by Debbie Mason
“You don’t know me very well if you think I’ve had only one summer companion, Mother,” Michael said, his tone snide. “And you seem to be forgetting that Griffin was married to a DiRossi.”
Maura Gallagher gave a disdainful sniff. “Yes, and look how well that turned out. If you plan on following in your father’s footsteps and becoming governor someday, you need to give more thought to who you’re seen with.”
“I’m twenty-four. I’m not looking to settle down.”
“Your father and I have high hopes for you, darling. We don’t intend to let you throw them away on some trashy, little upstart from Harmony Harbor.”
“Don’t worry, Mother. Your dreams for me are safe.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. I’m just looking out for your best interests. I’ve known girls like Sophie DiRossi. She’ll probably have three children before she’s twenty-one and work as a maid the rest of her life. Girls like her have no drive or ambition. Unless it’s to trap a man like you into marriage.”
So maybe it hadn’t been working at the manor that was behind Sophie’s dream to manage a hotel after all. Maybe it had been the memory of Maura Gallagher’s damning prediction. It didn’t matter. Sophie couldn’t do this. But when Mia tugged on her hand and she looked into her daughter’s eyes, Sophie knew she didn’t have a choice.
She forced a smile and let go of Mia’s hand to rub her damp palms on her skirt. She took a couple deep breaths and was about to raise her hand to knock…when the safety pin in her skirt let go at the same time the door to the study opened to reveal Liam Gallagher.
Chapter Five
Sophie didn’t know if it was because of her recent trip back to the past, but for a brief moment, looking into Liam’s blue eyes was like looking into Michael’s. She shouldn’t be surprised. The Gallagher boys all bore a striking resemblance to one another. With Michael and Liam, it had been even more pronounced. But Michael had been a smooth-talking jerk, and Liam…
The open end of the pin jabbed her in the waist and cut off the thought. Her eyes widened both in pain and horror as the pin kept moving and her skirt slid down her hips. She grabbed the waistband to hold it up in the front while twisting to keep the fabric away from her back, pushing her hips forward to stop the pin’s downward slide. It didn’t work, and she pushed her hips to the right and then to the left.
“Interesting dance moves, Soph. Guess you’re pretty excited about your job interview,” Liam said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
“I’m not dancing. I’m having a wardrobe malfunction,” Sophie informed him from between clenched teeth.
His eyes moved over her, and he opened his mouth.
“Liam, what the bejaysus are you doing out there? I don’t have all day,” Colleen Gallagher called from the study. “Send the girl in.”
“Give me a minute, GG. I want to talk to Sophie. Why don’t you go in and visit with Simon, Mia?” Her daughter stared at him. “Your friend, the cat. They finally gave him a name.”
“We didn’t. Your grandmother did. And a foolish one it is, if you ask me. I don’t know why I agreed to keep the damn thing anyway. Black cats are bad luck, and he’s snotty. He acts like he’s lord of the manor. What are you waiting for, child? Come in, come in.”
Obviously the older woman’s cantankerous tone of voice didn’t faze Mia because she walked right into the study. Liam closed the door and took Sophie by the arm to pull her into an alcove, causing her to loosen her hold on her skirt.
“No, don’t…Ow.”
He held up his hands and took a step back with a wary expression on his handsome face. “Maybe you better tell me what the problem is.”
“Okay, but don’t laugh. I had to borrow clothes from Rosa for the interview, and they’re too big. So we pinned the skirt…”
“Gotcha. How about you take off your coat and—” he began as he moved behind her.
“I can’t. My skirt will fall off if I do.” She heard what sounded like a snort of laughter and looked over her shoulder. “You’re not supposed to laugh.”
He crouched behind her, his eyes glinting with amusement. “I’m not. I’ll just...” He lifted the hem of her coat and disappeared beneath it. “Ah, it’s a little dark under here. Whereabouts is the pin?”
That was an easy enough question to answer. She knew exactly where the pin was—it was stabbing her left butt cheek. But with Liam’s hand resting on her hip while the other one skimmed over the back of her skirt, she was having a difficult time staying focused. All she could think was that Liam Gallagher, who’d once played the starring role in her teenage fantasies, was touching her butt. “Where it shouldn’t be,” she finally managed to say, reaching back to show him. She ended up hitting him on the head instead.
“Hey, I’m doing my best not to touch your ass, but it’s kind of—”
“May I ask what you’re doing, Master Liam?”
Jasper was like a wraith. You never saw or heard him coming. He’d appear out of nowhere. Sophie wanted a do-over. This day was turning out worse than she’d expected. And that had been pretty bad.
Liam’s messy, dark hair appeared from under her coat. “Maybe you could—”
Was he seriously going to ask for Jasper’s help? Sophie drew her foot back and lightly kicked Liam in the shin. He raised his gaze to hers, lifting an eyebrow. She gave him a do-it-and-die look.
He grinned. “All good here, Jeeves. My hammer got caught in the hem of Sophie’s coat.”
“In the future, I’d suggest you be more careful with your tools around Miss DiRossi, Master Liam,” the older man said, spearing Sophie with his ice-blue gaze. His mouth pressed in a thin line of disapproval as he walked away.
Sophie’s cheeks heated. She knew exactly what Jasper meant. In the eyes of Colleen’s right-hand man and confidant, a DiRossi would never be good enough for a Gallagher. Just like Michael’s mother, he perceived Sophie as a threat to the family’s good name.
There was a part of Sophie that wanted to stand up for herself, tell him that she’d had the opportunity to trap a Gallagher and hadn’t. Tell him what she thought of his opinion of girls like her. But she wouldn’t. She’d sacrificed too much to keep Mia’s father a secret, and it had nothing to do with pride. Her greatest fear had been that with their money and connections, Michael and his parents would have forced Sophie to give up Mia or taken her daughter from her.
She bowed her head, letting her hair fall forward in an attempt to cover her reaction to Jasper’s jab. “Maybe I should just—” she began before Liam cut her off.
“Let go of your skirt, and I’ll—”
“But—”
“Trust me, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, and did as he asked, because that was one thing she’d always known. She could trust Liam. He wasn’t like his cousin. Neither was his family. The summer Gallaghers were different from the Gallaghers of Harmony Harbor.
“This might get a little awkward,” Liam said as he pulled the fabric away from her body. “The skirt’s big, but it’s not that big, so I’ll apologize for any inappropriate touching now.”
Her embarrassed laugh morphed into a moan when his hand slid between the skirt and her backside. His warm fingers brushed against body parts that no man had touched in a very long time.
He cleared his throat. “Got it. Now what do you want me to do?”
She cleared her throat too. “Thank you. Would you mind repinning it?”
With his hand holding the skirt in place, he came to his feet. “There’s too much fabric. It’ll just reopen. I have a better idea. Hold your skirt.”
She grabbed the fabric at the same time he let go. He came to stand in front of her and lifted the bottom of his navy sweatshirt. She looked up at him. “You’re a lot bigger than me, but your sweatshirt won’t be long enough to cover my…What I mean is, if you’re thinking I can wear your sweatshirt as a dress, it won’t work.”
He smiled as he undid his belt. “I’m not letting you go into a mee
ting with GG and Kitty wearing a sweatshirt. Not when you went to all this trouble to look professional.” He pulled his brown belt from the loops. “Let’s try this.” He stepped closer, putting his arms around her. She could smell soap and fabric softener, the heat of his body enveloping her as he positioned the belt around her waist. She was tempted to wrap her arms around his and lean on him for just a minute…or two. “Okay, maybe you better take it from here,” he said, his voice gruff as he threaded the end through the buckle.
Afraid he’d read in her eyes what she was feeling, she kept her head down and focused on the belt. “Thank you,” she murmured, pulling it way past the last notch.
“Hang on.” He took a screwdriver from his tan suede toolbelt.
“No, don’t make another hole for me. I’ll just tie it.”
“It’s not a big deal, Soph. This way you know it won’t come loose.”
That was the problem. It kind of was a big deal because it meant all those tempting muscles were just a whisper away. She looked down at his bent head as he worked the screwdriver through the leather. His dark hair was thick, the ends curling slightly where they met the neckband of his sweatshirt. Her fingers itched to run wild through those lustrous black strands. His knuckles pressed lightly into her stomach as he held the belt in place, and more inappropriate thoughts started filling her head. She sucked in a breath.
He glanced up at her and frowned. “You okay?”
No, she wasn’t okay. The chastity belt she’d put on her libido had discovered the key. And that key was apparently Liam. “Good, really, really good.” Oh, good Lord, was her face turning as red as it felt? “Um, Colleen’s probably wondering what happened to me, so if you could—”
“You’re good to go,” he said, and stepped back, returning his screwdriver to his toolbelt.
Maybe that was the problem. She’d always had a thing for a guy who worked with his hands. Who was she trying to kid? She’d always had a thing for Liam and apparently some of those feelings were still there. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I’ll get your belt and your jacket back to you as soon as I wash it. If Mia and I keep it up, you won’t have any clothes left,” she said in an attempt to lighten the mood then realized he might take it the wrong way. It didn’t help that she was now picturing him naked. She covered her face. “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re welcome, Sophie.” He took her hand from her face and placed the pin in her palm. “You might want to disinfect the scratch when you get home.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I will. I guess I better get in there.” She looked at the door and squared her shoulders.
“Soph, about the job. Are you sure—”
“Kitty and Jasper don’t want Colleen to hire me, do they?”
“If GG wants to hire you, no one will be able to stop her.” He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “So you really do want the job?”
“It’s not so much want, as need, Liam.” She lifted her chin. “I’m well qualified for the position. I’d do a good job. It’s not like—”
“You don’t have to get defensive. I’m sure you would. It’s just…never mind. Good luck.” He opened the door for her.
Mia sat cross-legged on the area rug at the foot of Kitty Gallagher’s chair with the cat in her arms. Her daughter’s face was flushed, her eyes bright with what looked to be unshed tears.
Kitty put down her knitting to glare at her mother-in-law. “Leave the child be. She’ll talk when she wants to.”
Colleen Gallagher sat behind a large, formidable mahogany desk wearing a white blouse with a bow at the neck. It looked an awful lot like the one Sophie currently had on. The older woman’s short hair was wispy, her heavy upper lids making her eyes appear small in her round face. Though faded with age, the blue eyes of the Gallagher’s matriarch were sharp and probing as they moved from Liam to Sophie. “I just asked—”
“You’ve been peppering her with questions for…Look, here’s Sophie and Liam. Come in, my dear.”
She never should have left Mia alone with them. She hurried to her daughter and cupped her face. “Are you okay, baby?”
“Don’t coddle the child. Of course she’s fine. Now sit down and let’s get this interview over with.”
That didn’t sound promising, but at the moment, Sophie didn’t care whether she got the job or not.
“Soph, why don’t I take Mia with me? Helga should be taking the cookies out of the oven for tea about now,” Liam said.
She gave him a grateful smile. “Would you like to go with Liam and get some cookies, Mia?” She didn’t know why she even bothered to ask. Mia released the cat and jumped to her feet. Sophie followed her to Liam’s side. She chewed on her bottom lip and glanced at her daughter sliding her hand into Liam’s. “You’re not going to eat the cookies in the kitchen, are you?” she asked, nervous about Mia being around the industrial ovens.
“Yeah…” He looked at her more closely. “No, we’ll eat in the dining room with the guests.”
“Thank you,” she said on a sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry about GG. She’s all bark and no bite.”
“I heard that,” his great-grandmother said.
“You were meant to. And you and I are going to have words later.”
“Just get your chores done, and we won’t.”
“This has nothing to do with chores, and you know it.”
She shrugged. “Bring me some soda biscuits when you return with the child. The ones with raisins. Oh, and take your grandmother with you.”
“I’m staying right where I am, thank you very much. Take a seat, dear,” Kitty said to Sophie.
Liam shot his great-grandmother a warning look before closing the door behind him and Mia. Colleen rolled her eyes. Sophie wasn’t sure if the eye roll was meant for Kitty or Liam. She took her seat across from the older woman.
“All right, let’s get the paperwork out of the way, and then you can tell us how you plan to turn Greystone around.” Colleen handed Sophie several papers.
Sophie drew her glasses from the top of her head and put them on to study the contract. She looked up at Colleen. “You mean I’m hired? For the manager’s position?”
“Of course I do. Why do you think I was asking you all those questions last night? You’ve got nothing to hide, do you? No outstanding warrants or a record?”
Other than Mia and the arrest, she didn’t. “No, no, I don’t.”
“Any problems with drugs or drinking?”
“No, neither.”
“Fine then. You’re hired.” She rolled a pen across the desk. “We’ll start you at forty-five thousand a year.”
Sophie looked up from the paper.
“I suppose that’s lower than you were expecting, but we don’t have much room in the budget to maneuver right now. We can structure some kind of bonus at a later date.”
If she’d finished her degree, Sophie would have been earning closer to seventy-five thousand, but she hadn’t expected the salary at Greystone to be that high. It was higher than her previous job in LA. Which of course it would be since she’d been a maid. She was about to reassure Colleen when the older woman added, “You get free room and board. There’s a two-bedroom apartment over the carriage house that you can use.”
A small spurt of excitement and hope ignited inside Sophie. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d felt either emotion. At least when it came to her career and future. What Liam made her feel earlier didn’t count. Well, it shouldn’t. She really had to stop thinking about him.
Colleen must have mistaken her silence for disappointment because she sighed and said, “I was afraid it wouldn’t be enough. What do you—”
“No, I’m more than happy with the offer, Mrs. Gallagher. I really am. There’s just one problem.”
“No more Mrs. Gallagher. Reminds me of my mother-in-law. The woman would have stolen the blessing from the holy water. Besides, it makes me feel old. Call me
Colleen. Now, tell me what the problem is, and we’ll solve it.”
Sophie pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh. Kitty, with a smile playing on her lips, bent her head over her knitting. “It’s about Mia. I know it’s a lot to ask and terribly unprofessional, but I was hoping, for the first week or two at least, that I can bring her with me to work. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother the guests. She’s very quiet—”
“Of course she is. The child doesn’t speak.”
“Yes, about that. The child psychologist recommended that we don’t pressure Mia. She—”
“What did I tell you, Mother Gallagher? You shouldn’t have been badgering the child like you were.”
“Oh, be quiet over there and get back to your knitting. If you ask me, there’s a great deal of sense outside that psychologist’s head.”
Sophie thought Colleen was agreeing with her, until she realized what she’d actually said. “Mrs.…Colleen, Mia suffered—”
The older woman waved her hand. “Fine, I’ll not say another word about it. You can keep the child with you for as long as you like.”
Tears of gratitude welled in Sophie’s eyes. With free room and board, she wouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to put food on the table and clothes on her daughter’s back. The job was exactly what she’d been hoping for when she’d started her degree. There was only one problem, but she pushed it away. If Colleen and Kitty hadn’t guessed Mia’s parentage by now, they never would. She blinked the moisture from her eyes. “Thank you. I promise, she won’t interfere with me doing my job.”
“Good. Now let’s get down to business. I’ve got the mayor and that realtor gal breathing down my neck, and they’ve lit a fire under my grandchildren. All anyone thinks about nowadays is the almighty dollar.”
“Colin doesn’t. It’s Maura and Tara who are the problem.” Kitty looked at Sophie and explained, “Tara is my son Daniel’s wife. Maura put a bug in Tara’s ear. They’re as thick as thieves those two are.”
