“Good evening. Evening to you as well, Jeremy,” I say, acknowledging the man.
“Lovely to see you again, Miss. Delilah,” Jeremy comments as he throws the SUV into reverse and pulls out onto the street. I buckle my seatbelt, and Keenan scoots closer to me, buckles his seatbelt, and throws an arm around me.
“How was work today?” Keenan asks.
Ever since the charity event he’s been really interested in my work life. He wants to know about my successes so he can be my number one cheerleader, and then when I feel as though I’ve failed, he’s there to reassure me.
“A mess, but we can get into it later,” I comment, leaning against him. He rubs his hand along my shoulder in a sweet manner, and for the first time all day, I take in a deep breath and let my guard down. I’ll tell Keenan later about everything, but it won’t be until we’re home. I have to tell him about my day, to vent to him about it, but how can I do that with his brother and Jeremy in the car? Simple answer: I can’t.
Jeremy drives carefully, and it takes us quite a bit longer to get back to Keenan’s house. I don’t mind the time, though. Honestly, I’d rather get to my destination alive and well versus the alternative. Once we’re up at the house, Jeremy parks directly beside the stone path that leads to the front door. Jeremy and Eamon proceed to get out, but I wait for Keenan. He moves a bit slower than the other two, and once he’s out of the SUV, he holds a hand out for me. I gladly take it and we walk side by side as we walk up the path.
We step into the warmth of his home, and he gets out of his jacket. I slip off mine, and Keenan takes it, proceeding to put it in the closet by the door. “Want to grab a drink? You look like you might need one tonight.”
“That would be great, and I do,” I admit, following him as he leads the way.
We get into the kitchen, and he immediately heads for the wine fridge. “We need something stronger than wine, Keenan.”
He stops what he’s doing and turns to look at me. “That bad of a day, huh?”
“You have no fucking idea. It was the biggest clusterfuck I’ve dealt with in a long time,” I comment, but it comes out more as a groan. I head toward the massive island in his kitchen and sit on a barstool.
Keenan inhales sharply and shoots me a curt nod. He goes for the top shelf of his cabinet and sets down a fresh bottle of Bushmills single malt Irish whiskey. “I was saving this one for a special occasion, but seems like we need it tonight.”
“We don’t have to drink this one, Keenan. You can pick anything from up there. As long as it’s strong.” He shouldn’t be wasting this on me right now. I will gladly drink something else to drown my sorrow and stressors.
He cackles lightly and turns to face the cabinets again. Keenan grabs two short glasses, opens the bottle, and pours us both a good-sized serving. He comes around the island to hand me my drink, and I gladly take it.
Upon taking my first sip, the strong liquor burns my throat. I desperately need it to take the edge off a bit, so I suck it up and handle the burn. After my second sip, I notice Keenan has his brow raised. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you so much?”
“Yeah, I’m just frustrated.” There’s no other way to say it. I’m furious. Things aren’t adding up quite literally, and it’s giving me a very bad feeling.
Keenan narrows his brows but takes a sip before asking his next question. “Did your father bring up his disdain about us being together?”
I scoff, “No, and even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time, and that won’t change. He can be displeased with me. He can be displeased that we’re dating, but he doesn’t rule over my life or my choices.”
Keenan cracks a smile. “It makes me happy to hear you say that. And I’m happy too. I don’t know if I’ve told you how happy you make me, Delilah, but you’ve made my life better in every sense of the word.”
A rush of emotion rolls through me, and for a second, I forget why I’m even upset in the first place. But I’m not going to let his words go unappreciated. I hook a finger under the chain of the necklace hanging from his neck and pull him closer to me. His eyes focus on mine and he licks his bottom lip. I continue to pull him closer until his sinful lips collide with my own. There’s nothing impulsive about this kiss. I’m taking my time in letting him know how much he means to me, almost as if I’m telling him through my actions how much I care, adore, and love him. Even now, I think I’ve loved Keenan Gallagher for a long time. I was afraid for things to progress with him, but the fact of the matter is this man has always had my heart.
I break our kiss, and Keenan brushes his hand along my cheek. “What’s the matter,mo stöirin? Something is weighing on your mind.”
I swallow hard and inhale deeply. How am I supposed to tell Keenan what I discovered today? Part of me doesn’t want to bother him with my troubles, not when he’s been through so much, but he’s the person I’m supposed to run to when I’m struggling. When life’s hard, he’s the one I’ll always go to him. I never witness my parents having any sort of stable relationship, so I struggle with this, with what people in a healthy relationship do. Then again, they’re dysfunctional as can be. It’s partially while there’s an entire ocean separating the two of them.
“I’m going to give you the short and sweet version, okay?” I tell him, but as I do, warmth spreads across my face, and I know I’m struggling right now. As much as I try to keep my emotions at bay in front of Keenan, I don’t have to keep my guard up.
When I found out the numbers weren’t adding up, I felt off like something wasn’t right. Then I spoke to the accountant my father hired, and the way she spoke to me confirmed something was indeed very wrong. But the thing that’s fucking with me the most is my father’s reaction. Something isn’t right, and I think he’s very well aware of it.
I blink and wetness comes from my eyes, because I know. It’s a gut feeling, and one thing I know is to trust my gut’s intuition. “A donor from the event asked me to look into the amount of money that was spent on a specific point of time. The number was a lot lower than I expected, especially with the amount of money coming from the higher-profile donors, so I questioned the accountant on it. The conversation didn’t go as well as I thought it would, and it left me thinking something fishy is going on, so I told her she was done.”
“You fired her? Okay, so what?” Keenan takes a sip of his whiskey and leans against the island.
I take a gulp of whiskey and swallow before I speak up. “I was going to tell my father, but he called me only moments afterward. He was mad at me for letting the woman go, giving me some bullshit about how she’s been working with Knitted Hearts from the very beginning.”
Keenan draws his lips into a tight line. He obviously sees there’s an issue here.
“Tell me what you’re thinking, please.”
“You already know something is off. I don’t have to tell you that, but I don’t see why your father would get angry with you for terminating someone who obviously hasn’t been doing their job correctly. Do you think he knows about whatever it is they were doing?”
