Page 50 of On The Rocks

“I’ll stay,” I agreed. “We’ll get the business running like a well-oiled machine.”

“It won’t be easy.” Callum took my hand and splayed our fingers together, his dark blue eyes locking with mine. “It’s gonna take hard work and commitment on both our parts.”

Somehow, I knew he wasn’t talking about the bar. “I’m up for it.”

His usually downturned, sexy mouth quirked. “Me too.” He gave my fingers a squeeze and nodded down at my lemon heaven bar. “If you don’t eat that, I will. Wasting that shit is sacrilege.”

I tore off a piece of the soft sponge and popped it between my lips. Its sweet tartness hit my tastebuds, and I groaned out loud. “Sweet baby Jesus. What is this voodoo magic?”

Callum grinned and drained his coffee. “Told ya so.”

“It’samazing.” My eyes lifted to catch Callum studying me intently.

Our gazes locked, and something passed between us that made my belly warm from the inside. I felt an old, illusive emotion that until then had been lost to me, and I knew I’d done the right thing by coming here.

Maybe things would work out, or probably they wouldn’t, but at least we could say we did things our way.

CHAPTER 11

CALLUM

“Can’t believe you didn’t bring me a lemon heaven bar back,” Donovan grumbled from the bar.

“Mine was lovely,” Maeve piped up. “That soft, lemony sponge cake with the shot of curd in the middle made my taste buds tingle. It was like a lemon explosion had a party in my mouth. Unfortunately, Donovan O’Shea, it was a party you weren’t invited to.”

I barked a laugh.

“You’re getting big for your boots, nerd girl,” my brother mumbled.

Maeve grinned. “Don’t cry, Donny. I’ll go back to Martha’s with you.”

He sniffed. “You better.”

I cocked my head and tapped my flip pad which was perched on the bar with my pointy stick. “Can we please get back to the manager’s meeting?”

“I’m bored,” Donny whined. “How the feck did Tadhg’s ass get away with not being here?”

“He’s keeping Ma occupied for me. I don’t want her to know how much debt the bar’s in; you know how she worries. Can wejust get this part out of the way, and then we can bounce ideas around about how to fix it.”

“I could’ve kept Ma occupied,” my brother muttered. “T’s such a fucking pussy.”

“You’re gonna be involved in the bar, too,” I reminded him. “Tadhg’s leaving in a few days to train for his next race. I want you to organize security on the door for the weekends Dischordium play here.” My voice began to rise. “This bar belongs to all of us, but no fucker apart from me seems to take the fact we could lose it goddamned seriously!”

Donny threw a peanut in the air before catching it in his mouth with perfect timing. “Told ya, we should make our own beer. You’ve got all the equipment outside. There’s a fucking distillery out in the barn. You could make a fortune.”

“What’s he on about?” Maeve asked, jerking her thumb toward Donovan.

I rubbed my temple, trying not to lose my shit with my asshole brother. “Me and Da were gonna start brewing ale. It started to become all the rage a few years ago, so we brought all the equipment and set it up in one of the outbuildings out back. Then he got sick, and it fell by the wayside.”

“It’s a great idea,” she murmured. “All in all, the process takes about four weeks. If it takes off, you could cut down your costs but still add different beers to the drinks menu. You could even pair them with food and get the kitchen moving again. It’s a great selling point and an efficient way to test out what people like. Look at it like free market research.” She jumped down from the bar counter next to Donovan. “You said you wanted to change your reputation and start becoming known as a female-friendly establishment again after all the date rape assaults, so design a drink for the ladies. Those alcoholic fruit ciders do well in England and Ireland. All my friends and I drank them when I was over there last time, and they were delicious. You couldeven play up the Gaelic aspect of the bar and offer a signature Irish fruit cider that you market toward the ladies.” She moved toward me, and my eyes drifted lower, suddenly mesmerized by how her top pulled tight across her chest, showing off the outline of her pert little nipples through the thin, stretchy material.

My cock kicked in my jeans.

Dang.

“Show me,” Maeve demanded.

I had to clench my jaw to stop myself from demanding the same thing. Though my demands were all about the round, bouncy breasts that now I couldn’t stop myself from ogling.

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