Page 18 of Her Irish Boss

“It's fair.”

“Fair? You've given her extra work. You promoted her to a management position.”

“Exactly. If I turned around and tossed her in my bed, the entire staff would talk, not to mention she could throw a big sexual harassment suit my way.”

“It's not nice to brag. Who are you tossing in your bed?” Rian entered the room without knocking, closing the door behind him. “Selena? What did I miss last night?” He smiled. “Did you finally take your younger brothers' advice and make a move?”

“No. And I won't.” Brogan walked around his desk, putting himself back where he was comfortable. In charge. “Nothing happened or will happen.”

“Two hundred he doesn't make it to Christmas.” Cathal tilted his head to the side. “Three hundred that she invites him to a home-cooked, Thanksgiving dinner.”

Rian scoffed. “I'm not going to bet you.” He pointed at Brogan. “That man has never gone against his word a day in his life. A pretty face and nice—smile won't change the very fiber of his being. Strict and straight. That's what Ma called him, wasn't it?”

Cathal nodded. “Yup. By the book, old Brogan is.”

“Shut up and drink your whiskey.” Brogan sat down at his computer. The spreadsheet Selena had made was open on his screen. She'd help with the reviews, organizing them into praises and improvements, and still sugar coating it, so she doesn't hurt his feelings.

“Fire her.” Rian lifted a shoulder. “Fire Selena. Then ask her out.”

“She needs the job. And she's good at it. I know you think I promoted her because of whatever reaction you saw from me—”

“Lust,” Cathal said.

“Longing,” added Rian.

Brogan pinched his nose. They were making it worse. Which, if he knew his brothers, was their main objective.

“Whatever. Selena is the best employee I have. Especially now that I have her coming in early. She's only been late a couple of times, but she's still on time for her shift.”

“And you get to spend a little more time with your pretty waitress. Win-win.” Rian took a long sip. “It won't go away, you know. The attraction. You might as well give in to it.”

“You two have the luxury of giving in. I don't. I just listed out,” he paused. They'd never listened to him. “Never mind. I'm done talking about it. Go away. Both of you. I'm ready to call it a day.” Brogan had been there for eleven hours. He rarely drank, but tonight, after his brothers' nice, annoying reminders about Selena, he needed a beer.

“We still need to talk about—”

“No!” Brogan barked at Rian. “I'm done talking about her. You both know what happened the last time I had an employee make it seem as though she was interested. A fat lawsuit. Right now, the last thing we need is another Crissy. I can't risk it.” His own feeling didn't matter in the decision. He'd never thought Selena would be like Crissy. But he never thought Crissy was going to be like Crissy.

He was young. Dumb. Inexperienced. Now he knew how vindictive one person could be. And how easily they could destroy everything he worked for.

Rian snagged Cathal's whiskey from his hand, tossing the rest of it back before setting the empty glass on the coffee table. “I was actually going to ask about the last bank Cathal went to, but obviously your mind is still stuck on Selena.” He held out his hands. “We date.” He motioned between him and Cathal. “We see women. We ask women out. We have a social life outside this place. You don't. It onlymakes sense that you'd be attracted to one of the women you employ.”

“Doesn't mean I have a right to act on it.”

“Just,” Rian said, leaning back in his chair, “push it a little and see. If the opportunity presents itself with Selena, then move in slowly. Test the waters. We're not saying to jump in feet first like with Crissy. You're old now.”

“Older.”

“Semantics,” Cathal added with a wink.

“Olderthen, if you must,” Rian continued. “You'll be able to tell if that woman likes you or she's playing you.”

It was tempting, moving in on Selena. Just a little. Enough, like Rian said, to test the waters. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but it made him nervous. He'd misjudged Crissy so badly, costing them all money, that he questioned even his own intuition on women.

“I'll grab more napkins.”Selena shifted around a table and walked to the back of the restaurant. Rolling silverware wasn't the most glamorous part of the job, but it needed to be done. It gave the waitstaff a moment to relax off their feet. Talk about the weather. Gossip. Anything to help make their short break feel a little longer.

The supply room wasn't large, but it was stacked floor to the ceiling, with additional shelves lining the walls. Organized, of course. Her boss wouldn't have it any other way. Her polite boss that had kept his polite hands to himself when taking her home from the bar. And Monday morning, when she arrived for work, he was right back to square one.

Aloof. Bossy. She groaned with frustration and flippedthe switch for the fluorescent light in the supply room. It flickered, crackled, and went out.

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