Page 91 of Since We're Here
And he canceled the damn Wellington Pubs meeting and didn’t tell me about it until it was too late.
“You need to be at work. Go taste the IPA. Talk to your dad. Convince him to help out. And call the Wellington people!”
“I hinted at asking him to help me when I called. I’m sure he’ll say yes.” Patrick invited his father to join him and Cormac for the IPA tasting.
“Thank god.”
“And I already emailed the Wellington people on Sunday night. They acknowledged it withwe’ll get back to you with the next available date, so I need to wait it out.”
I groan. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“You’re the most important thing right now,” Patrick says, and my heart squeezes. “Not work. Are you sure you’re okay with me leaving?”
I growl as he slides his phone in his pocket.
“Yeah, and if I weren’t trapped here, I might head to the pub to work. Maybe I’ll walk to town.”
“Don’t you dare.” He picks up my hand and examines the healing scrapes, then touches the road rash on my forearm, which is looking so much better. “How’s your head?”
“Fine. I don’t have a headache today.”
“Good.” He moves his hand from my arm to my cheek, gently swiping a finger along my jaw.
“Think about it. You need the help, and I’m just fine. The doctor didn’t say I need to sit on my ass for a week.”
“You do have a very nice arse.”
“Patrick.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Who is covering my shifts? We were already short-staffed.”
“Saoirse is stepping in.”
“Huh? What about her job?”
“She’s cutting back on her hotel hours. I’m slowly convincing her to come work for me.”
“That’s great. It’d be fun to work with her.” But my stomach flips, because I won’t be here long enough to appreciate it.
“The girls might come over tomorrow night for a few hours, if that’s okay.”
“Of course, I can’t wait to spend time with them.”
“For now, just rest, Madison.” He runs his finger under my chin. A delightful shiver shoots up my spine.
“Can I make dinner tonight?”
“You up for that?” He leans back and examines my face. “I can pick up take-away on the way home.”
“Yes, I’m up for boiling water for pasta.”
He laughs and hands me his credit card, telling me to order groceries online for delivery.
I accept the card and step forward, throwing my arms around his neck. I tried my best to seduce him last night, but he insisted I needed to rest.
“I’ll be back soon.” He peels my arms off his neck and takes a step back. “But I am very seriously reconsidering leaving you.”
