Hard Irish

by Jennifer Saints

  The association had cost him, though. Five years later, Anderson Drake had been murdered, gunned down in the middle of the night, staining the foyer of his dream with his blood. The murder went unsolved and the Drake Hotel joined several other Savannah landmarks as being “haunted.” Over the years a couple of owners had met tragic ends at the hotel and two women guests had disappeared in the last decade. It was whispered that Anderson Drake’s ghost was responsible.

  Jared chalked it up to bad luck and tourists wandering off into the surrounding marsh lands. Gators lurked in the brackish water and were known to snatch an unsuspecting bystander if they got too close. Recently, the hotel had been part of a bitter divorce battle between a philandering husband, Brian Bentley and his philanthropist wife, Tiffany Parker Bentley. The wife won and she was gutting the place like only a woman scorned could. News reports had the husband currently stewing in jail for assault.

  Jared pulled into the parking lot, surprised at the bustle of activity already surrounding the hotel. McKenna Construction office trailers had been set up. Industrial dumpsters were in place and delivery trucks with supplies lined the parking area.

  As he exited his truck, searching for the woman who’d snagged his attention even before she’d appeared on scene, he felt as if he’d been blown to Oz. The site looked as if it had been underway for a week rather than a day.

  The hotel’s four wings and six floors were ringed by balconies sporting massive white columns and urns of bright flowers. Inside, twenty-foot high ceilings, intricately carved molding, Italian Marble, and Byzantine glass mosaics dominated the first floor. Jared’s hands and guts ached that he and James didn’t get the job. Being able to renovate such a treasure would have been an experience of a lifetime. Not finding Roxanne in the large lobby area, he decided to check the perimeter before braving the envy the upper floors of the hotel would deliver.

  Giving one last look at the drool-worth artistry surrounding him, he plowed into someone rushing into the hotel as he was exiting.

  The woman’s hard hat hit him mid-chest and she stepped back with a gasp.

  “Bloody hell, I need coffee.” The buxom redhead wrestled with the clipboard in her hand then frowned at him. “You had better get a hard hat before the boss lady chews your ass.”

  Jared raised a brow. It would seem Roxanne McKenna was a force to be feared. “I’ll do that,” he said and stepped to the side. She went on about her business and he snatched a hard hat from a nearby truck then headed around the hotel’s perimeter.

  Sprawling live oaks, lush gardens, fountains, and cobblestone paths surrounded the hotel. Absolutely beautiful and would need extra care not to damage during the renovation process. He heard Roxanne’s voice as he turned the corner. She and a man were standing with their backs to the hotel facing another man who had his gaze fixed to the ground.

  “We clear on this, Riley Scott? I’m a fair woman, but I will not be disrespected on the job. You have an issue with me or one of my decisions, then you make an appointment and the management will review your complaint.”

  A standard hard hat sat easy on her head. She wore work jeans rather than the causal, form hugging ones she’d had on before, but the over-sized T-shirt was a familiar look. This one was powerhouse red and barely gave a hint at the full curves he’d felt pressed to his chest last night.

  Now that Jared finally had eyes on her, he froze. He knew who she was, but she didn’t know him from Adam and he was beginning to wonder if the whole apology thing was a bit over the top. What if he was attaching more importance to the incident than she was? Maybe he needed to feel her out about things first, and that wasn’t going to happen on a job site.

  He almost turned around to leave for now, but then decided to at least introduce himself and ask if she’d had trouble from her ex. Jared had spent a restless night thinking about that jerk unleashing his rage on her. His only consolation had been that the crew men hustling her out the door had seemed very protective of her.

  Three long strides into the twenty feet separating them, he heard concrete scrape then saw in horrifying slow motion a huge planter falling from the top floor’s balcony headed right at the group below.

  “Watch out!” Jared sprinted and spread his arms as Roxanne and the man beside her looked over their shoulder at him, clueless. The man facing them looked up and stumbled back. Rather than take time he didn’t have to explain, he dove at the two in danger, hoping he had enough momentum to knock them to safety. He hit them low, knowing from his football days that would send them farther out.

  Even before they slammed into the ground, pain shot up Jared’s left leg as a heavy weight pinned his boot to the ground. Roxanne had been in the center of his tackle, which meant his face was now planted between her legs, just inches away from her delectable ass. He didn’t have a clue as to where his hard hat had flown. He just knew there was nothing to insulate him from her softness.

  She’d landed on her stomach hard and lay gasping for air, trapped beneath his weight. Blue forget-me-nots and dirt surrounded them.

  The men recovered first, one scrambling to his knees, the other rushing forward.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “A planter fell,” Jared muttered.

  Roxanne squirmed, trying to twist around to see him. “You again!” She glanced at her men. “Don’t just stare. Help me up.”

  Sweat beading his brow, Jared planted his hands on each side of Roxanne’s hips and lifted his body up from hers. He moaned as pain shot up his left leg. “Hurry.”

  She scrambled free and gained her knees as she faced him. “You’re hurt.”

  “Maybe. Might just be pinned. Boots are reinforced with steel.”

  “Dear God. This is unbelievable. Mack, on the count of three, you and Riley lift the planter and I’ll help him slide free,” Roxanne directed. She slid in front of him and hooked her arms under his. This left his head rooted against her breasts and he inhaled, letting her citrus and coconut scent imbue him with a sense of the tropics—steamy sun and bare skin.

  She counted. The men lifted, and Jared, using his right leg, helped Roxanne to free him from the planter. He flipped onto his back. The pain in his leg worsened and he sucked in air.

  Positioning herself at his side, she slid her hands down his legs. “Can you feel me?”

  His gaze met hers. She was a picture of raw beauty, crisp green eyes brimming with worry, tanned skin, full bottom lip trapped beneath pearly white teeth. Christ. “Yeah, I can feel you,” he whispered, his voice scraping over the jagged lump of need she evoked.

  “Call an ambulance,” she said, likely mistaking his want of her for overwhelming pain. He hurt, but it wasn’t killing him, not like having her all over him was.

  “No. No ambulance.” He laughed. “You make it sound as if I’m dying. My name’s Jared Weldon. In case you need to write it on my tombstone.”

  She glared at him. “Not funny, Jared. This is my job site. Any man goes down for any reason he gets cleared by the hospital. No exceptions. So don’t argue.”

  “Fine. I’ll get checked. My brother’s a doctor, so save the ambulance for someone having a heart attack. I can drive myself.”

  “Wrong. If anything, I’ll be taking you.” She set her hand on his chest as if to settle the issue.

  Jared slid his hand over hers and lowered his voice. “It isn’t me you need to worry about.”

  Her clover eyes widened and her pupils darkened with desire before she slid her hand away. “What do you mean?”

  Jared took heart. She was just as responsive to his touch as his kiss. “You need a bodyguard. That planter had help finding its way to the ground. I heard a scrape just before it fell.”

  He sucked in another breath and shivered. Dear God. What would have happened to her if he hadn’t shown up?

  The men cursed and Roxanne raised a brow. “Mack, go check out where this sucker came from and find out from Maggie who’s on today
’s work list for that area.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Mack hurried off.

  “I heard this place was haunted,” Riley muttered, looking around as if a knife was inches from his throat.

  Roxanne rolled her eyes. “You men have been muttering about ghosts and curses all day. It’s all nonsense, Riley. Now make yourself useful. Bring the first aid kit and move my truck as close to this side of the building as you can.”

  Riley walked away with a frown.

  Jared shook his head. “No truck. I don’t need you to take me—”

  “You don’t get to decide. Around here, I’m the boss. Your job is to listen and comply unless you’ve got a damn good reason not to. Then I’m all ears.”

  Jared’s jaw dropped a moment before he could snap it shut. Roxanne McKenna ran a tight-assed ship and didn’t put up with shit. Hell, if he heard right, she even had lists delineating who was to be where when.

  “Right now. We need to focus on getting your boot off before your foot becomes too swollen to get it off. That’s one experience you do not want to go through. I know.”

  “Okay.” Jared leaned up on his elbows to watch her unlace his boot. He was surprised to see how bent the boot was. As if the metal support had buckled. Her movements were gentle and precise. She seemed to know what she was doing, and Jared found himself relaxing and letting her take charge. Since she was determined to have him checked out, he might as well enjoy the ride. And in all honestly, he didn’t have a good reason why she shouldn’t accompany him.

  In fact, there were several damn good reasons why she should, besides the bonus of getting to spend some alone time with her. If she was with him then no more planters could mysteriously fall and no asshole ex could abuse her.

  The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that she needed to take his bodyguard comment seriously. He would call Jesse at Sheridan-Weldon Solutions ASAP to see about doing just that.

  Something sinister was up. It was likely rooted in her ex’s rage. The man didn’t necessarily have to be on the jobsite to be behind the planter incident. The man had worked for the company for a number of years and odds that one of the crew might be more loyal to the ex than to their current lady boss were good.

  Roxanne completely removed the lace from his boot then eased the tongue as loose as possible.

  “Wiggle your toes and tell me what you feel.”

  “My sock.” He winced. A wet one at that. She was about to get a face full of work-boot BO.

  “No time for smart ass remarks.”

  “If you’re asking if I can move my toes then the answer is yes. If you’re asking if it feels good, the answer is no. I don’t think they’re broken though.”

  “Good. I’m going to pull now. Let me know if I need to stop.” She inched his boot off. It was already much tighter than usual. The pain shooting up his leg had him fisting his hands. He sighed once free of the boot, but then gasped as he looked down. The blood soaking his sock gave him a shock. Maybe he was more injured than he thought.

  Riley returned with a tackle-box-sized first-aid kit and with him a crowd of men and the clipboard carrying woman Jared had run into earlier.

  “What in the bloody hell happened?” The woman knelt beside Roxanne.

  “Planter fell.” Roxanne pulled some supplies from the kit. “Maggie, help me by holding his heel up off the ground.”

  The Maggie woman eased her hand under his heel. “Damn. These old places are a hazard.”

  “Or haunted,” Riley added, causing a stir among the gathering crowd.

  Jared would have argued with them both but was in too much pain at the moment.

  Roxanne didn’t respond as she peeled the leg of his jeans up. Blood had completely saturated his sock. Her complexion had paled and Jared couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t the simple little scratch he’d first thought. “I’m leaving your sock on and going to wrap your calf and foot in gauze and an ace bandage, which should stop the bleeding until we get you to the ER.”

  He nodded. With adept efficiency, Roxanne had him wrapped in minutes then stood and glared at everyone. “There’re no ghosts and the show is now over. Everyone needs to get back to work. We can’t afford to lose a day on this job,” she said. “Mack you’re in charge. Maggie, give him the assignment list and call me if there are any problems.”

  Everyone hopped to work. Before Jared could think much less say Jack Rabbit, he found himself loaded into the backseat of her truck and Roxanne climbed into the driver’s seat. The sharp edge of his pain had eased some with the bandaging and Jared welcomed the respite.

  Mack came up to her and whispered into her ear as she put the truck into gear. She nodded then hit the gas as Mack backed away. A deep frown creased her brow. “I’m thinking you need to go to the hospital.”

  Jared shook his head. “Jackson specialized in Emergency Medicine just out of med school, so I’m sure he can handle this.” He gave her directions to the Midtown Clinic then waited until she was on the road before he brought up the subject of the planter fall and his concerns for her safety.

  “What did he find?”

  “Mack?”

  “Yeah.”

  “An empty sixth floor. None of the crew had made it to that floor yet. On the balcony he found the base cementing the planter in place was cracked in half. All it needed was a hefty push.”

  “A crime of convenience or was it preplanned?”

  “Preplanned?”

  “Yes, as in someone cracked the base before you were onsite.”

  She shook her head. “On the off chance that I’d just happen to stand underneath it?”

  “You did.”

  “I wasn’t alone.”

  “You would have taken the full force of the blow, though. As far as I can tell, you’re the only one wearing a red shirt on the site. I’m betting whoever pushed that planter knew you were there.”

  The bodyguard idea wouldn’t stop knocking on his brain. Jesse provided security. One phone call would have her taken care of. Jared had two problems though. One, he wondered if he was overreacting. And two, he didn’t want some other guy at her side, spending time with her. If a guy was going to do that, he wanted to be that man.

  “Maybe,” she said. “Mind telling me how you found me and why you hunted me down at work?”

  “You think I’m responsible?”

  “Good Lord, no. But you’re the last person I expected to see today.”

  Jared sucked in air. Truth time. Only he couldn’t bring himself to it. Revealing he was a competitor might break the tenuous thread forming between them. He had no idea what devil snatched his soul, but it happened fast. “I work with my brother. And you need Sheridan-Weldon Solutions. It’s a security company that helps folks in need. I worried all night that your ex would hunt you down and finish that fight he started. I wanted to make sure you were all right and maybe offer my services until your ex got a grip or the law does it for him.” Jared narrowed his gaze at her. “Did he show up last night?”

  “Not that I know of.” Relief filled her expression. Her fear of her ex was real. “I stayed at my neighbor’s house.”

  “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “It just pisses me off. That man has no right to make you fear being in your own home. If you don’t mind my asking, what did he do to you?”

  Roxanne didn’t say anything for a long moment then she changed the subject. “Collin’s rage last night doesn’t correlate to what happened with the planter today. He wasn’t even on site.”

  Jared let the subject of finding out what her ex did go for now and gave her the loyal-to-her-ex crewman theory. “Any man on the job could have pushed that planter.”

  “Good point.” She narrowed his gaze. “How is it you know so damn much about my life?”

  “I ask questions and people talk. It’s what security guys do.” He swallowed hard, wondering if the lump in his throat was the beginning of a noose around his neck. “So, after I get patched
up here, I want you to give serious thought to letting me hang around for a bit.”

  “Provided you’ll be functional, are you asking me to hire you as my bodyguard?”

  “No. Not hire. This one’s on me.”

  “Why?”

  “Let’s just say I take issue with abusive assholes, and I want this to be on a personal level, not a professional one. I’ll apologize for coercing a kiss from you last night, but I am not in the least bit sorry that I did. And I’m very interested in repeating it, which makes this situation a very personal one.” He gave her his best salesman smile.” Besides with my leg injured, I’ll be officially off the job for a few days until I’m back to full speed so I might as well be useful while I recuperate.”

  He swore her lips twitched with a suppressed smile. “You’re serious?”

  “Dead serious. If you have any questions about my character, I can give you references to check.” He crossed his fingers, hoping she’d forgo that step. Considering the way he and James had been bacheloring-it-up lately, his reputation might not be so sterling. And there was the matter of his leading her into a lie. He did work with his brother. His brother James not Jesse. And she did need Sheridan-Weldon Solutions.

  “Let’s see what the doctor has to say first. You might end up in the hospital instead.”

  Jared hoped not. If Jackson wanted to hospitalize him, Jared just might have to go AMA. The thought of him not being around to stop anything bad happening to Roxanne was unacceptable. Then again, unless he figured out a way to keep all his misleading white-lies secret when they saw Jackson, his plan was completely screwed.

  Roxanne pulled into the parking lot of Jackson’s clinic and Jared braced himself. His shit was about to hit the Weldon brothers’ fan of abuse and fly everywhere for years to come. Even if they let him get away with his deception right now, he’d never live it down. He was sure that once he knew Roxanne was safe and told her the truth that she’d understand why he’d had to do it.

  But as he hopped into the clinic with Roxanne’s help, pain jarring his every move, he heard in his mind his twin James laughing. Screwed, blued, tattooed and delusional.