Page 20 of The Matchmaker
“You can just watch me play,” he yells back, which is probably the best I’m going to get, so I do as he says, curling up on the couch next to him as he destroys some bad guys.
CHAPTER FIVE
I leave Gemma’s a few hours later and, seeing no reason to go home and wait around until my shift, head straight to Kelly’s. I’ve been meaning to try out a new cocktail recipe I’ve been working on in the hopes Adam will let me put it on the menu. Not a big fan of cocktails, Adam. But I got obsessed with making them a few years ago, and there are only so many boring pints I can post on our social media before people start to scroll past. (We have a healthy seventy-eight followers on Instagram. Though one of them is me and another an account I set up for Plankton. But they still count.)
The door is unlocked when I arrive, and when I let myself in, it’s to see our great leader himself sitting at one of the tables, wearing a stiff white button-up and atieas he bends over his laptop, lost to the world.
“Nice outfit,” I greet. “You going to a funeral?”
Adam frowns as I make my way to the bar, a not-unusual expression for him. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I work here. Nice to meet you.”
“You’re early.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome.” I grab my apron and start scanning the shelves for the grenadine I made him buy. “I was minding Noah. Or rather, Noah allowed me to be in the same room as him if I stayed very quiet. Also, Gemma asked if you could swing by before we open. Her washing machine is leaking.”
“I don’t— you weren’t supposed to—” He glances between the laptop and the door. “You need to come back later.”
I raise my brow at his tone, a little curt for my liking. “Why?”
“Because I said so and I’m your boss.”
I snort at that. “I’m going to make you try my new cocktail and then see how many of those Christmas napkins we still need to use.”
“Katie, I’m serious.”
“About what? If it’s spreadsheet time, I’ll be quiet. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Would you just—”
He breaks off at the sound of a car pulling up outside, and I pause at how nervous he looks.
“Are you expecting someone? Oh my God, do you have a date? You have a date, don’t you? That’s why you’re in a tie. Is it that woman from Rossbridge? The one with the nice coat?”
“It’s not—”
“She seemed nice. She laughed at my joke.”
The door to the pub swings open, and we both turn to face it, me grinning stupidly, but it’s not the pretty teacher who he’d been seeing on and off before Christmas.
It’s Callum.
His broad frame fills the doorway, and I straighten in surprise. He’s dressed like he’s come straight from the construction site, all rugged and capable andI can carry that for you, and the way his eyes immediately find mine makes me go all fluttery inside. Do I have a crush? I feel like I’m getting a crush.
I tie my hair back, offering him a smile, but before I can say hello and welcome and would you like to try a bespoke cocktail, he drops his gaze and steps to the side, letting in the one man I would have been happy to never see again.
Jack Doyle enters the pub, and if Callum’s attention was on me, Jack’s goes solely to Adam, who he smiles wildly at as he strides inside like his face isn’t plastered to two dartboards by the fireplace.
“Sorry we’re late,” he says. “I got held up at the office. This is Callum Dempsey, my right-hand man, and I’d like you to meet Peter from our legal department. Peter, Adam. Adam, Peter.”
Another man, shorter and rounder and dressed just as nicely, follows on Jack’s heels to shake Adam’s hand. I watch all of it with my hair half up and falling out of the clip.
“Is there somewhere we could get set up?” Jack asks, and Adam nods, clearing his throat. His movements are stiff and unnatural, like he doesn’t know how to act.
“My office is in the back,” he says, gesturing around the bar.
“Perfect,” Jack says. “And maybe some water?” Only now does he acknowledge my presence.
