“Drinks first.” Bringing her tattooed hand up to her face, she slowly rubbed a line along her bottom lip. “Then we’ll see if I like you enough to take you home.”
Heat unfurled low in my gut. My hands twitched to grab this unbelievably sexy woman by the throat and haul her out of here. Instead, I released a rumble of a laugh.
“I think we’ll get along fine.”
“Here’s hoping.” She waved her phone back and forth. “I have to take Daisy home, and I assume Steven’s owner wants him back. Give me your number. I’ll text you later.”
“Not gonna give me yours now?”
Her long lashes fluttered. “A girl can never be too careful. What if I walk away and find out you’re a serial killer? I’ll be relieved to know you don’t know my number.”
“Makes sense.” It didn’t, but she was being cute, so I went along with it.
I rattled off my number, looking forward to a text for once. Even if my acquaintance with Iris only led to a night of drinking and not tearing apart my sheets, I had a feeling she’d make it pleasurable.
We both wrangled our dogs and exited the park together. Daisy trotted like a proper lady while Steven vacillated between tugging on his leash to chase a squirrel and falling on his back to beg for belly rubs. Iris laughed at his antics while I grumbled, holding in another stream of curses. At the entrance of the park, Iris stopped and pointed over her shoulder.
“I’m going that way,” she said.
“Ah, this is where we part. I look forward to hearing from you, Iris.”
She crouched down and gave Steven’s head a good rub. “Bye, Steven.” She rose to her feet, close enough to trail her palm down my bicep. “Goodbye to you, Ronan. You’ll hear from me soon.”
Steven lived across from the dog park. I let myself in to his flat and unbuckled his leash, announcing our arrival. He bounded through the entryway and down a hall, and I followed him to a cluttered, smoky office, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb.
“Who smokes these days?”
Aileen, Steven’s owner, and my boss, barely glanced at me. “I do.” Her pronouncement was dry as a bone. She tapped her cigar against the Waterford ashtray sitting atop a pile of paperwork. “What kind of man borrows a dog instead of gettin’ one of his own?”
I folded my arms, releasing a huff. “The kind who isn’t home enough, as you know better than anyone.”
Aileen stubbed out her cigar and swiveled in her chair to face me. Clutching a yellow memo pad, she scrawled quick notes, which I knew from experience were illegible to anyone but Aileen.
I’d been working for her the past five years, but I’d known her most of my life. Best friends with my ma, she’d been around as long as I could remember. At sixty, she looked ten years older, half from her tobacco habit, and half from a life well lived. Her red hair had faded to a light strawberry—which she helped along with dye from a box she’d never admit to using—and her skin held deep crags, but her eyes still sparked with the same humor and life they always had.
“I’ve been in contact with Ms. Grayson’s people.” She peered up at me, pausing for dramatic effect, as she had a habit of doing. I nodded, and she continued. “She is being checked into a hoity-toity treatment facility this weekend.”
“Good, good.” I scrubbed my face with both hands. “She needs it. She’s been texting me from a new number all afternoon”
“Aye. Let’s hope the treatment she gets will truly help her.” Aileen tapped her pen on the pad. “Now, are you up for a new job?”
“That’s a mighty question.” I thought of my buzzing phone and all the sleepless nights I’d had over the last few weeks. Then my thoughts cast to the pretty woman with the seductive smile and promises of beer and her company. “Ask me again tomorrow.”
She canted her head, eyeing me with suspicion. “What’s that, boy?” Jabbing her pen in the direction of my face, her eyes narrowed. “Did your lips move? Was that...was that some semblance of a smile?”
Growling, I schooled my expression. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her nose twitched. “Were you usin’ my dog to pick up girls in the park?”
Steven had immediately passed out in his dog bed in the corner. Even if he was awake, he’d never sell me out.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Backing away from the door, I pressed my mouth into a tight line to keep from laughing. Aileen tried to be tough, but she reminded me too much of my ma to truly scare me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Be ready to get back to work!” she called.
“We’ll see!”
For once, when my phone vibrated, I checked to see who the message was from.
Finn:Run tomorrow? Your arse is looking flabby.
I rolled my eyes. My arse was in top form, it was my head that wasn’t screwed on straight lately. He knew I wasn’t going to say yes to his invitation, though. Finn had taken a liking to slagging me since our days in the service together and hadn’t stopped now that we were coworkers in a different capacity.
Me:You know my knee can’t keep up with you. See you at the gym.
I left the jokes to him and scrolled through my messages to ensure I hadn’t missed one from Iris. Alas, the raven-haired beauty hadn’t gotten in touch yet, but I wasn’t worried. The day was young, and if things went as I hoped, I’d be sinking inside her before midnight.
Luckily, I was a patient man.