15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
B rody
Ivy whirls on me. “This is all your fault.”
I tear my eyes away from Kerianne’s departing figure and turn to the mouthy woman. “Excuse me?”
Her wavy hair is a rumpled mess around her face and her green eyes blaze with anger. She has never been good at keeping it hidden. I doubt she even tries. Especially when it’s directed at me.
“You know what I mean.” She pokes a finger in my chest. “If you were doing your job, my sister wouldn’t be in danger.”
I grab that little finger and keep it locked away in my fist. That’s the kind of insolence that calls for punishment, and it’s not the kind that should happen in Iris’s or anyone’s presence for that matter. Best to keep her under what modicum of control she can before she pushes me into doing something I shouldn’t be doing with a client.
“You were the one who butted your head into the quarrel. If you’d simply stood aside, none of this would have escalated!”
She yanks her hand free and folds it across her chest. “Oh, so are you saying it’s my fault now? Is that what you’re saying, Brody?”
I lift my arms, words on the tip of my tongue but I let them drop with a sigh. There’s no reasoning with Ivy. If she’s made up her mind about some innocuous idea, she holds onto it like it’s the revelation of the century. I’m the villain here and she’ll never let it go.
I’m not one to give in either. It’s a recipe for disaster. I have to shut this down quickly, or else it’ll only escalate.
I turn toward the cabin. “I’m not having this conversation.”
“I am having it.” Ivy plants herself in front of me, arms on her hips.
She thinks she’s gunning for a fight, but she looks like a kitten squaring up to a bear. Her pursed pouty lips and flashing green eyes don’t help her case. The instinct to kiss away her anger is so strong I clench my fists to hold myself back.
“Do you know you’re the most difficult man I have ever had to deal with? Just admit what you’ve done and explain how you’d make sure it doesn’t happen again moving forward, but no, you’re being a…”
I tune her voice out. Kerianne brought her claws out and she wouldn’t rest until she sunk them into someone. Preferably me. But I don’t have to listen to raging. I can retreat to a more peaceful place until she has worn herself out.
My gaze sweeps over her—face to feet. She’d fall easily if I touched her. At first, she would be stunned into silence. Then quickly, she would come to terms with what she’s wanted for so long. Too soon she’d be begging me to fulfill every single dark desire in her head.
“Are even listening to me?” She tilts her head to the side, taking my face in.
“No, not listening.” I shake off the fantasy. “I stopped where the accusations started.”
Her mouth falls open and I brace for the yelling that is to come. She doesn’t disappoint. “You have to do a job, Brody! Your job is to protect Iris. But if you can’t do your job, then this whole arrangement is futile because anyone can get to her,” she says. “I can’t do your job for you.”
My blood boils. I take my job seriously. Kerianne was a non-threat. If I’d interfered earlier, who knows what she’d have said to the press? Who knows what she’d say now that Ivy butted in and escalated a fight? I’m done taking crap from her.
“No one asked you to do a damn thing.” I look down at her. “You should have alerted me when you heard the scuffle and let me deal with it.”
She sticks her chin out. “I’m not going to sit back and allow your woman to bully my sister.”
“Kerianne is not my woman.” Somehow that hurt more than her claims that I’m bad at what I do. I’m an excellent guard. The years in the military have beaten that into me. It’s almost indisputable that even her claims are only a mild annoyance.
Her belief that there’s something between Kerianne and me, on the other hand, is just grating on a personal level. Why would I touch her when I had something with another woman? How could I have anything to do with Kerianne?
“Well, she had her hands all over you the first time we met, so I’m assuming she means something to you.”
Oh, so that’s it. I’m surprised she remembers. Is she jealous? “We went to the same high school. That’s the most we have in common.”
She shakes her head, sending her long waves about. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. As long as you make sure to keep your ladies in line and don’t have them bothering my sister, then we can coexist in peace.”
My ladies? She’s good at getting to me, I’ll give her that.
I scoff a laugh. “We have never coexisted in peace, Miss Spitfire. You’re too busy picking a fault with everything I do. If you want peace, allow me to do what you hired me for instead of running off and thinking you can handle shit every time!”
“Well, you were slow.” She gestures at me.
The seriousness of the situation dawns on me. Just because she’s light on her feet doesn’t mean she’s allowed to hop off like an overexcited rabbit. “And you were careless. What if it wasn’t Kerianne but an actual bad guy? What if you not only put Iris but also yourself in more danger?”
Her eyes shift to her sister, doubts diminishing her confident stance. “I’m not a fool. I’d have assessed the situation and then made a plan to disrupt whatever was happening!”
“My god. You can’t accept that you’re wrong, can you?”
“I’ll accept I’m wrong when hell freezes over because you’d never apologize for your negligence!” Her finger is awfully close to my chest again.
This stubborn woman. Maybe I’ll follow through and punish her after all.
“Stop!” Iris cuts between us. “Both of you, stop.”
“Can’t you see the way he acts?” Ivy tries to get around her.
Iris pushes her back. “I said stop. If anyone should be mad, it should be me. I’m the one in danger.”
“But I care about you and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Ivy’s voice cracks. “I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to you.”
An unusual feeling grows in my chest. My annoyance toward her flickers out replaced by something tender. I want to pull her in my arms and tell her she doesn’t have to be so strong all the time. She doesn’t have to be afraid. I’d never let anyone get to Iris or her.
“If only he”—she stabs a finger in my direction—“did his job then we wouldn’t have to worry about that.”
And there goes all the warmth I felt toward her. “If you just stop interfering then maybe I’ll be able to.”
“If you’re faster on your lumbering feet then maybe you’d have gotten here before me.”
“I don’t lumber,” I say.
“Jesus.” Iris slaps a hand over her face. “Shut the fuck up, you two. It’s no one’s fault but mine. I started this. I’m the one who left the cabin without telling anyone.”
Ivy frowns. “Don’t say that.”
“It is. Stop fighting Brody because you’ve convinced yourself that you’re not permitted to be mad at me.” She gives her a firm look.
Ivy opens her mouth, probably to argue but Iris holds a hand up. “Seriously, Ivy.” Iris pushes her hand toward her face. “Give it a rest.”
It’s a fucking miracle that Ivy doesn’t press the issue. I look down at my hand. Is that something I can do too to shut her up? Hand in the face? I lift it up to test and she gives me a death stare. I’m certain she’ll bite my wrist off if I put my hand in her face.
Iris turns to me. “I’m sorry I left, okay? It’s my fault all of this is happening.”
“I can’t protect you if I’m not with you, Iris,” I say as gently as I can despite how riled up I feel. “I don’t want to police everything you do but you need to tell me when you want to be anywhere outside the cabin. The whole point of this is to keep you safe. If you run off without my knowledge, anything could happen to you and I won’t be there to protect you.”
“I know. I know.” She rubs her temple with gloved fingers. “I’m going to tell you from now on. I just needed some time alone.”
“You can always ask for space if I’m bugging you,” Ivy says. “I won’t mind.”
I try to make myself scarce. A fly on the wall so the ladies won’t feel smothered by my presence. Obviously, I haven’t been doing well enough. “You have every right to ask, Iris. I can give you all the space you need.” Ivy looks at me and for a split second, gratitude shining in her gaze.
Iris tucks her chin against her chest and moves a few paces away. “It’s not that. You guys don’t bother me.” She turns around and looks at both of us with soulful eyes. “I just feel... like the ground has been washed away from beneath my feet. I don’t know where I stand. I don’t know what to do.”
“Iris...” Ivy steps forward.
My first instinct is to go in the opposite direction until I’m away from here. Clearly, whatever she’s going through is outside my pay grade.
“I just wanted to clear my head and see... well, a direction. You have your social work. Brody”—my feet stop moving as I’m caught in my exit—“has his job, and everyone I know is doing something with their lives.”
“Iris, until a few weeks ago you were a big-time musician. You still are an amazing singer.” her sister says. “You don’t need to have it all figured out. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Iris doesn’t look any better. I doubt whatever Ivy comes up with will fix her right now. Her dilemma reminds me of the days following my exit from the army. I felt untethered... in a bad way. I wasn’t sure where I stood. I left the surest path just to flounder. Mom worried about me and I started to worry too.
The cure? Exploring. Staying in one place with nothing to do yielded no results aside from recycling self-defeating thoughts. Maybe that’s why Iris feels the way she does.
“We should go see the town,” I blurt out.
Ivy shoots me a glare. “Now’s not the time for sightseeing.”
“No.” Iris places a hand on her shoulder. “I would love that a lot. Thank you, Brody.”
I’m too petty not to rub my victory in Ivy’s pretty face. I catch her eye and wink. Red climbs up her cheeks and she sticks her tongue out and wiggles her head.
“Ivy.” Her sister eyes her.
She stops and clears her throat. I allow the awkward moment to simmer briefly before breaking the silence.
“Go get ready,” I tell the ladies. “I’ll get a vehicle ready for us.”