His stories about his dedication as an MMA fighter and now as a dojo owner made him even more attractive. Kayla had learned that Duncan was ambitious, and she’d always searched for that in a guy she was dating—except they weren’t exactly dating. Not yet. She would meet him tomorrow for a first date, and she’d already pictured the contents of her closet to figure out what she would wear.
After she stepped out of the small shower stall, she saw her phone lighting up on the pink sink with a few text messages from her brothers and sisters, but she decided to answer them after her night out.
As she dried her hair with a pink blow-dryer, it occurred to her that her former colleague’s grandmother’s favorite color must have been pink. Even though her social life was picking up, she was still getting used to the apartment that was decorated with ugly pink knickknacks.
As Kayla walked into the master bedroom, she considered what she would wear tonight. As she was dressed in business suits all week, she opted for casual tight-fitted jeans and a simple white shirt. Her knee-high black boots gave her outfit a less simple feel and gave Kayla a few inches more height, as she was barely five foot five.
Maureen and Caitlin were already standing in front of Danny’s Diner when Kayla arrived. Maureen wore her signature Coco Chanel suit along with leather gloves in the exact same pink shade, and Caitlin was dressed in a dark green dress which made her dark brown curls stand out more.
“Hello, dear. Is it okay if we ride in my car? I figured you girls might want to stay longer than me, and I really need my beauty sleep. You can’t look this good at seventy-six without a good sleep at night.” Maureen winked.
Kayla chuckled and agreed to carpool. In the back of her mind, she figured she wouldn’t be staying without Maureen or Caitlin. After a fifteen-minute drive, Maureen parked her old Chevrolet El Camino in front of a pub called The Lucky Irishman, which sure looked the part of a real Irish pub.
It had a dark green exterior with its name painted in yellow above the doors, but she couldn’t see inside because of its dark windows. She’d always loved Irish pubs, as she had Irish blood herself, and back home she often went to one with her brothers and sisters.
Inside the pub was a mostly dark mahogany interior with the look and feel of a family atmosphere. A younger couple played pool in the back, several people chatted in booths, and some older men sat on barstools at the bar. While they made their way through the pub, Maureen and Caitlin greeted several patrons by name, and they all congratulated Maureen on her birthday. It seemed that Maureen and Caitlin were part of this crowd and were loved by every single one of them.
“Come with us, Kayla. We’ll be sitting at my regular spot.” Maureen ushered her toward the bar, only for Kayla to stop dead in her tracks when her eyes fell on the bartender. How was this even possible? Another Mills brother?
He resembled Duncan and Donovan with their broad shoulders, muscular arms, chiseled jawline, and crooked nose. His raven black hair was wavy on top and shorter on the sides like Donovan’s, but his eyes were the exact same light color green as Duncan. The bartender’s eyes seemed sad where Duncan’s smiled every time she’d seen him.
“Come, girls, what can I order for you? Drinks on me. Pick anything you’d like,” Maureen said, touching Kayla’s elbow briefly as she brought her back to the present. Kayla loved how Maureen could get her out of her head with the simplest of touches or anecdotes.
The bartender greeted Caitlin with a simple “Hi, Cait,” who nodded back in return. And he was now looking expectantly at Kayla, so she ordered the first thing that came to mind. “I’ll have a white wine, please.” She was in a bar for the first time in close to two months, and she was glad to have the wine for liquid courage.
After Maureen ordered herself a whiskey and Caitlin asked for a white wine as well, the bartender insisted the drinks were on the house as a way to celebrate Maureen’s birthday. As Kayla sipped her drink and looked around the pub, she almost fell from the barstool at the sight before her.
After successfullyasking Kayla outon a date yesterday, he found her sitting here in his pub—well, technically his father’s pub, but this was his home. Lucky was his safe haven where everyone knew him, where he would meet up with his family. Was he ready to let her in? He’d wanted to take her out to a small Italian restaurant tomorrow. He wanted to get to know her without his family butting in.
“Duncan, come here. I want you to meet someone dear to me,” Maureen said.
What the hell? She was here with Maureen? And Caitlin was with them too? How come he’d never seen her here before? And she was someone dear to Maureen? With a frown set on his face, he strode toward the bar. When her eyes locked on his, Kayla nearly tumbled from her barstool.
“Whoa there, no need to fall at my feet, wildflower,” he drawled. Yep, he’d called her wildflower several times now, and she would always scowl, just like she did now.
Her expression shifted from stunned to pissy, causing him to smirk. Perhaps he acted like a jerk, but he took pleasure in poking at her and getting her claws to come out. He was always up for a challenge, and fuck, she even upped the ante by working for his brother and now sitting here in his family’s pub with Maureen and Caitlin.