Page 79 of Tempting Irish

“What? No. I can’t.” Bree looks to me, horror in her eyes, but Patrick has her up on the stage, before she can protestmore.

He picks up his guitar, then says something in her ear, which makes her give a tentative nod, before taking the mic he handsher.

“How are ye all doing tonight?” Patrick says into his stand-up mic. “We’ve got something special for ye. This pretty lady here has agreed to sing for us. Please give her a warm Irishwelcome.”

The room erupts in cheers, and Bree pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and sucks in a visible breath as Patrick starts to strum out the first few chords of an old Irishballad.

I can feel the tension rolling off her as she starts to sing, and I hear the nerves in her voice, but even so, she enraptures the room with a soft rasp during the first verse. By the time she hits the chorus, there isn’t a soul in the pub whose gaze isn’t locked on her in awe, Patrick being one of them. I see the appreciation in his gaze, and I know I wasn’t wrong about her. She has somethingspecial.

Just one more reason I don’t want to let hergo.

My cell vibrates, and when I pull it out of my pocket, my manager’s number pops up on thescreen.

Standing, I move towards the back of the pub and answer thecall.

“I have the information you asked for,” Kevinsays.

“And?” I glance back at the stage. Bree is smiling now, clearly enjoying herself as Patrick joins her for the lastchorus.

“Want to tell me why you’re interested?” Concern rolls through thephone.

“Notreally.”

He sighs. “All right. Well, your girl is prettyclean.”

My girl.I swallow past the knot in mythroat.

“No debt. But she doesn’t have a penny to her name. If you’re worried she’s after yourmoney-”

“Don’t care aboutthat.”

Another sigh. “She’s moved around a bit. Held a bunch of waitressing jobs. Couldn’t find much in terms of relationships. Seems to be a bit of a loner. No criminal records. Not even a speedingticket…”

I hear thebutin hisvoice.

“Tellme.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re the only one looking into her. There’s a law firm in Michigan that’s been trying to track her down formonths.”

“Do ye know what theywant?”

“No.”

“Findout.”

“Is the girl going to be trouble foryou?”

I glance back at thestage.

“Yeah. But not the way I initiallythought.”

“What the hell is that supposed tomean?”

“It means, I want ye to do everything in yer power to make sure whoever is looking into her isn’t going to be aproblem.”

I end the call and make my way back to the table, just as Patrick is helping Bree from thestage.

“That was fun. Thank you,” Bree says, her faceflushed.

“Ye weren’t kidding,” Patrick says. “Yer girl has serioustalent.”

My girl.There it is again. Is she mine? Hell, every fiber in my being wants her tobe.

I nod. “Shedoes.”

“Ye better sign her fast before someone else comes along.” I hear the hidden meaning in his words, and I know he’s not just talking about her musiccareer.

“I plan onit.”

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