Chapter 1 #3
“I swear to the Virgin Mary herself, you’re an even bigger eejit than your brother.
” Mam punched her hands to her hips and glared at me venomously.
“I can’t believe a son of mine would walk into a public bathroom, cocky as you like, and talk to a respectable lady as if she’s his own personal sex slave.
What got into ye? Do you need an exorcism?
Do I need to call Father Michael to cast out the devil that’s clearly taken you over?
” She mapped the sign of the holy cross over her chest with her index finger. “Jesus help me.”
“He was just joking around, Maureen,” Ro murmured, her lips still twitching. “You know we’re good friends, and your Donovan loves trying to embarrass me; it’s a silly game we play. No offense taken, I promise.”
“I’m mortified, Rosie,” Ma exclaimed. “Though not surprised. All my boys are dirty little feckers. They take after their athair, God rest his soul. Lorcan was a horny little bastard too. Used to drive me loo-lah the amount of times he tried to bend me over the—”
“Jesus, Ma!” I cried. “I don’t need to hear that shit.”
Ma’s eyes turned to ice. “And I didn’t need to hear you tell Rosie Woods you were gonna drill her against the fecking wall, Donovan O’Shea, but here we damned well are.”
Rosie let out a loud snort.
I tipped my head back and cursed the heavens.
Not much got under my skin these days, but this fuckup was epic. Callum and Tadhg were gonna rip me apart, and as for Atlas, well, I didn’t even want to think about his reaction; it could go either way. Still, I knew I wasn’t going to live this one down for a while.
Ma checked her watch. “I need to get back out there. Callum and Maeve need to change, and I need to hold the fort with your sister and Tadhg.” Her gaze fell upon Rosie. “You coming out with me, Rosie love?”
“I need to use the facilities,” she replied, jerking a thumb toward the row of stalls. “But you can take Donovan with you. I’m not sure he should even be in here.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, he’s coming with me,” Mam declared. Her voice softened as she murmured, “You look beautiful, Rosie. It’s no wonder Donovan’s so taken with you. Is your mammy okay now?”
Rosie’s face softened. “She got the all clear, then celebrated by going on a world cruise with her oncologist. Nothing was keeping the kids and me in Oregon; plus, I missed my friends, and the kids wanted to come back, so here we are.” She gave Mam a sad smile.
“I’m so sorry I missed Lorcan’s funeral.
Mom was going through her last round of treatment, and I couldn’t leave her. ”
Mam stepped forward and tucked a lock of hair behind Rosie’s ear. “Hush now, I understand. Lorcan thought the world of you. If you need anything, you know where I am, love.”
“Actually, I need to find some work,” Rosie announced. “Has Callum mentioned if he’s looking for anyone at the bar?”
“No, love, but I’ll ask him,” she replied. “Don’t the Speed Demons have anything for you?”
“I’m sure they’d find something if I asked,” Rosie shrugged. “But I always fall back on my brother, and I can’t rely on him forever. He’s got his own family now.”
“You’re a bookkeeper, right?” I asked.
Rosie nodded, her big, pretty brown eyes sliding toward me.
“I am, but the economy’s unstable at the moment, so finding work is difficult.
I’m not averse to anything; I’ll happily wait tables and bartend.
I just need to start bringing money in. I’ve got two teenagers who need expensive sneakers and outfits, or else their lives are over. ”
“I could give you some hours at the gym,” I blurted out. “I need somebody to organize the office and my paperwork. It’ll be part-time, but if Callum can find you something at the bar too, I reckon we could keep you busy.”
Her face lit up. “Really?”
I gave her my best smirk. “Maybe we should go out for dinner and discuss it further?”
“And maybe you should get your perverted arse out of the women’s bathroom and go mingle with our guests,” Ma snapped, her mouth twisting angrily.
Rosie laughed softly and fuck me if seeing her so joyful didn’t make my heart beat a little faster.
I jerked my chin toward the door. “See you out there?”
Her lips twisted to the side as she mulled my question over.
She’d caught the obvious meaning behind my words. She also knew I was looking for a hell of a lot more than an office manager.
With a resigned shake of her head, she murmured, “See you out there.”
Turning, I sauntered through the door and back into the hallway toward the sound of music and laughter, feeling like I was walking on air.
I hadn’t been this excited over a woman for a long ass time. Rosie had stoked up the same emotions that grabbed me the last time I saw her.
That night, she’d made me see her in a different light. She was smart and funny, but still vulnerable and sweet when you dug down to the core of her.
I could still feel the bitter disappointment that settled deep inside when she left town without a word.
At the time, I couldn’t do much about it because I had to go back to my unit to see out my final months before I popped smoke from the Engineer Corps.
I didn’t really have time to dwell on what had happened between us or to analyze why I felt so empty when she disappeared from my life.
But seeing Rosie tonight, in that dress, with that body, had set something alight inside me. I didn’t know how long the feeling would stick—knowing me, not much longer than a week, but there was one thing I was sure of.
For the first time in a long time, I was curious as fuck to find out.