Beers, Hens, and Irishmen (Warbler's Point Series)

by Meghan Quinn

  A wave of heat rippled through Fiona’s body form Murphy’s gruff voice whispering in her ear. She couldn’t take this. He was way too tempting. She stepped away from him and said, “Murphy, I told you already we can’t start whatever we had back up again.”

  He gave her a devilish grin, nothing compared to the one that melted her panties off that Booker delivered but it was still good. “Who’s saying anything about a relationship? I’m just talking about one night with you.”

  That’s all it ever seemed like he wanted. Fiona knew if she spent one night with Murphy she would be tempted for another night and that’s not what she wanted. She wanted a relationship with substance, someone who she could talk to and hash things out with, someone like Booker but she wanted someone also who lived in the general vicinity, not someone who lived across the country.

  She gathered up all her will power and said, “I’m sorry Murph. I’m moving on.” As she said the words she saw a flash of black run through Murphy’s eyes and bitterness settled in. She had never seen him like this before. His whole body tensed and she was actually nervous in his presence. Even after she broke things off with him she never saw him like this.

  He looked down at her and said, “This isn’t over lassie.” Then he walked away and saddled up next to Tipper to drink more lambswhool.

  She eyed Booker who was now by himself so she decided to go talk to him, she should at least say hi. Going over there had nothing to do with the fact that she might have dropped a B with her apple peel or that deep down inside she wished he was a resident on the east coast so she could take him up on his offer to be with him. God, how she wished she could be with him. He looked too damn sexy tonight and all she wanted to do was run her hands up and down that perfect body of his. She grabbed some liquid encouragement and made her way across the bar.

  ***

  The last thing Liam wanted to do tonight was celebrate Halloween, a holiday that him and Neala always went all out on. Instead of being at the pub dressed up with his wife, he was stuck wearing a stupid chipmunk costume, thanks to Bradon, handing out lambswhool, which happened to be the best part of the night. The recipe was handed down to him from his parents but he finally got all the proportions right of crushed apple, spiced-ale, cider, milk and sugar. He was getting compliments left and right from everyone, even his da, one of the hardest critics in the pub.

  He was shocked when he saw Sophie walk into the pub earlier. He gave her a ticket a while back and thought she wouldn’t show up because of how everything went down with Neala but she was a brave girl, she came anyway. He was glad because he didn’t want his problems to ostracize her from the community.

  She was dressed up as a sexier version of little Bo Peep. Her dress was short, showing off her little legs and the neckline was low giving everyone a good view of what she had to offer. Watching guys around her, eye her and check her out twisted Liam’s stomach. He knew he had no claim over her but he still didn’t like to think that some other guy could date her, pleasure her or make her happy. That was his job…well was his job.

  The thought of Sophie being his brought back the image of the divorce papers Neala had delivered which burned a hole through his soul. She was awfully quick on getting those papers written up. It made him wonder how long she wanted a divorce, how long she had been planning to leave him. If he gave it his all, would he have even been able to win her back? He still hadn’t talked to her since everything went down at the general store and now she moved out of their place and was living with her parents. It seemed like only yesterday they were in bed together sharing their love, how quickly things changed.

  Finn was taking a break from the bar for a moment and that’s when Liam noticed him chatting up Tipper, Sophie and some of their friends. He was being a little too charming for Liam’s liking, especially since he noticed Sophie touching Finn on the arm and laughing. Liam never liked the two of them together, he always thought they were sneaking around behind his back but deep down inside Liam knew Finn would never do that to him. They got into their fair share of fights but they always knew that their brotherhood took precedence over any relationship they would ever have.

  Sophie dropped her napkin in a fit of laughter, thanks to Finn and bent over to get it. That was when Liam’s mouth went dry and his dick went hard. Her skirt lifted up as she bent over revealing little white ruffled panties. Jesus, he thought. He was never going to get that image out of his head. Damn, even though he wasn’t even divorced and he shouldn’t want anything to do with Sophie, it took all his energy not to go over there and whisk her away like he used to when they were dating.

  He noticed her drink was low so he decided to bring her a glass and kick Finn back to the bar, Liam was sick of watching Finn win all the ladies over. He filled up another glass of lambswhool for her and walked over. As he approached her he noticed she had some kind of glittery substance all over her body making her look even better up close, almost like an angel. Liam was playing with fire by approaching her but he couldn’t help himself. Finn was the first one to make eye contact with him and nodded.

  “Want me to watch the bar?” Finn asked.

  “That would be great, thanks man.”

  Finn gave the girls a little wave good bye and Sophie a kiss on the cheek making Liam turn red with rage. It was just a friendly kiss he had to keep telling himself, there was nothing going on between the two of them.

  Sophie finally looked up at Liam for the first time in the night and all the laughter and fun she had in her face beforehand was instantly removed and replaced by nervous tension. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want to be the man that wiped away that beautiful smile and bubbly energy she usually displayed.

  Trying to forget her disappointment in Liam taking Finn’s place he said, “Here, I thought you might need a refill.” She took the cup he handed her and whispered a thank you. Liam noticed all the woman around him went silent and were just watching him and Sophie interact with each other. It wasn’t a good idea to visit Sophie in the middle of practically all the town’s people. He felt the atmosphere between him and the ladies turn from fun and pleasant to extremely awkward and uncomfortable.

  “Uh, so how has your night been?” Liam asked, trying to strike up some sort of conversation so it wasn’t completely awkward between him and Sophie.

  “Good, thanks.”

  Well, she wasn’t making the situation any better with her two worded answer. This was a bad idea. He should just apologize for everything again and leave.

  “Listen, Soph…” He looked around as all the girls around them were hanging on his every word. This didn’t look good, especially with the gossiping that went on in this town. Word was going to get back to Neala that he was talking to Sophie tonight. He needed to leave…immediately. Looking around he continued, “I, uh just wanted to thank you for coming tonight, and I hope you have a good night with your friends.”

  With that he tipped the stupid Simon glasses he was wearing with his costume and left the ladies to their chirping. That didn’t go as well as he planned. What was he even trying to accomplish? It’s not like he could do anything about the feelings he had toward Sophie. Even a year down the road, would he ever be able to do anything with Sophie? Would the town automatically judge him for going for her when speculation around Warblers Point was that he and Sophie were having an affair? He went to go clean some more glasses while Finn took care of the bar. He had to be alone so he could get lost in his thoughts.

  ***

  Booker was not happy, not happy at all. He knew coming to this party wasn’t going to be satisfying, especially after having to watch Murphy hang all over Fiona the whole time. Booker and Murphy were about the same height but where Booker was lean muscle, Murphy was all brawn so Booker conceded in the fact that Murphy would be able to take him out if Booker tried to get in a fight. He wasn’t stupid, he knew how to size up a man and assess what kind of damages would happen if they ever rumbled and the damages weren’t looki
ng in Booker’s favor.

  When he first got to the pub and ran smack into Fiona he had never seen anyone look so sexy in his entire life. He had been around his fair share of Halloween skimpy-ness but good God did Fiona take the cake. Her hair was cascading down in curls around her shoulders, she did something with her make-up that made her eyes pop and the cleavage the woman was showing was beyond anything he could ever imagine. He remembered the night he shared with Fiona, naked, the image was etched in his brain but this get up was right up there with how enticing she looked.

  He hadn’t talked to her all night which bothered him. He knew he blew up at her in the hallway the other day but he thought she might at least say hi. He did show up with her parents for crying out loud, the decent thing would to say a little hello, strike up a conversation, be a gracious host but he got nothing.

  He chatted with a few of the locals that he came to know and eyed some of the females in the pub but no one really sparked his interest. Just like he thought, Fiona had ruined him. There was some sexy blonde in a cat woman outfit that Bradon kept eyeing and Booker didn’t blame him, she looked hot but she didn’t hold a candle to Fiona. No one did.

  Irritated with himself and his feelings he put his drink down and started to head for the back door to let himself out when a small hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to find Fiona. His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest just from being close to her.

  She looked so small, even with those come-fuck-me heels on her feet. “Hey Booker, how are you?”

  She was actually being cordial. He was shocked and didn’t quite know what to do. Noticing it had been a couple of seconds since she spoke, he quickly squeaked out, “Uh, fine. Thanks. What about yourself?”

  She looked around the pub and gestured toward the door leading outside. He followed her outside and the cold air instantly hit him. The cold was not his friend and if he was cold in his pirate get up, there was no doubt in his mind that Fiona had to be cold in what little garments she was wearing.

  “Shit, its cold.” Booker muttered.

  Fiona waved a hand in front of her passing off his comment. “This is nothing, wait until December and January roll around, you will be begging for this kind of weather.” He noticed her facial expression change. “Oh but you probably will be in beautiful sunny California by then so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m going to be here for a while. I actually quite like it…besides the cold weather. That is something I’m still getting used to.”

  She nodded in agreement. “You’ll get sick of it once the spirit of the season wears off and you are left with snow and parking lot snow slush that wet your pants no matter how hard you try to avoid it, everyone at one time or another gets demolished by the parking lot slush.” She was joking around with him but he couldn’t force himself to join her, instead he heard himself snap at her.

  “I’m not like every other tourist that walks through this town, believe me.” He was getting so sick of her comparing him to everyone else. He was not like everyone else. If he was, he wouldn’t be in some small town in Vermont searching for happiness. Almost everyone found happiness in a sunny fantastic place like Hollywood.

  She just shrugged his comment off even though she had a hurt look in her face, from what he didn’t know. He knew his voice sounded a little harsh but nothing to send such pain through those bourbon colored eyes. Sensing she wanted to lighten the mood, she scanned him up and down. “That is quite the costume.”

  He countered. “Like you have room to talk.” He gave her the once over as well, lingering a little too long on her breasts. “I thought I felt my jaw hit the ground when I first saw you. You look fucking hot. Excuse my language but damn.”

  His comment made her finally succumb and deliver that gorgeous smile of hers. That was more like it, he thought.

  “I could say the same about you.” She fiddled with the buttons on his shirt that were too close to his southern region. “You know, there are buttons on this thing, you don’t have to have your shirt open like that.”

  He chuckled. “You know they make costumes that cover more of your girly bits.”

  “Touché.” She giggled. “Seriously though, where did you get that outfit? It looks familiar.”

  “Your mom, she insisted I wear a costume and this is what she came up with at the last minute and I can’t disappoint Mary Margaret, she controls my bacon proportions.”

  She laughed hard at that one. “Yes, don’t want her skimping out on your bacon intake, heaven forbid.”

  “I’m telling you, she makes the best bacon I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty of bacon. I don’t know what she does but it’s fantastic. She has now limited me to three pieces at breakfast. She said she didn’t want to be responsible for clogging my arteries.”

  “Sounds like you are starting to get close with her. That can be dangerous, next thing you know she’ll be asking you out to parties…oh wait she already did.” Fiona gave him a little wink and he felt his heart nearly pop out of his chest. He wanted so badly to touch her, caress her face, run his hands up the sides of that devil outfit she was wearing and cup those delicious breasts that he so desperately tried to avoid looking at out of being a pure gentleman but his control was starting to slip.

  “I’m not at all embarrassed at showing up to a Halloween party with your parents.” He laughed and thought about it for a second. “Damn, I look lame.”

  Fiona held up her fingers saying, “Just a little.”

  Silence fell upon them for a moment and it would have been the perfect time to throw her up against the wall and kiss the living daylights out of her but he wasn’t going to do that, if they kissed or touched it was going to be on her terms not his. He was going to woo her until she couldn’t take it any longer and she had to have him. Although, staring at her right now, he was slowly losing the battle of letting her make the first move so he decided reluctantly that it was time to go back into the pub.

  Booker rubbed his arms and said, “Well I don’t want you to catch a cold so we better get back in there.” He nodded toward the pub with his head.

  Her smile wavered for a second and then she nodded in agreement. Before they opened the door she said, “Hey Booker, I’m sorry I didn’t get to talking to you earlier tonight. I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Even though he was mad about the way she acted toward him, he wasn’t going to let her know about his feelings. “You were busy with Murphy and running the party. Don’t sweat it.” He turned but she stopped him again.

  “I hope you know Murphy and I are not together.” Even though her announcement was a relief he couldn’t help but sound bitter.

  “That’s hard to imagine with the way he was hanging all over you.” Damn that came out like some jealous boyfriend. He needed to lighten his tone. “It doesn’t matter Fiona. We can just be friends. What you do with your personal life is your own business. No worries. Come on its cold out here.”

  He saw the shocked look on her face and ignored it by proceeding inside holding the door for her. He watched her shake her head as if she was trying to rid of something and followed him inside. They smiled at each other briefly, said bye and went their separate ways.

  Booker found it quite interesting that Fiona made it a point to let him know that she was not involved with Murphy even though their actions tonight spoke otherwise. He was going to take her word for it. He decided to leave the party, his job here was done. Thankfully he was able to call a cab in such a small town and was in his cabin getting ready to go to sleep in no time. Now if only he could get the images of Fiona in her skimpy little outfit out of his head, he could actually get a decent night sleep.

  ***

  Finn was cleaning up the pub with his siblings when he looked at them and realized they were all running on fumes from the nights activities. They had been working to get ready for the party since early in th
e morning and now it was past midnight. He looked over at Bradon who had a girl in some skimpy costume waiting for him in a booth, Bradon was just about finished up with clearing all the tables. Finn knew his brother was working faster than normal and Finn didn’t blame the kid. Finn noticed the lady in waiting throughout the night as well and thought about asking her out later but Bradon beat him to it…like usual. Bradon was the ladies’ man but where Finn would try to make something of a relationship, Bradon just pumped them and dumped them. He was actually kind of tainting all the women in town, leaving him with very slim pickings. Finn would have to talk to his whore of a brother about that.

  Murphy left a little bit ago looking awfully disappointed and a little angry. Looked like Fiona was sticking to her guns and staying away from him. Good for her, although, Finn hoped it wasn’t because of the Sheila.

  Liam looked pathetic, he looked pathetic all night. At one point Finn was able to talk to him and found out that Neala had the divorce papers delivered to him. That would make any man upset, realizing that the family he loved was going to be forever split up. He couldn’t imagine going through what Liam was going through.

  Bradon waved bye to his siblings as he wrapped his arm around the pretty little treat Bradon would be tasting when he got back to his place making Finn feel jealous once again of his little brother. What Finn wouldn’t give for just a one night stand right now. If Tipper wasn’t Fiona’s best friend he would have rushed her up to his apartment tonight and peeled that cat woman costume slowly off her body. Damn she looked good tonight. Although, she was a little young for him.

  Fiona saddled up next to Finn counting the drawer. “We did so much better this year than we ever have.”

  “Maybe because you were walking around looking like a slapper all night.” Finn joked.