Sensing his stare, she glanced over irritably. “May I go now?”
He looked at her dumbfounded. “You wear glasses.”
“Yes, I wear glasses. Do you have a problem with that too? Because—”
Most of the time, Ireland was on the passive side. But she wasn’t incapable of the fury her red-haired brethren were known for. And Bran had a knack for bringing it out in her. She was about to unleash a beatdown the likes of which no man had seen, when he cut her off.
“You look pretty in them.”
Her lips parted and she blinked. She snapped her mouth shut and growled, “Goodbye.”
Ireland moved to climb off the boat, but Bran jumped off first, offering her his hand.
She automatically took it, because dammit, she liked it when men were gentlemen. But she dropped his strong palm as soon as she was off the boat, and stormed across the sand toward the back entrance of the hotel and casino. She couldn’t wait to get out of Club Tahoe and back to her world of quiet contemplation behind a computer screen.
She might need more adventure, and she was fully open to it, but she didn’t need Bran in her life.
Ireland sippedher chai latte as she headed into work at Blue Casino on Monday morning. She’d managed to avoid Cali’s questions yesterday about the booze cruise by saying she was hungover and that she’d fill her in later. But Ireland wouldn’t be able to hold off her persistent cousin forever.
On one hand, Cali would be excited Ireland had merged into the world of Lake Tahoeman real estate. On the other hand, Ireland and Bran’s connection had been a huge fail, and that would only encourage Cali to push Ireland to get out there again so she could wipe the slate clean. She knew how her cousin’s mind worked. It was a matchmaking machine that didn’t quit.
Ireland had a few minutes before her shift, so she headed to Hayden’s office to say hello. Hayden Cade was married to Bran’s brother, Adam, but Ireland didn’t hold that against her. Adam was aniceguy, after all, and she’d become good friends with Hayden ever since Cali had helped Ireland get the job at Blue Casino.
Ireland stood in front of Hayden’s open office door. “Knock, knock,” she said. “Am I interrupting?”
Hayden rubbed her temples, her elbows propped on her desk. She looked up and winced as though it hurt. “Come on in.”
Ireland entered the office and frowned. “You okay?”
“I went out for drinks with Adam and his brothers last night and had a few too many. If only there were pills for fog brain and a pounding skull.”
Ireland sat across from her friend. “You’d make millions with an invention like that in the college market.”
Hayden smiled. “Or with Adam and his brothers. They were in rare form. And the weirdest thing is Bran was the ringleader. I’ve never seen him like that.”
Ireland’s back stiffened. “That’s odd. Bran seems the most mellow of the guys.”
Bran had been the most discreet the few times she’d been in their company, but the booze cruise proved Bran wasn’t always mellow. Or nice. And sometimes—just sometimes—he could be too nice.With his lips and hands. And her body still hadn’t forgiven him for it.
“It was shots from the get-go.” Hayden dropped her hands from her temples. “I swear he was trying to exorcise a demon with all that liquor.”
Ireland squirmed in her seat and couldn’t look Hayden in the eye. Here she was avoiding Cali, when really, she should have been avoiding Hayden.
“Is something wrong?” Hayden said.
Ireland tried to smile. “Nope, all good.”
“How was the booze cruise? I forgot to ask Hunt about it. Did he take good care of you and Cali?”
Ugh. Ireland was honest to the bone. There was no way she’d lie to her friend. But she wasn’t about to offer up information she didn’t need to.“Not exactly. Hunt was sick. Bran hosted the cruise instead.”
Hayden tipped her head to the side. “That’s interesting. Hunthadseemed sniffly, but that didn’t seem to stop him from filling his gut with alcohol last night.” Her eyes widened. “Maybe that was why Bran was so irritable? He’s not much of an extrovert. Must have driven him crazy entertaining all those people.” Ireland squirmed more, and Hayden’s brow furrowed. “How many people were on the cruise?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Ireland said. “Bran didn’t have others to entertain. Only me.”
Hayden raised her eyebrow. Then she stood, walked across her office, and closed the door. “Oh, I think I need to hear this.”
Crap.“I should probably get g-going,” Ireland said. “I don’t want to be late for work.”
