Page 144 of On The Rocks

“An old friend of Callum’s,” Beth replied, her face flushed and looking suitably chastised.

“I see,” Maeve clipped out, holding Beth’s shocked gaze.

I looked between the two women, a little dazed.

How could this happen? Did Maeve hear everything? And more to the point, did she think I’d blindsided her again? After the Saskia debacle, I promised Maeve I wouldn’t let another woman touch me, but Beth just pawed at me.

Fuck.

There was no way I could allow this to stand.

I grabbed Maeve’s hand and brought it to my lips to kiss her knuckles. “This is Bethany Tucker. She’s an old friend of mine. We used to see each other, but she lives out of town. She didn’t know about you until?—”

“Until you just told her you were married,” Maeve’s eyes flashed, “twice, I believe, and she still tried to put her hands all over you.” Maeve’s stare was definitely accusatory, but it wasn’t aimed at me; it was aimed solely at Beth.

My shoulders slumped in relief.

Beth looked between me and Maeve and then pointed at the door. “I’ll just...” Her voice trailed off.

“Probably for the best,” my wife agreed, moving beside me and threading her hand through my arm.

Beth’s face flushed redder, and she turned and fled.

My head swiveled toward Maeve, and my eyes lowered to lock with hers. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

To my shock, her eyes softened. “It’s okay. I was standing behind you, and I heard and saw it all. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She rolled up on her toes, kissed my cheek, and whispered, “You did everything right,” before rolling down again.

I cupped her face gently, my eyes darting between her cosmic-blues. “I just didn’t want to blindside you again, wife. I’m a dick, but I’m trying to do better.”

Maeve smiled. “I’m aware you have a past, Callum O’Shea; that was never my issue. I needed to know about Shannon and Saskia because they were around and the type to cause trouble,” she jerked her thumb toward the door, “whereas that one turned up out of nowhere, and you dealt with her. It’s all good.”

“So I’m not in the doghouse?” I asked.

“Well, you’re notoutof the doghouse.” She gave me her cute little giggle-snort, and it felt like she’d given me the world. “Let’s just say it was a step in the right direction. I want you to know there’s nothing you can tell me that’ll make me hate you. I’ll always opt for honesty, even if it hurts. Don’t ever be scared to come to me with anything because as long as you haven’t gone out of your way to screw me over, I’ll always try to understand. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me, but once I go away and think things over, I’m quite rational.”

My lips twitched while the memory of her kicking me out flashed through my mind. “No shit, wife.”

She must’ve got me because she rolled her eyes. “That’s my point. It wouldn’t have come to this if you’d been honest.”

I chucked her cheek. “Yeah. I do know it, baby. Now, about that date.”

She flattened her lips to stop herself from laughing and promised, “I’ll think about it.” Her eyes widened excitedly. “Did you know Atlas made me a mix tape?”

“I did hear a rumor,” I told her in a droll tone.

“The idiot even put that Justin Bieber “Sorry” song on it.” She laughed out loud. “Can you believe Atlas, of all people, listening to Justin Bieber?”

I smiled at the light dancing in her eyes. I’d missed it and seeing it again made me feel warm. “You’re right, he’s a total idiot.” I gestured toward the bar. “You wanna drink?”

“You know how tipsy I get. Are you trying to get me drunk, Callum O’Shea?”

Errr yeah.

“No,” I denied. “Just have a cider. It’s New Year’s Eve. Let your hair down.”

She nodded her agreement, then pointed toward the table where the women and Tristan sat. “I’ll just go...”

I nodded, gave her a forehead kiss, and headed for the bar, where my boys were watching us with interest. After asking one of the waitresses to take a round of drinks over to the women, I leaned on the bar next to Bowie.

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