“Who’ve you been hitting then, Lucky?” he rumbles, nodding at my raw knuckles. Seamus does a double-take, his eyes darting down and narrowing.
“No one,” I grunt, shrugging and taking a sip of whiskey while Seamus glares at me.
“Clearly, you’ve been hitting something.”
I sigh, looking down at my poor, abused knuckles. Yeah, I have. Hard. A lot.
“Just my punching bag.”
Suddenly, a knowing smirk crosses Paddy’s face. The prick.
“Frustrated by your new housekeeper, perhaps?” he snickers, capturing the attention of the room. Bastard. I flip him off. He knows what he’s doing. Niggling people is my fucking job. I liked him better when he was a gloomy bastard. He’s too… happy these days. It’s sickening.
“Fuck off, cunt. It’s not even fucking like that. The woman likes tobake.”
Seamus is staring nonplussed at me while Ronan and Niall exchange raised eyebrows on the other side of the room.
“What’s that got to do with her being sexy as fuck?” Liam drawls. Ronan reaches out, slapping the younger lad upside the head with a nod to me as my eyes whip around to narrow at him.
“How do you know what she looks like?” I ask him stiffly.
Andie is sexy as fuck, but that’s beside the point. She’s my housekeeper, so she’s fucking hands-off. For everyone. Including me. Liam shrugs.
“She was at Paddy’s wedding.” He rolls his eyes at me. “She sat beside Niall at the church.”
Frowning, I try to picture who was sitting near Niall at Paddy’s wedding, but for the life of me, I can’t. I was rather preoccupied that day.
Mammy dropped her bombshell on me in the car to the church. Then I was on duty driving Lauren and the lasses from their hotel, and I stayed at the back of the church, keeping an eye out for any problems.
Seamus had been a little distrusting the Italians wouldn’t show up to ruin the day. Everything ran smoothly in the end. I got nice and drunk at the reception and took someone else’s date home.
I don’t remember much about that lass either. In fact, almost everything from the moment I arrived at the reception is rather blurry. The whiskey was flowing and delicious.
“I still don’t see what her being a baker has to do with anything,” Liam mutters petulantly, bringing me back to the present.
“I’ve had homemade pie every night for a week.” I raise my eyebrows at him. Seamus and Paddy cop on and start snorting with mirth.
“You’re working out, so you don’t get fat off the lasses baking?” Paddy guesses. I flip the bastard off again. I knew the prick would seize the opportunity to tease me since I pile on him every chance.
“So you’re happy with her then?” Paddy asks, squinting at me. I nod sharply at him.
“I’m living with a woman who can cook for the first time in my life.” I roll my eyes at him. “I’m happier than a pig in shite.”
Seamus snorts again, lounging at his desk as Paddy nods.
“Thank fuck for that. Lauren would have been pissy if you didn’t let the lass stay on.” He grimaces. “Plus, she’ll stop trying to move Andie into our place.”
“If the woman needed a place to live so badly, she would have been more than welcome at mine,” Liam drawls.
Ronan doesn’t even look at me this time when he smacks his head. But there’s something in his words that has Seamus looking suspicious.
“Why did the lass need some place to live so badly?”
He’s eyeing Paddy off now. I turn with interest. Besides telling me her mammy’s sad story, Andie hasn’t been forthcoming about her life. Then again, neither have I. Paddy shrugs, scratching the back of his head.
“I don’t right know,” he admits. “Lauren only said the lass had run into a bit of trouble. Ended up homeless and jobless. Possibly there was a lad involved in the whole mess.” He shrugs again. “It’s all for the best.” He gestures to me with his tumbler of whiskey. “Lucky got a housekeeper thatbakes.”
Seamus laughs, turning his attention to Ronan, who gives a rundown of the goings-on at Oracle, which he manages now.