Page 14 of Shamrocked
“Nothing,” I said hurriedly, avoiding his gaze. I hopped down from the barstool and almost twisted my ankle in the process. Damned high stools. “What do we owe you for the drinks?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.” Still chuckling, he propped his chin back on his hand, his green eyes dancing with mirth. And yeah, heat. Even though he looked at me, and not my beautiful friend. That was going to take some getting used to. Maybe he winked and flirted with all the treasurekeepers.
I didn’t like that thought.
At all.
Neither did he, evidently, because in a flash, he frowned instead of smiled.:Not once in all of my five hundred and seventy nine years have I wished I was a cursed gargoyle. Until you.:
I’d promised Doran that nothing would happen. Besides, I didn’t know how to respond. I wasn’t used to having men interested in me. Especially when I was with Vivi.
“Let’s go,” I told her, still avoiding his gaze. I didn’t like knowing that he could hear my thoughts. How deeply could he eavesdrop into my head? It was creepy and invasive. I wanted to be alone with my fears and insecurities, rather than waving them around like dirty laundry hung out on the street for everyone to see.
He came around the bar and took Vivi’s hand. With an extravagant bow, he pressed a kiss to her hand. “Farewell, beautiful lady.”
As he came toward me, I tensed. I wasn’t sure what to say or do. My hormones were out of control. It’d been a long time since I’d made love. Hard. Loud. Sweaty.
It would be all too easy to let an image fill my head of brilliant green eyes above me. Or below me. With Doran’s rough palm sliding over my skin. His fist in my hair.
Both of them. Holy fuck, I was going to spontaneously combust.
I hadn’t even met Keane yet—the man with the sensual lips and the knowing heat in his eyes that said he knew a thousand ways to get me off and would take his sweet-ass time doing so.
Fuck. I was in serious trouble. I had no idea how to deal with random hookups. I’d entertained the idea of picking up a man for a night of fun, but couldn’t justify taking a stranger into Vivi’s house. It was too risky. I didn’t trust men. At all. Especially after Jonathan had made our split-up so ugly.
Let alone severaldifferentmen.
:What makes you think it would be a random hookup?: Warwick asked silently in my head as he reached for my hand.:I could go bespell any human woman that caught my fancy. That would be random. You, Riann, are destined to be their treasurekeeper, but you can keep me treasure anytime you want.:
He pressed his lips to the back of my hand, the same as he’d done to Vivi. But surely he hadn’t lightly touched his tongue to her knuckles.
Slowly straightening, he rolled his eyes up to mine, that damnable dimple still flashing in his cheek. “If you carry the token, you can call me to your side at a moment’s notice. You won’t have to come back here for information, unless you’re thirsty for Guinness, of course.”
I drew myself up proudly, determined to ignore the magnetic pull of his emerald eyes. “I’m not going to call you for help.”
“Sure, you are?” He gave me another wink before turning to move back around the bar. “Cheers, then. I wish you well.”
He had to have done that on purpose, turning around to give me a good long look at how well he filled out tight black pants that seemed to be painted on his thighs and ass. I dragged my gaze up to his face as he turned back around and could only hope I wasn’t drooling.
“Though I think you do be telling me lies.”
8
Shivering, I pulled my jacket up around my chin and stared at the blacked-out windows of the tattoo shop just a block from the pub. A skull was painted on top of the black, with crossed swords rather than bones. Exactly as in my painting. Not freaky at all. Gulp.
Heavy-metal music thumped through the door and motorcycles lined the front. Way more than three, so how many people were inside?
“Are you sure about this?” Vivi asked beside me. “I mean, I’m down with whatever you want to do, but this place is shady as hell.”
I agreed. We really had no idea what we were walking into. I thought about leaving. Vivi could call for a car. We could wait inShamrockedwith that nice warm fire and another pint. But I’d have to deal with that smug I-told-you-so look on Warwick’s face. Worse, I didn’t want to go home and look at my scowling gargoyle and have to tell him I chickened out. These guys were his friends. I was their treasurekeeper. Theleprechaunhad told me so.
I almost started laughing hysterically. What the fuck had I gotten myself into?
“You still have the pepper spray in your purse, right?”
She patted her pink sparkly purse. “Never leave home without it. But if there’s a bunch of assholes in here, then one little bottle of pepper spray won’t get us out.”
I sighed. “Let’s hope we don’t need it. Worst case, I’ll call for Warwick to whisk us away.”
