Her Irish Boss: O'Keeley's Irish Pub: Book One

by Palmer Jones

  That was the tricky part. He swallowed and shifted to meet her gaze. It amused him that she looked a little annoyed. His Selena was definitely not a morning person. “I enjoy seeing you at work. But if you stopped working for the restaurant, I wouldn't stop trying to pursue you. So, no. The man that's here right now still wants you, be it you work at O'Keeley's or not.” It'd almost be easier if she didn't work there, but he'd keep that to himself. He relied on her too much to let his own wants or needs to get in the way.

  She kissed him lightly. “I like that answer. What do you need me to do for the restaurant?” She moved to her dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out clothes.

  “Plan the promotion. Make it happen. Make it a success.”

  She swiveled around. “What? You want me to plan a big party? I don't know how to do that.”

  “I mean, we'll help and everything. But we were going to feature Rian, make him the center of it.”

  Her lips turned up in a small smile. “Have you told him that yet?”

  “Cathal drew the short straw.”

  She nodded and walked across the room to her bathroom, pushing the door to, but not shut. “Keep talking. I'm just changing.”

  He went through the ideas they'd discussed, along with a few of his own. He stretched back on her bed, not wanting to face the reality of the situation between them when they got to work.

  He liked being with her, touching her when he wanted.

  She opened the door. Her work shirt was tucked into tight jeans. Her hair in a ponytail. “Don't you look cozy and relaxed on my bed.”

  Whatever had put her in a bad mood earlier seemed gone. He grinned. “You have a very comfy bed. I'd be obliged if you invited me back to stay.”

  “We'll have to see when my boss lets me off. He can be a real tyrant.” She sat on the bed beside him.

  He reached over, gripped her by the shoulders, and dragged her across his body so he could finally kiss her good morning.

  They'd kissed a few times before going to sleep the night before, but awake, lying with her, her body on his, those sweet kisses flew away.

  He rolled them over, pinning her underneath him. The day would be hell. He'd go from touching her, tasting her, to acting like she didn't affect him with a single look.

  She tugged his shirt. “Off,” she mumbled against his lips.

  “I feel like this is one-sided.” But he sat back long enough to take his shirt off.

  “Completely.” She ran her hands over his chest before tugging him back down and kissing the hell out of him. She touched him everywhere, driving him crazy. He wanted to do the same. But that was a line he couldn't cross. Not until he figured out how to have her for good.

  * * *

  Selena caught Katie in the bathroom before their shift started to clarify what she'd heard Cathal say about Brogan at the bar. It was a lame story about how they'd talked about going out but didn't want it to mess up their professional relationship. Basically, a bunch of crap that Katie nodded and said, ‘of course,’ a few times before she winked and walked out of the room.

  Yeah. Katie hadn't believed a word of it.

  But she didn't have time to worry about that. Now, snuggled deep into the leather sofa in Brogan's office, the challenging task of planning a big shin-dig to save the pub was her focus. The computer sat open on her lap and dozens of papers spread out across the coffee table and two other chairs.

  The biggest problem she kept running into was Rian. He wouldn't return her phone calls or her texts. He was the star, according to Brogan. The star was pitching a major hissy fit at the moment.

  “How's it coming?” Cathal asked as he entered the room, carrying a cup of tea in his hand. “Katie said you liked black tea.”

  “I do. Why is Katie still here?” It was well after four. Brogan had offered to pay for Mimi's nurse, calling it a perk of being VP of Advertising. Because they were back to that, even after the hot make-out session before leaving her apartment.

  “She stopped by to give me the heads up that I'll be arrested this afternoon. Apparently, the girl she met at that bar works as a receptionist at the police station.”

  Selena's mouth dropped open. “No. Way. That's ridiculous!”

  “Not really. I did almost kill him.” He said it like he'd offered the guy a ham sandwich. Something lurked within Cathal that didn't align with his happy, flippant persona he presented to everyone. She'd seen it now. Twice.

  “Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

  He laughed. “Clever. But he's still filing charges.”

  “I'd offer to bail you out myself, but it might take a while to get the money. Despite my new fancy title, it doesn't come with a pay raise.”

  “Brogan already said he'd come.” He sat on the edge of the chair. “I wanted to ask you a favor. I called a lawyer friend of mine that handles these things more than I ever have. Do you mind reporting your side of what happened?”

  “Not at all.” She hadn't even thought about it. “What about the bartender? She saw the whole thing. She was there when he messed with me the first time. She actually told him to stop.”

  “I'll be sure to let my lawyer know.” He pointed at the paper. “Is there something in here that is useful for the promotion? I know it's a shot in the dark, but maybe we can raise the rest of the money.”

  “I'm getting there. If I can get Rian to call me back so I can get some details.”

  “See, we tease Brogan that he's the moody one, but he has all the financial responsibility. Rian, he's moody when his art isn't going his way.”

  Selena took a sip of the tea. She raised an eyebrow. He'd put whiskey in her tea. “When are you moody?”

  “When I'm locked away from pretty women and alcohol.”

  She looked at her watch. “Oh. So, in another fifty-five minutes, I'll see what Cathal looks like moody.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Brogan came into the room. Closed the door. Walked over to Selena and planted a solid kiss on her lips.

  And, earlier, when they'd been in the dining room, he'd ordered her to restock the ladies’ restroom with toilet paper. Back and forth they went. Forever, apparently. She pushed the negative thoughts from her mind.

  Temporary. He wasn't Jacob. At least she kept telling herself that.

  “Braggart,” Cathal mumbled before moving the papers out of the chair for him to sit. “Give us what you've got, Selena.”

  Brogan sat down beside Selena. And that made her happy.

  “I do have an idea. But it's pushing it. You wanted this in two weeks, so you'd have three to figure it out if you didn't get enough money, right?” She took a breath and pulled up the website. “In a few weeks, the party would coincide with an Irish festival in Atlanta. I wouldn't book it the same weekend. We wouldn't want that competition. But, it might be helpful to host yours the weekend before.”

  “Three weeks? You're right,” Brogan said, his fingers twirling the end of her hair absently. “That is pushing it.”

  She looked up at him, wanting to ask another question, but he dropped another small kiss on her lips.

  “I like the idea. But how do we draw people in?” Cathal pointed at her tea. “I was going to abstain, but do you mind?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Abstain from tea?” Brogan barely asked the question before he sighed. “I should have known you added something to it.”

  “We want to keep Rian's food the focus. And I think I can get in contact with a few of the food critics or bloggers or whoever to come in. Offer them free tickets for the exposure on their websites.” She pulled up another website. “Now, what is trad music?”

  “The traditional music you hear in Ireland.” Brogan nodded toward Cathal. “He can play a fiddle if you feed him enough whiskey.”

  “I might have to do that. Can you do anything?”

  Cathal answered. “He sings like a scuttered fish when he drinks too much whiskey.”

  She'd expected him to d
eny it, but he didn't. Something about Brogan singing horribly made her smile. He did everything else so well. “And Rian's the cook,” she added.

  “Oh. Rian can play the fiddle, too.” Cathal downed the rest of her tea in one drink like it was a shot. “I'm just better.”

  “Rian would disagree.” A knock at the door brought Brogan to his feet before he announced for them to enter. “Sir?” Katie peeked in. “The police just showed up. They're earlier than I told Cathal. I'm sorry.”

  “Don't worry about it, Katie,” Brogan said. “Thank you for letting us know ahead of time. And thank your friend as well.”

  Two uniformed police officers appeared behind Katie. She darted out of the way.

  Selena rose with Cathal. Before the men entered, she walked over to him and hugged him. “Thank you.”

  He ran a hand down her hair and patted her back. “It's fine. I guess I shouldn't admit it's not my first time for being arrested for fighting.”

  “I assumed it wasn't.” She pulled back. “I'll go with Brogan to the station, file my report.”

  “Thanks.” He turned and stood silently as the police officers read him his rights. They walked him out, without handcuffs.

  “You're going with me?” Brogan opened the desk drawer and pulled out his car keys.

  “Yes.”

  “But, don't you think it will look odd?”

  “Stop.” She held up her hand. “I need to report what happened so it can go against them keeping Cathal. Take me to the station so I can help get your brother off these charges that he only got because he was protecting your VP of Advertising.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Are you ever going to stop calling yourself that?”

  She set her hand on her hip. “Are you ever going to start calling me something else?”

  “Please. Just wait and leave a few minutes after I do.”

  Her lips pressed together, trying to stay nice. But she couldn't. Not when it hurt every inch of her heart. “Do you want to sneak me out of the back door?”

  14

  Brogan watched her for a moment. “You're joking again, right?”

  Selena threw her hands up. “Yes!” She grabbed her purse and fished out her car keys. “Never mind.” She stormed past him. She didn't need this. Him. Not when a good man just got sent to jail because of her. Not when she was busting her ass to help his business stay open. And he won't even acknowledge that they were, at a minimum, friends and walk out together. It wasn't like she was going to straddle him in the middle of the restaurant.

  Brogan didn't move to stop her, which pissed her off even more. Katie stood at the bar, looking sad as the police loaded Cathal into the back of the car parked in front of the pub.

  “Thanks for giving him the heads up.” Selena hugged her.

  Katie pulled back. “Are you going with Mr. O'Keeley to get him out?”

  “I'm going, but not with Brogan. What are you doing right now?”

  She motioned to the bar. “I was going to have a beer and drown my sorrows that they put the prettiest man in Atlanta behind bars.”

  “Come with me. I'm going to file charges against Simmons.” Selena linked arms with Katie and guided her out of the restaurant and around the edge of the building to the parking lot. She needed a friend. Someone to keep her sane.

  “Selena!” Brogan's rough voice called from behind her as they approached her parked car. He hesitated when he spotted Katie. For once, she didn't care about how it made him feel. Her own feelings of being hidden under a rock, out of sight, were too strong to ignore.

  She waited at the trunk of her car while Katie paused by the passenger door. “I think I missed something,” Katie said. “He looks mad as hell right now.”

  “What?” Selena asked him, not caring about how angry he looked. She was pretty damned pissed herself.

  He looked at Katie and back at her. Then back to Katie.

  “Were you coming back to finish the project?” He stuck his hands in his pockets. She'd noticed him do that almost every time they were in public together. “Later?”

  Selena lifted a shoulder. “I don't know. If this takes too long, then I'll see you in the morning and start where I left off.”

  His eyes shifted to Katie again. He looked incredibly uncomfortable. But he made the rules. This entire situation was his own fault as far as she was concerned. She wouldn't end up like her mom, taking pity on the guy and letting them drag her down again and again. Or like she'd been with Jacob like she embarrassed Brogan.

  “I'll see you later,” Selena finally said when he wouldn't make a decision and walked to her door. She sat down without looking back.

  Katie sat down beside her. “Damn, I hope a man looks at me that way someday.”

  “What way?” Angry? Annoyed? Every word that described a man like Brogan when he didn't get his way, and Selena didn't fall in line.

  “Stop pretending you two aren't a thing. I won't tell anyone, but it hurts my feelings for you to lie to me.” She changed the station on the radio. “He's really strict about that no dating policy, huh?”

  Selena would let Katie in because she needed someone. She needed advice. “Yes. So much so that when I mentioned to him about going out somewhere, he said that wouldn't ever happen.”

  Katie's head snapped her direction. Selena concentrated on driving and not on the Audi following her to the police station.

  “Ever? As in for-ever? What kind of relationship is that?”

  Selena stopped at a red light, glancing in her rearview mirror and frowning at Brogan's scowl. “A shitty one. For both of us.”

  “What are you staring at? Is it Brogan?” Katie flipped the visor down and looked behind her. “It's so strange calling him that, but if my best friend is sleeping with him, then I'm at least going to use his first name with you.”

  “We haven't slept together.”

  Katie stuck her lip out in a fake pout. “He looks so miserable. Maybe you should.”

  “I'm not giving him pity sex. He does look miserable, though. But I feel miserable as well.”

  After reapplying her lipstick, Katie flipped the mirror closed and changed the radio station again. “You have options, you know.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, what are your goals?”

  Selena's lips quirked to the side. “You sound like my guidance counselor in high school.” And that conversation had been a complete waste of time.

  “I'm serious. What do you want to happen between you and Brogan? Hot, heavy, and quick. Long and sweet.”

  Selena pulled into the police station. “Are you talking about sex?”

  “No. Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about the real relationship between you two. Do you think what you have will fade away in another couple weeks or even a month or two?”

  Fade away. Being with Brogan brought everything inside her alive. How could that ever fade away? The intensity had already shifted. Not lessened. Equalized a little. And she still thought about him all the time.

  “I don't think it will fade.”

  “Alright. Can you see yourself waking up beside him for the rest of your life?”

  Selena turned the car off and faced her friend. “I see myself sad if he's not with me when I think of the future.” She hadn't had a serious thought about finding someone who would commit to her with Mimi's situation. Brogan had been so sweet to Mimi the other morning.

  Katie tilted her head to the side. “What if you stopped seeing him right now? How long would it take for you to get over him?”

  Selena blinked. Could she ever, really, get over him? She hated how he made her feel, hiding her away, but the sweet side of him kept her from leaving. None of the other men she'd dated, or even met, came close to be the kind of man she wanted. She wanted Brogan without the seesaw of emotions. That Brogan would never get out of her system.

  “A really long time.”

  “Then quit.”

  “The restaurant?”

  “Ye
s. Find another job.”

  She leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. “But I love working there.”

  “Do you love it more than you love Brogan?”

  “No.”

  She snapped her fingers. “So you do love him! And you've kept me in the dark throughout this entire thing. I'd be mad at you if I weren't so happy.”

  Selena rolled her head to the side, watching her friend's excitement and feeling dread at the decision. “What's my other option? You said I had other options.” Because acknowledging she was in love with Brogan messed with her head. She didn't have the luxury to fall in love. Not when it meant never moving in or moving forward with a relationship because of Mimi and having to give up something you love, like her job. Definitely, if it meant their current situation. Maybe she wasn't any better off than her mom. Was falling in love this easy genetic?

  “There are two more options,” Katie said. “The first is continuing the way you’ve been going.”

  “Yeah.” She opened the door. Katie did, too. “But that sucks.”

  “You know your last option.” Katie exited the car with Selena. “You need to break up with Brogan.”

  Selena turned as Brogan approached them in the parking deck.

  “Oh, crap, I did it again. I'm sorry, Selena.”

  Brogan's eyes pinned Selena in place as he approached. “Katie, give us a minute.”

  “No.” Selena tilted her chin up. “Katie can stay. This isn't work, Brogan. You don't get to tell her what to do.”

  Katie took two steps backward. “It's alright. I have a feeling this is a private conversation.”

  “Thank you,” Brogan gritted out. He waited until she'd made it three cars away. He lowered his voice. “I see you told Katie about us.”

  “She overheard Cathal at the bar last night tell the bartender that he was the brother and not the boyfriend.” She poked him in the chest. “Stop thinking I'm running around telling people things about us. And she was trying to help just now.”

  “By ending our relationship?”