Fatal Attraction (Dark Desires 4)

He was a persistent son of a bitch, but that wasn’t going to get him back into my good graces. I didn’t care how good looking he was, or how good he was in bed, or how amazing he made me feel, I had no use for Conner McGee.

I would go out of my way to never see or speak to him again. And deep inside, that killed me. My heart was broken into a million pieces, but my Irish pride would never let me show it. Or let Conner back into my life.

Thank God for St. Patrick’s Day.

When my dad called to make sure that I was coming home for what was considered my family’s biggest annual celebration, I didn’t have to think twice. I was on the next plane to Boston, and back behind the bar where I belonged.

I put on an apron and a silly green party hat, and worked behind the bar with my dad most of the night. O’Hara’s Pub was packed to the gills with Irish revelers and others who were Irish for one night a year.

The Irish music was provided by a four-piece band led by my oldest brother on banjo, all dressed in green suits and hats. Even their hair and beards were dyed green. By midnight, they were almost as drunk as the crowd. Even though their musical skills got worse with every green beer they drank, they played as loudly as they could, and everyone sang along as the green beer flowed like the water into Boston Harbor and the shots kept lining the bar.

I kept myself busy all night, pulling drafts and pouring shots, delivering baskets of wings and burgers from the kitchen, but Conner McGee remained at the back of my brain, buzzing like a pesky gnat that refused to go away.

“You okay, Katie girl?” my dad asked each time we crossed paths behind the bar.

“I’m fine, Mr. O’Hara,” I said with a smile. He had no idea my heart was broken, both for Conner and my Uncle Allen, who was oddly absent from the party. My dad told me that Allen had called earlier in the day and said he was coming to the party, but so far, he was a no-show. I just assumed he’d reconnected with one of his old Boston flames. You could imagine my surprise when I saw him walking into the bar with Conner McGee at his side.

My hand froze on the tap and I overflowed the beer mug I’d been filling. I watched Uncle Allen and Conner work their way down the bar as I wiped off the mug and set it in front of a patron.

“Katie girl, we need to talk,” Uncle Allen said, leaning across the bar to yell in my ear. He was smiling with Conner at his side. What the hell was going on? Had I fallen asleep behind the bar and ended up in a strange dream? Had I fallen down the rabbit hole where everyone was insane? As Monique would say, “What the freaky fuck is going on here?”

“What’s going on?” I asked, yelling back over the music. I gave Conner a hard look. “And what’s he doing here? Why aren’t you pounding him into the floor?”

“Can we go someplace quiet and talk?” Conner asked.

“Fuck off, asshole,” I growled. I focused my eyes on Allen. “Uncle Allen, what’s going on?”

“Come with us for two minutes,” Allen said, holding up two fingers. “Meet us out back in the alley, please. You need to hear this from me.”

I blinked at him for a moment, then muttered, “Okay…”

“Who is that with your Uncle Allen?” my dad asked, sliding up next to me with a rack of clean beer mugs between his meaty hands. I watched Allen and Conner disappear in the crowd. I turned to my dad and tried to put on a happy face.

“It’s… a friend of his from work,” I said. I picked a rag and dried my hand with it. “I need a break, Dad. Do you mind taking over for a bit?”

“Course not, dear, take a break. Your brothers and I can handle this crowd.”

I gave him a peck on the cheek, then came from behind the bar and worked my way through the crowd toward the back door that led out into the alley.

My mind was going ninety to nothing, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I almost expected Allen and Conner to be duking it out in the alley when I came through the door. If that was the case, I hoped Uncle Allen wiped up the concrete with Conner and dropped his carcass in the dumpster.

When I pushed through the door I could not believe my eyes.

Uncle Allen and Conner McGee were laughing and talking like old friends.

The words came out of my mouth without my brain having to send them.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“I have my company back,” Uncle Allen said with a broad smile. At first, I thought he was snockered. But his eyes were clear, and his speech wasn’t slurred. He put his hands on my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “Did you hear me, Katie girl? I have my company back!”

“I don’t… I mean… I don’t understand.” I glanced at Conner, who was standing behind Allen with a satisfied grin on his face and his hands tucked behind his back. “Conner, what’s going on?”

“We worked out a compromise,” Conner said, nodding at Allen. “We redid the deal.”

“Redid the deal?” I shook my head to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. “What does that mean?”

“Tell her, Conner,” Allen said, punching him in the arm like they were old pals. “This was all your doing, so you tell her.”