With that, the other three headed inside.
“I know it seems like overkill,” I said to Cian, my tone apologetic.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “If you were my girl, I’d have a fucking human shield perimeter around this place.”
“Thanks for understanding. Okay. So, to the task at hand.”
“That’s impressive.”
“What is?”
“How you shift from unsure princess to boss bitch. Kinda hot.”
“I, uh, thanks. So, do you have any worries about the party?”
“Mostly just running out of liquor.”
“I really don’t think it would be humanly possible for this amount of people,” I said, looking at the guest list, “to drink that truckload of alcohol. What?” I asked when he shot me a devilish little smirk.
“Haven’t spent much time with Irish men, huh?”
“We could have another delivery if you’re really worried.”
“Nah. We’re good. The caterers showed up a few minutes ago too. So everything is going smoothly. You probably didn’t even need to come out, if you got shit going on.”
“Well, technically, I don’t. But… trouble kind of circles everyone sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know a thing or two about that. Once you get shit set up, though, you can head out. Don’t need to come to me about it. Once the drinks are flowing, no one is gonna notice anything else about the party.”
That was fair, even if a small part of me didn’t like the idea of people being so drunk that they didn’t notice my hard work.
“Okay. Noted.”
“Goose, you’re good,” my uncle called from the doorway of the cabin.
“Goose?” Cian asked, smile wicked.
I chose not to say anything to that and made my way inside the venue.
The inside was one sprawling space to accommodate any kind of party, but the giant fireplace (gas, I checked, since fire and drunk people did not mix) and the warm wood tones made it feel really cozy.
This party was set up in a mix of stations. A lounge area, a buffet station and tables, and then a pool and poker section.
Everything about the party screamed ‘dude hangout,’ and there wasn’t a single woman around except for myself.
To be fair, that was my doing.
When I saw the guest list, I’d made the executive decision to hire an all-male catering staff.
I wanted to believe that all men were as good and moral as the club was. But I wasn’t willing to risk some other woman’s safety on my hopes and dreams.
In the real world, a large crowd of drunk men could be incredibly dangerous. So I removed that possible threat.Without consulting Cian. But I figured by the time he noticed, the party would be half over.
I spent the next half hour moving through the venue, checking things off my list on my clipboard, talking to staff, and making sure everything wasjust right.
Then the crowds started making their way in.
So many men that there was no way this was just Cian’s crew, making me wonder if this was some sort of multi-state Irish mafia meet-up or something.
