Page 37 of Her Irish Boss

Brogan ended it with the same savagery that he'd started with. He released her hair and stepped away.

They were both out of breath, staring at one another, eyes wide. Part of her wished he'd toss her over his shoulder and cart her off to her bedroom, finish the caveman routine and end the misery.

Instead, he straightened his shoulders and took a solid, deep breath. “You're hired, again.” He turned and walked out of the apartment, leaving her to put the pieces together that he'd shattered with that epic kiss. How had her life changed so dramatically in twenty minutes?

9

“The entire space is very nice,” the loan officer at the bank said for the third time. The man looked younger than Cathal, near thirty, his suit too large on his skinny frame. His smooth skin probably didn't even see a razor every day.

“I'm glad you think so, Mr. Peters.” Brogan subtly glanced at his watch. The unexpected visit occurred at eight thirty. Cathal sent a text early this morning informing Brogan he better cut his workout short and be dressed by the time the man showed up. They wanted to do an on-site interview before approving the loan.

“Good morning—” Selena pulled up short, the happy expression on her face shifting immediately to shock. “Jacob? What are you doing here?”

Jacob?

Mr. Peters' eyes brightened. “Selena. Goodness, it's been years.”

And then they hugged.

Brogan crossed his arms, their hug lasting longer than necessary. “I see you know each other,” he said, as a way ofinterruption. He'd hoped for his morning with Selena to consist of a talk about how they should handle the situation at work, seeing how he wanted only to lock the door and feast on her lips again. ButJacobhad interrupted that.

And now he had his damn hands on her.

Jacob pulled away, his gaze never leaving Selena's face. “Yes. We dated while I was in college.”

She looked just as pleased to see him. “What are you doing here?” She did glance, for a quick second, at Brogan before her attention went back to the man that held the fate of their loan in his hands. Hands that were still sitting possessively on Selena's waist from their hug.

Selena moved away, and Jacob followed her. “I'm a loan officer at the bank. Do you work here?”

She nodded. After another quick glimpse at Brogan, she beamed another smile at Jacob. “Mr. O'Keeley is my boss.” Brogan hated the sharp way she said it. What did she want? For him to announce that she was his girlfriend or something? Girlfriend wasn't a title he'd use with Selena.

Just his.

It sounded possessive, even in his head, but that's how it'd felt last night. That last kiss he'd given her, lacking his usual restraint, had claimed her. He hadn't intended it to be that way.

Jacob looked at his watch. “It's a little early, isn't it?”

Smoothly she pulled out her laptop. “I help out in the office before my shift starts.”

He smirked. “Doing what?”

Did she not catch the derisive way he asked that? Brogan's body tensed again when Jacob set a hand on her shoulder.

“She's the VP of Advertising.” Brogan made up her job title on the spot. He'd wanted to say, “She's mine, back thehell off,” but it might sabotage the bank loan to get in the young kid's face.

Selena watched Brogan for a full five seconds. He knew he should say something, but he couldn't. She had to know that.

Jacob sat on the edge of Brogan's desk, ignoring that he'd even spoken and leaning a little closer to Selena. “We need to get together and catch up.”

Brogan's hands tightened into fists. He couldn't help it. He fought every primal instinct to stand there and not let him know that they were an item.

Because they weren't. He wasn't an idiot. One kiss didn't mean Selena had to drop any other man she saw for him.

“Ah, the gang's all here,” Cathal said, strolling in with a large coffee in his hand. “Nice to see you again, Jacob.”

“You, too. So, how about it, Selena? Go out with me tonight?”

Cathal's eyes shot to Brogan and back to Selena. “Well, what did I miss? I don't usually deal with loan officers who ask out our employees.”

---