Something to Prove (9 page)

As if reading her mind, he leaned closer and whispered, “They work for beer and pizza.”

Moira heard him and said rather loudly, “Now that I’ve seen the place, I think you
need to offer me something better than pizza and beer.”

“A deal’s a deal. Besides, you owe me.”

“I’ve never owed you this much.”

“Ha. You’ve moved twice in the last year and I helped both times. If you don’t want
to owe me, you better get yourself a big, strong boyfriend for the next move.”

Moira moved toward Elizabeth’s bucket of water and dipped her hands in. “Believe me,
after this, I will.”

When Colin and Michael went back behind the bar, Moira mumbled, “And when I find him,
I’ll keep him hidden from you.”

Elizabeth grabbed another sponge and set to work. “Why would you have to hide your
boyfriend from Colin?”

“You don’t have a big brother, do you?” She began scrubbing the table beside Elizabeth.

“Actually, I do.”

Moira stopped, midswipe. “Do you introduce him to every guy you date?”

There really hadn’t been that many men in her life, especially of late. “Sometimes.”

Moira shook her head. “My brothers have a tendency to scare off any guy that wants
to date me. They’re even worse with our younger sister, Maggie. She had to go all
the way to Europe to escape the protective bubble.”

Elizabeth finished the table she was working on. “Having someone look out for you
can’t be all bad.”

“Not at all, as long as you never expect to get laid.”

“I heard that,” Colin called from the bar. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re a virgin
until your wedding day.”

Moira laughed. “Kind of hard to find a husband if I can’t sample the wares first.”

“Gross. I don’t want to hear.”

Moira threw the sponge into the bucket, causing bubbles to fly. “Are you going to
tell me that you would marry a woman that you’d never slept with? Have you ever even
dated a woman without sleeping with her?”

Colin stood in stunned silence.

“I thought so.”

Michael, who had been working silently, pushed Colin. “She’s got you there.”

Elizabeth’s face warmed. She couldn’t imagine having such a frank discussion with
anyone in her family. Janie and Lori, yes, but Keith?

“How about you, Elizabeth?”

“Huh?” Elizabeth returned to scrubbing furiously at the table in front of her.

“You wouldn’t get married without having sex with the guy first, right? I mean, what
if he was really bad in bed?”

Without looking up from her soapy sponge, Elizabeth said, “I don’t know. In my experience,
a kiss can tell you a lot about someone. If the chemistry is there to make your toes
curl from a kiss, sex won’t be an issue.”

“I guess I’ve been kissing the wrong guys. Toes curling I’ve had happen, but never
from a kiss with my clothes on.”

“What’s that about toes curling?” Colin asked.

Elizabeth’s ears burned and she couldn’t look up. She’d spent too many hours thinking
about Colin’s smiling mouth coming toward hers and how much fun it could be.

“Elizabeth’s had some great orgasmic kisses, that’s what. I think I need to hang out
with her.”

Colin strode across the room. “Are you trying to ruin my little sister?”

Elizabeth straightened from over the table. “We were having a conversation that didn’t
include you. Besides, your little sister is an adult. Maybe it’s time you treat her
like one.”

Moira swooped in and stood on tiptoe to wrap an arm around Elizabeth, startling her.

“I like her, Colin. You need to spend more time with her. She’ll be a good influence
on you.”

Colin slung a towel over his shoulder. “Not likely.”

Which? Spending time with her or her being a good influence? “Aren’t you supposed
to be working on the bar?”

He grumbled something and returned to his spot on the other side of the room.

Moira stepped back. “Let him go sulk. He doesn’t like being told what to do.”

“Too bad. I’m the boss.”

Moira swished her sponge in the water again. “I’m liking you more and more.”

Elizabeth found she liked Moira as well.

Colin watched Elizabeth work alongside Moira and a twinge of jealousy bit into him.
Sure, it had been his call to get his family involved, but he hadn’t imagined Moira
becoming friends with Elizabeth. He’d been looking forward to having time to work
with her and on her. He believed they’d hit it off if given the opportunity.

And here was Moira stealing that opportunity.

He strained to hear their conversation, but their tones became too muted. Instead,
he focused on the task at hand, clearing off the bar and everything beneath it. He’d
already tossed most of the bottles of alcohol. Filthy rags and dusty bowls collected
on the shelf underneath the bar. He threw them all away. If Elizabeth wanted to save
a few pennies, she could rescue them and waste her time cleaning them.

Michael looked up from his position squatting at the lower shelf behind the bar. “How
come Ryan’s not here?”

“I didn’t ask him to come.”

Michael grabbed some old mousetraps and flung them into the trash can. “He’s too good
for grunt work?”

“He wouldn’t have shown if I did ask. You know that. He thinks this is a stupid idea,
and he’s just waiting for me to fuck it up so he can say, ‘Told you so.’ ” Colin scrubbed
with renewed ferocity thinking about Ryan.

Michael stood. “That’s not true. It was hard while you were gone. Ryan felt responsible
for everything.”

“He blames me for everything.”

Michael shook his head. “He resents you for doing what he never could. He couldn’t
walk away to grab a chance at his own life. You did.”

Colin bit back his response. He hadn’t been grabbing at life; he’d been running from
it. “He’s still pissed off. Every time I think we’re okay, he accuses me of screwing
up.”

“He’s mellowed out. Wait till the baby’s born. He’s just worried about Quinn.”

“Doesn’t matter. There’s nothing more I can do. Maybe if I’m successful here, he’ll
get it. I’m home for good.”

Michael punched his shoulder. “We’re glad about that. Especially Mom.”

They both turned back to the job at hand. Colin had been home for a year now and he
was still trying to reconnect with everyone and everything.

After a half hour, Indy and Griffin returned from the basement. They’d lasted longer
than Colin had expected.

Indy wiped her hands on her jeans. Her ponytail was crooked and strands of her long
blond hair dangled in her face. “Your basement is repulsive.”

“Thanks. I think I knew that.”

Griffin stood behind her. “You need to call an animal-control-and-disposal unit. You
have some dead creatures down there, and we’re not taking any chances with whatever
diseases they might have.”

Colin laughed. “It took you that long to figure it out? I think Elizabeth and I came
to that conclusion about thirty seconds after we opened the door.”

“We gave it a few seconds more. We actually went down the stairs to investigate.”

“Then where—” Colin stopped himself when he realized that the two had found a dark
corner to be alone. He eased forward. “Please tell me you didn’t screw on Elizabeth’s
desk. She’ll blame me.”

Indy giggled. “Give me some credit. I just had a baby. But Colleen is up every few
hours. We don’t get a lot of alone time.”

Griffin put an arm around Indy’s shoulders. “We’re going to clean out the storeroom
for you. Got a broom?”

Colin pointed to the corner. “The room’s pretty small. It’ll be a tight fit for both
of you to work in there.”

“That’s the way we like it,” Griffin answered and they made their way into the back
again.

He watched them disappear down the short hall, jealousy burning him. He’d never had
a shot with Indy, although he liked to tease them about it. It wasn’t Indy he was
jealous of, it was what Griffin had found with her.

Colin shook his head. Sappy thoughts would get him nowhere. Finding some holy grail
of a woman wouldn’t fix his life either.

With the bar complete, he pulled out his phone to call for pizza and animal control.
Elizabeth and Moira had finished up the tables and chairs while he made the calls.
Indy emerged from the back and was talking with Elizabeth about décor.

“You know, Elizabeth,” he started. Her full name felt weird rolling off his tongue.
“Indy is a decorator. She’d probably give me the family discount.”

Indy smiled at him. “I’d work for free in exchange for babysitting duty.”

Elizabeth snorted. A very unladylike and unbusinesslike snort.

“What?” he asked.

She faced Indy. “Are you really thinking of entrusting your baby to Colin?”

“Don’t be so fast to judge. He’s actually very good with her. So yes, if that means
I get a few hours alone with Griffin, I’m all over that.” She turned to survey the
walls. “What do you have in mind?”

“Sports bar,” Colin answered. “We need some sports memorabilia for the walls, which
obviously need to be painted first.”

Indy stretched an arm out in front of them. “I’m thinking a dark blue. Broken up in
sections for each sport. How many TVs do you think you’re going to get?”

“Four, maybe five.”

“Five TVs?” Elizabeth asked with wide eyes.

He moved closer and threw an arm around her shoulder, an immediate mistake, but he
didn’t stop. He pointed to areas on the walls where he wanted TVs. “I think we need
to do some field trips so you can see what a sports bar looks like.”

Her usual cinnamon scent tickled his nose, and he wanted to sniff her hair. She pulled
away as if she had just realized he was touching her.

“I’ll tell you what. If you beat the other bids I have and get this place decorated
for under my budget, you can get all five TVs.”

He clapped his hands. “Done.” He had faith in Indy being able to do the job. What’s
more, now that Elizabeth had put the decorating in his hands, the bar would have his
stamp on it. His chest tightened with the thought. She was making it easier every
moment for him to reach his goals, and she did it unknowingly.

And Ryan thought he didn’t have any business sense.

Colin didn’t think he could be more exhausted. They’d been working what felt like
forty-hour days. He’d had to carry his own weight at both O’Leary’s and The Irish,
but it was worth it. After that initial day of cleaning, Elizabeth seemed to be warming
up to him.

As warm as she seemed to ever get, anyway.

She still insisted on wearing business suits, stiff and pristine, every day while
he wore his usual jeans and T-shirts. They talked, mostly about bar business. Every
time he broke through her defenses, she’d relax and smile until she caught herself
having a good time. Then sometimes he’d catch her watching him. Of course, when caught,
she’d scowl. He didn’t know what to make of the woman or their mutual attraction,
so he focused on the bar.

The place was almost finished. The best part was that the basement was cleared out.
Animal control and exterminators had forced them from the building for a couple of
days and they’d been playing catch-up. Final deliveries were set for tomorrow.

They were ready.

He moved around the bar to really check out the basement, to see the layout and how
they could best utilize it for storage. As he neared the hall, Elizabeth poked her
head out of the office.

“Can you handle finishing up here?”

“I’m about to go into the basement to have a look now that it’s all clean and fresh-smelling.
Want to join me?”

“As tempting as that is, I’ll pass. I have plans tonight, and I’d prefer not to smell
death before I leave.”