Ireland glanced at the hallway where the guys had disappeared. Who knew when they’d come back? “Keep it down.”
“Why didn’t you tell your boss?”
Ireland pulled her wine out of the yoke and set it on the table. “How was I supposed to tell my boss—a man—that I couldn’t keep the men who worked for me in line?”
“You worried it would make you look bad?”
“Itdidmake me look bad. I was supposed to lead them, not be run out of town by them.” Ireland dropped her head and rubbed her temples. “I tried once. To tell my boss that one of the guys I was in charge of grabbed my ass.” She looked up. “He brushed it off and said to take it up with HR.”
“And?”
“HR spoke to the man, and he told them it was an accident. Then word got out I was high-maintenance, and I never lived the reputation down. From then on, everything got worse. The men working for me didn’t touch me, but when I spoke to them, they pretended they couldn’t hear me. When I walked into a room, they’d snicker and laugh. They got their work done, so I had nothing to go to HR with, only a shady level of immaturity that wouldn’t get them fired or suspended. It was…miserable. Humiliating. They didn’t respect me. Not even a little. And I didn’t blame them, because you know how I am. As soon as I realize I’ve lost someone’s respect, I get all tongue-tied. I sounded like a moron whenever I was supposed to be keeping them in line.”
Cali reached across the table and squeezed her wrist. “You said it yourself, those guys were jerks. I knew you needed to get out of that place, but I didn’t realize how bad it was.”
Ireland gave her a weak smile. “It could have been worse. In any case, I’m here now and much happier.”
“Except with Bran.”
“What’s that?” Jaeg said as he and Bran took that moment to enter the room.
Cali stood and refilled the snack tray she’d laid out. “Bran ended up running the booze cruise the other day,” she told Jaeg.
Ireland shot her cousin a look.
Cali glanced over and shrugged as if to say, “I had to tell him something.”
Bran glanced at Ireland, and her neck warmed. The look he sent her was hot and intimate, as though he was thinking about their kiss in the water. “Hunt was sick, so I took over for a couple of hours.” Bran rubbed his chin. “I’m not the best boat host.”
“Actually, you were very hands-on.” Ireland didn’t know where that snarky comment came from. Maybe it was thinking about how she was over guys treating her like crap. Either way, she wanted to let Bran know thatshehadn’t forgotten what he’d done to her.Stupid life-altering kiss.
Bran’s eyes turned half-lidded. And then they narrowed. “Hunt had better find another backup. I don’t have time for boat tours. Got too much on my plate with the restaurants.”
Jaeg grabbed a handful of cheese crackers. “Levi mentioned something about new restaurant technology. How’s that going?”
“The entire system is shut down until their supposed specialist figures out why it’s malfunctioning.”
“And that’s taking long?” Cali asked, then sipped her wine through a straw while she ate crackers with Jaeg.
“Too long,” Bran said. “And apparently, they’ve sent in their best. I’m not impressed. It’s been days, and they’re still trying to figure out what the problem is.”
Cali glanced at Ireland and bit her lip.
Oh no, she wouldn’t…
“You know, Bran,” Cali said, “Ireland is a computer genius.”
Bran’s shoulders stiffened, mimicking the frozen panic that had rushed through Ireland’s body.
“No I’m not,” Ireland said quickly. What the hell was Cali doing?
Cali’s mouth twisted. “Don’t be modest. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get you a job at Blue?”
“I thought you said it took minutes after you sent in my résumé?” Ireland said, before she could consider her words.
“Exactly! They saw your credentials and hired you within a half-hour, because they knew they’d struck gold.”
Ireland didn’t like where this was headed. “What’s your point?”
