He waved Maeve off. “It’s fine. Pass her plate here.”
Sure enough, his niece was happy to eat once she had extra attention and all the meat and veggies scraped away from her portion. He’d have mashed potatoes in his lap by the end of dinner, but at least she was eating. Maeve tossed him a grateful smile over a hunk of soda bread and relaxed in her chair.
“Kiki?” Saoirse tilted her head back as she looked at him, her mouth still full of potatoes. “I liked that lady.”
As Kieran’s stomach dropped, Maeve perked up. “Lady? You mean Rachel, sweetling?”
He tickled Saoirse’s ribs, willing her to forget, but the little sprite squealed out a loud “no.”
Maeve’s dark blue eyes settled on him, a mischievous smile stretching her lips. “Who’s the lady, Kier?”
Maybe if he shoveled beef and veggies into his mouth, he could get out of answering.
Maeve’s brows lifted in challenge.
“Probably some busted boomer,” Danny crooned from around his water. “Kieran couldn’t pull a hot piece of ass if his life depended on it.”
Kieran shot Danny a withering glare. “Watch your mouth.” He tipped his chin toward Saoirse. “And we don’t talk about women that way.”
His brother scowled and resumed stabbing at his meal. The fork tines scraped against the plain white ceramic.
Kieran’s molars were liable to crack one of these days. Hepried his jaws apart and sucked in a calming breath before turning his attention back to his sister. “She’s the new hire.” He scooped some of his mashed potatoes from his plate onto Saoirse’s and took her discarded pie filling for himself. “Neal hired her to manage our social media and attract more people. Doubt she’ll last.”
“Well, she won’t with that attitude.” Maeve rolled her lips as she studied him. “You should invite her over sometime.”
No way in hell. The last thing Danny needed was an unfamiliar woman showing up on their doorstep. “I don’t fraternize with coworkers.”
Maeve wadded up her napkin and threw it at him. “Sebastián would whimper like a neglected puppy if he heard you saying that.”
Sebastián was also a dramatic pain in his ass who, unfortunately, was one of the best personal trainers South Side MMA had seen in years and, even more unfortunately, was his best friend. “Seb’s different,” he grunted.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were an old married couple.” She sipped her water then swirled the ice. “Neal’s always talking about how everyone working at the gym is family. You should host a barbecue or something. Ask Neal if Patricia will make her famous macaroni and cheese. Invite everyone and their families. I’ll even help you set up.”
“And I suppose you’ll only be staying for the mac and cheese?” he drawled.
Maeve’s wide cheekbones warmed with a tomato-red blush. “I’ll stay to clean up, too.”
Saoirse tugged on his sleeve. “Kiki? I finished.” She pointed at her plate, which had a stray pea and a small mound of picked-at mashed potatoes on it.
“Yes, you may be excused.” He eased her off his lap and pointed her to the restroom. “Go clean up.”
Danny didn’t bother to ask and stood without taking his plate.
Before he could disappear into his room, Kieran called back. “Clean up your mess or the Xbox is mine.”
With a growl of frustration, Danny dragged his feet back into the dining room, grabbed his plate, flatware and cup with a clatter and dumped them in the sink. He didn’t rinse the plate, but that was another battle Kieran had no interest in fighting today. He waited until Danny was back in his room before dropping his forehead into his palm.
“Still giving you attitude every day?” Maeve’s fork clinked against the plate, and her chair creaked.
“Yep.” Kieran leaned back in his chair, too, and sighed. “At least Shauna was silent with her attitude.” He threaded his fingers through the thick hair at his temple. “You know I found a gray hair this morning?”
Maeve chuckled. “He takes after you, you know. You were always mouthing off to Dad.”
To keep his attention off you and the kids.Kieran rolled tension from his neck and stood. He stacked the remaining plates, and Maeve collected the cups and flatware.
A comfortable silence fell between them as they hand-washed the dishes and packed away leftovers.
“So, what’s her name?” Maeve asked from the refrigerator.
