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“You haven’t even known her a year.” I laugh and wipe down the bar. “Crazy to think about, isn’t it? A year ago, you didn’t even know her. And now, you’re married and about to have a baby. Things can change so fast.”
“For the better,” he adds. “Because I wasn’t truly alive until she walked through that door.”
I stop and stare at him, feeling my heart shifting in my chest. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“We O’Callaghan men are a sappy bunch,” he says with that Irish brogue and winks at me.
“I have to go check on my customers.”
We haven’t been open for the dinner crowd long, so only a few of my tables are full right now. In a couple of hours, we’ll have a waiting line out the door, and I’ll be busting my ass to keep up.
I check in with my tables, refill water, take fresh drink orders, and when I return to the bar, I stop short.
Sitting right there, at the end of the counter, is Hunter.
His eyes meet mine. They’re full of humor and heat, and my freaking nipples tighten.
By the way his eyes fall to breast level and darken before returning to mine, I’d say he noticed.
“I need a pint of Guinness, a Coke, and two shots of whiskey,” I say to Keegan as I set my tray on the bar for him to fill. “Hello, Mr. Meyers.”
“Hunter,” he says and reaches over to tuck a loose piece of my hair behind my ear. My entire body comes alive when he touches me. “You look beautiful this evening, Maeve.”
I smirk, but his words make me want to preen.
I’m in my usual uniform of an O’Callaghan’s Pub T-shirt, denim shorts, and sneakers. I tied up my hair and even scrubbed my face free of makeup because it just makes me feel grimy while I’m working.
But I’ll take the compliment all the same.
“Can I put in a food order for you?” I ask him.
“What do you suggest?”
“Like I said last night, my mother’s stew is wonderful. The best on the continent.”
He blinks in surprise. “Then I guess I’d better try it.”
“I’ll go fetch it for you.”
I swing through the doors leading to the kitchen and have to stop to catch my breath.
“Why do you look like that?” Shawn asks.
“Like what?” I do my best to keep my face bland, blinking innocently.
He waves his hand in my direction. “Like you’re…”
“Turned on,” Lexi finishes for him and grins at me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I try to act nonchalant as I place the order for the stew. “I’ll be right back for that.”
I swing back through the doors, hurry into the restroom, and lean on the counter to catch my breath.
“Get it together, Maeve.”
Chapter 3
~Maeve~
“You’re two different people.”
I turn and frown at Hunter as I unlock the door of the house we’ve come to see.
My house.
“What do you mean? Are you saying I’m crazy?”
“No.” He chuckles and closes the door behind him after we step inside. “It’s interesting to see you in both of the places you work. They’re so different. You’re so different in them.”
No one has ever noticed that before. It’s not like my family hangs out with me while I sell houses. I have to turn my back to him and take a deep breath. It would help keep my libido in check if he didn’t smell so damn good.
“I would think that the real estate market would be good enough here for you not to need the second job,” he continues.
That has me turning back to him. “I don’t need it. Working at the pub has always been a family thing. Shawn and Lexi are famous writers, but they still man the kitchen. We don’t do it because we have to, but because we love it. I enjoy my family, Mr. Meyers.”
“Hunter.” He steps closer to me and reaches out to brush my hair over one ear.
“The truth is, there’s more than enough real estate business to go around. The island is popular and expensive. And, given that it’s not getting any bigger, there’s only so much of it to go around. I’ve seen it change dramatically since I was younger.”
“Does that bother you?” he asks.
“It used to.” I shrug, prop my hands on my hips, and turn to look out the killer windows that have an incredible view of the ocean. “But then I realized that I could be miserable here, hate the change and the new people moving in, or I could embrace it, love it, cultivate it.”
“And now you sell homes here.”
“I do. I love my island. I was so young when we moved here, it’s really all I know. Okay, enough about me. You should wander through and have a look.”
Please hate it. Please, please, please hate it.
