In Too Deep

Her heart thumped at the acknowledgment that he had a preference about her hair. He wasn’t as immune to her as he’d like to pretend. She lifted a shoulder. “It’s still long enough.” To prove her point, she wrapped a hunk of hair around her fist.

He rose from the table and moved toward her. Head tilted while he assessed her, he spoke quietly. “I can’t seem to escape you lately. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. Three times in less than two weeks. Maybe fate is telling us something.”

“What’s that?” He crossed his arms expectantly, his pecs flexing with the movement.

“Maybe we’re supposed to be in each other’s orbits.” She circled her arms to mimic the idea of planets colliding.

“Sounds dangerous for me.”

Her blood raced and her heart thumped in her ears. How could she ever be a danger to him? “How so?”

“In my experience, hanging around you lands me in handcuffs.”

The accusation in his voice was like dumping ice in her pants. “Seriously? That was more than fifteen years ago. I said I was sorry.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that your one night of acting out got me arrested.”

She sighed. That night had gone so wrong. She’d snuck out of her house, borrowed her brother’s car to go to a party, and got drunk. “And in my experience, being around a Doyle causes heartbreak. We all get past it, right?”

“Sure,” he said, but his eyes didn’t reflect forgiveness.

Something she couldn’t read stared back at her, making her itchy. “It’s gotta be fate. I mean, what’s the likelihood of you being at the Black Rose? I’ve never seen you there.”

“I just got a promotion. Mr. Cahill wanted to go over some things.”

Mentioning Cahill reminded her of what she’d overheard. “About that...I probably shouldn’t say anything, but they talked about you after you left.”

His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. “They?”

“Danny and Alan Cahill. Alan was not pleased with Danny promoting you.”

Ronan stepped closer still, and she smelled the sweat and dirt from the work he’d done. Heat radiated off him as if he hadn’t been sitting here in the air-conditioned house.

In a low voice, he said, “Can you tell me exactly what they said?”

She blinked a few times. “I never figured you for one to gossip, especially if it was about you.”

Ronan Doyle never cared much about what anyone thought of him.

“Can you tell me or not?”

“I’ll try to remember. Stop by the Black Rose tonight and buy me a drink. I get off at two.”

“You think I should buy you a drink after the hassles you cost me years ago?”

“No, you should buy me a drink because I have something you want.” She turned to leave out the back door without waiting for an answer. Her heart thudded and her ears were probably red, but luckily, they were hidden beneath her fabulous new hair. She couldn’t believe she just told Ronan Doyle to buy her a drink.