Page 52 of Her Irish Boss

She shifted to the side, pushing the door closed and flipping the deadbolts. “Yes. He did.”

“Why were you even near him?”

“Near him?”

“At the bar. If you'd have left....”

His gruff voice made her spine straighten. “Excuse me? How is this my fault?”

“I didn't say I thought it was.”

“Yes.” The anger, emotion, frustration from Simmons finally boiled over. “You did. You think I could have avoided it somehow? He sat down; I stood up. He touched me. I told him to stop and moved down the bar. The bartender told him to stop. He followed me, and I stepped away. Hegrabbedme. I slapped him, and he squeezed myhips tighter. I kneed him in his junk. Then, bam, Cathal pulled some wrestling move and almost crushed his windpipe.”

Brogan growled and muttered something she didn’t understand.

“I was the one who pulled Cathal off. I'm not sure your brother had any rational thought left, and Simmons isn't worth going to prison.”

“That's a difference of opinion.” His hands rested on her waist. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you did anything wrong.” He kissed her lips lightly. “Did he hurt you?”

“Bruised a little.”

“Where.” He said it in his bossy voice that usually annoyed her. Most of the time, it made her straight up mad. Honestly, right then, she didn't want some overly emotional guy that babied her. She could see how other women wouldn't appreciate his matter-of-fact nature, but that was Brogan. When things got out of control, he took over. At two in the morning, she’d let him.

She rested her hands over his, sliding them down until they set where she'd seen the fingerprints when she'd changed her clothes. “Here.”

Brogan spread his hands wide and swallowed. “Can I see?”

“Do you need to?”

“Yes.”

She pulled down one side of her pajama pants, enough to show him the fingerprints.

He hissed through his teeth. “I'm sorry, Selena. This is my fault.”

Pulling up her pants, she shook her head. “Did you raise him to be a piece of shit? No. Neither one of us is to blamefor his actions.” She slipped her arms around his waist. “I just want the memory to go away.”

He cupped her face. “What can I do?”

“Stay.”

His hesitant expression pulled her back into the reality of their situation. She was the secret girlfriend.

“Never mind.”

“No. I'll stay.”

“I'm not looking for anything more between us. I don't want to be alone.”

He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “I'll need to leave before you usually wake up.”

“Just nudge me when you go.”

Taking him by the hand, she led him through her small apartment. It became glaringly apparent that Brogan could never survive in a place that small. The narrow hallway exaggerated his size.

He chuckled as he stood at the edge of her room. “This is what I imagined.”

She looked around. Messy. She was a messy person and wouldn't try to cover it up. She crossed her arms, giving him as sexy a look as she could while wearing an old t-shirt and pair of flannel pajamas pants.

---