“I tried.You didn’t answer.”
My brain was not firing on all cylinders yet, because that didn’t make sense.
I retreated to the bedroom to find my phone and check for messages or that sort of thing.That’s when Casey spotted Ringo, and my carefully divided world collapsed in on itself.
“Who the hell are you?”Casey grumbled.He knew damn well who he was having pointed him out last night.I don’t think that was the point of his questioning, however.
I hoped Ringo hid the knife.I cringed and waited for the telltale sound of a body hitting the floor or maybe even a scuffle.Casey might have a fighting chance, but he was about ten years past his prime and Ringo?He ate bodyguards for breakfast, figuratively, and could drop an assassin at over two hundred yards with a single bullet.I’d seen both firsthand.
“Ringo Devlin.”
I ran out of my bedroom just in time to catch their brutal handshake.
No love lost there.
“Good, you’ve met.”I looked at my phone and realized this was the one I’d bought in Milan when my other phone forgot its home like Dory, and never returned.“I forgot to switch this one to my old number.Sorry.”
Casey let go of Ringo’s hand.There were red marks where they’d tried to strangle each other palms-first.“Is that a new phone?”
I sighed.
“She lost hers.”
“You knocked it out of my hand, jerk.”So much for sexy-smelling chests.I opted for coffee instead.“What are you doing here, Casey?”
“Dropping off the bar keys.”
As much as that made sense, it didn’t.“Why?I have a set.”
“You do, but Niall doesn’t, and he’s closing tonight.”
Oh right.I was supposed to take care of that, but forgot.We had a brand-new bartender starting just in time for the holiday rush, and bonus, he was Irish.Or at the very least, Irish-American with a cool-sounding Gaelic name.The tourists would eat him up.Hopefully, he’d survive the weekend and become a regular part of our rotation.
Casey eyed Ringo.“You two know each other?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Damn Ringo for outing my lie.
Casey should be used to me by now.
However, both men stared at me.
“What?”I asked because my addled brain was missing their subtext.
“How long?”Casey growled.
Ringo crossed his arms and took a step back, all while watching me for the implosion sure to begin any second now.
Where had he put that knife?
In my back, obviously.“About a month,” I said.
“A month?As inbeforethe wedding?”Casey was in full cop mode.I hated that setting.
“Reminder, there wasnowedding.”
