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“Ah, come on, Ms. Sour Pants, stop being a drag.”
“Bree….”
“What?” Bree’s mischief was clear in her twinkling eyes.
“It’s Monday. We’re teachers. We can’t just go drinking ourselves into oblivion whenever we feel like it.” Kate tried to talk some reason into her friend.
Bree snickered. “Who said anything about drinking yourself into oblivion? Just one or two drinks while catching up with your bestie. Drink water, for all I care. We need to talk about your weekend. Those few hints you gave on the playground during recess need clarification—ASAP.”
With Bree being so easy to talk to, she never once made Kate feel bad for being a bit awkward or antisocial. It helped her come out of her shell. Bree quickly turned into Kate’s first best friend who wasn’t related to her. Not only was Bree easy to talk to and funny as hell, she was also beautiful without being arrogant. Her bubbly personality matched her long, unruly, curly brown hair. Her striking light blue orbs stood out in a stark contrast, making her even more attractive.
Kate never had her own friends in high school, and even in college, she never seemed to click with other girls. Sure, she had people to hang out with, but most of them she knew through her sisters. None of them were her own friend, someone who chose to be with her instead of letting her trail along because she was Kayla’s younger sister.
“Okay, so you don’t want to go to my place, but do we have to go to Lucky?” She groaned internally at the thought of running into Donovan at his family’s pub.
“Nothing like being in the lair of the lion. Pulling the bull by its horns and all that.”
“You mean, grabbing the bull by its horns?” Kate laughed as Bree glanced over at her while driving her car to the Mills’ family pub. She gave Kate a wink and returned her eyes to traffic.
“I don’t know. If I have to go out, I’d rather go somewhere else.” Kate wiped her palms down her black pencil skirt.
“I get that. You know all about my history with Dec. If I tried to avoid him all the time, I wouldn’t have much of a social life. Our families are still very close, and as you know, my dad left us ages ago and my mom’s not even in the same country right now. My sister Cait even works with Dec. I can’t live my life by being afraid to run into him. I don’t want to give him so much power over me.”
Stepping over the doorstep of Lucky, Kate quickly screened the patrons in the crammed pub. Phew, no Donovan. She released the breath she’d been holding and followed Bree to the bar. Brennan was behind the bar cleaning some glasses. He glanced up and did a double take at the sight of them.
Kate had noticed that, out of his four brothers, Brennan was closest to Donovan. He must have been aware of Kate’s reluctance to come into their joint tonight, as he was uncharacteristically forthcoming in his greeting where normally he would just say “hi” and continue his work behind the bar and let another bartender help them.
“Hi, girls. Good seeing you here tonight. Drinks are on the house. What can I get you?” Brennan smiled, and Kate noticed for the first time just how truly beautiful that made him. Sure, anybody with eyes in their head could see that Brennan was attractive, being the poster boy for tall, dark and handsome.
He was definitely the strong, silent type, but seeing a smiling Brennan? He could melt any girl into a puddle. Such a shame he didn’t smile more often. She would never say something like that out loud, since people always told her how she should be more sociable, and she hated it.
Maybe that was why she felt so comfortable around him. He seemed like the kind of guy who couldn’t be bothered by what others expected from him. She envied Brennan’s attitude. Maybe he could give her some advice about dealing with Donovan? Ha. Not likely.
“Ye never goin’ to make any profit with all those drinks on the house, boyo.”
Kate smiled up at Pops as he shuffled over and slid into the vacant barstool next to her. Smiling, Brennan shook his head while setting down two wine glasses on top of the bar.
“White wine, okay?”
Both Bree and Kate confirmed his choice, and Brennan poured their drinks.
“So, Bree what’s goin’ on with ye and my boyo, eh? I heard ye been seein’ some other lad? That true? Ye givin’ up on our Dec?”
Kate turned red in the face with embarrassment for her friend. Pops never seemed to care if a topic was better left alone. She hoped he wouldn’t drill her after he was done interrogating Bree. She grasped the cool wine glass with her sweaty palm as she waited for her friend’s answer.
Bree sighed and glanced up at Pops with a quivering bottom lip. Pops immediately reached over with his big, calloused hand and clutched Bree’s hand. Due to their positions, his arm passed in front of Kate, over her arm attached to her glass, so he could reach Bree. Kate sat stock-still between them and didn’t dare to move her arm.
“Aye, dear, dear Bree, don’t give up on him, ye hear? Ever since ye and yer sisters moved next doors to my boyos, he’s been in love with—”
“Pops, stop it. You can’t say that to Bree. Dec wouldn’t want you to—”
“Brennan Mills, stop buttin’ in. If ye want to take over my old joint, ye better learn when to put a sock in it. Ye can’t interfere with the lives of the people in yer pub by buttin’ into their conversations.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Brennan and Kate as they shared a look. Pops saying you can’t butt into other people’s lives was rich. He practically did nothing else, as he always had an unsolicited word of wisdom to impart. Despite his grumpy, in-your-face attitude, Kate really liked Pops. Although she wasn’t exactly comfortable whenever he asked her direct questions, she knew that his interest came from a good heart.
“Pops, I….” Bree seemed sad while searching for a response.
Brennan decided to put a stop to this conversation, because it was clearly making Bree upset. “No need to answer him, Bree. Pops—”
