were turned, and I walked in here to find some asshole with his hands on you, I wouldn’t be this calm.”
“Oh, she almost lost the cheap extensions in her hair, but one thing saved her.”
“What’s that?”
“You didn’t have your hands on her, and you weren’t kissing her back. If that had been the case, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“She’s someone I—”
“I don’t care, Shawn. Honest. As long as she’s not your girlfriend, and I’m not a homewrecker, it doesn’t matter to me.”
He blows out a breath and runs his hand through his hair. “Really?”
“Really. Now, are you going to help me with these orders or not?”
“You suddenly got really bossy,” he says. “As long as it doesn’t bleed over into the bedroom, it’s sexy as fuck.”
I laugh and drop a basket of fries into the grease.
“You know, I’m really sad that tomorrow is Monday.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because we have to go back to work, and that means I have to go back to hating you.”
He smirks. “You don’t hate me.”
“I might have wished painful things on you Friday.”
“We’re going to hit our stride this week. I can feel it.” He leans in to kiss my cheek. “Don’t sweat it, Lex. We’ve got this.”
“Right.” Maggie barges through the door with anger and frustration written all over her pretty face.
“He’s a fucking moron, that’s what he is. And if he thinks he can just sit there and look smug, watching me while I bust my ass in that pub, he has another thing coming altogether, I’ll tell you that right now.”
Maggie’s face is mutinous as she sets baskets of food on her tray.
“What in the bloody hell are you talking about, Mary Margaret?” Shawn asks.
“Oh, there’s a guy named Cameron out there,” I reply, earning a glare from his sister. “The chemistry is off the charts.”
Shawn’s eyes narrow on his sibling. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He’s about to find his Guinness in his lap, I’ll tell you that right now.”
She turns and leaves, letting the door flap in and out behind her.
“Who is this guy?” I ask.
“A family friend,” he says. “And, I suspect, the love of her life. But both of them are too damn stubborn to admit it.”
I raise a brow. “Wow.”
Chapter 7
~Shawn~
The room is dark, except for a stream of light coming from my small desk lamp. The house is perfectly quiet. Lexi’s in my bed, sleeping like an angel, and I’m in the office, working.
Not on our project. No, she might behead me if she found out that I worked on the movie without her. Just thinking about that day in Seattle when she highlighted and deleted all of my work makes me simultaneously want to throttle her and kiss her.
No, I’m working on a project that’s been on the back burner for a couple of years, always simmering in my mind. It’s a thriller with a bit of a love story as a side story arc. And tonight, I figured I’d come in here and work on it since I couldn’t sleep.
Sleepless nights aren’t new for me. Sometimes, after working at the pub, it’s hard to unwind.
Just as I’m finishing up a scene, I hear bare feet on the hardwood floor. I look to the doorway and see Lexi leaning against the doorjamb.
“I can go back to bed if you’re in the thick of it.” Her voice is full of raspy sleepiness.
“Just finished.”
I watch as she walks to me, wearing another of my shirts. It seems that she prefers to lounge in my things, and I can’t say that it bothers me, not in the least.
She leans her butt on the edge of my desk next to me and crosses her arms over her chest. “What are you working on?”
“A screenplay that I’ve had in my head for a few years,” I reply, scooting my chair back so I can nudge her in front of me, my hands on her hips until I’m staring right at her stomach at navel level.
Her hands immediately find my hair.
“Why couldn’t you sleep?” she asks. Her voice is hushed in the darkness. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s a manifestation of my imagination.
“Sometimes, it’s just hard to unwind after a shift at the pub. What woke you?”
“I don’t know. I just turned over, and you weren’t there. The sheets were cool, and I wondered where you were.”
“So, you found me.”
She smiles softly. “I did. I have a question for you, Shawn.”
“All right.” I lean back and watch her beautiful face,