Page 31 of Since We're Here
“No! No plunging into the sea. No calling Oliver.” I hold my hands up. “Fine.”
“Well, that’s my cue.” Ian turns to me. “Nice to meet you. Come stop by sometime, alright?”
I lift a hand to Ian, promising I’ll do so.
When he’s gone, I pour a customer a pint and stick a cheese toastie in the oven, struggling to figure out how to work the contraption. Patrick sighs and presses the big squarestartbutton, then strides back across the pub to his table.
I don’t even try to hide my grin. Like it or not, he’s finally agreed to hang out with me.
8
PATRICK
Thursday, 06 March
Iglance over to my passenger seat, still shocked that Maddie Hart is there. At least she’s wearing leggings and a hoodie instead of one of her endless supply of infuriatingly sexy dresses.
I can’t believe I offered to cycle Slea Head Drive with this woman. I had to though, didn’t I? Oliver would want me to. Reese, too.
I should be at the brewery working on the final recipe for the first autumn brew batches we’re due to start this weekend. Sean attacks me for any mistake I make, so I need to be top of my game when it comes to him and Slea Head. And I should be working on that pitch for Wellington Pubs, who finally got back to me with a meeting date less than two weeks from now. I need to have a complete proposal and timeline ready for them. I want to be able to offer them all five of our brews—two of which aren’t even ready yet.
But if I keep Maddie safe, I’ll be doing Oliver and Reese a favor and also ensuring someone is around to help hold things down at the pub while I focus on the brewery.
Oliver texted me last night to catch up. He brought up the road trip, and while I didn’t outright lie to him, it felt like I did. It made me very uncomfortable.
“Why are we driving to bike Slea Head Drive?”
“Because the entire route is about fifty-five kilometers.” I look over at her briefly and she stares back, eyebrows raised.
“Sounds doable.”
“That’s thirty-five miles.”
“That sounds much less doable.”
“How much cycling have you done?”
Maddie shrugs and crosses her legs. She might not be wearing a dress, but I can practically see her skin through those black leggings. She’ll freeze her arse off.
“Loads.”
“Yeah?” I sneak another look at her.
“Well. I mean, it’s been a while.”
“Like how long?”
“I owned an amazing pink bike when I was in elementary school. It had pom-poms on the handles and a basket with flowers in the front.”
“Madison, that sounds like a very long time ago.”
“Are you calling me old? Because I’d hardly call twenty years a long time.” She pauses. “Twenty-three years. Twenty-five, tops.”
I snort. “Hear yourself?”
“Yeah, I do, and I hate it.”
I peek at her and she’s staring at me, smiling.Christ.
