Air Drop Security

Good day, I have a sensitive Numbers file that I don't want to send over the internet to get on my iPad. I thought I would utilize Air Drop to accomplish this task but after Air Dropping the file to my iPad and finding it in the files app, I look at its properties (click the small i next to the filename) and I see that it automatically went to Numbers in iCloud. I received no prompts to accept the file or where I may want to store or open it. This is a problem as far as using Air Drop for security purposes. How would one get a file from a mac to an iPad or iPhone securely (no exposure to the internet at all)?

Security starts with zero trust