Two of his sisters were already planning on some big night out. Maven and Immy had both moved over from New York just after Shay. Maven was a theatre director, Imogen another solicitor who had worked for the Callaghan Green office in New York until she’d decided she wanted a change and was starting for us in London next month. Both were single and I had a feeling this meal was the stomach lining for what was going to be a big night out.
“Maven has a date on Tuesday.” Immy looked at Shay. “With a doctor.”
Shay raised a brow but didn’t say anything as his mouth was too full of food. I doubted he was actually bothered that his sister had a date with a doctor, he was probably just glad that she had a date full stop after coming out of what had been a crap relationship.
“Doctor of what?” I had just about finished eating. I had my eye on a plate of Padron peppers that’d just been delivered to the table next to us, and some chorizo. I just needed to digest some of what I’d inhaled first.
“Medical doctor,” Maven said, her fingers running up and down the stem of her glass. “Cardiologist.”
Shay swallowed and took a gulp of beer. “If he breaks your heart, he should be able to fix it then.”
Maven shook her head. “Bad joke.”
“Glad you’re finally testing the water again.” Shay reached over to where a plate of chilli prawns were pretty much untouched. “’Bout time.”
“How about you, Shay-mus. Any dates on the horizon?” Imogen folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at her brother.
I knew that look. I’d seen it given by both Payton and Claire. It was shared when they’d heard about too many one-night stands, or seen my photo in too many pictures on social media with a woman they’d never seen before.
Shay just grinned and devoured another huge prawn.
“How about you, Seph?” Imogen’s eyes turned on me.
She wasn’t officially working in our office yet, not as a London partner. Her cases were still ones from the New York office and as she dealt with corporate law and a lot of international stuff that I stayed away from, I wasn’t up-to-date with what she was doing.
“I hear you’ve taken a vow of celibacy.” Immy smiled broadly and I cursed her spending time with my sisters.
Shay spluttered next to me.
I shook my head. “I haven’t taken a vow of celibacy. I’m just being picky about who I spend time with.”
Shay spluttered again.
“When’s the last time you had sex?” He elbowed me.
I shrugged. “When’s the last time you went on a date?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have time. I heard you have a new office-mate who’s a bit pretty though.”
The muscles in my back stiffened.
“Yeah. Georgia’s the new partner.” And she was pretty. More than pretty as I’d noticed several times already this week.
I’d had to watch myself staring at her hair. Apart from Monday, she’d worn it down every day, the dark red waves cascading down her back and occasionally over her shoulder. I’d wanted to push it away from her face, find out if it felt as silky as it looked.
There were other things I’d noticed too; just because I wasn’t tapping every female that was interested in me, didn’t mean I didn’t still have eyes.
Georgia was curvy. I’d noticed her ass when she bent over to pick up whatever she dropped in the office, the pants she wore fitted enough to give me a good idea of what those curves were like. Her shirts gave me hints of what was underneath and, I felt bad for it, but I had considered too often what they were concealing. There had been more than a couple of occasions when I’d caught myself staring at her across our office, wondering what she had on under those suits, whether it was plain and simple, or lacy and yeah, I tried not to let my mind go there.
Totally inappropriate. Max would chop my balls off if he could read my mind and not for the first time, I was glad he couldn’t.
Shay grinned. “Maybe you could introduce me. Everyone keeps saying that I need to date, and the only chance I have of dating is through one of you, because I can’t date anyone from the hospital.”
“That’s because he’s already slept with them all.” Immy popped a prawn in her mouth and gestured to the waiter.
More food and probably drinks were on their way. That was no bad thing, except I wasn’t drinking tonight. We had a rugby game tomorrow, which meant a few pints afterwards, and there was a family Sunday lunch after that, which meant everyone who wasn’t pregnant would be drinking, including my mother.
“I haven’t slept with them all. I just wouldn’t date another nurse or doctor.” Shay sat back.
