“Have dinner with me tonight and I’ll explain everything.”
“Are you for real right now? You’ve got some nerve. Asking me out?”
He just stared back at me and I was pretty sure he and his buddy had lost their ever loving minds. I swung my eyes back to Tom. “What about you? Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Ah, I think Mark wants to be the one to do that.”
I slammed my laptop shut and packed it away in my bag. “Fine. You’ll have my invoice before the end of the day. I did the work, I expect full payment.”
I got up and walked away from them, the rage racing through me, making me turn and face them one last time. “For the record, you two are dicks. But I’m going to believe that I’m not such a poor judge of character that I couldn’t see that and that something bigger is happening here. Not that you’re colossal dicks. That you’re two typical men, making unilateral decisions for women, leading me along, but underneath, you’re decent and know that you still need to make up for this shit show. Goodbye gentlemen.”
The rest of the day progressed in a blur. I suddenly had time to work on some small projects, however my work sucked. I was so freaking mad. What in the hell had happened?
My phone rang and I saw Robert’s name appear on the lock screen. Concerned, I answered it quickly. He had never called me before and I was curious and worried about the intent behind his call.
“Hello? Robert?”
“Yeah, um, hey Keeva. I’ve got a bit of a problem.”
Oh for shit’s sake. This day was just getting better and better. “What’s up?”
“Well, I’m going to have to, um, quit.”
“What? Why? What’s happened?”
Jesus Murphy, I needed a drink. Was the world seriously messing with me this much? I was a good girl. I hadn’t been to mass in quite some time, and confession time could be lengthy, but under it all, I was a good person. I didn’t deserve this day.
“Well, I kind of messed up, like, a lot.”
“Oookay?”
“And well, I needed to tell you because if this doesn’t go well, there’s a good chance some people will come and take my computer.”
“What! What people? Why are they taking your computer?”
He sighed and I could feel his anxiety through the phone. “I got involved with some stuff, that’s all I’m gonna say. I’m sorry, I really am. I’m trying to fix it, but things aren’t looking that great.”
“Robert! Are you okay? Who are these people?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I think it’s the CIA, but I’m not totally sure. I took care of most of it remotely, so don’t worry. It’s just, I needed to tell you. I’ve gotta go. Sorry Keeva.”
And he hung up. He just fucking hung up. With that bombshell. The freaking CIA? I sank my head to my desk and did something I hadn’t done a very long time. I cried.
My business was my life, and today I was in damage control. Nothing that I could have predicted or done anything about, but still, news travelled fast in this city. I had chosen it for that reason. A close knit business community was a blessing and now a curse.
I wandered around my office, in and out of Robert’s work space, staring at his computer, debating on whether to open it up or not.
Finally, after so much internal debate I could be officially labeled schizophrenic with how well I argued both sides, I gave up and did what every self-respecting true Irish citizen did to help solve a problem, I went to the pub.
I quickly grabbed a light sweater and walked to the pub Mark and I had been at only one night ago. Wow, had it only been yesterday? This was a habit I couldn’t afford to create, but still, desperate times and all that jazz.
I slid into an empty bar stool and ordered up a whiskey and ginger and stared at my phone as it lit up like Christmas Day. Mark. Of course it was him, ‘cause the universe wasn’t done with me yet today.
I took a healthy drink and unlocked my phone to see what the hell that ballsy beauty wanted.
I’m sorry for today.
Nope. Not gonna do it. I’m going to become that girl. That girl that has a guy who drives her crazy, then she hates him, then she the opposite of hates him, then she makes out with him, and now she hates him all over again. Nope, not going to rise to his bait.
Like, really sorry. Have dinner with me and give me a chance to explain.
Oh man. He didn’t play fair. I really wanted to know what in the hell had happened. And, most days I also needed to eat. So, put the two together and it could happen. So sue me, I’m weak. And often hungry. And come on. The guy was awfully good to look at.
Fine.
Meet me at the back booth. 10 seconds
Are you stalking me? WTF? This is my pub. Go find your own
I like this one just fine. Plus, you’re here
I had a feeling I wasn’t going to win this argument. Might as well get my explanation, get a free dinner and get home to bed. It seemed like a more productive course of action than sit at bar, drink until drunk, go home with no new intel.
I grabbed my drink and walked back to the booth in the rear of the pub, only seeing him when I got to a close enough angle. He tentatively smiled at me and pushed up his glasses, indicating this dinner was making him nervous too.
I sat down and signaled to the server that I’d like a menu and another whiskey ginger ale.
“Okay, so start talking. I’m not here on a date, mister, just for information. Why did you bastards decide to ax me today?”
He tried to reach across the table to hold my hands, but I wasn’t having any of that bullshit. This was a touch free zone, probably for life, but at least for right now.
He ran his hand through that glorious head of hair and I patiently waited. I was pretty proud of myself. I hadn’t waited for much in the past few years. Just that one time I waited for the stick I’d peed on to not give me the second blue line. A woman’s right to have at least one pregnancy scare.
Giving up on holding hands, he interlaced his fingers and started in with his sad story.
“Tom and I actually aren’t the owners of the company. Last night, remember I got that text?”
I nodded at the memory that saved me from making a huge mistake.
“Well, that was Tom texting me to get my ass back to the office. The owners were on their way and we both needed to be there to hear their plans and hope like hell we were in on them.”
“And you weren’t.”
“No, we were, they’re just pivoting, you could say.”
I looked him in the eye, hoping like hell my face wasn’t giving away any of my feelings as it usually did. “Pivoting.”
“Yes, pivoting. New direction and all that.”
“I know what pivoting means, Mark.”
He looked away and I closed my eyes briefly. I was being a bitch. This kind of stuff happened in business all the time. The CEOs of significance didn’t use change as an excuse to pack it in, but as an opportunity. Why was I so pissed? I had sent my full invoice this afternoon and they were going to pay it. I’d done the work I’d said I was going to do. I just wasn’t going to be executing the plan I’d created. I could still list them as clients and I could still use the work to gain new clients.
Mind made up, I opened my eyes again to find his hazel eyes studying me. Glasses like little windows into his soul. Oh boy, I needed to slow down on the whiskey. It tended to make me melodramatic.
I smiled at his concerned look. “Hi.”
Surprise showed on his face. It was also mixed with anxiety and curiosity. “Hi?”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Are you just going to parrot me?”
“Parrot you?”
“Repeat everything I say back to me and make it a question. Parrot me.”
“No?”
“Are you sure about that? You don’t sound so sure.”
“Well, I guess something weird just happened and I’m finding it a little hard to get ca
ught up.”
“I’ll catch you up. I bid for your contract. I won the contract. You sat beside me on a plane and didn’t tell me you were my new contract. I did the work you asked, met with you and created a perfect plan to grow your business, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, after meeting you, I was kind of into you, even though you lied through your teeth about who you were. Still following?”
He raised both eyebrows and took off his glasses, setting them on the table and running his hands through his hair. “I think I’m going to need another drink for the next part.”
He flagged down the server and ordered himself another beer and I threw caution to the wind and ordered a water with lemon, because, come on, a girls gotta live a little.
“Continue.”
“So, where were we?”
He smiled and my panties reminded me where I had left off. “You were telling me how much you want me?”
“Smooth. I was confused. I liked you, I thought you were kind of sexy, but I was working for you and you’re not the easiest guy to work for, or trust.”
“I’m sor—"
I raised my hand, stopping his apology. “I know, you’re sorry. So, then you kissed me and then you fired me, and then I was raging and now I’m not. That’s the end of the story.”
“So, where does that leave us now?”
“Well, currently, we’re sitting in this stellar pub, and we’re about to have another round of fish and chips and it’s kind of possible you’ll try to kiss me when you walk me home.”
He put his glasses back on just as our dinner came and we sank into a comfortable silence. I could do this adulting thing. I was looking on the bright side. Turning the other cheek? No, that wasn’t what I was doing. Whatever, someone else was buying me dinner, I wasn’t alone and if I ignored the sinking feeling that spending more time with Mark was going to end badly, then I might just have a good time tonight.
An hour later, I was still doing just that. I was slightly tipsy and with a full belly, decided it was time to head home. He helped me up and I noticed that even after a few drinks, he was stone-cold sober, whereas after the same amount of drinks, I was walking sideways, peeing every ten minutes and completely hot and bothered.
We left the pub and suddenly the cool Irish air had me sobering up and asking myself the age old questions. What was I doing? Where was this leading? And the classic, was this even a good idea?
We walked side by side, uncomfortable silence a wall between us, as we maneuvered the cobblestone streets of Galway, heading back to my place.
I felt him shift nearer and suddenly his hand is holding mine and my stomach flipped over a few thousand times, sending my heartrate higher than a kite. I had never been one prone to PDAs, but without meaning to, here I was, walking down the street, holding hands with a man, grinning like a fool.
He began to move his thumb across mine and the butterflies nose-dived towards my vagina and I had to mentally tell them to cool their jets. There was no sense in getting ahead of myself. I’d been on a romantic roller coaster the past two days. I wasn’t sure thrill rides were my thing right now.
We stopped in front of my door, like a proper couple on a date and I giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
He lunged and I shrieked, not having a single clue as to why he was attacking me. His mouth connected with mine and I relaxed. Okay, not an axe murderer after all. Pull your shit together Keeva.
Sighing, I opened my mouth and let him explore with his tongue, content to just wind my hands along his back, discreetly trying to cop a feel of his superb rear assets. Just as things were getting good, he broke away, releasing me and resting his forehead against mine.
“Night, Keeva. I’m coming by tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, bossy pants.”
I smiled up at him, reaching to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. I trailed my fingers through his glorious dark hair, tucking it off his face as best I could.
“Night.”
And with that, he walked off into the darkness and me? I stayed there, fingers covering my lips and a maniacal grin on my face. It turned out, this was beyond amazing. Huh. Go figure.
A week went by without much fanfare. I worked on my clients’ files, Mark came and went mysteriously showing up out of nowhere, and things kind of progressed in my life without much to talk about. This. This was new for me. I talked, a lot. I talked to one of my siblings nearly every day, and I had been so busy with work and making out with Mark-yes, that’s all he ever asked for and if you asked me, I was getting a tiny bit cranky about that-that I hadn’t texted or picked up the phone once since I had left Castlegregory quite some time ago.
So, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when my oldest brother Brennan walked into my office the following Monday, just as I was finishing up for the day.
“Brennan! What are you doing here?”
“You haven’t called, texted or smoke signaled in a week, Keekee.”
Busted. “I’ve been busy. Since when do I have to check in with you guys every day?”
“Since the beginning of time. You know we worry about you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it’s time you didn’t worry so much. As you can clearly see, you’ve made the trip up here for no reason. I’m perfectly fine.”
My mountain of a brother took his stance from relaxed to high alert. Damn. Arms crossed, tattoos showing, legs hip distance apart and if I could see it through his beard, his mouth would be frowning.
“You’re hiding something, Keeva Murphy. Out with it.”
“God, Bren. You’re such a jerk.”
He started stalking towards me and I involuntarily rolled my chair in the opposite direction. When I hit the wall, I knew I was in trouble. Out of my four siblings, Brennan could read any of us without us uttering a word. The part of alpha brother will today and every day be played by Brennan Murphy. My only hope would be that I could keep my eyes closed for the remainder of his visit. I was pretty sure that the black hole I’d called upon to swallow me whole in eighth grade was never showing up.
He leaned over me and put a hand on each of the arms of my chair, trapping me. He was relentless. We could possibly be here for days. Oldest sibling versus the baby. He might be strong and menacing, but I was stubborn and spoiled, and that was a lethal combination in a sister/brother battle.
“Liar.”
“Get away from her.”
My eyes flew open and I silently cursed the timing. “Mark—"
Oh dear. This was bad. Mark was pretty much charging at Brennan and nothing about this was going to end well. “Mark!”
He reached up and grabbed Brennan’s shoulder and hauled him around to face him, looking like an avenging angel. An angry, pissed off angel, but still, if I wasn’t in a world of trouble I’d stop to take a quick picture.
“Brennan, no! Do not engage.”
“Keekee, you want to fill me in quick before I teach this guy a lesson.”
“Oh, like—” Mark was struggling to hold my temperamental brother but things were going to go sideways if I didn’t sort it out ASAP.
“Mark.” I gave him my best please behave look.
“Keeva?”
“Fine. Brennan, meet Mark. Mark, this is my oldest brother, Brennan. He was just trying to use his age old eldest brother intimidation tactics to extract information from me. Also, he can be a real jerk sometimes.”
They let go of each other with guilty looks on both their faces. Brennan sighed and ran his hands through his beard. His sign that he was frustrated as all hell with me, again. This, wasn’t a new feeling for him, so I pushed his issues to the backburner and frantically tried to figure out how to deal with the sudden appearance of Mark.
I shouldn’t have worried. He appeared to be quite the chameleon. It seemed he could be anyone he wanted to be and today he was charming, masculine, friend to all men. I had a feeling, this meeting was going to
change things for me.
“Nice to meet you.” He shook hands with Brennan and I swear they were having a grip contest. Who could crush whose hand the quickest.
Whatever was happening, I wasn’t in the mood to answer any more questions from either of these two. I had no explanation for what Mark and I were other than business associates and Brennan would any minute pick up on the weird vibe between us. They both had to leave.
I slid out of the chair I had been trapped in and walked over to Mark. Grabbing hold of his arm, and trying not to cop an extra hard feel of that spectacular bicep, I steered him back towards the door.
“KeeKee?” he whispered. I changed my mind and gave him my weapon of choice as the baby of the family, the tricep pinch. “Ouch!”
“Thanks for stopping by, but I’ll have to deliver those files tomorrow, if that’s okay? My brother coming up from Kerry was a complete surprise and I guess I’m going to have to take his sorry butt out to dinner now.”
I looked back at said brother and raised an eyebrow. “I’ll just walk Mark out, Bren. Be right back.”
He gave me his signature broody type answer, which was actually a non-answer and I practically pushed Mark out the door.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to take a rain check on whatever we were doing tonight.”
He smiled, and I became instantly suspicious. “I’m actually free tonight. Maybe I could join you?”
“Ah, no, not gonna happen.”
“Why?”
He looked at me over his glasses like I’d lost my mind, but I was too stressed to give a shit. As I was trying to walk him out, I turned back to Mark who was trying to muscle his way back in. He had a strange look on his face, that was a cross between amused and angry. Great, now I was surrounded by two egotistical, cavemen, one who was his usual crusty oblivious self, and who thought it was his job to monitor, advise and report back to our family on my every move, and one who had me so turned upside down that I really had no clue what or who he was. If anyone needed to leave, it was me.
“Please? I’ll text you later to go over everything we need to go over.”
I begged him with my puppy dog eyes not to say anything more and to just be happy I wasn’t letting Bren go after him. He must have gotten the hint. With a pissed off look on his face, he turned and waved goodbye without so much as a “see ya later” and disappeared into his car across the road.
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