As he opened the door to his bedroom, Errin welcomed him, sprawled naked in his bed and giving him a lazy smile.
“Fuck,” he said as he immediately closed the door again.
Errin giggled on the other side and said, “What are you standing behind that door for? Nothing here you haven’t already seen?”
He leaned his forehead against the door and laid his palm next to his head. He counted till three before he spoke. “Did my father also walk in on ye naked arse?”
She bristled and said, “Of course not! You know I was completely dressed when you left for the kitchen earlier.”
“Errin, I need you to get dressed again. Can you do that for me, please?”
“What? Why?” she said.
He sighed and cracked the door to peek into the room. She still laid in bed, but now with her arms over her bare chest, her chin jutted out and her head cocked to the side. Her nostrils flared as she waited for his answer.
“I… I need to talk to you. I can’t concentrate when you’re naked.”
She scoffed at his answer. She swung her legs from under the sheet, over the edge of the bed. She hopped her nice and tight ass over to his closet to pick another of his T-shirts to wear. He stretched over to a stool next to the bed and waited for her.
After she put on a T-shirt that fell to her knees, she grimaced as she did her best to walk over with semi-determined steps. She sat as far away from him as possible on the bed, flattened her lips and nudged her chin toward him. “So, speak. What did you need to say to me?”
He took a deep breath, but she kept on talking. “Did you want to tell me, thanks for the fuck, but no thanks to another round?”
He growled at her assumption, but he let her get things off her chest first.
“Well, am I wrong here?” she said as she put her closed fists on top of the bed next to her thighs.
“No—”
“I see,” she said and perched herself from the bed.
“No, you don’t understand—” he said.
“Oh, I understand things perfectly, Brennan. Don’t worry about me. I guess we had our fun and now it’s over. No problem. Can you tell me where my clothes are?” she glanced around the floor in search of her clothes.
“I’ve washed them. Wait a sec. I’ll grab them for you.” He stood from the stool and winced as Errin sniffled when he walked into the hallway. Fuck. He needed to talk to her without fucking this all up.
He handed her the dry clothes upon entering his bedroom. “Thanks,” she whispered. She hadn’t been crying, but her trembling chin took him off guard. Errin was always in control of her emotions, so her struggle not to cry was kind of hard to watch.
“Errin…”
But she shot up her hand and said, “No. Please don’t make matters worse. You did nothing wrong. I have one-night stands all the time, I should’ve known that this didn’t mean—”
“Stop it right there, Lips.” The thought of Errin with other guys angered him. He snagged her clothes back from her hands and planted them on the foot of his bed.
He engulfed her small hands in his and locked his green eyes with her baby blues. Her eyes drifted away over his shoulder, but he squeezed her hands once to gain her attention again.
“I just found out you’ll be working for me. And I… I can’t do this,” he said as he waved his hand between them, “if I’m going to be your boss. In a few weeks' time I will run Lucky and I can’t do anything to jeopardize that. I hope you’ll understand?”
She didn’t respond, so he continued, “But if youwouldn’twork for me then—”
“Ah for fuck’s sake, Brennan. Man the fuck up, will you?” Errin bristled as she jerked her hands from his to shove his chest.
He took a small step back in surprise and she placed her hands on her hips, daring him to come any closer again. “I really can’t be bothered with your shit story.” She poked her index finger in his chest.
He shook his head and took a step closer to her, but she held her ground and placed her palm on his chest.
“If you can turn your back so easily, right after what we did just an hour ago… you got another thing coming if you think I’ll throw away a job opportunity for you now. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. See you at work,boss.”