“Hmm. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Emmy laughed.
“I can’t wait to this shift to be over,” Errin said as she folded her arms in front of her chest.
“Tell me about it. It’s a good thing Brennan is renovating the pub. This kitchen is falling into pieces. I’m scared of opening the door to the freezer, afraid I’ll end up with the entire thing in my hand,” Emmy said as she blew some warm chestnut hair from her face that had escaped her high ponytail.
In the previous months, Errin and Emmy had shared a few drinks at Lucky in a group with Errin’s sisters and a couple of Mills brothers. They even met up twice a week to take a yoga class together at Duncan’s Dojo. But working alongside at the pub brought them vastly closer.
“Are you coming back out or what?” Brennan said with his head peeping from between the swinging doors. He dragged his hand through his hair before walking further into the kitchen. Emmy turned her back to them and wiped the counter on the far end of the kitchen.
“So. What’s up? Are you hiding out for Keenan or something?” he asked while wiping his hands on the kitchen towel that hung near Errin’s spot. Emmy snorted loud enough at his words for Errin and Brennan to both briefly glance her way.
“Keenan’s here?” Emmy asked.
“I was just taking a break. I’m coming.” Errin fake fluttered her eyelashes, mockingly sucking up to him as she said, “I’m sorry, boss.”
“Cut it out, will ye?” Brennan said as he narrowed his eyes at her.
“Whatever do you mean?” Errin said.
“I fuckin’ want ye to stop actin’ like a child. Stop callin’ me boss and start workin’,” he bit at her.
“Well, I can do that. If you’ll excuse me,boss?” she said before she tried to step away from him. He grabbed her bicep and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Stop tryin’ to get a rise out of me.”
She closed her eyes and groaned out loud. “What do you want me to call you then? Because you were the one who declared you’re nothing but a boss to me… so what’s the deal here?”
Emmy cleared her throat and walked past them on her way to exit the kitchen. She called over her shoulder, “I’m going to see my cousin. See ya later!”
Errin stared into Brennan’s eyes and said, “Yeah, okay, Emm…”
He waited for Errin to speak first. Probably so she’d play by his rules and let him get away with fucking her and discarding her within the hour. Well, he could wait a century for all she cared.
They were the only two in the kitchen now, and gazing into Brennan’s eyes brought back flashbacks of his lips on hers over a week ago. She focused on his full lips and glanced back up into his eyes.
He studied her features attentively and the moment she closed her eyes, he tugged her by her bicep he still held on to and pulled her in close to his chest. His body was warm and rock solid.
His black Lucky shirt was just as smelly as hers, after chicken wings and spilled beer. The scent should repulse her, but it was starting to smell like home. Working at Lucky was feeling like home.Shit.
She didn’t want to let him in again. He saw through her once before and she couldn’t let it happen again. He could leave permanent scars on her heart if he was to ever come so close to her again and decide she wasn’t good enough for him once more. She didn’t trust him. He was the one who said he couldn’t get enough of her. Said he wanted to take care of her one moment and in the next, treated her like crap.
She would leave next week to dance again in Jersey, anyway. What was the point in letting him rattle her? In letting her guard down? But he would have to keep his beautiful face away from her.
He justsmelled too good. She’d often woken up late at night, dreaming of his words of passion breathed against her neck. And not only his words but also him marking her that morning still haunted her. She still had the bite marks to show for it, albeit fading.
“What’s the difference between a waitress and a toilet?” she blurted, opening her eyes to meet his furrowed brows. He leaned in to look her in the eyes and said, “What ye talkin’ ’bout?”
“A toilet is only expected to deal with one arsehole at a time,” she said as she swiftly took a step back out of his arms and sidestepped him. She strode out of the kitchen, leaving the wooden swishing doors to move back and forth a few times because of her forcefulness. She had thirty minutes left of her shift and she would finish it, damn it.
“Do you want some?”Brennan poured a glass of milk to calm his stomach. He often needed some after working a long shift. He put the carton back into the fridge the moment Don shook his head.
“Nah, man. I’m good. Just had dinner with Kate and Errin downstairs. Emmy fixed us a real nice plate. You did real good with hiring our cousin. Fuck. Who’d have thought a daughter of Shauni could cook like that? I remember spending one summer on their farm, sneaking aunt Shauni’s home-cooked meals into napkins to feed the pigs with later on.”
Brennan hummed but said nothing as his mind drifted to Errin and Emmy. ‘The two spitfires of Lucky’, Pops had renamed the duo. They both killed working at Lucky. Emmy in the kitchen and Errin out on the floor proved to be a unique but equally powerful duo.
The customers loved Emmy’s food and therefore Lucky became more than just a bar to grab some greasy food next to your beer. She brought back some class to his joint. And Errin, — of course she killed it. He snorted.
“What?” Donovan asked while sitting down at the kitchen table. On top of his dark blue jeans, he wore his signature black button-down-shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over his elbows.
“You happy, bro?” Brennan asked.