“I wanted to talk to you about the baby’s name.” Ryan stared at him as though Colin should read his mind. “We want to name him Patrick.”
Colin’s gut clenched at the sound of their father’s name. He said nothing.
“I didn’t want to just use the name without talking to you first.” Something in his eyes shifted.
“Really?”
Ryan blew out a quiet breath. “No, Quinn said I should talk to you because you’re the oldest and you might want to use the name. I didn’t think you’d care.”
Wrong. He did care. He’d always wanted to name his own son Patrick. He still said nothing.
“It’s okay, right? I mean, it’s not like you even have a girlfriend right now, much less a wife.”
Something primal in Colin wanted to scream no, it wasn’t okay, but he knew Ryan was right. Once again, Ryan had what Colin wanted. He’d been more together and quicker to get it.
Telling Ryan no would only deepen the rift between them.
He hugged Ryan hard and tempered his voice. “Of course it’s okay. I want you to be happy.”
“Thanks.”
They separated and stood awkwardly staring at the floor. Colin forced out lighthearted words. “You’re a dad, huh?”
“Yep, Uncle Colin.”
They walked back to their family, both smiling, a tentative peace settling over them.
Yeah, Uncle Colin definitely had a nice ring to it.
Elizabeth walked through the bar with a smile on her face. She’d spent the morning totaling the receipts from the night before. Their first day open had been a success. If they kept this up, she’d be back in Florida in no time. Three weeks, tops.
It was near noon and she hadn’t heard from Keith yet. He’d said he’d come by in the morning, but he hadn’t called. Even if he’d slept in, she should’ve heard something by now. She wanted to talk with him before Colin showed up.
She knew it was ridiculous, but she didn’t want Keith to know about Colin. In business, they hired outside help all the time, but somehow she felt if Keith knew about Colin, it would take away from her success here.
Without Colin, this success wouldn’t have happened.
The thought hit her hard. Colin had done more than she had originally thought. He’d pulled his weight and then some. He’d been a good pick as a partner.
She’d have to remember to tell him that.
Two hours later, Mike showed up as promised to make sure he knew where to find everything and get a feel for the new setup. Unfortunately, since Colin had done the setting up, she couldn’t direct much.
“I’m expecting someone for a meeting soon; maybe you can look around until Colin gets here?”
“Sure. The place isn’t that big. I think I can manage.” He settled his large frame behind the counter and surveyed the setup.
The front door opened, and Elizabeth turned to let the customer know they weren’t open yet, but it was Keith. Finally. She glanced at the clock. Maybe she could still get him out of here before Colin showed.
“Hey. It’s about time. You said you were coming this morning. Where have you been?”
“Sorry. I got hung up with calls.” He pointed over his shoulder toward the door. “Brannigan’s, huh?”
Shit. She’d forgotten about that change. “Yeah. Since we changed the entire concept, it only made sense to change the name. Take on a whole new identity. The old one wasn’t exactly working.”
“I like it.” He looked at her from head to toe. “You look pleased.”
“I am. Come to my office and I’ll show you the numbers from last night.”
“I don’t need to see the numbers. I have no doubt you did well.”
She crossed her arms. “Then why did you want to come by? I thought you wanted to see the success.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I wanted to see you to see how you were doing. To see if you were enjoying yourself as much as it sounded like you were.” He tucked his hands into his pants pockets. The smile on his face was odd.
A noise from behind caught her attention. Mike was bringing more glasses to the bar. “Hey, Mike, this is my brother, Keith. Keith, this is Mike, one of my managers.”
As they exchanged greetings, Elizabeth started toward the back, hoping Keith would follow. She thought about his question. Was she having fun? Her immediate reaction was that it was a job like any other. But in reality, it was more. Maybe it was the sneaking behind Keith’s and her dad’s backs, maybe it was the unusual challenge. Over the past weeks, she had been enjoying herself.
A hand touched her shoulder. “So?” Keith asked.
“What?”
“That smile tells me either you know a good joke, or I was right and you’ve been having fun with this project.”
“Okay, I admit that I’ve had more fun doing this one than most.”
The tender look on his face startled her. “What is it?”
He shifted again. “I have something to show you.”
“Okay.” She looked over her shoulder. Still no sign of Colin, but Mike would be okay until he showed. “Where are we going?”
“Close.” He grabbed her hand and pushed through the back door. “I didn’t want to tell you before. I figured you’d get discouraged. But this was the real reason I had Dad buy the place.”
He pulled her around the corner to the front of the building again. He jingled keys and stopped in front of the boarded-up door. He unlocked the door to the business that adjoined the bar and her stomach sank.
This couldn’t be good.
His enthusiasm swirled around like a strange aura. Keith didn’t act this way. She followed him through the door into the dark room. With the soap on the windows, sunlight battled to illuminate the space, but failed. Her eyes tried to adjust as Keith dropped her hand.
“What’s going on, Keith? I don’t like surprises.”
“Trust me. You’ll like this surprise.”
Her stomach went from flopping to burning. Fluorescent lights flickered and buzzed to life. She squinted against the sudden light and blinked. What the hell?
Keith rushed back to her side. “What do you think?”
“About what?” She stared at the space. Racks covered in plastic and layers of dust and rows of lanes, equally as dusty.
A bowling alley?
“This is the other half of the bar.”
“What?” Her voice squeaked, and she spun to face him. “No other business was listed as part of the holding.”
He smirked. “Ah, Libby didn’t do her homework after all. How unlike you.”
The burn raced up toward her chest. “I did my homework. The business is listed only as The Irish Pub.”
“The lanes are part of the pub. When the business began to fail, I closed off this part and left the bar open.”
She forced air into her lungs. “You mean you left the bar to run into the ground, and now you dump this on me? How dare you? You could’ve mentioned this before. You said nothing.”
“Like you said nothing about your real reason for being in Chicago?” He crossed his arms. He only did that when he was looking for a fight.
“You’re just determined to see me fail. I really thought you were happy for me.” She spun and walked toward the door. What the hell was she supposed to do with this?
“Wait. Elizabeth.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn around.
“I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to get discouraged. When we talked, you were happy. I could hear it in your voice. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“So you waited until now to point out that all my success means nothing. I have to start over to prove myself. That’s just like you.”
“You don’t need to prove yourself. That’s what I keep saying.”
Tears burned behind her eyelids. She faced Keith and said in a low voice, “You’re wrong. I have to prove myself every day.”
She turned back and walked calmly away. In the bar, she nod
ded at Mike. She cleared her throat and hoped her voice would stay steady. “No Colin yet?”
“Nope.”
“Do you need anything?”
“I’m good.” He looked at her like he might want to say more, but stopped.
The front door opened again, and they both turned. She was sure Keith had followed her back, but one of the waitresses entered. They opened in less than an hour and still no Colin. Damn him. He was always coming in late.
She pulled her phone out and called him. No answer. Straight to voice mail. She stormed back into her office to get his address. She’d make damn well sure he knew that this was unacceptable.
Then she remembered that he lived above O’Leary’s. That made it easy for him to show up to work there. No travel. Well, he needed to get it into his head that when he was supposed to work at Brannigan’s, she expected him to not only show up but to be on time.
With her keys in hand, she waved at Mike. “I have to run out. If Colin comes in, let him know I need to speak with him. I should be back soon. My cell number is by the register if you need to reach me.”
“No problem.”
She drove to O’Leary’s on a mission. The burn in her stomach splashed around and even the antacids didn’t help. She couldn’t do much about Keith and his underhandedness, but she could do something about Colin.
As she drove, images of the beat-up bowling alley flashed in her head. Her hands shook. She wasn’t sure if it was out of anger or frustration or nervous energy.
Nervous? Why should she be nervous?
She threw the car into park and walked around the exterior of the building to locate Colin’s apartment. At the back, stairs led up to apartments above the bar. Her heels clicked on the wooden steps. After pressing the doorbell, she felt her teeth grind.
The door swung open and a sexily rumpled, shirtless Colin stood before her. She swallowed hard. Damn hormones. She wouldn’t let them distract her.
“Elizabeth?”
God, even his voice was sexy.
“Unbelievable. Do you have any idea what time it is?”
He scratched his stomach, and her gaze followed his hand on its path. His jeans were unsnapped.
She cleared her throat and looked up.
“Uh, you want to come in?”
He stepped in, so she followed. Why he bothered to ask what she wanted bewildered her, since he’d obviously planned to go in anyway.
Colin led the way down a dark hall toward an open door.
She called after him, “You were supposed to come in early today. You said you’d tell Mike what he needed to know.”
Inside his apartment, he turned to face her. “Sorry, I’m running late. I was up all night—”
“I told you when we signed the contract that I wouldn’t put up with any games.” She thought back to what he’d said to her the night he found her with Lori and Janie. “If you want to go out and get laid, I don’t care. But I expect you to take this business seriously.”
Anger suddenly flashed into his eyes. The bright blue turned steely. Something she’d said struck a chord. He reached out and slammed the door shut behind her, putting his body within inches of hers.
“First of all, I’ve been busting my ass taking the bar seriously. Second, I wasn’t out getting laid. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I had a date, much less got laid.”
“I bet it hasn’t been as long as it has for me.” Shit, she really hadn’t meant to say that out loud. She shook her head and added quickly, “That’s not the point. You said you were going to be there. I waited and I called and you didn’t show.”
She was rambling and knew she wasn’t making sense. She’d needed Colin after seeing Keith and he hadn’t been there. She’d wanted to lean on him and now she was lashing out at him. What was worse, she felt her emotions getting the better of her. They were going to spill out and she fought to contain them. She hated sounding desperate.
Fuck. He shouldn’t have yelled at her. Her body trembled. Elizabeth was about to have a meltdown. What the hell was he supposed to do if she became hysterical?
The muscle in her jaw twitched and her hands clenched into fists.
“Elizabeth.”
Her right hand flicked up. “Just don’t.”
Her voice was weak, but he knew she fought to make it sound strong. He wasn’t sure what to do with an emotional woman. He’d never had one around long enough to see her get emotional. Except his sisters.
A hug always worked with Maggie and Moira. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Elizabeth. Immediately, he questioned the move. Excitement stirred when he saw the fiery anger on her face, but actually holding her in his arms was a mistake. His hard-on raged against his jeans.
Her back stiffened and she resisted for a minute. Once she realized what he was doing, she gave in and let him hold her.
When he spoke, his voice was gruff. “Elizabeth, I was coming into work. I just overslept. I was at the hospital all night.”
She jerked, but he held tight. “What happened?”
She was concerned about him. Hmm. “Nothing bad. My sister-in-law went into labor. Healthy baby boy Patrick O’Leary was born this morning.”
“Oh. Congratulations. I’m sorry I came in screaming at you.” The words rushed from her mouth, like it was painful to have to apologize.
As he talked, her body softened against him. Cinnamon tickled his nose, and he felt her breath quiet against his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
Her lips curved against his skin. “It wasn’t that.”
“What was it then?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She closed off the conversation, but didn’t move away from him.
His jeans grew uncomfortably tight. Minutes dragged. He didn’t want to push her away, but he needed to adjust his cock. She finally turned her head, which made her lips brush across his collar, and his dick twitched.
She lifted her face and whispered, “Thanks.”
Again, he moved without thought. His mouth captured hers. Ryan was right; he didn’t have a wife or a girlfriend. He excelled at casual relationships.
Elizabeth’s mouth opened for his tongue. She tasted good and her body fit nicely against his. He angled his head, and she raised her arms and wrapped them around his back. She wasn’t pushing him away this time.
He tugged her hair free from the knot at the back of her head. The silky softness fell over his hands. He pushed his fingers through it to her scalp and walked her backward toward the breakfast bar. His dick throbbed, seeking release.
A moan slipped from Elizabeth, and it was the only green light he needed. He pushed at her blazer and yanked it off. He trailed kisses down her neck as he unbuttoned the blouse. Warm cinnamon greeted him as he licked her neck.
She arched her back, pushing her chest toward him and her hips into his groin. Just as he loosened her blouse and glimpsed a lacy bra, her long fingers were tugging at his pants.
The only sounds in the room were their heavy breathing and the hiss of the zipper. Her wide eyes looked into his.
“Stop now unless you’re sure about this.” His voice was raspy with need, and he really hoped she didn’t want to stop.
She answered with her eyes instead of her voice. She quirked one eyebrow up and pulled his fly open. Before she could use her hand to make him any crazier, he lowered his head to kiss across her bare chest, licking slowly under the edge of the lace bra. Her hands fell away from his waist and grasped his head, urging him on.
He felt her heart thump under his lips, and he slid his hands up her thighs, bunching her skirt on the way.
“Wait,” she gasped.
Fuck, no, he wasn’t going to wait. Not now. He pulled away reluctantly to see if he could talk her into continuing.
Her gaze held his as her fingers undid the clasp of her skirt. She stepped out of it. “It’s a bitch with wrinkles.”
She laid the skirt on the counter, and he stood confu
sed for a moment. She wasn’t backing off—she just wanted to take off her skirt?
When he didn’t move, she ran a hand across his chest. Her cool fingers soothed his heated skin. A moment later, her lips followed the same path. She definitely wasn’t stopping. He grabbed her hips and eased her onto one of the stools. As soon as he began to kiss her neck again, she moaned.
With one hand, he reached around and flipped the clasp on her bra open, and his other hand felt for the silk of her panties. Moist heat radiated into his fingertips. He stroked her through the soft material until her hips began to wiggle.
He pulled away again long enough to remove both the bra and her blouse. God, she was gorgeous, all flush with passion. Her breasts were slightly more than a handful and his tongue wanted to play with the stiff peaks jutting out at him. As he took one in his mouth, she grabbed his hand and brought it back to her crotch. This time, he slid inside her panties and felt how wet she was.
He used his teeth to tug at her nipple and slid a finger into her wet warmth. Moving to the other breast, he added a finger inside her and stroked her clit with his thumb. Her nails bit into his shoulders and her entire body vibrated with need.
“Now, Colin. For once, move fast.”
For years he’d heard how women enjoyed going slow, and he liked to think himself a considerate lover, but her command had him donning a condom faster than he’d ever done. His jeans were low on his hips as he stripped away her underpants.
Without another word, he slid his cock into her, and her sexy, long legs wrapped around him. It was heaven, and he thought for a moment his legs would buckle under the pleasure. He gripped the counter behind Elizabeth for security and drove into her.
Her head lolled back and he kissed her neck. Her hips bucked and she moaned and gasped. He could feel her tightening around him. He grabbed her leg and hoisted it higher so he could go deeper.
“Oh, God!” Her eyes drifted closed. She bit down on her lower lip, still holding back.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Let go. Let it all out. It’ll be so much better.”
Dropping her leg back to his hip, he moved his hand between their bodies and brushed against her clit. Her eyes flew open and she was gone.
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