Page 24 of Hot in the City
Yuki nodded, catching his eye. She thought she'd caught his meaning too. "Let's see. When I finish work around midnight, like tonight, I sometimes Uber it to St Kilda and go to the Wheel and Barrow. It's a proper pub, beer on tap, live music, all that. Some friends of mine are in a band. They're playing tonight. Hard Candy."
She'd put it out there, sneakily dropped a big old hint that she'd be there later, and he could join her if he wanted to. No problem if he didn't mean what she thought he'd meant. She'd just sulk into her artisan pilsner and listen to the band.
"Thank you, Ms Yuki. I might change out of this cursed suit and head out there soon." He nodded, loosened his burgundy silk tie, and stared at her for a good half a minute. He hesitated, mouth open as if he was about to say something important. "Grand. Have a good night."
"Good evening, sir."
Yuki took a deep breath and watched him walk away, towards the bank of elevators on the east side of the hotel.
Right. She checked the time on her computer. It was already after eleven P.M. Not long until her shift was over. She exhaled and pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was going a mile a minute, and all he'd done was talk to her.
She would have to pace herself or she might pass out before the clock ticked over to midnight. Christmas Eve.
Declan ended the phone call after about forty long minutes and tossed his phone on the bed. He hadn't needed that call. Not now, not tonight. He scrubbed his hands through his hair, pacing his hotel suite like a trapped tiger in a cage.
Jon was a trustworthy man. His new second-in-command in the Irish office was both a lawyer and a systems architect. If Jon said the company had invested in the wrong technology and was sinking, Declan believed him. They had better patch the hole in the ship's hull or otherwise get a whole lot of life preservers. They would work out a plan, a new direction.
But first, he had a date. At least he thought so. Damn, was he really doing this?
Declan searched through his suitcase and the wardrobe in his hotel suite, looking for something to wear that wouldn't make him look like an absolute tool. All business clothes.
"Bloody stupid. Suits should be banned," he muttered as he pulled out the drawers in the bureau.
He couldn't go to a local pub dressed like a typical IT guy, or he may as well wear a ‘Kick Me’ sign. But wait... His old friend Gabriel had given him a surf brand shirt when they'd caught up at Bells Beach last week. With his black jeans and trainers, that would do.
He quickly showered and changed, leaving his hair damp to curl as it pleased. Would Yuki like him this way? Out of his usual corporate uniform? She'd been in uniform all week, just like him.
Yuki, the gorgeous girl at the hotel's front desk. So friendly, so sweet. Her slight Australian accent, her long elegant neck with the little silver necklace she wore, and shiny hair black as midnight, always up in a sleek ponytail. Mostly it was her stunning wide eyes that had him almost lost for words. That wasn't like him at all. His old man often said Declan could talk the hind legs off a donkey. She had been the ultimate distraction from his business in Melbourne this week. And he definitely needed a distraction.
His ex-fiancée Kendra might have been a smart woman, a brilliant programmer, but as Chief Operating Officer she'd run the Asia Pacific arm of the company into the ground. He'd had to reassign her to another project, and he couldn't pretend it was a promotion. Hell of a way to ruin the office Christmas party, making that little announcement.
He'd got out of there as soon as possible, wishing Kendra well on his way out, though it half-killed him to do it. He could still feel the way she'd glared daggers at his back. He had more than enough anger to fire back at her if he chose. She'd been the one to cheat on him after all. He’d dodged a bullet there.
He nodded at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, running his fingers over the rough stubble along his jaw. "You can do this. Flirt with a pretty girl. Drink a few beers. Have a laugh. Pretend that the universe doesn't hate you, and your whole life didn't fall in the cosmic toilet this year."
He grabbed his phone and wallet, and headed out of the hotel, into the humid summer night to meet his taxi. And to meet the unlikely girl who had taken hold of his imagination, even his dreams.
Why did he have a feeling he was about to do something monumentally stupid? Ah well, it wouldn't be the first time.
Chapter Four
The Wheel and Barrow Pub, St Kilda, Melbourne
The early hours of Christmas Eve
Yuki stared into her beer, watching the swirl of foam on the surface and trying to find pictures in it, as if she was reading tea leaves in a porcelain cup. The beer wasn't even cold anymore. She wouldn't drink it warm, like an Englishman, or a psycho.
She blocked out the noise of punters arguing at the bar, and the frenetic thud of drums from the warm-up band. She settled back in the Reserved booth seat she'd found near the back of the band room. There was a silver Christmas tree balanced on the top of the booth, and she watched the string of lights wrapped around it flicker in pretty patterns.
She had hurried here from the hotel, thinking Declan Moriarty would be waiting for her. But obviously she was wrong. Clearly he'd changed his mind, or had a better offer. Hopefully it wasn't his ex keeping him busy.
She blocked out that depressing line of thought. Her friend's band would be on stage soon, and maybe one or two of her hotel co-workers would turn up too. The night didn't have to be a total write-off.
"Hello, Miss Yuki." The deep voice, the delectable Irish accent made her gasp. She flicked her head around to where he stood, just to her right.
"If it isn't the most beautiful girl in the world sitting under a Christmas tree. You must be waiting for Santa Claus. Will I do for company in the meantime?" He grinned, and even in the low lighting, his teeth almost glowed white.
Yuki's cheek muscles stretched out in a smile she couldn't contain. "You'll do. Get over here. I mean, please sit down, Mr Moriarty. Sir." She giggled like a fool. She couldn't help it. He came!
