between the sheets, either,’ he replied with equal determination. ‘If that’s what you’re looking for it’s a deal-breaker. We do this, we do it my way.’
‘Which is what, exactly?’
His reply got stuck in his throat, what he wanted to say suppressed by self-doubt. He’d known Jo for years before he thought he felt something more—had debated telling her for months and ultimately was glad he hadn’t. If he was wrong again, if he’d misjudged, if the day of reckoning came and he was too far gone to haul himself back from the gates of hell—
‘What kind of game are you playing?’
The tremor in her voice tore a hole in his gut.
‘I’m not playing a game,’ he replied flatly.
‘I won’t be your rebound.’
‘You’re not.’
She was clearly confused—and she had every right to be. Her gaze frantically searched the air above his head. Then it slammed into his, her tone heavy with suspicion. ‘Are you doing this to control me and keep me in line?’
He flicked a brief glare her way. ‘I’m gonna let that one slide ’cos I know you have trust issues.’
‘You were given the talk, weren’t you?’
Tyler frowned again. ‘What talk?’
‘The talk Lou Mitchell gives to all the new bodyguards at the mansion about boundaries. It never occurred to me before but now it makes sense...’ Fire blazed in her eyes, incinerating her fear. ‘What did he say to you?’
Tyler froze when he realized what she meant. He wouldn’t lie to her but if it was taken out of context—
‘What did he say?’
The rise in her voice drew the attention of some of the people at the other end of the deck.
‘You need to calm down,’ he said in a lower voice.
‘I’ll calm down when you tell me what he said.’
No, she wouldn’t. Not if she didn’t let him get it all out. Hauling in a deep breath, he took a run at it. ‘He said to do whatever I had to do to—’
‘Wow.’
‘I’m not finished.’
She laughed sarcastically. ‘Oh, you’ve said more than enough. Congratulations.’ Her hands lifted in front of her body to reward him with a round of applause. ‘Well played.’
Tyler popped his jaw. ‘Miranda—’
‘How do I get off this damn boat?’
It might have been something that worked in his favour if they hadn’t been so close to Manhattan. When she yanked open the door and headed inside, he followed her. ‘We need to talk about this.’
‘No, we don’t.’ Her gaze searched for exit signs as an announcement was made about their arrival.
‘You haven’t got the full picture.’
‘Believe me, it’s in high definition.’ She spun on her heel and marched towards the other end of the boat. ‘I won’t be manipulated by you or anyone else.’
He reached for her elbow. ‘I’m not manipulating—’
Yanking her arm out of his reach, she swung on him with enough ice to freeze boiling water. ‘Don’t. Touch. Me.’
Tyler was about two seconds away from losing it. ‘We’re gonna talk about this whether you like it or not. But not here.’
‘We’re done talking.’ She angled her chin with blatant contempt. ‘And don’t worry—you won’t have to give up any more of your precious time to amuse me as a reward for good behaviour. Just be thankful you didn’t have to prostitute yourself to get the job done. But then you never intended to cross that line, did you? Everyone has their limits.’
‘Step too far with that one, princess.’
‘You’re fired.’
‘You can’t do that.’
‘I just did.’ She smirked and turned away, using her hundred-watt smile to flirt her way through a group of tourists to the front of the line.
When the rest of the passengers moved forwards he had to push his way through, his gaze firmly fixed on a head of flame-red hair. ‘Excuse me. Sorry. Coming through...’ He had to jog a little in the terminal to catch up. ‘Still trying to cut me loose?’
No reply but she picked up the pace.
Tyler simply lengthened his stride. ‘Long walk back to the mansion from here.’ He nodded when she lifted her chin. ‘Okay. Silent treatment is fine with me.’ He held open a glass door for her and followed her outside. ‘I’ll talk. You listen.’
‘Go to hell.’
‘That the best you’ve got?’
She stopped dead in her tracks, turned, took a step forwards and swung a palm at his face. He caught her wrist in midair, glared at her from the corner of his eye in warning and then loosened his grip when he saw the horror of what she’d almost done in her eyes. It