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A badass goddess of a Kitchen Witch. A powerful woman. A woman who had walked into the pub and changed the trajectory of my life. A woman who had the power to break me.
Anxiety was kind of a bitch, wasn’t it?
“I am aniceperson. I am agoodperson. I can be the partner that Lia needs,” I recited to myself as I finished getting ready. Right, I sounded like an eejit. Talking to myself like I was in a motivational seminar. Sighing, I hopped in the car and turned the music all the way up to drown out my thoughts as I drove to MacAlpine Castle.
It wasn’t quite dinnertime, but the surprise I had arranged was already waiting for me outside the kitchen. One look at Lia’s face told me that I might have miscalculated a bit. Kicking myself for not arriving earlier, I pasted a hopeful smile on my face.
“Munroe. What are these men doing here?” Lia bit the words out, as though she was just holding back her rage.
My eyes lit on the group of men who waited for my orders. Smart men, as they all kept their mouths shut.
“I hired them to move all the heavy furniture for you. So you could come to dinner,” I explained.
“Hired…” Lia put her hands on her hips, her face mutinous.
It didn’t help that I thought she looked even more beautiful when she was angry. Her eyes were alight with fire, hair fell loose from her braids, and her body vibrated with energy. I wanted to massage the tension from her shoulders, but suspected she’d swipe at me if I touched her. Instead, I waited her out.
“You can’t just make decisions for my restaurant.” Lia jutted a finger into the air, spiking each word like an exclamation point. “I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help, Munroe. I can do this on my own.”
The stubborn lift of her chin told me there was more to the story here, and I suspected if she was as proud as I was, that she wasn’t about to unpack it in front of a group of strangers.
“Can you show me the banquet hall again?” I asked, walking into the kitchen, and forcing her to follow me.
“I’m serious, Munroe. I can do this on my own,” Lia insisted, and I pressed my lips together as I studied the mountains of furniture still stacked in piles in the cavernous hall. She could do some of it on her own, but even she couldn’t lift all of this furniture by herself. I thought for a moment about what angle I wanted to take before turning to her. This time I did grip her shoulders and leaned closer, forcing her to look up at me.
“Here’s the deal, Lia. I well know you’re more than capable of handling all of this on your own. And I know you didn’t ask for help. But those men out there? Those are the same men you’ve seen who keep coming up to me at the pub, begging for work. They have families to feed. While I can’t give them much to do until I have a distillery to build, at the very least I can give them this. You’d be helping the community out if you let them come in and take care of this. Just tell them exactly what you want done, and I trust they’ll handle it for you.”
“Oh.” Lia visibly deflated, and she bit her lower lip as her eyes darted around the room. “Well, in that case,I’mpaying for their services.”
“Too late, they’re already under contract with me. When this is done, which will take several days, feed them. They’ll be delighted. In the meantime, you’ve promised me a date.”
“But only if the restaurant was done…” Lia trailed off when I gave her a chiding look, and she sighed, pinching her nose before nodding into her hand. “Right. Give me a moment, and then we can bring them in.”
I moved to the door and then stopped when I heard Lia whispering into a corner.
“Brice. There are men coming in to move the furniture around the next few days. You might want to hide in the pantry. I’ll put your dinner in there.”
My eyebrows lifted, and I crossed my arms over my chest when Lia turned and caught me staring.
“Brice?”
“That’s his name,” Lia muttered, a mulish look still on her face. “And he’s very nice. He’s been nothing but helpful.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said. “Brice is a good name. A strong name. I’m happy you have someone looking after you while you’re here.”
A soft chattering from a dark corner drew my attention, and I could only hope that Brice was pleased with my words.
“I don’t need looking after,” Lia protested as we went back into the kitchen, and she grabbed her notepad.
“Nobody does, Lia. But it’s nice he’s here to help, nonetheless. I know you can handle yourself, and you are a stunning badass warrior queen. I’m just saying that I’m glad he’s here. If you don’t mind him and he’s helpful, it’s not a bad thing, aye?”
“I guess?” Lia asked, scrunching her face up as though she was uncertain if itwasa good thing to be looked after.
A short time later, after Lia had given the men a very detailed diagram of where she wanted the furniture moved to, and Archie had arrived to oversee the removal of the overflow pieces, I cooled my heels in the main lounge of the castle. Sir Buster growled at my feet while Lady Lola flopped into my lap, content to be given all of the adoration she rightly deserved.
Sir Buster jumped up in a flurry of rage and raced into the hallway.
“Crabbit beast,” Lachlan muttered as he came into the room. His face brightened when he saw me. “Munroe! How’s it going then?”
