by Palmer Jones
“Nothing. Why?” She tried to give him a perky smile. Judging by his look, he didn't buy it.
He leaned his elbows on the bar. “Brogan mentioned a few of the guys in the party might give you a hard time.”
Selena shrugged. “I can handle it.” She wished she could have tossed Simmons out on his ass and covered their tab herself. But this was a more professional way to treat him. Even if he didn't deserve it.
Katie stepped up beside her. “I figured you could use an extra set of hands with that many to-go boxes. I'm glad you kicked them out. No tip is worth letting Simmons paw all over you.” She brightened when her eyes landed on Cathal. “Well, hey there.” She nudged Selena's shoulder, completely oblivious that her confession about Simmons just darkened Cathal's gaze significantly.
“Hello, Katie,” he replied with a sharp glance at Selena.
Katie smiled wider. “I can proudly say I had the cutest guy in the bar take me home last week. Too bad, he dropped me off and told me to drink some water and take two aspirins.”
“What exactly happened up there, Selena?” he asked.
She hoped to simplify it. “I told Simmons he needed to leave. We're getting them to-go boxes and their checks.”
He shifted, giving Katie his full attention. “Katie, sweetheart, what did you mean by Simmons pawing all over Selena?”
Selena looked up at the exposed wooden beams in the ceiling. No way Katie might, for once, keep quiet. She closed her eyes. Yup. There she went, giving Cathal a play-by-play. Even down to Simmons's suggestive proposition.
“He touched you?”
Cathal's direct question unnerved her. Not for getting Randy Simmons in trouble. No. If she had to guess, this wasn't Randy's first time propositioning a woman. But the aggression in Cathal's voice. Tense. Dangerous.
Selena rolled her eyes, hoping to come across as nonchalant. “He touched my blue jeans—”
“Ladies, I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a few minutes with our guests before returning with their to-go boxes.” Cathal stepped from behind the bar. He paused beside Selena and mumbled, “find Brogan. But, for God's sake, don't tell him about Simmons touching you.”
“I tried not to tell you about Simmons touching me.”
“Just send him up that way.”
Selena dropped her head forward. “Will do.” Oh well for trying to keep the peace.
Katie leaned her back against the bar and watched Cathal leave. “I really wish I knew him before I started working here. One night. That's all I want.”
God, sometimes, Katie was oblivious. “I'm going to go tell the boss and grab those to-go boxes. You can offer to take drinks from the bar to tables down here on the floor. Save everyone a few trips.”
She gave her a mock salute. “I'm on it.”
Selena walked to the door of Brogan's office. He sat at his computer, his brow wrinkled as he looked at his computer screen. He'd messed up his hair on one side. His tie sat a little crooked. She really didn't want to add on the stress.
“Hey,” she started.
He stood up so quickly his computer chair almost flipped. “Is everything alright?”
She held up her hands to calm him down. “Yes. Cathal went upstairs to the party. Asked me to find you and tell you to meet him up there.”
He stepped from around the desk. She didn't budge from blocking his way. “You forgot your jacket.”
He blinked before stepping back to his chair and putting it on. “Thank you. What happened?”
“Cathal said for you to go on up. I have about forty to-go boxes to collect.”
The concerned look shifted to something intense. He set a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. “You're alright?”
No. Not when he watched her with so much concern. “I'm fine.” She straightened his tie, avoiding his gaze, smoothing the tie down his body, feeding off his strength.
“I don't believe you.”
She tilted her head back, soaking in the way he watched her. She brushed down the small part of his soft hair that stuck out on the side, not caring at the moment what was appropriate.
“Then that's too bad.” Selena gave him a light shove out the door, trying to play it off like it wasn't a big deal. “Go. Before Cathal gets distracted and finds a pretty girl to talk to.”
She watched him take the stairs two at a time until he reached the top, pausing a long moment. He glanced over his shoulder, finding her immediately, a dark scowl in place.
Even from that distance, she felt the electricity between them snap. Rian stepped up beside her. “Cathal sent me a text to come to help out with Brogan. Any idea what's going on?”
“Help with Brogan?” There went her ability to handle the situation alone. “They're up there. With Simmons.”
“Oh.” With that one word, Rian left and also took the stairs two at a time. Only he didn't pause at the top but rushed forward and out of sight.
What a damn night.
Selena grabbed the to-go boxes and went back to the bar to shuttle drinks out to help the overworked waitstaff. She'd rather do that all night than deal with Simmons again.
All three men appeared at once, walking down the stairs. After a brief word to each other, Brogan disappeared into his office, slamming the door.
“Dang. They mean business, don't they,” Katie said, propping her elbow up on the bar.
“I feel bad. Maybe I made it too big a deal and overreacted.” What if Brogan was actually mad she cut their meal short?
Katie patted her back. “No. It was a big deal. Men like Simmons think they get to touch any woman they want.”
“Would you have kicked them out?”
“No. But I don't have that authority.”
Selena winced. “I don't guess I do, either.”
Katie chuckled. “Yeah, right.”
Lingering on Katie's statement took too much focus at the moment. She waited until Cathal was back behind the bar, Rian pausing beside her. “So—?”
Rian smirked. “We printed out their tickets. Cathal will go up in a few minutes to run their payments.”
They'd supported her decision. A little of the anxiety that she'd messed up left her body.
“Let's say that asking them to go ahead and settle up and leave was the nicest thing we could've done. Simmons did it to himself. He made a mistake and mentioned you to Brogan.”
“Me? What for?”
Cathal poured a beer. She wasn't sure who it was for. “After Simmons told us that he would miss the food, but with the money he'd make, he'd be able to fly to Ireland and eat anytime he wanted to, the idiot actually told Brogan about his proposition.” Cathal grinned. “And that you'd seemed interested.”
Selena knew her mouth fell open, but she couldn't help it. She'd kicked them out. How did that convey interest?
Rian leaned on the bar beside her, his eyes looking green. “Don't worry, none of us think you are.”
“Hell no! Slimy old bastard.”
Cathal glanced in the direction of Brogan's office. “I'm not sure how much of Brogan's tirade Simmons actually understood. Rian and I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity.” He chuckled. “Only certain things will push Brogan outside his nice neat world.” He didn't continue the thought, but Selena knew what it meant.
She’d pushed him.
“What's so funny?” Katie asked as she set an empty bottle on the bar beside Selena. “I'm ready to lug up the forty to-go boxes if you are.”
“No. Brogan told them to pay or else. They'll pay seeing how they'd all eaten at least half of the food. We're not wasting to-go boxes on them.” Rian held his hands up. “Brogan's words. Not mine.”
“Or else what?” Selena asked. “A lawsuit over a seventeen-dollar fish and chips plate?”
Cathal gave her an amused look. “Or else they'll have to deal with him. My oldest brother annoys the hell out of me half the time, but the other half, I'll claim him. I'll head up to process their payments in another minute or so.”
Ri
an pushed away from the bar. “I'm headed back to the kitchen. Call me again if I can help.”
Katie set the boxes she'd picked up back down on the counter. “I knew I loved working here. Why don't you let us come back up and help clear the checks? There are forty people, all paying separately. That way we can work the three computers up there and get them out quicker.”
Cathal looked to Brogan's closed door. “Sure. I suppose.”
Katie patted her hands on the bar like a drum roll. “Then let's go so we can help all the other deserving customers.”
He motioned Selena forward, lowering his voice. “He's not going to like you being back up there.”
“I doubt Simmons will say anything else.”
Or, maybe Simmons didn’t give a shit about Brogan’s tirade. Even with Cathal's presence, Simmons stared at her the entire time. Facing the computer, she could almost feel his eyes on her back—and butt. Soon, he'd be gone to harass some other female.
“Last one,” Katie said, as she slid the credit card through the reader.
Selena turned around, only to be face-to-face with Simmons. He'd risen at some point to come to stand beside her. “I can tell your bosses don't want to lose such a valuable employee.” He ran a finger down her shoulder.
She jerked away but had nowhere to go in the small booth that housed the computer. Her breath quickened.
She deepened her voice and straightened her shoulders. She didn’t need Cathal to come to her rescue again. “Go. Away.”
He took a small step back. “The offer stands, Selena. You'll be out of a job when I close this place down, and I have one with plenty of benefits, waiting for you.” His tongue darted out, wetting his lips that looked cosmetically enhanced. His eyes tracked down her body, making her want to turn away. “Most women would jump at the opportunity to have their turn with me.”
She slapped him.
Again, at some point in her life, her brain and body would sync together, but she couldn't stand it any longer. Hot pain seared across her palm from the hit.
The slap had silenced the entire room.
Simmons rubbed his cheek, but smiled, his voice no longer quiet. “You like things rough, I see.”
She shifted her body weight, ready to knee him in the crotch if necessary, but Cathal jerked him back. Pure aggression covered the Irishman's face. He shouted words she didn't understand, shoving him across the room until Simmons tripped and fell.
A few of the other men around the table rose but didn't move to intervene. She didn't really blame them. Cathal looked a little possessed, getting in Simmons's face as he continued to shout.
Katie gripped Selena's arm. “Oh, hell, I think I'm in love with him.”
She couldn't worry about Katie's infatuation with Cathal at the moment. Not when Brogan came barging into the chaos. People stumbled left and right as he pushed them out of the way like they weighed nothing.
Cathal hadn't hit Simmons, which surprised Selena, but his shouts had become more English and were quite unique in their use of curse words.
Brogan clamped a hand on Cathal's shoulder, tugging him away. He crossed his arms and stared down at Simmons. Instead of the shouting, his deep voice, too low to hear, put a look of surprise on Simmons's face and complete, deranged pleasure on Cathal's.
Selena started to march over there and tell Simmons off as well. If Cathal got to use his potty words, she could, too.
Brogan must have seen her movement because he looked up and held up his hand. She stopped dead in her tracks.
Fury blazed in Brogan's eyes.
With the adrenaline rush, her insides felt shaky. She stood there, unmoving, while Katie finished collecting the rest of the signed credit card receipts, and Brogan and Cathal watched the dinner party leave down the stairs and out of the restaurant.
“Katie, are you alright?” Brogan turned to face Selena. He controlled his voice so tightly; it was barely above a whisper.
“I'm fine. Do you want me to go help behind the bar since Cathal is up here?” She gave Selena a look of pity and rubbed her hand down Selena's arm. “Or I can stay to clean up.”
“The bar would be helpful.” Brogan kept his eyes pinned on Selena as Katie left.
The last thing she wanted was to cause him more problems. Although, technically, she knew it wasn't her fault.
Katie paused by Cathal, who leaned against the wall, looking relaxed, as if nothing had happened. “The no dating policy applies to you too?”
He gave her a sexy smile. “I'm afraid so.”
“Damn,” Katie muttered before moving out of the room.
Brogan waited for Katie to disappear down the stairs, his cold, blue eyes never wavering from hers. “I don't think Simmons will be returning. You never have to put up with that for this job.”
Selena nodded, stunned by his protective streak over her. “I'd hoped you'd be okay with me kicking them out earlier.”
“Of course he is,” said Rian as he stepped into the area, pausing beside Cathal. “Katie just gave me a quick rundown. I thought we were trying to get away from the fighting.”
“She hit him. Our Selena there slapped the old bastard.” Cathal winked at her. “A fighter.”
“She'll fit in with this family,” Rian said and then turned toward Cathal. “I'm surprised you left him in one piece.”
“It was close.” Cathal's quiet, serious response surprised her.
Brogan walked to Selena and held out his hand. “Let me see your hand.”
She handed it to him. Her palm was blood red from the hit. It stung when he ran a finger across it. She hissed from the burn.
“I'm glad you hit him.” His eyes flicked up.
“I'm glad you didn't,” she whispered. “It's not worth going to jail over.”
Cathal cleared his throat. “Do you plan on telling her what you threatened to do to him if he so much as speaks to her again?”
Rian crossed his arms. “I'd like to hear that.”
The way Brogan held her hand, touched her bruised skin, eliminated any doubt that he was attracted to her.
And neither one of them could make a move.
Stalemate.
“What did you tell him?” She had to keep talking. Keep her mind from torturing her with mental images of her and Brogan together.
Cathal didn't wait for Brogan to speak. “He told him that if he ever touched you again, he'd end up in a pine box, um, with his man parts in an unnatural location. The language was a little more colorful than that.”
“Creative,” she whispered, lacking any other response. She'd stand there as long as Brogan watched her with desire hidden behind his concern because it was there. It pushed reality away for a brief moment, leaving the two of them alone. She stepped closer. “Thank you.”
He gently held her hand as his other hand hesitantly touched her waist. He skimmed his fingers from her waist, down the outside of her hip. A trail of heat followed in its wake. His gaze dropped to her lips before flicking back up.
Instead of kissing her, like she wanted, expected, he dropped her hand and stepped back. “You can head home if you need to. I know it was a pretty big ordeal.”
“No.” She crossed her arms, feeling cold from his sudden departure. Had she imagined it again? “I'm fine. Really. I'll start clearing the tables. Thank you.” She smiled at Rian and Cathal, who'd just witnessed whatever happened between them. “You, too. I think you have a new member of your fan club with Katie.”
Cathal shrugged, his body so casual and easygoing, it was hard to imagine him so close to being out of control a few minutes earlier. “She's sweet, but not someone worth breaking the rules for.” He winked. “I'll see you later.” Both he and Rian turned and walked down the stairs.
Not someone worth breaking the rules for.
Was she that person for Brogan?
She almost asked him just that. End all the back-and-forth between them. But she didn't get a chance to.
“I'll send Trey and a busboy up
here to help clear,” he said, a deep, angry growl still in his voice but he didn't meet her eyes.
“Alright. I'll see you in the morning.”
Brogan didn't turn around again. He walked away as if she didn't exist. How could he flip it on and off? She winced at the dull pain in her hand. She'd finish her shift and go home, try to wrap her head around the confusing tangle that existed inside when it came to Brogan. And if there was anything she could do about it.
7
“Here's the new laptop.” Brogan held it out for Selena to take. It was the best one in the store, according to Cathal. “Now we can both work and not take turns on my computer.”
Because that was what he needed to focus on with Selena. Work. He'd revealed too much emotion with how he'd reacted to Simmons last week. And the moment in the supply room still ran through his head whenever he stepped foot in there.
He was no closer to figuring out how to handle her. Or himself. Each day, he showed up at work determined to keep his distance.
He found himself questioning not only his sanity but Selena's intentions. Something about that made him feel guilty, projecting Crissy's scheme onto her. Deep down in his gut, he knew that wasn't Selena.
“There were a couple more websites I wanted to go through and see the reviews.” Selena wore her hair down and pink lip gloss that made him want to focus all his attention on her lips. “I logged onto the websites as the business.” She grimaced. “I hope that's alright. There were a few reviews I responded to. They were very nice.”
She was good at this job. Even though he needed her running his waitstaff, another job she excelled at, he really appreciated her help in the morning. If they could do more advertising, maybe they could increase their profit. It wouldn't be in time for the banks to loan them the money, but he'd never give up. He'd decided if they lost this location, they'd move, reopen somewhere else. But the lag time between closing and reopening might hurt the business they had now. They had a loyal customer base that he'd hoped would follow them. But, based on a preliminary review of the other locations nearby, they couldn't afford the rent.
“Did you go to college, Selena?”
