He strained to hear their conversation, but their tones became too muted. Instead, he focused on the task at hand, clearing off the bar and everything beneath it. He’d already tossed most of the bottles of alcohol. Filthy rags and dusty bowls collected on the shelf underneath the bar. He threw them all away. If Elizabeth wanted to save a few pennies, she could rescue them and waste her time cleaning them.
Michael looked up from his position squatting at the lower shelf behind the bar. “How come Ryan’s not here?”
“I didn’t ask him to come.”
Michael grabbed some old mousetraps and flung them into the trash can. “He’s too good for grunt work?”
“He wouldn’t have shown if I did ask. You know that. He thinks this is a stupid idea, and he’s just waiting for me to fuck it up so he can say, ‘Told you so.’ ” Colin scrubbed with renewed ferocity thinking about Ryan.
Michael stood. “That’s not true. It was hard while you were gone. Ryan felt responsible for everything.”
“He blames me for everything.”
Michael shook his head. “He resents you for doing what he never could. He couldn’t walk away to grab a chance at his own life. You did.”
Colin bit back his response. He hadn’t been grabbing at life; he’d been running from it. “He’s still pissed off. Every time I think we’re okay, he accuses me of screwing up.”
“He’s mellowed out. Wait till the baby’s born. He’s just worried about Quinn.”
“Doesn’t matter. There’s nothing more I can do. Maybe if I’m successful here, he’ll get it. I’m home for good.”
Michael punched his shoulder. “We’re glad about that. Especially Mom.”
They both turned back to the job at hand. Colin had been home for a year now and he was still trying to reconnect with everyone and everything.
After a half hour, Indy and Griffin returned from the basement. They’d lasted longer than Colin had expected.
Indy wiped her hands on her jeans. Her ponytail was crooked and strands of her long blond hair dangled in her face. “Your basement is repulsive.”
“Thanks. I think I knew that.”
Griffin stood behind her. “You need to call an animal-control-and-disposal unit. You have some dead creatures down there, and we’re not taking any chances with whatever diseases they might have.”
Colin laughed. “It took you that long to figure it out? I think Elizabeth and I came to that conclusion about thirty seconds after we opened the door.”
“We gave it a few seconds more. We actually went down the stairs to investigate.”
“Then where—” Colin stopped himself when he realized that the two had found a dark corner to be alone. He eased forward. “Please tell me you didn’t screw on Elizabeth’s desk. She’ll blame me.”
Indy giggled. “Give me some credit. I just had a baby. But Colleen is up every few hours. We don’t get a lot of alone time.”
Griffin put an arm around Indy’s shoulders. “We’re going to clean out the storeroom for you. Got a broom?”
Colin pointed to the corner. “The room’s pretty small. It’ll be a tight fit for both of you to work in there.”
“That’s the way we like it,” Griffin answered and they made their way into the back again.
He watched them disappear down the short hall, jealousy burning him. He’d never had a shot with Indy, although he liked to tease them about it. It wasn’t Indy he was jealous of, it was what Griffin had found with her.
Colin shook his head. Sappy thoughts would get him nowhere. Finding some holy grail of a woman wouldn’t fix his life either.
With the bar complete, he pulled out his phone to call for pizza and animal control. Elizabeth and Moira had finished up the tables and chairs while he made the calls. Indy emerged from the back and was talking with Elizabeth about décor.
“You know, Elizabeth,” he started. Her full name felt weird rolling off his tongue. “Indy is a decorator. She’d probably give me the family discount.”
Indy smiled at him. “I’d work for free in exchange for babysitting duty.”
Elizabeth snorted. A very unladylike and unbusinesslike snort.
“What?” he asked.
She faced Indy. “Are you really thinking of entrusting your baby to Colin?”
“Don’t be so fast to judge. He’s actually very good with her. So yes, if that means I get a few hours alone with Griffin, I’m all over that.” She turned to survey the walls. “What do you have in mind?”
“Sports bar,” Colin answered. “We need some sports memorabilia for the walls, which obviously need to be painted first.”
Indy stretched an arm out in front of them. “I’m thinking a dark blue. Broken up in sections for each sport. How many TVs do you think you’re going to get?”
“Four, maybe five.”
“Five TVs?” Elizabeth asked with wide eyes.
He moved closer and threw an arm around her shoulder, an immediate mistake, but he didn’t stop. He pointed to areas on the walls where he wanted TVs. “I think we need to do some field trips so you can see what a sports bar looks like.”
Her usual cinnamon scent tickled his nose, and he wanted to sniff her hair. She pulled away as if she had just realized he was touching her.
“I’ll tell you what. If you beat the other bids I have and get this place decorated for under my budget, you can get all five TVs.”
He clapped his hands. “Done.” He had faith in Indy being able to do the job. What’s more, now that Elizabeth had put the decorating in his hands, the bar would have his stamp on it. His chest tightened with the thought. She was making it easier every moment for him to reach his goals, and she did it unknowingly.
And Ryan thought he didn’t have any business sense.
Colin didn’t think he could be more exhausted. They’d been working what felt like forty-hour days. He’d had to carry his own weight at both O’Leary’s and The Irish, but it was worth it. After that initial day of cleaning, Elizabeth seemed to be warming up to him.
As warm as she seemed to ever get, anyway.
She still insisted on wearing business suits, stiff and pristine, every day while he wore his usual jeans and T-shirts. They talked, mostly about bar business. Every time he broke through her defenses, she’d relax and smile until she caught herself having a good time. Then sometimes he’d catch her watching him. Of course, when caught, she’d scowl. He didn’t know what to make of the woman or their mutual attraction, so he focused on the bar.
The place was almost finished. The best part was that the basement was cleared out. Animal control and exterminators had forced them from the building for a couple of days and they’d been playing catch-up. Final deliveries were set for tomorrow.
They were ready.
He moved around the bar to really check out the basement, to see the layout and how they could best utilize it for storage. As he neared the hall, Elizabeth poked her head out of the office.
“Can you handle finishing up here?”
“I’m about to go into the basement to have a look now that it’s all clean and fresh-smelling. Want to join me?”
“As tempting as that is, I’ll pass. I have plans tonight, and I’d prefer not to smell death before I leave.”
“Plans?”
“Yes, plans. I do have a life outside this place.”
“Probably a video conference with Tokyo,” he mumbled. He didn’t think the woman knew what fun was.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Yep.” He watched her walk to the back door, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor, making his eyes focus on the definition of her calf muscles. Which then led him to follow that trail up the line of her long legs to the curve of her ass.
The sound of the door banging shut forced him from his fantasy. He shook his head. He needed to get laid. He’d been spending too much time with Elizabeth and not enough finding recreation.
He turned and went to the basement. The lighting
wasn’t great, only a few bare bulbs, but what they exposed was amazing. The basement ran the entire length of the building, not just under The Irish. The basement encompassed both sides of the building upstairs. Elizabeth must own all of it. He strode to the opposite end of the room and found a staircase leading into the other business.
His stomach sank. If the two businesses were connected, she would expect to sell the entire building, not just The Irish. He could never afford to buy the entire building.
Maybe if he talked to Mom about a loan.
No, that’s exactly what Ryan would expect and then he’d never hear the end of it. Elizabeth had never made any mention of the other half of the building. He’d have to talk to her and feel her out. Which led him to the idea of feeling her up.
Shit, he really needed to get laid.
After leaving The Irish, Colin made a quick stop at home to clean up and change. It was a Saturday night, the perfect night to pick someone up. Moira had told him about a club he should check out that was hosting ladies’ night, so he headed deeper into the city. It would be packed both with women looking to drink cheap or free and men looking to pick up those women.
He walked into the club and paid his ten-dollar cover charge. The place wasn’t as packed as he thought it would be, but it was early yet. People milled around, bumping into one another, and music blared from the other end of the room, something with a thumping beat. He bought a beer and moved through the crowd to reach the dance floor.
Dancing meant women shaking their asses and getting thirsty while doing it. The best hunting grounds. On the dance floor, bodies clashed and ground against one another, people already paired off. He scanned the crowd to find the single women.
His gaze found its mark. A table with three women. Two blondes and one brunette. One blonde was short but stacked and drank an imported beer. The other blonde, with her hair cut short and spiky, was sipping on a pink drink, probably a Cosmo. Either blonde would be a good bet. They were both pretty and scantily clad. Spaghetti straps revealed smooth shoulders looking to be stroked.
The brunette, however, grabbed his attention as he made his way toward the group. Her back was to him and her hair trailed down, brushing the top of her rounded ass. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, and the jeans did amazing things for her legs. As he closed in, the brunette released a bark of laughter that was loud, just shy of obnoxious.
The pixie-haired blonde caught his eye and smiled. He sidled up to the brunette and said to no one in particular, “Can I buy you ladies a drink?”
The brunette turned and, with a swish of her hair, his heart stopped. The face staring back at him was none other than Elizabeth’s. The glass in her hand wobbled and spilled over her hand. “Shit,” she mumbled.
“Do you always spill so much?” he managed to ask, keeping his tone light.
She quirked one eyebrow up and his heart began again, now beating double time. The businesswoman was no business and all woman tonight, and while he thought he’d find someone to get her off his mind, these new images of her weren’t going to help.
“Hello.” Her voice was friendly, her eyes not so much. She dabbed at her wet hand with a napkin from the table.
“What are you doing here?”
“You know each other?” the short blonde asked.
“Yes,” Elizabeth answered. “Colin, my business partner.”
“Hi,” she said as she nudged Elizabeth aside. “I’m Janie. This is Lori.”
He nodded to each of them and shook their hands. He turned back to Elizabeth and said quietly, “What are you doing here?”
“Dancing. Hanging out with friends. I told you I had plans.”
“Yeah, but—”
“The question is, what are you doing here? Did you follow me?”
Before he could answer her, Janie grabbed his hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
He allowed her to lead him to the dance floor. Dancing wasn’t something he did often, but it was a great way to meet a woman and flirt without words. As he turned, he saw that Elizabeth and her friend, Lori, had followed them to the floor.
Daggers shot from Elizabeth’s eyes and he tried to ignore them. Janie made it a little easier as she started to shake her ass in front of him. The press of bodies made him hot, or maybe it was the bump and grind going on everywhere. He lost sight of Elizabeth and focused on the woman with him. When the man to his right collided with him, Colin turned and froze.
Elizabeth was doing a bump and grind of her own in between two men. He swallowed hard. His fingers itched to touch her long hair, and his jeans felt too tight. All thoughts of the blonde in his arms disappeared as he watched Elizabeth’s hips wiggle and other men’s arms surround her. Gone was the woman who stumbled and spilled drinks. She had great rhythm; she moved like someone who liked to dance.
The music stopped and the next song began, a slower beat, and Elizabeth extracted herself from the men. As she turned toward the table, Colin wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her close. “What are you doing?”
She tugged her arm. “Let go of me.”
Her pulse raced at the base of her hand. His fingers stroked the beat. “Let’s dance.”
He definitely wasn’t thinking clearly, but after watching her in other men’s arms, he wanted to know the feel of her. Surprisingly, she allowed him to pull her closer.
She sighed and held his hand as his other settled on her waist. Their bodies didn’t touch, but heat filled the air between them. He suddenly felt like a sixth grader at his first school dance. “So how did you hear about this place?”
“Moira.”
Of course. Moira and her big mouth.
Her gaze locked on his. She stepped closer. “If you want to dance, then let’s do it right.”
Their bodies aligned perfectly because of the heels that added to her height. Like her legs needed lengthening. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his arms wrapped around her hips. Her hair tickled his forearms and he pulled her into him. Like a heat-seeking missile, his dick twitched with the close proximity of her body.
They said nothing at first; the shock of having her in his arms blocked clear thought. They swayed to the beat, and she relaxed. Her body found its rhythm. Her face was close. Her breath quickened. Her tongue darted out and licked her lips. Dancing required all of his concentration at that point.
Elizabeth averted her gaze and broke the silence. “You never answered my question. Did you follow me?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
He sighed, knowing she wouldn’t let him just enjoy holding her. The song ended and he leaned close to her ear. “I’m here for the same reason everyone else is: I’m looking to get laid.”
CHAPTER 6
Elizabeth couldn’t believe he’d said that. She pushed out of his arms, tripping and stomping on his foot accidentally. She was not here to get laid. She was visiting with friends and having fun.
Not that her body believed that one bit. Her blood still thrummed from his touch. Her hips were warm from where he’d gripped her, and she shoved away thoughts of those hands on her naked body.
She’d given up on the idea of picking up a guy at a bar since the last time had ended in disaster, with Colin at the center.
She watched Colin walk back to the table to chat with Janie and Lori. He wouldn’t sleep with one of her friends, would he? Their interaction was smooth and friendly. Lori’s face lit up as she laughed at something Colin said. He had a way with people. It was the reason she’d hired him.
In that moment, she knew he would sleep with anyone he wanted. He had that innate ability to literally charm the pants off a woman. The realization also made it clear that she needed to tighten her belt to prevent the effect of his charming ways.
She joined the group, determined to be social but not friendly with Colin. As soon as she arrived, Colin walked away. “Was it something I said?”
Janie answered, “He went to get us fresh drinks. You n
ever said your new business partner was so sexy.”
“I didn’t think it was relevant, but about that . . . don’t sleep with him.”
“Why not? Are you calling dibs?”
“God, no.” She swallowed a drink of water, hoping her answer came across as believable. “It would complicate my life if you decided to hook up with my partner.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Janie wasn’t buying it. Elizabeth looked to Lori for support.
“Don’t look at me. I’ve got a boyfriend. He should be here any minute.” She looked around the room, then added, “But I totally wouldn’t blame you for calling dibs on Colin. Sexy and funny. Dangerous combo.”
“Tell me about it.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Colin making his way back through the crowd, smiling and chatting with every woman within grinning distance. If he thought the smile would work, he threw it out there. Dangerous indeed.
He handed her a glass. “Water, huh? I thought you were trying to have fun.”
“I don’t need to get drunk to have a good time.” Alcohol would only aggravate any developing ulcers, but she didn’t want him to know about her stomach problems.
“A little alcohol might loosen you up.”
“I’m plenty loose, thanks.”
He handed drinks to Lori and Janie, then turned back to Elizabeth. “So, you want to dance?”
“I do, just not with you.” Dancing with him would work against the belt-tightening she intended. She walked away from Colin and hit the dance floor. As soon as she started, she was joined by men, who hoped, like Colin, to get laid. Glancing over her shoulder at the table, she saw Colin leading Janie to the floor again. His expression was stern, almost irritated.
She didn’t want to upset him by not taking him up on his offer to dance, but she knew she would have a harder time holding her resolve if she allowed him to touch her again. They had to remain platonic.
Janie started rubbing her body against Colin’s, and Elizabeth’s jaw dropped. The irritation on his face disappeared and was replaced by lust.
She watched their bodies clash in rhythm. The movements of his hips held no grace, only sexuality. Elizabeth lost her own rhythm and left the dance floor. Watching him dance with her friend made fighting her own attraction more difficult. Being social with Colin would prove to be too hard.
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