AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man had dark brown hair, and a neatly trimmed beardcovering his chiseled chin. It reminded her of Brennan who hadn’t shaved since she’d started to work for his family’s pub and damn him, but Brennan was even yummier with his stubble.
She had to tilt her head for a closer inspection because of the height of this guy. And where Kayla easily stood in the same spot; his broad shoulders crammed him in.
“Sure. Draft or…?” she pointed at Ed’s beer bottle, who was sitting on a stool next to this handsome stranger.
“No, whatever Ed’s having is fine, thanks,” he said as he nodded his head at Ed, who lifted his index finger from the neck of his beer bottle in greeting.
Mmm, so he wasn’t a stranger at Lucky, just a stranger to her. She grabbed a bottle from the fridge beneath the counter and opened it in front of him.
“Here you go. Anything else?” she asked and stood frozen in place, taken aback by his emerald eyes. He came across as a younger and definitely more carefree than Brennan, but somehow he still reminded her of Brennan.
“Well, I remember asking you for something else as well…” he said before taking a gulp of his beer.
She cleared her throat and rubbed her hands over her jean-clad thighs. “Well, okay. I can do that.”
He raised his dark brows while the tip of his beer bottle still rested against his full lips. He hadn’t counted on her giving in so easily. She took out a coaster to scribble her phone number on, but hesitated for a second.
Was she really giving this stranger her number? She went with a little white lie and said, “Oh shit. I forgot. My phone’s broken.”
He didn’t have to know she’d got a replacement phone from Kate now did he? The handsome guy laughed with his head back and when he placed his twinkling eyes on her again, she couldn’t stop a giggle escaping her lips.
“Okay. That’s a new one for me,” he said as he gave her a lopsided grin and tipped the beer bottle in cheers toward her.
“No, for real. A dog ate my phone—” she started, but he just kept on laughing.
“What’s so funny here?” If Brennan’s rumbling voice wasn’t distracting enough, his manly scent was doing her in.
“Hey, Cuz. What’s up?” the man said as he gave Brennan a man hug, leaning over the bar. They slapped each other's back and Errin shook her head after what he’d said dawned on her.
“Cuz?” she asked tentatively.
“Yes. This is my cousin Keenan. He’ll work on Lucky’s renovation,” Brennan said, waving his hand toward Keenan.
“Keenan, meet our new employee, Errin.”
She scoffed at his introduction. As if she was just his employee and nothing more. Well, perhaps that was all there was to it for him? She righted her shoulders and stuck out her hand for Keenan to take.
“Nice to meet you, Keenan. And if you’ll excuse me, I’ll find me a new phone so we’ll be able to connect soon.”
She winked at his smiling face before she slipped her hand from his firm grip, turned on her heel and burst through the swinging doors to the kitchen.
She closed her eyes and laid her hands on her stomach for a moment to breathe in as much oxygen as she could. Damn Brennan with his professional attitude.
“Ah, Errin! Finally. Is it time for our well-deserved drinks? Are the others still there?” Emmy said while cleaning up the last workstations for the night.
It was around eleven thirty and the last snacks just went out front. Emmy and the other kitchen staff, Paddy and Earnest, had been through a hectic night with a lot of backed-up orders when the stove broke.
Errin respected the hell out of Emmy, who drilled both middle-aged men to still bring everything out, working with one little portable gas burner left.
“Hey, yeah. Cait, Kayla and Fianna are waiting for us.”
“Something wrong?” Emmy said.
“Nothin’. Just breathin’,” Errin said with her eyes still closed. She peered through one eye when Emmy snorted.
“You’re so weird,” Emmy said on a chuckle.
“Well, it’s the slogan of this city, ain’t it? Keep Austin weird?” Errin responded as she grinned back at the cheeky brunette.
