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"Huh, that's unexpected," Dane says. "Well, since we're here, we might as well get a Guinness." He opens the door, the music they'd been hearing coming from inside. He leads Brittany toward the bar.
"This place is cozy." Brittany slides onto a barstool, turning to scan the pub with its well-worn wooden tables and chairs.
Dane slides onto the stool beside her. "And pretty busy for a weeknight."
A friendly-looking bartender soon joins them and sets two coasters on the counter. "What can I get you?"
"Two Guinness," Dane says.
The man nods, bringing them two glasses of beer a moment later.
"That's a lively song." Brittany takes a drink from her glass, her gaze on the trio of musicians sitting on a stage with guitars in their arms.
"And a good one." Dane takes the glass from Brittany's hand and sets it on the bar. Then he takes her hand and pulls her off the barstool, dancing with her as if she were the only one in the room.
Brittany's face is flushed when the song finishes, and they retake their seats. They drink their beer and chat about Ireland, hobbies, and favorite things to do while listening to the musicians.
Dane glances at his watch after they've been sitting there for a while. "It's getting late. Let's return to the ship and see if it's quiet enough that I can sneak into your cabin."
"Mmm, I like that idea. I'm more than ready to see how wicked you can be. And before you forget. There's still one thing you need to tell me."
"What's that?" Dane leans over and nibbles on her neck.
"You promised to tell me what you do for a living. The full story, this time, with all the details. No more cryptic summaries that don't make sense."
"I did say that. I'll tell you on the walk back to the ship."
Dane settles the bill and escorts Brittany outside. They start to walk away when her cell phone rings. She pulls it from her purse and looks at the screen.
"That's strange. It's Romeo from my office. I wasn't expecting a call from him. I'll need to answer it." Brittany puts her phone to her ear as she walks across the street to get away from the noisy bar.
Dane crosses the intersection behind her.
"Romeo, is everything okay? I wasn't expecting to hear from you." Her body stiffens as she listens. "Drake? No fucking way!" She stops at the curb and turns toward Dane, pulling the phone from her ear. "My nemesis at work got fired. I have to find out what's going on."
Dane nods and follows her to a bench by a souvenir shop that's closed for the night. Brittany sits, her eyes narrowing as she listens intently to the person on the other end of the call.
"Oh my God," she breathes. "Candace did all the research for my assignment, too." She looks worried. Deep creases line her forehead, and she nervously taps her foot. "What do you mean you double-checked her work, and there's a problem with my information?" Brittany frowns as she listens. Then, her head shoots upward, and she stares at Dane. Her eyes widen, her expression changing from shock to disbelief to anger. "I have to go," she croaks into the phone and hangs up.
"What's going on?" Confusion and fear grip Dane. He takes a step back when he sees hatred glowing in her eyes.
"You son of a bitch," she growls. "You own the cruise line."
"That's what I was going to tell you." Dane eyes her nervously, suddenly feeling like he's dancing around on hot coals. "My father started the company, and I'm a co-owner along with my older sister Rada." Dane scrunches an eye at her. "Britt, what's going on? Why does it sound like this is a problem?"
"Because it is a fucking problem! Do you know what you did,Dane Evans?"
"No, I honestly don't."
"You just cost me my promotion and maybe even my job. I work forExploremagazine. My boss sent me here to write an article about river cruising with a piece about your company. It's a pet assignment given to me by my editor-in-chief, which means my story has to be perfect. My goddamn promotion is riding on it."
"Britt, I—"
"No! You don't get to say anything. I get to talk." Brittany jumps up and pulls at her ear. "My article can't be published. Not anymore. If word got out, and it would, that I slept with one of the owners of the company we're featuring in an article, my reputation would be toast. The magazine's reputation would take a huge hit. We'd be laughingstocks, no better than a rag publication. If I had known, my boss could have called me back and given the assignment to someone else. Now it's too fucking late, and I get to go home with my tail between my legs and tell my bosses what happened. That'll go over like a nuclear bomb. I can't wait to tell them I couldn't control myself and spread my legs for the owner of the goddamn company." Brittany's voice cracks, and she turns away from Dane.
"Britt, you didn't know, and I sure as shit didn't know you worked for a magazine. Your bosses can't fault you for that."
"They don't give a fuck about the reason!" Brittany yells, her voice shrill. "They care about the result. They gave me an assignment, and I blew it. You should have fucking told me who you were."
