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VIVIAN

Viv wasn’t sure what the hell had gotten into her, inviting Cillian to move into her spare bedroom wasn’t her finest decision. Now, she was going to have to spend every waking moment in a state of perpetual horniness and that was going to be her stupid fault.

Hearing his story and seeing the sadness in his eyes, just about broke her heart. There was no way that she’d let him walk out of that diner tonight knowing that he was heading back to the shitty motel he was staying in. It wasn’t who her grandmother had raised her to be. And who was she kidding, it helped that she was completely taken in by his bad-boy charm and the sexy Irish biker thing he had going on.

The diner hummed to life before lunchtime, just as it usually did every day. She catered more to the lunch crowd and didn’t mind. In the evening, she got a lot of little league teams coming in for ice cream and snow cones. That was the best thing about living in the South, there was never a downtime for her business. When her Gram started the diner, it was just an ice cream parlor. Her grandmother spent some time up north one summer and fell in love with snow cones and came home to add them to the menu. After a while, people from town started coming in and asking if Gram had a lunch menu and the concept of the diner was born. Her grandmother poured her life savings into turning what was a simple place to get an ice cream cone into a full-fledge diner. They had their loyal customers and business never seemed to fall away.

Viv couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t want to run the diner. When she was little, her Gram told her that she should go to college and she could be whatever she chose to be but Viv would insist that she wanted to own the diner someday. When her dreams became a reality, she realized that owning a restaurant wasn’t as easy as her Gram made it look. The hours were grueling and didn’t leave much time for friends or dating, for that matter. She had a few steady boyfriends over the years but no one stuck. When she couldn’t give them what they seemed to want—her time, they took off. The only guy who stuck around was her ex-husband, Jason. Viv had a feeling that her grueling hours spent at the diner allowed her unfaithful husband to pursue other women around town. She was a fool and played right into his hands, but that was all in the past.

The entire day seemed to zip by and she spent it waiting tables with the New Kid and keeping a close eye on Cillian, making sure both were learning the ropes. She had to admit that Cillian seemed to know his way around a kitchen and everyone raved about his chili during the lunch rush. She was sure that hiring him had been a good call but the rest of it—the part where she asked him to move into her house and rent her spare room, felt like the worst idea of her life. Still, she wasn’t a chicken and she wouldn’t back down from her offer. She had already made it and there would be no going back now. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be responsible and make sure that there were some rules in place to keep her personal life private from her professional life. Viv needed to remember that Cillian James was a part of her professional life—period.

“Ready to head out?” she asked, turning the corner into the kitchen. “Wow—I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place cleaner,” she said. Cillian looked up from where he was washing the last big pot and smiled but she noticed it didn’t touch his eyes. Maybe a twelve-hour shift was too much for his first day. She suddenly felt bad for not giving him more breaks and reading the signs she was pushing her new employee too hard.

“You look tired,” she said.

“Thanks,” he grouched. “I’m just not used to a full day’s work. We usually had to work a four-hour shift since they didn’t want to let us out of our cages for too long unless it was necessary.”

Viv wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Well, good news—it’s quitting time. We can head home and you can get settled.”

Cillian loaded the clean pot on top of the pile of others and wiped down the sink. She wasn’t sure he was going to say anything so she turned to head back to her office to grab her things. She shut down her laptop and packed her bag, shutting off the lights and closing her door, to walk straight into a wall of muscles and tats—Cillian.

“Woah—” he grunted, his arms banding around her middle to help steady her.

“You keep doing that,” she complained. “You need a bell around your neck or something to warn others that you’re on the move,” she teased. Cillian laughed and she realized that he still had his arms around her waist. She looked down at them and back up at him, trying her best to cock her eyebrow.

“You okay?” he asked. “Your face is doing something weird.”

“I’m fine,” she said, swatting his arms away from her. So much for her subtle hints about him touching her. She was just going to have to come right out and say what she was thinking.

“Listen,” she started.

“Shit, I’ve been out of the whole scene for a while, but if I remember correctly when a woman starts her sentence with ‘listen’, things get ugly,” Cillian said. “We have a problem here?” he asked.

Viv wanted to insist they didn’t but they did—a huge problem. “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this or not but you’re a nice-looking guy,” she said. God, her heart was beating like a teenage girl and she was sure the next time she opened her mouth, she was going to vomit.

Cillian puffed out his chest and stood a little taller and Viv could feel her eyes roll. “Thanks,” he said.

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous,” she said. “I was going to try to make this less uncomfortable for both of us but I’ll just lay it all out there. We need ground rules.” She felt as if she was holding her breath, waiting for Cillian to start laughing or make fun of her, but he didn’t. Instead, he nodded his agreement.

“Wait—you don’t think I’m crazy for wanting rules for us to co-exist under the same roof?” she questioned.

“Nope,” he said. “I think it’s a perfect idea. I mean you and I don’t know each other and as you’ve pointed out—I’m attractive.” He paused to bob his eyebrows at her and she giggled. “And you’re sexy as hell—so I’d say ground rules are in order.”

“Wait,” she whispered. Her brain was backtracking, trying to grasp what he had just said. If Viv wasn’t mistaken, he had just called her sexy as hell. “What did you just call me?”

Cillian tapped his finger to his chin as if he was thinking hard about something and she felt about ready to slap him. “I believe I called you ‘sexy as hell’.” He winked at her and took her bag. “So, these ground rules,” he prompted. “Want to tell me about them on the drive home?”

“No,” she protested, although just what she was saying no to was beyond her. Viv felt all turned around and completely off her game around Hot Irish Guy and it was starting to piss her off. “Yes,” she growled.

Cillian had the nerve to chuckle as he held the front door open for her. “Which is it?” he asked. “Yes or no?”

“Yes, I want to go over ground rules but no, I didn’t drive here. I told you my house was just up one block, right?” He nodded. “Well, I walk here most days,” she said. “We can go over the rules on our walk home and then you can pack your stuff at the motel and move it over. I can give you a hand if you need.” The only thing Viv wanted to do with the rest of her night was to take a hot shower and crawl into bed, but she was willing to help Cillian out to get him settled.

“No need to help,” he said. “Everything I own fits inside of a small duffle bag.” Viv locked the front door to the diner and was once again at a loss for what to say.

“Sorry,” she said.

“For what?” he questioned.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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