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I shook my head. “I can’t marry you.”
“Please, just think about it,” he said, cupping my chin in his hand. “You don’t have to decide tonight. You can give me your answer tomorrow.”
I pulled back. His touch was too personal, and it reminded me of Keir. I had done everything in my power over the past couple of weeks to put him out of my mind. He definitely wasn’t thinking about me.
We drove back to the pub in silence. A line had formed outside to get in. Keir had kept his end of the deal, and the front-page article in the LA Times had helped. Too much if you asked me. I hadn’t had a day off since I had been home, except for tonight. I would have thought Patrick would have been ecstatic. Business was booming. But if anything, he was in a worse mood, more than ever. Plus, he refused to hire extra help, so we all were working double shifts.
“I’ll let you go in,” Cormac said, pulling up to the curb. His demeanor had changed on the way home from overconfident to pouting.
“Cormac, I’m sorry,” I started to say. He had spent every night in the pub for the past two weeks, watching me. I’m sure I bruised his ego with my refusal.
He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair. “Look, I’ll see you tomorrow. Perhaps by then, you will have come to your senses.”
I shut the door and headed into the pub. Inside, people crowded the dark wooden bar, and all the tables were full of rowdy guests, all talking over the Irish folk singer playing guitar on the small stage that had been erected. I headed to the back toward the kitchen and the office to put my purse down.
“Over here, Eve,” Patrick called out to me from a table in the corner.
“Let me just change, and I’ll take over,” I told him.
He shook his head. “No, come here. Don’t worry about work. I got you covered.”
Then I saw it on the table. An ice bucket with a bottle of champagne and several crystal flutes.
“Where’s Cormac?” he asked, looking around.
I shook my head. “You knew.”
“Of course, I knew. He asked for my blessing. Is he parking the car?”
“No, he’s not parking the car. There’s nothing to celebrate. I said no.”
“You said no?” He truly sounded surprised.
“Of course I did,” I scoffed. “I’ve only gone on a handful of dates with him, not to mention I’m only twenty-three. I’m not sure I ever want to be married.” I pushed Keir from my mind. That marriage was over.
“Cormac is a good man. He comes from a good family. We’ve known him for a long time. There are not a lot of men like him out there.”
“Then maybe you should marry him,” I snapped. I was tired of everyone trying to force me into things.
“Eve, you have no idea what you’ve done,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He grabbed my upper arm and led me back to his office. “How did he take it?” he asked concerned.
I shrugged out of his grip. “He wasn’t happy, but he’ll get over it.”
The office was small. Large piles of papers and files cluttered the small desk. He cleared a small section and leaned against the edge, running his hand through his dark curls. “Eve, there is so much more at stake here.”
“Like what? You’re being so cryptic. Just tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Don’t say that,” he said, correcting me.
My annoyance had quickly shifted to anger. “Jesus Christ, Patrick. You track my every move because you’re so protective. Why the hell is this so important to you. I would have thought no man would have been good enough for me.”
“Sit down, Evie.” He pointed to the one chair in the cramped space.
“I think I’ll stand. Whatever you want to say to me, just say it.”
