Page 3 of Her Irish Boss

For some reason, he didn't like her calling him that. It'd never bothered him before. Everyone called him Mr. O'Keeley. They called his younger brother Chef and his youngest brother, Cathal. The lazy sot didn't get a title.

Taking the chair, he left the dining room, happy to have a few minutes to himself before his brothers arrived for their Monday lunch meeting. They always met on Mondays to accommodate Rian's travel schedule. He'd flown back to Atlanta from wherever he traveled on Sundays. And Cathal, well, Brogan wasn't too sure what the hell Cathal did most of the time besides pick up women and drink whiskey. He occasionally put his degree to use and played lawyer.

After fixing the chair, Brogan tightened his tie and left his office to find Selena. He was still her boss. Even if he didn't want Randy Simmons in his restaurant, the forty-guest party would bring in a good-sized tip.

Lenny stood with an arm propped up on the bar, talking to Selena. He touched her on the shoulder, his hand lingering far too long.

Brogan slowed in his stride. Annoyance and anger flooded through his veins. He couldn't pinpoint what bothered him more. The fact that Lenny was opening himself and the company up for a lawsuit or the fact that Selena might be interested in the little turnip.

Not that Brogan had any interest in making a play for her, but he still hated the thought of another man touching her.

The dark side of his brain didn't give two damns that initiating a personal relationship with her meant trouble. Very expensive trouble.

He'd have to hand it to Lenny, though. The boy knew exactly how to get himself fired.

“Brog,” Rian called as he approached from the back hallway. “How's it going?”

Brogan crossed his arms, the suit pulling tight across his back. “I'm trying to figure out why I promoted that piece of shit who's hitting on Selena.”

Rian scanned the restaurant. “Selena? Not sure I've met her. Does he not know how it works once you're in a position of power? It puts every female in your business off-limits.” He shrugged. “Or male. Can't assume things these days.”

“He does as I just laid it out for him not ten minutes ago.” Brogan moved toward them as Lenny pulled out his phone. Getting her number? Workplace friendships were fine. What employees on the same level didoutsideof work was their own business. But in his restaurant, during work hours, was his business. His liability. His shitty reminder about how gullible he'd once been.

“Lenny. Selena.” Brogan looked between the two of them. “Is there a problem?” His eyes cut back to Lenny. That unattractive red color came back into his skin again as hefumbled with his phone and began to stammer. He'd thought he could teach the boy some managerial skills. But if he were hitting on Selena, he'd be fired before his first paycheck hit the bank.

“Mr. O'Keeley, did you fix the chair?” Selena's gaze held his for a long moment, long enough that he'd almost tuned out the bumbling, incoherent Lenny beside him.

“It's not what it looks like,” Lenny finally managed to stammer out. “I wasn't, I mean, she asked me about going to the movies.” He nodded his head so vigorously, it might have shaken itself off his shoulders.

At Selena's sharp intake of breath, her eyes widening, Brogan knew the truth. He focused his wrath, and frustration, entirely on Lenny. “Do you want to try that again?”

Lenny's eyes begged Selena to go along with it. It was pathetic if nothing else. Had she really agreed to go on a date with him in the first place? If this was the best Selena could do as far as a date, his impression of American men just sank lower.

Ignoring Lenny for the moment, he faced Selena, blocking Lenny from her view. “Did you ask Lenny on a date?” She opened her mouth and leaned to try and see around Brogan, but he shifted. “You don't need him to answer. Yes or no. Did you ask him out?”

Her tongue darted out, wetting her bottom lip and pulling his attention away from his annoyance for a brief second. He slipped his hands into his pockets to quell the urge to reach out to her.

“No,” she whispered so low he almost missed it.

“Did he ask you out?”

Lenny tapped him on the shoulder. “Mr. O'Keeley—”

Brogan held up his hand, and Lenny stopped. Rian sat ata nearby table. Get the man a bag of popcorn, and he'd have a full show to watch. Rian owned a third of the restaurant. The least he could do, besides create the menu, was to help out with the employee drama. But both his brothers had volunteered Brogan for the position. They argued that he was so used to bossing them around, it was a natural personality trait.

“Yes,” Selena whispered even softer. Then she mouthed, “Don't fire him. Please.”

He should. Fire him on the spot like he'd done to the employees earlier. Make an example. Why didn't she want him fired, though?

He snapped around to face Lenny. The boy had shifted from a red face to pale. Brogan rolled his eyes. “Don't go fainting on me now.” He pulled out a barstool and shoved Lenny into it.

“Please don't fire me. I promise I won't do it again.”

“You're right. Starting next week, you will never manage a shift that Selena is working.”

Selena set her hand on his arm. His muscles contracted automatically from the contact. Like before when she'd pushed him to sit in the chair, her hands snapped away, and the smallest gasp escaped her lips.

Brogan tilted his head toward her, waiting, wishing she'd touch him again and hating himself for it.

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