client.” Maybe he was finally receiving the shut the fuck up vibes I was sending. He cleared his throat. “We’re all about doing what’s best for the client, you know?”

“Uh-huh,” Summer said. “And if this last client was so annoying, why didn’t you guys just drop him or her?”

“Ronan would never drop a client,” Andre said, with confidence, though he was wrong about that. “No matter what a spoiled, ridiculous, obnoxious fucking princess they were.”

Okay; I knew he was still talking about my last client.

But who knew how Summer would take that comment?

“Hey. Why’d you turn off the music?” Andre glanced back at her, like he’d suddenly realized it was uncomfortably silent in the car.

“What do you want to hear?” she said quietly. Too quietly.

She was thinking back there, about something, and she wasn’t saying whatever it was.

I didn’t like it.

“How about ‘All Summer Long.’ Kid Rock,” he suggested. Then he winked at me. “She doesn’t realize I can go on like this all day.”

I sighed again.

“‘Sex in the Summer,’” Summer replied, halfheartedly. “Prince.”

I didn’t say another word for the rest of the drive.

Chapter Seventeen

Ronan

When we finally arrived in Hope, Andre had once again won the “Summer” song game. Summer seemed impressed but mildly annoyed with him—and still really annoyed with me.

I picked up on that fact when I opened the car door for her and she refused my offer to carry the laptop she had with her in the backseat—then went right ahead and let Andre carry it when he swung around and took it from her, clueless, like three seconds later.

I let it go.

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