I was happy my mother was over the moon. I was even happier that her attention had been diverted from me and Maebh. Today had always been such a struggle for my mom. Fighting to celebrate my birthday and dealing with it being her father’s birthday, as well.
I leaned over and asked Tripp, “Did you see where Maebh went?”
He glared.
“Come on, cut me some slack. Mom was killing me! Besides, your wife threw our sister under the bus just as fast.”
The corner of Tripp’s mouth twitched. “That was sort of fun seeing you nearly choke on your own tongue. Especially the comment about you riding her. You fucking wish.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Tripp, where’s Maebh?”
“She walked into the kitchen,” Tripp answered with a sigh.
Pushing my chair back, I tried to stand, but Mom brought out the cheesecake and started to sing happy birthday. Everyone joined in, and I felt someone’s eyes on me.
With a quick glance over my mother’s shoulder, I saw Maebh standing there, singing along, a forced smile on her face.
When my mother set the cheesecake in front of me, it had one big candle in the middle. She was never one to put the exact number of candles on your birthday cake. It was always one and she insisted you had to make a wish.
“Make a wish!” she demanded.
Closing my eyes, I made a wish and blew out the candle.
When I looked back to where Maebh had been standing, my heart sank. She was gone.
My wish had just walked out the door, and I couldn’t get up fast enough to go find her.
“Do you want to cut the cake, Cord?” my mother asked.
I shook my head. “You do it. I’ll be right back.”
I made my way into the kitchen and looked around. Out the window I saw Maebh walking toward the swings my father had put up last fall for Chloe and Gage.
When I reached for the door handle I had to laugh. So much for my wish of giving me strength to stay away from Maebh. I was drawn to her even more. A moth to a damn flame.
This birthday was really starting to suck ass.
I made my way over to her, trying to make noise since so I didn’t scare her.
She pushed lightly off the ground and swung, not hearing me approach. When she dropped her head and body back and lifted her legs, I stopped. I watched as she swung on the swing, and I had no idea why I thought that freedom, that joy on her face in that moment was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life. She looked so carefree and relaxed. Like she didn’t have a worry in the world.
I knew that wasn’t true. I’d seen how tired and stressed she was. Her restaurant hadn’t been open long, and I overheard her telling my parents it was doing much better than she had anticipated. I was honest to God happy for her. And I hadn’t seen a dip in my own sales the entire time Aisling was open. As a matter of fact, our sales had increased. My guess was Maebh’s restaurant was bringing in new people for dinner and drinks, and they were ending the night at my bar.
“Maebh?” I said, making her sit up and stop swinging. She spun on the seat and looked at me.
“Cord? Is everything okay?” she asked.
With a nod, I made my way to the other swing and sat down. She was still sitting with the chains twisted.
“I never wished you a happy birthday,” she said.
“Thank you. And thank you for coming. I enjoyed having you here with the family.”
She gave me a sweet grin.
“Race to see who can get higher the fastest?”
She giggled. “I think you’ll win. Your legs are bigger and stronger.”
“Chicken?”
Her brow lifted. “Hardly, I simply know when I can’t win.”
My smile faltered at the double meaning behind her comment. I offered, “I’ll give you a head start. Ten seconds.”
“I guess that sounds fair.”
Maebh walked back as far as she could, took a running start. She jumped on the swing and started pumping her legs and pulling with her arms. She got high pretty fast.
“Ten!” I shouted as I pretty much did the same thing. We were neck and neck, and for some reason I couldn’t get any higher. Maybe I wasn’t trying harder because I didn’t want this to end. I hadn’t laughed this much in a long time. The last time I was on a swing, Savannah Hughes was wrapped around me, fucking the shit out of me.
The memory tainted the moment, and I started to slow down. Guilt ripped through my body.
Maebh laughed harder. “Giving up, Parker?”
“I guess my legs aren’t in the shape I thought they were.”
She scoffed. “I think you gave up to let me win.”
“Maybe,” I replied, seeing the blush on her cheeks even in the moonlight.
Fuck, I loved seeing her face flushed. I wanted to see it like that when I fucked her.
I closed my eyes and cursed myself. Maebh was the type of girl who deserved more than a one-night fucking. A man should make love to her. I don’t think I’d ever once made actual love to a woman. Hell, half the time I took them from behind just so I could fuck them as fast and as hard as I could.
Prick.
“What?” she asked.
My head jerked toward hers. Shit, did I say that out loud? “What?”
“Did you just call yourself a prick?”
I smiled big. “Maybe you thought it in your head.”
She frowned. “No, you said it.”
I shrugged, trying to blow off my blunder.
We sat for a few minutes in silence, barely swinging.
“So, you have a motorcycle?” Maebh asked.
“Yep,” I replied, giving her a sexy grin.
“I’ve always wanted to have sex on a motorcycle.”
My entire world stopped. My breathing stopped. My heartbeat stopped. My fucking brain stopped. The only goddamn thing that worked was my cock. And right about now it wanted to make that wish come true for her.
“W-what?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Sorry. That wasn’t a very ladylike thing to say. I’ve just never met anyone with a bike before. Have you…you know?”
My head tilted. I wanted to hear her say it again so damn bad. “Have I what?”
Her face looked so adorable as she scrunched her nose. “You know!”
“No. I don’t know. You’re going to have to spell it out for me, Maebh.”
“Have you…done it on your bike?”
Jesus, why are you being so cruel.
“Done what on my bike?” I asked with the biggest shit-eating grin on my face, more turned on than I’d been when I kissed her.
She covered her face and issued a loud groan. “Have you had sex on your motorcycle before?”
“No. I’ve never fucked a girl on my bike.” But my God, if she wanted that right now, I’d part the fucking seas to make her wish come true.
Her brows pulled together before she went back to barely swinging. “How come?”
Christ Almighty. Was I having this conversation with the only woman I’d ever had reoccurring dreams about? The only woman I wanted more than air? The one woman I couldn’t allow myself to take because I wasn’t worthy of her?
“I guess I’ve never found the girl I wanted to fuck on my bike.”
“Are you always so crude when describing sex?”
“Yes. Because that’s what I do, Maebh. I fuck.”
Her mouth fell open a little before her tongue made an achingly slow swipe across her lips. My cock was painfully hard and jumped when her teeth sank into that pretty pink lip of hers.
“I’m sure your family is missing you in the house,” she finally said, breaking our intense stare.
That was my signal that she no longer wanted to talk. Maybe I’d scared her off with my blunt words. I got the feeling Maebh wasn’t the type to want a guy to whisper how much he wanted to sink his cock into her pussy. More like the type who wanted a man to whisper sweet nothings and make slow, passionate love to her.
I wish I could test my theory.
“Does it bother you when I use the word fuck?”
She shook her head, and what she did next shocked the living shit out of me.
Maebh stood in front of me. With a steady face, she replied, “Just the opposite, Cord. It turns me on.”
My pulse shot off like a rocket as I watched Maebh give me a sexy little smile then head back toward the house.
Had I heard her right? Her accent was known to throw me off. Did she just say I turned her on? My dick pressed against my jeans even harder.
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I mumbled, “Fucking hell. It’s going to be a long night.”
My phone vibrated, and I glanced down to see it was Tammy. I picked up.
“Hey, I know it’s your birthday and you’re with family, but I need you to come to the bar.”
“What’s wrong?”
“One of the draft beers is stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“Nothing is flowing out, and I’ve tried everything I could think of. It’s the Belhaven.“
“Shit,” I grumbled as I headed back to the house. That was one of our best-selling beers, and I wanted it to be fixed before tonight. “I’m on my way.”
“Sorry, Cord,” Tammy said, her voice filled with regret for having to call me in.
I made my way back into the dining room where everyone was still going on about Harley and Tripp’s good news, or asking Amelia a million questions about her book being made into a movie.
I walked up to Amelia first.
“Hey, sis. I’m so proud of you. I know I said it earlier, but I really am.”
She leaned up to kiss me on the cheek. “Thanks, Cord. It’s all still up in the air what I’m going to do, but I’ll figure it out.”
“I wish I could hang around and ask you about it, but Tammy has an emergency at the bar.”
Amelia frowned, and I pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
With a shake of her head, she smiled. “I just hope you don’t end up working on your birthday.”
I winked. “Aww, it’s not so bad. I do need to talk to you later, though.”
Her brow quirked. “Oh? Why?”
My eyes lifted, and I looked right at Maebh. “I’m a little curious about why you brought Maebh.”
Her hands went to her hips. “I brought her because she’s my friend. Not just mine, but Paxton’s, Harley’s, Corina’s, and Waylynn’s. We like her and want her to feel welcome here. Unlike you.”
I pushed my fingers through my hair. “Knock it off. That’s not true. I do want her here. I mean, I want y’all to be friends with her. I mean…shit. Listen, I can’t argue with you about this. I’ve got to run. I love you.”
Her face softened. “I love you more, Cord.”
After making the rounds and thanking everyone for coming, I glanced in the direction of Maebh and said, “See ya around, Maebh.”
She smiled and my stomach jumped.
Fuck me, was that another wink?
Leaning down to kiss my mother, I said, “Thank you so much. I’m so sorry I have to leave.”
“It’s okay! We love you and enjoy the rest of your birthday.”
My father reached a hand out, shook mine, then pulled me in for a quick hug.
“Have a good night, son. Behave.”
I laughed. “There’s no fun in that, Dad.”
When I turned around, Maebh was looking at me with pinched brows. I knew she’d taken my words the wrong way, but I didn’t have time to explain. I needed to get to the bar.
“How was the birthday dinner?” me father asked as I made me way over to him. He was sitting in the lounge with a glass of whiskey in hand.
“Nice. The Parker family is incredible. Makes me wish you and ma had more kids.”
Me da laughed. “Lord, we could hardly handle you!”
The heat in me cheeks made me press me hands to them.
“Get a drink and join me, Maebh. It’s your day off. You shouldn’t even be here.”
I kissed his forehead before walking over to the bar and stepping behind it. Jeffery was working this evening, and he moved to the side and let me pour my own drink. I paused when I overheard a conversation between two patrons at the bar.
“Seriously, you think Cord and Tammy are hooking up?”
My eyes shot up, and I looked at the two women sitting at the bar. I’d recognized them right away and instantly knew they were waitresses at Cord’s Place.
“I mean, she calls him back to the bar with some lame excuse that the draft beer is clogged up and when he gets there nothing is wrong. Then they went back to his office to do what? Talk about the bar? Don’t be stupid.”
The other girl frowned, and I tried to act busy as I listened to them.
“I don’t know, June. Cord doesn’t even flirt with any of us. None of his employees. I find it hard to believe he’d be screwing the manager of the place.”
“Tell me you don’t see the way Tammy stares at Cord. What about the night we all went out, and she got drunk, said her life’s mission was to ride Cord Parker’s…”
Her voice lowered and I leaned in enough to hear her say, “Cock.”
I jerked back like I’d been slapped across the face.
Spinning on my heels, I headed over to my father. I sat down and drank the shot of whiskey.
“Well, okay. So much for taking a moment to enjoy it.”
“I needed it more than I thought.”
“Get out of here, half pint. Everything is fine. Enjoy your evening.”
Forcing a smile, I nodded. “You’re right. A nice hot bath will make me feel better.”
He nodded. “Go, now.”
“Night, da.”
“Night, half pint.”
I walked back to the bar. The two girls were still there, but now they were joined by two men. They were all dressed up, and I overheard one mention dinner reservations.
“Jeffery, do you need anything?”
He glanced at me and shook his head. “I’ve got it covered, Ms. O’Sullivan.”
“Maebh. Please call me Maebh.”
“Maebh,” he replied, his smile grew bigger. He quickly swept his eyes over me body before turning back to what he was doing.
Ignoring it, I made me way to me place and started me bath. A long hot soak would do me wonders.
As I laid in the lavender-scented water, I couldn’t shake what the two waitresses were talking about. Tammy had been with Cord at the dinner and then they came to the opening of the restaurant together.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
He kissed me, though. But maybe he also kissed her a time or two.
Laughing, I shook my head. Why in the world would it surprise me that a man like Cord would kiss me, but still have a causal relationship on the side?
I dropped into the bath and went underwater for a few seconds before coming back up.
When me head popped out of the water, me phone went off.
Reaching for it, I nearly dropped it when I saw his name.
Cord: Amelia said you went home. Are you in for the night?
Me heart raced. Why was he asking me if I was in for the night? Did he want me to come to the bar?
Trying not to shake too much, I decided I would tell him I was in for the night. After all, I’d just dunked me entire head under water and wasn’t in the mood to primp myself up.
Me: Why? Did you have something in mind?
I groaned. Me reply had completely negated what I’d just told meself. This man was me weakness.
It didn’t take him long to reply.
Cord: I’m on my rooftop, and I’ve discovered a path directly to your rooftop.
There was no way I could hide me smile. What in the world did he mean he found a path? I wasn’t going to bite though. The conversation I had overheard earlier was still bothering me.
Me: I’m at the bar, with me father… Sorry.
I wasn’t sure I could take anymore of Cord Pa
rker tonight. He’d probably finished shagging his manager and thought he could get some action from me next.
Cord: Really? Because you left the blinds up in your bathroom, and I’m looking at you soaking in a bath right now, your hair’s all wet. I have to admit, I’m slightly jealous I’m not in there with you.
Me heart dropped to me stomach as I stared at the text. I must have read it five times before me head popped up, and I looked out the window. Right into Cord’s eyes.
Sitting on one of the small tables with his feet on a chair was Cord. He had on a cowboy hat and a smile that made me insides quiver.
“Oh, holy shite.”
Cord lifted his hand and waved.
I snarled at him. “Little fecker!”
His head dropped back, and he laughed like he’d just seen the funniest thing ever. As if he’d just picked up the art of lip reading.
Fine, if he wanted to play this little game, I was going to give him something to look at.
I stood and when he looked back at me, his smile dropped as he stared at me naked body like it was the first time he’d ever seen a naked woman. It felt wonderful to see his eyes rake over me. I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. This was not something I would normally do, but when Cord Parker was involved all sense went out the door.
Taking me time, I stepped out of the bath. I wanted desperately to look back at him, but I didn’t as I walked across the room and reached for the robe. I turned and nearly laughed me ass off when he leaned over to get a better look and missed the edge of the table with his hand. He fell right off with a thud.
“That’s what you get, you arse!”
I dropped the robe onto my arms and wrapped it around me body as I made me way to the door that led out to the rooftop.
Cord stopped me before I could step out. I glared at him.
“You pervert!” I shouted.
“Pervert? You’re the one taking a bath with your damn blinds open. What the fuck, Maebh? Anyone could look up here and see you. That shit needs to be shut when you’re in there naked.”
It was like his words reminded him of what he had seen only moments ago. A hungry look came over his eyes.
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