Trevor’s head dropped, and he stared at the ground.
“I want to take the risk. I just don’t know if I can.”
A voice cleared from behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I found that it was Maebh.
“Sorry, but we need to head to the airport.”
Trevor and I stood. I was shocked when he pulled me into his arms and slapped my back hard. His pained voice cracked when he spoke. “Thanks, dude. I appreciate you not tearing into me when I gave you a reason to.”
“You’re my brother, Trevor. I’m always here for you.”
He headed to Maebh, drawing her in for a hug and whispering sorry. He pushed his hands in his pockets and headed down toward the barn. His body sagged, and I couldn’t shake the confused sadness in his eyes.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said.
“Don’t be. Your brother is hurting with something that only he can figure out. He’ll find his way.”
I held Maebh while we both watched my brother walk away.
The knock on my office door had me lifting my head and calling out, “Come in.”
Tammy walked in and smiled.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked, leaning back and glancing at the clock. It was only nine in the morning, and she rarely came into the bar this early.
“We have the film crew coming today for the commercial, and you mentioned you weren’t feeling good. I wanted to make sure the place was clean and ready to go.”
I grinned. “Thanks, but I’ve got it all taken care of. Maebh called in a crew to come and clean the bar top to bottom. They should be here around ten.”
“Maebh arranged that?”
There was no mistaking the bitterness in her voice.
“Cord, I’m your manager. Doesn’t your girlfriend have her own place to worry about?”
My eyes widened in shock. Agitation rocked me right to the core. “What my girlfriend does or doesn’t do with this bar is my business. You were hired to make sure the day-to-day things are taken care of. When it comes to special events, I’ve always handled things. If you have a problem with Maebh helping me, then I need to know about it now and this shit needs to get fixed.”
Her lips moved into a forced smile. “No, no problem with it at all…boss.”
I sensed some sarcasm, and I didn’t like it.
She turned to the door, and I noticed what she was wearing. I hadn’t paid much attention when she walked in.
What in the fuck? She had on a skirt so short her ass hung out of it. She turned back to face me, and my eyes scanned up her body to her shirt. Her tits were nearly popping out of the damn thing.
There was no fucking way my manager should be dressing like she was in a damn strip club.
“What are you wearing?”
She ran her tongue over her lips. “I have a lunch date.”
I pulled my brows together. “Where? At a private strip club?”
A hurt look passed over her face before she reached up and unbuttoned a few buttons. Her shirt fell open and her tits were on full display.
“See something you like?”
My eyes jerked up to hers.
“Not one thing,” I said, trying to keep my anger down. What I really wanted to do was tell her to get the fuck out of my bar, but I needed to calm down. My head had already been pounding when she walked in and now it was throbbing. The ache in my body was not because of her, but the anger that raced through it.
“I’ll see you later tonight, Tammy. And make sure you’re not still dressed like that. Leave now before I do something you might regret.”
Hope flashed in her eyes before I added, “Like fire your ass for coming on to me in my own fucking office.”
Quickly buttoning up her shirt, she reached behind her and opened my office door before rushing out. I could see the hint of rejection and embarrassment etched on her features.
When the door clicked shut, I let out a string of curse words. Maebh had been right. Tammy had just tried to make a fucking play for me.
Grabbing my phone, I hit her number.
“Hello? Cord?”
Her sweet voice filled me with something I still couldn’t pinpoint. Love? Lust? Desire? A mixture of all of the above? Whatever it was, I fucking loved it.
“Hey, my beautiful Irish cailin. How are things in Ireland?”
I tried my best to say it with an accent and failed. Maebh laughed.
“Lonely without me Texas cowboy.”
“Mmmm,” I groaned, reaching down to adjust my growing cock. “I miss you so fucking much and it’s only been a couple of days.”
I coughed and reached for my water.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“No, I think that exhaustion wore me down so much that someone from the bar got me sick. I’ve been feeling like shit the last few days, and it’s only getting worse.”
“Please go to the doctor before it gets worse. They should be able to do a flu test.”
Sighing, I ran my hand over my face. “Tell me what you’re doing right now.”
She pulled in a deep breath. “Well, I’m currently standing on a golf course.”
“A golf course?”
“Yep. It’s a charity event me da goes to every year.”
“Do you play golf?” I asked, my cock growing harder. For some reason, if she played I was going to reach through the phone and kiss her. I fucking loved golf and wondered how this revelation hadn’t come up in conversation over the past couple of months.
“Yes, I actually played golf at me university.”
My head dropped back. Jesus, this woman was like a dream. She liked to fish. Drink. Fuck. Dance. And now she hits me with another one: she can play golf.
“You’re fucking amazing, do you know that? I love golf. I want to take you out to a course, not tell my brothers you can play, and watch you beat their asses. Please tell me you’ll do that, baby.”
Her laughter tumbled from the phone straight into my heart.
“Sure! Why not. Might be fun.”
The sounds of male voices caused me to look up at one of monitors. “Speak of the devils. They’re all walking into the bar right now.”
“I need to go anyway. I love you, Cord. I miss you and I’m not having any fun.”
Smiling, I stood, adjusted my dick in my pants and replied, “You’re a liar, Maebh O’Sullivan. I hear it in your voice.”
“Okay, but only about the part where I said I wasn’t having any fun. Please go to the doctor, okay?”
“I will… I love you too, baby. Call me later.”
Making my way out to the bar I smiled when I saw my brothers and their kids.
Fucking hell, the ache in my chest when I looked at Gage trying to make his way over to me…what in the hell was this?
That’s definitely moving too fast. Shit. Slow down. Slow that thinking right the fuck down.
Gage wore a huge smile, and I wondered how in the hell he could see with the ten-gallon cowboy hat on his head.
“He’s walking so good!” I exclaimed while bending down and scooping him up. I gave him a toss in the air, and he laughed.
“Mom said you weren’t feeling good? Is that true?” Steed asked, concern laced over his face.
I put Gage down and nodded. “Shit, sorry, dude. I am feeling a little off. I probably shouldn’t be anywhere near the kids.”
Mitchell got up and walked out of the bar, his two-month-old daughter Merit tucked in her carrier.
“I’m out of here,” Mitchell called out over his shoulder.
Jonathon shook his head and looked at me with an apologetic expression. “Dude, If Waylynn knows I brought Liberty around, she’d be pissed. I love you like a brother, but I fear my wife more.”
Tripp clapped Steed on the back. “I’m outta here too. I’m not risking bringing anything home to Harley. She’s already having a hard time with morning sickness.”
Steed picked up Gage and looked my way. “Sorry, dude. Feel better.”
“No baby and no pregnant wife. I’ll hang out with you, dude.”
Laughing, I shook my head and motioned for the door. “Let’s grab something to eat. Have you had breakfast?”
“Not yet.”
As we walked out, I locked the door while Wade read a text.
“Um, if I go to breakfast with you, you can’t tell Amelia.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
She says Paxton told her you were getting sick. She has a signing at a bookstore in Dallas next week and said if I get her sick because I hung out with you today, no sex for a month.”
“Dude, you’d risk that just to have breakfast with me?” I asked, covering my heart and batting my eyes in an exaggerated manner.
Wade nodded. “It doesn’t hurt that I’m fucking starving, and you’re buying.”
“I’ll take it. Let’s go.”
As the day dragged on, I felt worse. I was going to kill the person who had made me sick, but I had a feeling it was one of my poor waitresses. Three of them were all home in bed with the flu. There was no fucking way I was getting the flu. I never got sick. I had no time to get sick.
Tammy showed back up to work looking like herself later that afternoon. I had talked to Wade about the stunt she pulled, and his advice was to find another manager. I wanted to talk to her in my office. Tell her I couldn’t have an employee coming on to me and that she needed to find another job.
We were already busy with people coming in for happy hour, and I couldn’t imagine what the rest of the night was going to look like. I was feeling worse, and all I really wanted to do was talk to my girl and go bed.
“Cord, why don’t you go on up to your place,” Tammy said. “We’ve got it covered here. It’s the middle of the week, and I think after happy hour things will slow down.”
I didn’t want to admit that I knew Tammy was right. Once happy hour was over I knew things would die off. I was feeling worse as the minutes ticked off the clock.
Fucking hell. I should have gone to the doctor.
I sat in the chair behind the large mahogany desk and pulled out my phone. I’d talked to Cord not long ago, and he had mentioned not feeling well. I needed to find out if he was feeling any better.
Hitting Cord’s number, I waited for him to pick up.
A rough sounding voice filled the line. “Hello?”
My heart leapt to me throat. “Cord?”
“Maebh? Baby, what time is it there?”
He sounded bad. Really bad.
“It’s nearly midnight here. Me da is having a party for his birthday. You sound terrible.”
“I feel terrible. I don’t even think I have the energy to go to the doctor to find out if I have the fucking flu.”
Gasping, I jumped up.
“Cord, you need to have one of your brothers or sisters take you…you know your ma would take you in a heartbeat.”
“It’s alright. I’ll go tomorrow. Right now I just want to crawl in bed and go to sleep. I feel like fucking shit.”
Me heart hurt knowing he was sick, and I wasn’t there.
“I’m so sorry I’m not there.”
Silence.
“Cord? Cord!” I shouted.
“Y-yeah…sorry, baby. I took some medicine, and I think it’s knocking me out. Baby, I need to go, my head is fucking pounding.”
“Okay, I love you, Cord. I’ll be home soon.”
“Love you, too.”
Then the line went dead. Jerking the phone away, I stared at it. He hadn’t even said good-bye.
I raced out of the office and through the house. I threw the door to me bedroom open and grabbed me case. I wasn’t going to stay here another minute. Cord needed me and I wanted—no, I needed—to be there for him. I sent a quick text to Amelia, letting her know I was going to leave right away. They didn’t need to know I was going to take me father’s private plane. I had yet to tell Cord exactly how well off me family was. I didn’t want it to be a factor in anything. Not that I thought the Parker family would have liked me more, or befriended me solely because of the wealth I came from. Yet, it was still hard to trust people with that bit of information. I’d seen it change people. Sean, for one. He’d known I was from money, but when he found out how much, it became his mission to make me his wife. The money had changed him. I knew deep down in me heart it wouldn’t change Cord, but I couldn’t risk that yet.
After packing up me things, I set off to find me da. He was in the library with the last remaining guests. One was the Duke of Cambridge. His father and my father were good friends. This was the first time I’d met him, and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice he was. At one point in the evening, he even offered to accompany me on a walk around the garden—something that had been unnecessary, and I had to tell him why.
Me boyfriend in the States would kick his arse.
Walking up to me father, I touched his arm gently. The Duke looked at me with hungry eyes while he let his gaze sweep over me body. I gave him a polite smile and figured he had one too many shots of me da’s whiskey.
“Cord is sick with the flu. I’m going to go home early. Do you think you can get the plane ready?”
He looked at his watch. “At this hour, Maebh? You want to leave now?”
“As soon as the plane can be ready. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
He nodded and motioned to the few gentlemen left in the library. “Excuse me, I need to make a call.”
They all nodded, and I couldn’t help but notice the Duke’s gaze drop to me chest and then quickly back up. Once upon a time, I might have been turned on by such a handsome man making his interest known, but now, the only thing I could think about was the man I loved back in Texas. The man who was sick and needed me.
I sat back in the large leather chair and wrung me hands. Me da’s plane wouldn’t be ready to go until six in the morning. It was midnight back in Texas so I didn’t want to call and wake up Cord. Once I landed in San Antonio, I’d call Melanie to see how Cord was since it would be mid-morning by the time I landed.
Closing me eyes, I let the tiredness of me body settle in. The plane wasn’t even off the runway when I was lost to sleep. Thank God for private planes with bedrooms.
Nine hours later I rushed to the car park while listening to a message from Cord. He was delirious and taking nonsense. I tried Cord’s phone but it went straight to voicemail. I was thanking God I’d arranged to have Eric bring me car to the airport and leave it. It rang and went to voicemail.
“Shite!” I shouted as I jumped into me car. Before I started to drive I tried Melanie. It went straight to voicemail. I had no luck with Paxton either. Finally, Amelia answered.
“Amelia!” I shouted in a pure state of panic.
“Oh my God, Maebh, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing! I’m…I’m okay. How’s Cord?”
“He’s pretty sick. Mom was on her way there, but Marge said she’d stay with him until Mom could swing by later.”
I nodded, thankful that Cord had the best housekeeper in Oak Springs. She loved Cord like a son, and I knew she would take care of him. “Has he been to the doctor yet?”
Her silence nearly killed me. “Amelia!”
“Don’t freak out, okay?”
Me heart stopped. “What do you mean don’t freak out?”
“Well, he sort of got worse during the night and was too weak to go see the doctor this morning, so Dr. Peterson had to come to him. He tested positive for the flu.”
Closing me eyes, I mumbled, “Shite.”
“Darn it, Maebh, my agent is calling and I have to take it. It’s a conference call. I’ll call you back when I get off.”
Before I could tell her I was back in town, the line went dead. I sent Cord a text message.
Me: I flew back a day early. Leaving the airport and will be there in an hour and
forty me GPS says. I love you.
I waited for a moment in case he replied. Then I headed out of the car park and tried not to get a ticket driving over the speed limit to Oak Springs.
When I pulled into me parking spot at Aisling, I grabbed me phone and tried Cord again. It went straight to voicemail after one ring.
“What in the hell?” Was Cord sending me calls to voicemail? If his phone was dead, I would have thought it would go straight to voicemail, not ring and then go to voicemail.
Jumping out of me car, I rushed up to me place to change while typing out a text.
Me: I’m home and changing. I’m going to come over. I don’t have Marge’s number to let her know. I’ll try your mom again.
When the phone buzzed in me hand almost immediately, I nearly screamed, then sagged in relief to see his name.
Cord: I’ll call in a bit.
Was Cord not home? Maybe he went to the doctor. Frowning, I stared at the message, then called Melanie.
“Maebh, darling, how are you?”
“I’m in town.”
“What?”
“I came back early after I talked to Cord yesterday. He sounded terrible. I sent him a message and told him I was back, and he said he would call me later.”
“Oh, he’s pretty out of it. I’m sure he didn’t realize what he was typing, probably couldn’t even focus on the words.”
I remembered the last time I got the flu. I was in and out of sleep for a few days feeling like utter shite. And when I did wake up it felt like a bad dream. I was confused, and everything hurt. Me eyes, head, throat, even me brain felt like it was suffering.
“I’m going to head on over there.”
“Okay, Marge should be there. Let her know I’m on my way and should be there in about an hour. I had a meeting in Uvalde today that I couldn’t get out of.”
“I’ll let her know,” I said, slipping on a pair of Converse sneakers.
Rushing out the door, I sent Cord a text when my phone was once again sent to voicemail. Why was Marge not answering it? Maybe they had it on silent, so it didn’t wake Cord up.
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