An Irish Affair (Heart of Hope 2)

My mother gasped and my father frowned.

“Is there a reason we shouldn’t be interested in your career?” My father’s voice was low and serious like it was when I was in trouble as a kid.

I inhaled a shaky breath working to get my irritation under control. “I’m sorry. I’m very grateful to have had Dev—Mr. Roarke’s business, but it’s put additional pressure on me at work.”

“Are you mad, Mommy?” Andrew looked up at me with those sweet eyes. I swallowed as I saw Devin in those eyes.

“No, honey. I’m just tired.” I rubbed his back. “Eat your dinner.” I looked at my parents. “Sorry.”

“You know, if you’re going to move up in your career, you’ll probably need to learn to manage the extra pressure,” my mother said.

“Yes. I will.” I focused my attention on my dinner. “I’ll be helping at the Roarke’s St. Patrick's party.”

“See, your hard work is paying off,” my mother said picking up the potatoes. “Anyone want more spuds?”

The rest of the meal went without incident. Afterward, I took Andrew home. We played a game of Uno and then I gave him a bath and got him ready for bed.

Once he was settled, I got my glass of wine and sat near the window, staring off into space wondering what I was doing with my life. Nikita and my parents were right; working with the Roarke family would be good for my career, but how could I possibly continue to be around him? For one, I couldn’t seem to resist him when we were alone, but more importantly, the more I was with him, the more my conscience would pressure me to tell him the truth about Andrew. I was going to hell for sure for not telling him, but I was so scared of what could happen. They had the money to take Andrew from me. They also could turn my employer against me. I could be fired. They had the influence in New York to keep me from being hired elsewhere.

It was difficult to think Devin would do that to me, and yet, the truth was, I didn’t really know him. I hadn’t known about his fiancé.

I finished my wine still not having any answers to my dilemma. I was beginning to think there were no answers. If I was lucky, Devin would stay in Europe and I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. My heart clenched in my chest at the idea of not seeing him.

Dammit. I couldn’t be with him and yet, that idea of never seeing him made me incredibly sad.

12

Devin

Professionally, the trip to Europe went well. The plans for the Paris club were all set and ready to roll out. For all his talk about not wanting a club, my father hadn’t done anything to stop the project from continuing. He had the power to stop all the projects I did for the company, but he never did. It made me wonder if he was testing me somehow. If so, I wondered if I was passing or failing.

My life wasn’t quite as on track personally. The trip did distract me from Serena when I was working, but late at night, alone in the large, soft bed, thoughts of her haunted me. I tried to focus on how she clearly wasn’t into me as a way to talk myself into letting her go. The problem was that the question of what the hell had happened ate at me and I couldn’t seem to let it go.

The day after arriving back in the United States, I worked at the Roarke office to follow up on business issues in Europe as well as catch up on projects at home. I left the office early and headed to the event planning firm to find out once and for all what had Serena ghosting me for a second time.

As I rode the elevator up to her firm’s floor, I wondered if knowing the truth would really set me free. With my luck, it would just piss me off. Or worse, hurt. At the same time, the not-knowing was making me nuts.

I exited the elevator and stopped at the receptionist’s desk. “I’m here to see Ms. Serena Moore.”

“Is she expecting you?”

“No. I’m Devin Roarke. I think she’ll see me.” It was ballsy to expect that. At the same time, I knew being a Roarke would carry enough clout here that Serena would be hard-pressed not to see me. Her boss wouldn’t like her brushing me off.

“Mr. Roarke?”

I turned to see Nikita approaching me. “Is everything okay? We’re all set for the St. Patrick's party.”

“Yes. I was hoping to see Ms. Moore.”

“Oh?” Her smiled brightened. “I’m glad she contacted you. We’re very eager to help you with your upcoming plans.”

I was lost. Serena never contacted me and I had no plans outside the St. Patrick's party at the Roarke, except Serena wasn’t the planner for that event.

“Let me take you to her office,” Nikita said.

“Thank you.” I followed her through a large bright room filled with desks where people were working. Off to the far side was an area with large tables and comfortable looking seating probably to meet with clients. When you got to be as important as my family, nearly everyone came to us for meetings, so I’d never been in that area.

We entered a long hall and walked a few doors down. Nikita knocked.