He’d looked at me, totally unfazed by my implicit insult. “I work for myself, so I can take some time off. And I’m not accepting payment. Where else are you going to get experienced, pro bono bar staff at short notice?”
To my disgust, when he’d said bono all I could think about was one thing. Boner. I’d been telling him where the T-shirts were before my brain had caught up with my head.
I’d assured myself I wouldn’t be waiting for him with legs open. Ha! I might as well have lain down naked and covered myself with sushi and handed him some chopsticks.
Johnny prowled toward us now, a smirking smile playing around that gorgeous mouth. I glared at him, but he was looking at Candy and holding out a hand, oozing dark and sexy Irish charm.
“Hey, I’m Johnny, Caitlin’s brother. I’m helping Ashling out for a few days.”
“Hey, Johnny, Caitlin’s brother,” purred the fickle traitor. “I’m Candy, the day manager. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, do let me know.”
To my absolute horror and chagrin, I had to stop myself from physically tearing Candy’s hand out of Johnny’s. I was not liking the way his eyes were resting on her. At all.
Candy was saying wonderingly, “You know, I’ve heard about guys like you, who can turn a good gay woman bi-curious, but I never really believed it.”
I rolled my eyes and muttered caustically, “That’s all he needs, an even bigger head.”
They both turned to look at me. Candy far too assessingly and Johnny with an even bigger smirk. He let Candy’s hand go and leaned close and said in a thick Irish brogue, “Darlin’, you have no idea how big my head can get.”
And then he sauntered away, after winking at Candy, to finish putting the bottles away.
I could feel Candy’s eyes on me and I refused to look at her. She knew me far too well. And as if reading my mind, she said lightly, “So. How about that then? Caitlin’s prodigal brother is temptation incarnate... Are you going to let Jenna know your self-imposed man-free hiatus has just gone up in flames?”
“Stop it,” I hissed, my cheeks heating. I glanced at Johnny’s back and then at Candy. I cursed telling her about our pact. She’d just looked at me when I’d told her and said with a sigh, “Girlfriend, life is too fricking short to do without sex.”
The problem was, right now my body was shamelessly agreeing with her.
Candy arched a brow and remarked innocently, “What is it they say? The best way to get over someone is to get under another someone as soon as possible?”
That was way too close to the bone, and I cursed myself for telling her every bloody thing. Candy was an expert at getting people drunk and making them spill. I dragged her away from the bar and into the office. Out of temptation’s earshot.
I crossed my arms, not even knowing why I was feeling so defensive in front of someone who left a trail of broken hearts in her wake on a regular basis.
She’d done half a psychology degree and had regularly used me and Liam as very reluctant case studies over the years. I did not need her pyschobabble now on top of my own babbling voices.
“Look, he came in the other night looking for Caitlin. I had no idea she even had a brother. I was under pressure and he helped me out.”
Thankfully Candy didn’t give me her best Sigmund Freud impersonation—a party piece of hers. She just looked at me consideringly and then said, “He hasn’t seen Caitlin since he left home a few years back. Some big fight happened between him and their older sister, Mary. Liam got a PI to look for him, and apparently he’s found him.”
I waved a hand, even though my interest was piqued. “I don’t care about that.”
/> “Liar, liar pants on fire,” Candy said cheerfully. And then she sat on the desk and crossed her legs and winked at me. “And I bet they’re not just on fire because you’re lying.” She shook her head. “Man, I’d do him.”
I pushed two hands through my hair in agitation. “Dammit, Candy, I told you I haven’t come back here to jump straight into a hookup. I’m here for starting over. New job, new me. I do not want to get distracted by some guy, no matter how gorgeous.”
Candy stood up and gave me a dry look. “I don’t think it’s me you need to be protesting to. It’s yourself and that lean hunk of muscle outside. He doesn’t look like the type to back off easily.”
She walked to the door and turned back. “What’s the big deal, Ash? He’s practically got no strings attached tattooed to his forehead. And when it’s over, walk away. Do all the stuff you want to do with a nice little afterglow humming in your pants. One thing is sure—a fling with him will eclipse any memory of your last experience.”
I tried to hide the jolt of illicit adrenaline running through my veins to think that I could indulge in Johnny before focusing on work and rebooting my life. Timing-wise it was perfect...too perfect. Too tempting.
Candy left the office, presumably to get changed, and I paced back and forth, trying to ignore the excitement that swirled in my belly at the thought of giving in to temptation.
Maybe she was right...maybe this was just what I needed to move on and get over the bad taste left in my mouth after Steve. After all, Johnny had assured me he was single, and I didn’t need Candy to tell me that he was commitment-phobic—he probably wore it engraved on a medical tag like people who were allergic to penicillin or other drugs.
I could feel resistance start to crumble and break apart inside me, and an image of Jenna popped into my head. I imagined her sipping Virgin Mary cocktails in Miami ignoring a parade of surfer dudes, and the guilt lanced me. I couldn’t be the weak one. I’d never live it down.
* * *