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“It wasn’t just a simple cleaning job, was it?”
I shook my head and chewed the inside of my cheek. I was so embarrassed, but I knew Irma was harmless.
“I didn’t know he was there when I started,” I blushed.
“Ohhh?”
“Mom, I’m hungry,” Emma complained from the stroller.
“I know, baby. I’ll cook you up something yummy in just a few minutes.”
Irma reached into her glass case and pulled out a sizable cookie complete with a rainbow of M&M’s and chocolate chips. She waited for me to confirm it was okay before she leaned over the counter and handed it to her. Emma squealed with excitement, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound. I mouthed Irma a word of thanks and she turned her full focus back toward me.
“So… You were saying?”
“Well, I wasn’t there alone. He was there too.”
Irma just waited as I struggled to put into words what I wanted to say.
“I had gone to check the bedrooms to take stock of the job, and I didn’t know he had just gotten out of the shower when I went into his bedroom…”
Irma laughed out loud.
“Ahhh, saw a little more of our Kieran than you bargained for, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.
“And?”
“And what?” I breathed.
“Well, did you like what you saw?” Irma winked. Joy was painted all over her face. Her eyes were crinkled up with her warm smile and her light brown irises seemed to glow with flecks of gold.
“I… I… Maybe,” I finally admitted.
She chuckled much louder now.
“I don’t know. I don’t think he’s interested in me like that, Irma,” I added, trying to sound a bit more confident but even to me my voice sounded flat.
“Kieran Murphy has needed a strong woman by his side for a long time. Believe me when I tell you this, I’ve never seen him take an interest in a girl so strongly before. He’s interested, he’s just a stubborn one.”
“You think so?”
“Kieran has a lot on his plate, but he pushed it all aside to walk you home last night,” she explained.
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s just a nice guy that wanted to make sure I got home safe,” I debated.
“If that was the case, he would have sent one of his men to walk you home. Instead, he did it himself,” she pressed.
I chewed my lip, simply processing what she was telling me.
“His men?” I asked finally. “What does Kieran do?”
“Kieran has his hands in a lot of businesses that require a lot of men to help run. He does well enough,” she answered. There was a certain vagueness to her response that left me feeling the slightest bit uneasy, almost like there was far more than she was letting on. After a moment, I brushed it aside and made a mental note to ask him about it later if I happened to run into him again.
The doorbell rang and a pizza delivery guy walked in with a large pie and two large bags of food. I turned to Irma, intending to walk off and get settled upstairs in my apartment. She looked just as confused as I did.
“I have an order for a Leah O’Connor?” he called out.
