Page 24 of Until Ireland

He chuckled. “I own a restaurant, cupcake. Remember? Just bring yourself.”

Duh, of course he’d have it all taken care of the menu details with his chefs. “I can do that.”

“Good. Have a good night, cupcake.”

“You too, Mack. Bye.” Like a teenage girl dealing with her first crush, I waited until he disconnected the call before placing the phone back in its charging cradle.

“Ugh,” I cried out, laying my head into my hands and wondering why I suddenly acted so stinkin’ stupid with Mack on the phone. “Can I bring anything? What the hell, Ireland?” I continued to grumble at myself as I scrubbed my face.

“Everything okay?” Landon asked by the door, causing me to jump like I’d gotten caught doing something I shouldn’t have. When I didn’t answer, he assumed something had gone wrong. “It’ll be fine if he wasn’t in agreement with your estimate. I mean it would’ve been nice to get some work like that, but it won’t break us if he goes someplace else.”

“What?”

“The Aston. From your reaction, I’m assuming he didn’t like the price you gave him,” Landon clarified.

I snorted. “Actually, it was the opposite.”

Landon was just as shocked as I was when I relayed my conversation with Mack. “Jesus,” he whispered.

“Right?”

“Good job, Ireland,” he praised me, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him with pride. “Now can we get the hell out of here and go get our grub on? My stomach is about to eat my backbone.”

I looked around the office. We had a checklist of duties we did every night before we locked the doors. Landon was on my wavelength because he said he’d already taken care of it.

“You swept up the floors?” I asked, aware of how much he hated that particular job.

“Yup.” He motioned to the trash cans. “Even dumped the trash and got the old oil ready for the recycling truck.

“Cool. Then we can go,” I declared, hitting enter for the waiting parts order. I stood then, leaving the Aston’s folder on the desk for Hunter to finish up in the morning. After a quick glance around to be sure I had everything, Landon and I locked the place up then hit the road.

Chapter Five

“Remind me again,how you snagged an invite to Mack Redman’s ranch for his little sister’s birthday?” Hunter joined me in our cramped bathroom while I put on my makeup and he shaved some of the grizzle off his face.

He loved giving me shit. One, because I secretly knew he’d wanted an invite to Mack’s house after the day he showed up to the shop with the Aston, and two, because I didn’t date much. This was officially a second date for me, and I was introducing my ragtag brothers to Mack and his family. I thought when I woke this morning I’d be nervous. Instead, I’d been excited. I couldn’t wait to meet his friends. Sure, everything could fall down around me, but deep down I wasn’t afraid, which was almost more terrifying. Instead of dwelling on the fear, I set to work getting ready.

I shrugged. “I guess when you don’t hit it and quit it, like you and Landon do, people invite you places.”

Hunter flipped me off and laughed. “Fuck off, Ireland.”

“You wanted to know.” I threw all of my makeup back in my bag then stared at my reflection. Even though I didn’t have to, I went thrift shopping after finishing the ‘Cuda. The local thrift store had enough retro clothes to fill my closet for decades to come, and I appreciated their dedication. When I saw the off the shoulder red and white crop top, I knew it had to be mine. I had a pair of pedal pusher jeans to complement it and a set of black heels. I was going to blow Mack’s mind when he saw me. The thought sent a little wiggle of excitement through my stomach. “So, what do you think?”

All of my tattoos would be on display with the exception of my legs and some on my torso, though a few would play peek-a-boo when I sat down. Instead of straightening my mane of riotous curls, I producted the hell out of them to keep them from being a frizzy mess, because ain’t no one got time for frizz. Then I used one of my red bandanas as a headband. My bangs were formed into a single victory roll and pinned into place. I thought I looked pretty A-OK.

Hunter cleared the shaving cream from his razor and cut his gaze toward me. “You clean up nice.”

I deflated a little. “Thanks.”

“Not like I can call you a hot piece of ass, Ireland,” Hunter teased as he went back to shaving.

“Would be gross if you did,” I muttered.

“Who’s got a hot ass?” Landon appeared at the door, towel over his shoulder.

“No one,” I said, exiting the bathroom. “Hurry up, both of you. We have to leave in an hour.”

“Who’d have thought she’d be ready to go first?” Landon said, before closing the bathroom door behind him.

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