An Irish Affair

by Ajme Williams

  “Oh, right.” She relaxed some. “Sorry.”

  I studied her. “I really wish I understood why you’re acting this way toward me.”

  “Like I said, I’ve got a lot to do.”

  “Then I’ll let you do it. I’ll see you tonight.” I smiled, hoping it would relax her more, but she was already off talking to her staff.

  I watched for a second longer, confused as to why I cared so much that she was resistant to me and wondering if I could change her mind.

  5

  Serena

  I didn’t like being such a bitch to Devin, but I couldn’t let his charm and sexy smile seduce me. There was too much at stake, and this time it wasn’t my heart. It was Andrew’s. Yes, that made me a bitch too, but for all his attention now, he didn’t have any to give over the last five years. And his mother was clear on how little she valued me or my child.

  Once I knew everything was set for the event at the Roarke that night, I headed back to the office and changed into my plain little black dress and fake crystal earrings. I needed to look nice, and at the same time I needed to blend in, because my role at the Gallagher party was simply to make sure everything was running smoothly.

  I showed up at the same time as Nikita and slyly looked to see if Devin was there as we made our way across the restaurant to the room holding the party.

  “Looking for Mr. Roarke?” Nikita asked.

  “What? No.”

  She smirked. “I can’t blame you. He’s rich and handsome. And rumor has it he’s going to take the Roarke business into the twenty-first century.”

  “I don’t need rich or handsome.”

  She pursed her lips at me. “What do you have against men? I know you must like them because you have a son. Was baby daddy so bad that you never want to have sex again?”

  “I don’t mind sex.” Of course, I barely remembered it since I’d been too busy raising a son to have it since Devin. “But I don’t need the hassle of a relationship.”

  She tsked at me. “You’re far too young to be so pessimistic about love.”

  I shrugged, and looked around for something I could refocus her attention on. “Is that where you wanted the flowers?”

  She looked to where I pointed. “Not quite. I’ll deal with that. Can you check that the heaters are on out on the terrace?”

  Happy to be doing something other than discussing Devin or the lack of a man in my life, I set off to work.

  The event went exactly as Nikita and I had planned it, which was why I enjoyed being mentored by her. She had an ability to anticipate problems and fix them before they started.

  By the end of the evening, I was exhausted and my feet hurt from wearing heels, but it was a good kind of tired one got from a job well done.

  I was finishing up the end-of-event checklist when Nikita approached me. “We’re done here. I just need you to check in with Mr. Roarke.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why?”

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me. You need to be careful about showing your disdain for him. He’s well-connected and if you want to move up, you’ll need to at least pretend you like him.”

  I huffed out a breath. “I don’t dislike him.”

  “Good.” She handed me a folder. “Here is the paperwork, including the bill owed to the Roarke. You know the drill.”

  I nodded as I took the folder. “Why me?”

  “One, you know him. It’s good for the company to work those connections. Two, you want to move up in the company, right? Your acquaintance with him can help you do that. I’m looking out for you, Rena, even if you’re not.”

  I felt like a bratty teenager. “Yes, of course. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She walked off leaving me alone in the event space.

  I finished my work, psyching myself up to talk to Devin as the professional event planner that I was.

  “Ms. Moore, Mr. Roarke is in the lounge when you’re ready to settle,” a staff woman told me.

  “Thank you.” When I’d checked and double-checked that we were leaving things the way we found them, I headed out toward the bar and into the lounge area. It was late, so the restaurant was empty. A handful of people sat at the bar. I didn’t see anyone but Devin in the lounge.

  He sat in a leather wing-back chair overlooking the Manhattan skyline with an amber drink in his hand.

  He stood when he saw me. “Can I get you a drink?”

  I shook my head. “No. Thank you.”

  He motioned for me to sit in the chair next to his. “The event went well.”

  “It did, yes.” I pulled the paperwork from the folder and handed it to him. “The payment info is there.”

  He glanced at it and set it on the table between us. “I have another job I want you to do.”

  “Oh?” At least he wasn’t trying to find out why I didn’t show up five years ago or ask about my personal life.

  “My parents are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary in a couple of weeks and I want to host a party for them.”

  “A couple of weeks? That’s not much time.” For my parents, I could pull off a party in a matter of days, but high powered, old-money families like Devin’s needed months of planning to pull off a good party.

  “My father has Parkinson’s so it was uncertain whether he’d be up to it. We’d like a small event out at the beach house in the Hamptons.”

  I nodded. “I’ll let Nikita know.”

  “No.” His green eyes held mine. “I want you.”

  I swallowed hard and had to remind myself he was talking about wanting a party, not my body. “Important people like you are handled by Nikita.”

  “You seem more than capable. I’m sure it would look good to your boss if I hired you.”

  I pursed my lips. “I don’t need any favors.”

  He studied me like I’d grown horns. And I suppose I had. I was being a royal bitch.

  “What did I do to you?” he asked and I could see he was truly baffled. I couldn’t blame him. As far as he knew, I simply didn’t show up like I said I would when we planned to run off together.

  “Nothing. Sorry. I’m just tired.” Even so, it was strange how insistent he was around me. “Five years is a long time, Devin. We’re not the same people.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean?”

  I meant that we couldn’t go back to what we had before, but I knew I couldn’t say that. What if I was misunderstanding him? I didn’t need him laughing at me for assuming he wanted me again.

  I looked down. “I just don’t understand your…” I couldn’t find the right word.

  He laughed. “Sometimes I think you’ve changed and then you say something like that. You said the same thing five years ago. What do you think is wrong with you that someone wouldn’t be interested in you?”

  “Is that what you are? Interested?” Part of me wanted him to say yes, and yet I knew the answer had to be no. Not if I was going to protect Andrew. “Or is this more of the thrill of the chase?”

  He gave me a smile that was a mixture of affable and coy. “I don’t know yet.”

  “We’re too old to play that game,” I said standing. “I’m sure there is some other woman out that would enjoy being chased by you.”

  He shook his head. “Actually. There isn’t. I don’t normally have to chase.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Right. I’m the only woman who can resist you.”

  “So far.” He stood.

  “Your arrogance is showing.” What was worse was that there was something sexy in his arrogance.

  “Probably. You don’t get why I’m attracted to you, and to be honest, Serena, these days, I wonder too. The last time we were together, it was a lot easier. You seemed to enjoy my attention. And if I remember correctly, it turned out it wasn’t the thrill of the chase that had me. I was ready to start something with you. You’re the one that chickened out.”

  He was right.

  “What baffles me more is why all the hostility toward me.
”

  “I’m not the same person anymore, Devin. I don’t have time for flings.”

  He laughed, but when he finished his drink, I noted annoyance in his eyes. “Fling. Right.” He set his glass down. “I’m going to be at the house tomorrow.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “If you want this opportunity to put on a party for the Roarke family, be there…let’s say about nine. If not, I’ll find someone else.”

  His words could have meant so many different things. His finding someone else could be personal, as in he’d find another woman. Or he could be telling me he’d find another planner. Maybe he’d even find one outside my company. That last thing I needed is getting blamed for losing the Roarke family as a client.

  I took the card. “Okay.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” He held his hand out toward the lounge exit. I made my way through the bar and restaurant toward the elevator.

  He poked the button and waited with me. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to escort me out of the building, but I sensed that he was still irritated at me, so I kept quiet. I could handle an elevator ride.

  When the car arrived, he let me in first. I leaned back against the back wall as a new wave of fatigue hit me.

  “Would you think it rakish of me to offer to drive you home?” he said leaning against the wall next to me.

  I closed my eyes, hating to be so difficult with him. “I can call a car.”

  He nodded, and while I was glad that he wasn’t going to fight me on it, I admit I was disappointed too.

  “Do you have someone in your life now?” he asked.

  I did, but not in the way he meant. “Just work. You?”

  He frowned. “Do you think because I have money and power that I use women? That I’d be showing interest in you if I had a woman at home?”

  Crap, again I was coming off as a bitch. “I don’t know you, Devin. Not really.”

  “I suppose it was a good thing then that you didn’t come with me five years ago if that’s the kind of man you think I am.”

  I turned to him, not realizing until too late how close he was to me. He turned too, our eyes holding as he stared and waited for me to say what was on my mind.

  “You act like I broke your heart, Devin and we both know that you haven’t been a monk these last five years.”

  He leaned in slightly closer. I could feel the heat of him and my entire body woke from its fatigue. “How do you know that you didn’t break my heart?”

  What?

  “And when you didn’t show up, I had no reason not to be with other women.”

  I swallowed hard as his gaze drifted from my eyes to my lips and then back again.

  “What about you, Serena? Have you been celibate all these years?”

  Yes. The word came into my head, but I didn’t say it.

  “Is that why you’re so prickly? Do you need to get laid?”

  Thank God he decided to be a dick, because I was precariously close to stripping off my clothes and begging him to fuck me.

  I stepped back. “You’re more of a jerk than you were before.”

  He turned and leaned his back against the wall. “You are too.”

  The elevator reached the ground floor and I was through the doors before they finished opening. I pulled out my phone, opening the app to order a car.

  “Doug will take you home,” Devin said opening the door of a dark sedan. “Don’t worry, I won’t ride with you.” He leaned down and peered at the driver. “Doug, please take Ms. Moore wherever she wants.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “I don’t need—” My words stopped when I saw the intense glare in his eyes.

  “I’m not trying to get into your pants,” he bit out. “Just accept the ride, Serena.”

  I nodded because I didn’t want to be ungrateful. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I slid into the back seat.

  “Should I come back for you, Mr. Roarke?” Doug the driver asked.

  “No, that’s okay. You can go home when you drop off Ms. Moore.”

  It was then I realized he was using my last name. Was that just for his driver, or was it a sign that he’d given up on me? If so, that was a good thing, I reminded myself. I needed him to understand that we couldn’t have another go at what we started five years ago.

  My stomach clenched at that idea. I wasn’t sure if it was from guilt at my deception or sadness that I wouldn’t have another chance to have the excitement I’d had five years ago. It didn’t really matter which one it was. What mattered was that Andrew stayed safe from the Roarke family.

  I got home late, and normally I’d just go to my apartment and leave Andrew at my parents. But if I was going to meet Devin out at his Hampton house tomorrow by nine, I’d be up in a few hours and on the train heading to the beach community. I need to ask my parents if they could watch Andrew.

  As I put my key into my parents’ apartment, my phone beeped.

  BTW…Doug will pick you up tomorrow to bring you to the appointment.

  I had to work to tell myself that Devin was likely just being helpful. It’s not a problem for me to take the train.

  It was a few seconds before he replied. I imagined he was trying to talk himself into not thinking I was being bitchy.

  You’ll be able to rest on the way out, and work on the way home if Doug drives.

  He had a point.

  Thank you.

  A few seconds later he responded with, You’re welcome.

  I checked on Andrew sleeping in the bedroom I grew up in, now decorated with airplanes. I gave him a quick kiss and then went to my parents’ room, gently knocking on the door.

  “Everything all right?” my mother asked sleepily.

  “Yes. I’m sorry to wake you, but I got an offer to do an anniversary. The meeting is tomorrow in the Hamptons. Can Andrew stay with you?”

  “Of course, honey,” my mother sat up against her headboard.

  “So this Gallagher shindig is already paying off for you, eh?” my father said reaching over to turn on his bedside lamp.

  We all squinted as the bright light lit up the area.

  “Yes.”

  “Is it Mr. Roarke?” my mother asked with a hopeful tone.

  I tried not to roll my eyes. “Yes. His parents' thirtieth anniversary is coming up.”

  “He must have been impressed with your work that he’s asking you. Or did Nikita pass it on?” my father asked.

  Actually, I wasn’t sure. Maybe he approached Nikita first. “He asked me before I left tonight.”

  “I know you’ll blow his socks off,” my father said.

  “Get a ring before socks come off,” my mother said with a wink.

  That time I did roll my eyes. “Thank you. Now go back to sleep.”

  Back in my own apartment, I tried to sleep but it was hard when I was going to spend time with Devin alone at the beach house. It was easy to resist him so far, but I was no idiot. I was no match for my hormones that came alive when he was around. I had to hope that I’d done an effective job at dissuading him, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to continue to resist him.

  6

  Devin

  I was a glutton for punishment. That was the only way to explain my continued interest in Serena. She not only had no interest in me, but clearly thought I was defective in some way. And yet, after sending her off with my driver, at nearly two in the morning, made arrangements to head out to the Hamptons right then to prepare for her visit. Schmuck.

  Was I wanting what I couldn’t have or simply challenged by her resistance? I hoped it was the latter, because that suggested there wasn’t a real connection. If it was the former, I was fucked. Who wanted to go through life unfulfilled missing what I wanted?

  Had I felt unfulfilled without her the last five years, I wondered when I finally hit the sack at the beach house just before four in the morning. My work in Europe was exciting. I’d been good at it, too, which was wh
y I knew that I could not only take over from my father but also push the business further, to greater success.

  But I supposed there was a part of me that was unfulfilled. Like I told Serena, I hadn’t lived like a monk, but I hadn’t connected with anyone like I had with her that short week we’d had. Of course, even if she’d come with me to Europe, there was no guarantee that we’d still be together or that I’d feel any more fulfilled. With all this rattling around in my brain, I finally fell asleep.

  The next day, I was fatigued and yet excited about Serena’s visit. I was in real trouble.

  I was filling a second cup of coffee when there was a knock on the door. I made my way to open it, checking my dress. Jeans. T-shirt under an open button-down. No shoes. Casual. Maybe seeing me in something other than a suit would make her more comfortable around me.

  “Serena,” I said opening the door.

  “Devin.”

  At least she was using my first name. “I have coffee and some baked goods from the local French bakery. Want some?”

  “I’d love coffee.”

  I showed her through the house to the kitchen where I poured her a cup. “Want creamer or something.”

  She shook her head and sipped. Her eyes closed as if she was savoring the dark brew.

  “Let’s go out back.” I motioned toward the sunroom with the view of the ocean.

  She followed me, putting her purse on the table and pulling out a notepad. “I guess we can start with what you envision for your parents’ anniversary party.

  “Because of my dad’s illness, it will be small. Just close friends and family. I’d like to maximize this sunroom and maybe the deck if it’s not too cold. Plus, the living area inside. That’s the largest space.”

  “Do you want a sit-down dinner or more of an hors d'oeuvres and drinks thing?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “What’s usual?”

  She shrugged. “It depends. If you’re having more than twenty people, perhaps not a sit down unless you have a large dining room.” She looked back at the house. “How many does the dining room sit?”