In Too Deep

Ronan said nothing. He studied her with intensity as she spoke. Like he didn’t want to miss a single syllable.

“Alan made a comment about keeping an eye on you. A few minutes later they were both gone.” And I had to suffer through a miserable date.

Ronan sat back in the booth, slowly turning his beer while staring at her.

“Why does it matter what Alan thinks of you? He doesn’t run the company anymore, right? I thought he stopped back when he was mayor.”

Ronan huffed. “He might not have an office but make no mistake that Alan very much still has a hand in everything.”

She cringed. She knew what it was like to have people think poorly of you. “But if he really thought you were a problem, he would’ve had Danny fire you.”

No other response from Ronan. The man was so damn frustrating. “Sorry. Probably not the juicy tidbit you were hoping for.”

She thought she did a pretty good job of keeping her disappointment from her voice.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What game is this? You listen in on a conversation and when I ask about it, you want to meet for a drink at two in the morning.”

“Going out for drinks isn’t unusual for most people. I just happen to work late.”

“Why not just tell me at my mom’s house?”

She leaned back in the booth to give herself breathing room. His dark blue eyes stared at her with such intensity she felt itchy all over.

“Why, Chloe?”

His insistence annoyed her. “Because I wanted to see you again. Alone. I thought maybe there was something between us. Attraction.”

“What did you think would happen?”

She opened her mouth to respond but paused. He didn’t say he wasn’t attracted to her. He’d skimmed right past that. “Are you attracted to me?”

“You know damn well I am.”

No, I didn’t. You aren’t easy to read.She held her tongue and pushed back the burgeoning grin. Leaning forward again, she reached across the table to run her fingers over the back of his hand. His knuckles were battered and bruised. Again, something that shouldn’t be a turn-on, but was. She said, “If that’s the case, what are you going to do about it?”

He was close, but not quite close enough.

Then he surprised her by leaning in, his lips within touching distance. Closer. Closer still, but his eyes were open, staring into hers. His breath wisped across her lips. The corner of his mouth tilted up. “Not a fucking thing.”

When he shifted back, it was like cold water splashing her. She swallowed the humiliation that felt no different than it had years ago when she’d made a play for him. “Who’s playing games now? You say you’re attracted to me. I saw it when you licked my body and put your lips on mine.”

“Just giving you a taste of your own.” He stood and tossed a few bills on the table. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you back to your car.”

“Wait,” she said. Standing, she had no idea what possessed her to pursue him and this attraction. Maybe it was the abysmal date with Lance, maybe she still wasn’t over what had happened with Tim. But as she reached for his arm, she found herself offering, “What if I keep eavesdropping for you?”

He froze and she knew she had him. He stared at her. Yeah, he was interested in her offer.

“What’s the rush?” she asked. “We can stay and have another drink.”

“It’s late,” he answered as he ushered her out the door.

“Really? Party boy Doyle can’t stay up late?”

“I’m an old man now. I usually go to bed pretty early.”

“Aw. I feel special that you stayed out just for me.”

“Not my choice. You blackmailed me into coming.”

“I’m sorry the information wasn’t what you were looking for.” They walked back down the block toward the Rose. “He’s there all the time. Danny. Like every day. His dad shows up a few times a week. He has meetings with all kinds of top city officials. Even more guys that I don’t know, but I could find out.”

He spun on her so quickly, she lost her footing and he grabbed her arm to steady her. “Stay out of it, Chloe. I don’t need you risking your job to feed me useless information.”

“If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can pay attention, and then maybe next time, it won’t be useless.”

He practically growled. “Stay out of it.”

She heaved a sigh and crossed her arms. They stared at each other for a moment.

His voice softened. “Look. I just got the promotion, and it happened fast, so when you said the Cahills had been talking about me, I was curious. I’m not looking for anything specific.”

She shot him a look that called him a liar.