Dominic (Saint Brothers #1) (14 page)

I had to agree with that. She’d freak out enough about this. Keeping her out of the loop was for her own good at the moment. “I’ll call in tomorrow night to make sure everything’s alright at the bar.” I was pretty sure Rachael wouldn’t mind helping me out for a couple of hours if I explained the situation to her.

“No. Keep to the usual routines. Again, if he’s watching, he will know that you popping into the bar on a weeknight is something out of the ordinary.”

As much as it grated on me, he was right about that. We had to keep everything as normal as possible, not only for Matt or whatever his name was, but for Lauren. She’d soon figure out something was up if we didn’t keep things cool. “You’ll keep me updated?”

“Sure will, bro.”

“And dad rang me earlier. Gemma wanted to remind us that it’s the family dinner on Saturday.”

“We’ll be there.” Kellin clapped me on the shoulder as he walked out, leaving me in silence.

Shit. This was getting more complicated by the moment.

Chapter Eleven

Fallon

Life had been hectic, which was just how I liked it. Being busy meant that I didn’t have much time to think.

Last night, I thought that I was going home to crash after my shift. My mind had been so busy with work that I’d forgotten all about my date.

“Are you ready to go?”

I jumped out of my skin when Taylor popped her head around the corner when I was leaving work. I’d forgotten all about our girly dinner date tonight.

“For Christ’s sake! You frightened the life out of me!” I’d been walking out of the rear exit of the hospital heading over towards the employee parking spaces, busy thinking about the hard week I’d had and I hadn’t been looking where I was going.

This was another one of those days where I was glad when my shift had come to an end. It wasn’t that it had been particularly hard or stressful, it had been more annoying than anything else.

I had been called into my supervisor’s office just after I had come back off of my break. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a cause for concern as I had always got on really well with Gayle, but today she had looked royally pissed off when she’d walked me into her office.

I couldn’t think of what I had done wrong, but as soon as Gayle started telling me what the problem was, I was seething. All I could do was apologise profusely, even though I couldn’t promise that it wouldn’t happen again.

My mother had happened. Again. She couldn’t seem to grasp that this was my place of work and that she couldn’t ring me night and day whenever she felt like it. It wasn’t just that I was busy working and helping people, but we weren’t really supposed to take any personal calls during our shifts, unless it was an emergency call. Obviously, my mother deemed all of her calls an emergency and was apparently treating all of my co-workers like they were my personal secretaries.

I had talked to her about this numerous times before but it seemed that, yet again, she wasn’t listening to me. I was going to have to have another word with my father and try to get him to talk to her and get her to back off. This couldn’t go on.

All I could do was apologise to Gayle and the rest of them and they accepted it good naturedly. As the shift manager, she ruled us all with a firm hand but not an iron fist. Gayle was always someone that you could go to if you had a problem. It was understandable that she would be annoyed at this situation, she didn’t have time to waste taking inane messages from my mother.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to make you jump.” Taylor grinned at me sheepishly.

Nudging her with my shoulder, I smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It was my fault anyway. I was off in my own little world.”

“Anything you need to talk about?”

“Not really.” I shook my head. “It’s just my mother not taking my job seriously again.”

Taylor smiled at me with understanding. She knew exactly what my mother was like. “I bet this wedding is sending her into overdrive, huh?”

“You bet. And I don’t think that the guys at work appreciate having to take message from her about ice sculptures and flower arrangements.”

“It sucks to be you.” Taylor rolled her eyes and laughed, knowing that my mother would never change. We all knew what she was like when she got a bee in her bonnet and planning this wedding was taking over her life, and everyone else around her.

“Are you going to follow me there?”

Nodding and getting into my car, this was something we often did. As long as my shifts allowed, we went out for a girly meal every few weeks and we each took our own car, making it easier for when we were finished and heading home in separate directions.

Pulling into the car park behind Taylor, I locked up and walked over to where she was waiting for me.

Walking into the bar, we headed straight for our usual table. Luckily, it was still only relatively early and the after work crowd didn’t usually head out this way anyway.

I loved this old bar. It wasn’t the kind of place my family would ever dream of setting foot inside, which made me only love it more.

I had discovered it back when I was in student training and the place hadn’t changed a bit since then. It was an old school type pub, with booth lines in red leather, worn old wooden tables and subdued lighting. It was the kind of place that had a slightly musty smell, the obligatory old man sitting at the bar and the feeling of being at home.

“I’ll go get us a drink.” Taylor threw her bag down on the bench opposite me as I slid in and got settled.

Refusing to get my phone out of my bag, I settled for looking around and people watching. Not that there were many people in yet, but there were a couple of families seated and I smiled to see their children happily occupied colouring in their place mats. This pub clearly had a soothing affect one everyone that came in, including usually rowdy children.

Placing a Pepsi with a slice of lemon and no ice on the table in front of me, Taylor sat down with a sigh.

“Hard day?” I asked.

“We had a big delivery. I felt like my arms were going to drop off by the time we were done with it.”

If there was anyone that I was jealous of when it came to our working lives, it was Taylor. She worked in a quaint independently owned bookstore, which was like a dream come true. Despite the digital age, the small business was doing well for itself. I couldn’t think of anything better than being surrounded by books all day long, even though I knew that Taylor didn’t sit around on her backside reading all the time.

“So, what has your mother been up to now?”

I rolled my eyes. “Same old, same old. You know what she’s like.”

“Yeah, but ringing you up at the hospital? That’s going a little far, even for her.” She said when I told her how many times my mother had called that day. “Can’t you talk to your father about it? Perhaps he can make her see sense.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it.” My mother one to be easily reined in. She was on a roll with all of this wedding bullshit and I had the feeling that nothing would hold her back. I just had to hope that she wouldn’t lose me my job in the process.

Changing the subject, I asked with a smile, “So how are things going with that guy? John?”

Taylor’s eyes lit up immediately. “We went out again last night.”

I smiled. It was about time she found someone who treated her right. All Taylor was looking for was someone that would treat her right and someone to grow old with. That wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?

“So, are you going to tell me what he’s like?”

Taylor launched into a huge speech, detailing everything about him and where he had taken her on their dates. He really did sound like a good guy, but a little too perfect for my taste. He sounded like the kind of men that I’d grown up around, but if he made my friend happily, who was I to argue?

“Are you going to tell me what happened with you and that guy at Decadence?” she asked me with a sly smile as soon as our dinner was brought to the table.

I took a moment to cut a piece of steak and put it in my mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Swallowing, I narrowed my eyes at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Taylor burst out laughing. “You’re a rubbish liar. You know exactly who I’m talking about. The hottie in the suit.”

“At Decadence? A hottie in a suit? I think that you’re going to have to narrow it down a bit more.” I giggled.

“Fallon, you know exactly who I am talking about and the fact that you’re being coy about it tells me that something happened.” She pointed at me across the table with her fork. “Plus, the just-fucked-hair after you disappeared with him tells me a lot.”

I groaned and put my head in my hands. Obviously I couldn’t pull the wool over her eyes. At the time, I didn’t think she had even noticed with her being so engrossed with John or whoever his name was, but evidently she took more notice than I gave her credit for.

“It’s complicated.”

“Why? Why is it so complicated? Do you like him?”

“More than I should really.” I said grudgingly. In all fairness, I didn’t even know him, but what I did know, I really liked a lot.

“So, you like him. What’s the complication then?”

I snorted out a laugh. “Because for one, I don’t know if he likes me back and for two, he’s Lauren’s boss.”

Taylor’s mouth gaped open wide as she stared at me.

“Close your mouth, Tay. You look like a fish.” I chuckled as I nibbled at my salad.

Her mouth snapped shut and she leant over the table to whisper, “You slept with Dominic Saint?”

“You know him?”

“I know who he is.” She nodded eagerly. “Why didn’t you tell me? How could you not recognise him?”

“Because I didn’t have a clue who he was at the time. We didn’t exactly swap names.” I could feel myself cringing a little at the admission. Even though I didn’t feel any guilt about my one night stand because, seriously, how could I ever feel bad about the best sex I’d ever had? I did feel strange that I hadn’t even known his name at the time. I wasn’t one for faceless, nameless sex, but evidently, he was.

“Wow.” She sat back with a look of admiration on her face. “So, how was he?” Her eyes sparkled.

Bursting out laughing, “No details!” I wagged my finger at her.

Taylor pouted. “You’re seriously going to hold out on me? Those Saint Brothers are legendary. Haven’t you noticed how hot they all are?”

“Seeing as I didn’t have a clue who any of them were when I met him, forgive me for not taking more notice.” I rolled my eyes and grinned at her.

“But, seriously? Dominic Saint? Wow.”

“Well, don’t hold your breath because I don’t think there will be a repeat performance.”

Taylor looked serious again for a moment. “You haven’t seen him again?”

Staring at my plate, I couldn’t look at her. I knew my face was going to be as bright as a tomato. “I didn’t say that.”

“What? When? Spill!”

I sighed heavily. He was the best I’d ever had, but both times had been under circumstances that I wouldn’t usually find myself in. It was hard to explain what happened, so I decided to keep it simple. “You know all that stuff that’s been going on with Lauren?” She nodded. “Well, she asked me to sit at the bar with her while she finished her shift. He was there.”

“Obviously, it’s his bar.”

“I didn’t know that at the time.” And I could slap myself around the head now. I should have had the sense to put it together.

“So, what happened?”

“What do you think happened?” I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“You didn’t? Again?” Taylor burst out laughing. “That’s so not like you.”

“Tell me about it.” I smiled wryly.

“And you still think he doesn’t like you?”

I scowled for a moment. “Sex on a plate isn’t something that most men would have the strength to turn down.”

“You’re not like that and you know it. No way did you throw yourself at him.” She scolded me, “Don’t sell yourself short like that.”

Putting my head down again, I concentrated on eating in silence for a few minutes. Taking a long, cool drink, I wiped mouth on the napkin. “He’s way out of my league.”

“Don’t be so silly. He’d be lucky to have a girl like you.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” Taylor frowned.

“Because I’m not going to see him again.” Of that, I was quite adamant. Dominic was hotter than hell and from everything I’d heard about him from Lauren, it all pointed to him being one of the good guys, but I still couldn’t see it happen.

There was too much between us. I had my own issues and it was like Dominic had a solid wall built around him that I didn’t think I could penetrate. Was it worth even trying? I wasn’t sure.

“Look, just don’t write him off yet, okay? Just keep an open mind.”

I grudgingly agreed, knowing that it wasn’t likely I would see him again anyway.

Finishing up our meal, we walked out to the car park and I gave her a hug before getting into my car. Taylor was such as sweetheart and she never failed to make me feel better. Last night, she’d been a great friend and had given me a lot to think about.

Tonight? All I could feel was relief at my shift being over tonight. We’d been rushed off our feet, everything from tonsillitis to a fatal car crash. There had been no time to think, we just had to act. In a way, I preferred nights like that, being busy every single minute. But, tonight? I was too tired from it all.

Usually, I enjoyed every aspect of my job. It gave me a great feeling to know that I was helping people, no matter how big or small the job was. However, tonight had been a headache from the moment I walked in.

It didn’t actually start too bad. My first case was a mother who had brought her baby in. She had been so worried that there was something drastically wrong with her child and went into panic mode. Luckily enough, the little baby boy only had a slight temperature with a viral infection, something that was pretty easily treatable. She had been so upset, thinking that she had wasted our time and it took quite a while to reassure her that was what we were there for and that she had nothing to feel bad for. In my opinion, it was always better to get these things checked out, just in case. In the time I spent with her, I could see that she was a great mother and was simply concerned for her child. At least it showed she gave a monkeys and I assured her that we were there for her anytime she had any concerns.