Finding Sunshine (21 page)

“I’ll go grab one and be right back,” the waitress says, smiling at the bouncing and happy little boy in my arms.

“So what did I miss?” Sarah asks, peeling off her coat and then coming around to help me take off Harry’s.

“We were just saying how great Aaron is,” Becca says, smiling. I can’t help but laugh, especially when I hear Jordan groan in annoyance.

“An An An!” Harry begins chanting, looking around the restaurant for him.

“Sorry, buddy, Uncle Aaron isn’t here.” I laugh, rocking him back and forth as he claps happily, still looking for his uncle in the crowd.

Sarah groans then laughs, asking my friends playfully, “Is this one as bad as Aaron is? All he ever talks about is Nina this and Nina that, how pretty, how sweet, how talented she is. It’s sickening.”

~:~:~:~:~

“Sunshine, your phone’s ringing.” Aaron’s rough voice is in my ear, breaking through my dreamy fog.

“What?”

I was having the
best
dream. Aaron was there—
naked
—sending the most sensational feelings through my body, with only his hot, rough tongue. I shiver at the remnants of the feeling, slowly coming into reality.

“Your phone’s ringing.” He waves the buzzing and chirping phone in my face.

I reach out and grab the offensive thing, just wanting it to stop, so I can return to my dream.

“
Hello
?” I whisper, as I feel Aaron settling back into position, with his head in my neck and his arm wrapped tightly around my middle. He told me just last night that I was, ‘Better than any teddy bear.’
I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.

“What?” Pause. “Okay that sounds good,” I find myself agreeing. “Love you, too.” I push end, and toss the phone onto the pile of clothes on the floor next to the bed.

I close my eyes and take Aaron’s hand, pulling it under my body as I wiggle back into his arms. As my mind works feverishly to get me back to the enticing fantasy I’d been in, it wakes itself up.

Quickly throwing Aaron’s arm away from my body, I sit up and turn to him saying, “Oh—my—goddess. I think I just told Dad we’d have lunch Saturday afternoon with them on the Cape.”

“Okay.” He mutters sleepily, putting his head in my lap and wrapping his arm around my waist.

“Okay?”

Does he really know what he’s getting himself into?

~ Aaron ~

It’s a typical Friday night, and like the past several weeks, I am spending the evening behind the bar at
St. Andrew’s
. Last week, I finally severed all ties with
The Pint
and am no longer employed there—Troy and King weren’t pleased. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my chest, and I couldn’t be happier.

St. Andrew’s
has a
much
better, and definitely more pleasant clientele. No more breaking up bar fights or dealing with strung-out junkies here. The worst element I have to deal with are entitled pretty boys and bratty, drunken princesses. The best part of it all is that Nina often comes in on at least one of the nights I’m working each week. After she hangs out with Rebecca, she comes over and sits at the bar with me until closing. We spend the rest of evening talking about everything and nothing all at once.

Somehow, in all of our time together, I’ve been able to avoid telling her about my past. Thank god, no one else has said anything about it, either. I know I need to tell her soon, but I just can’t seem to find a way to bring it up. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough, but
every time the opportunity presents itself, usually when she’s asking about my interest in dog training, something inside of me shuts down. It’s like I physically can’t form the words to tell her. Although, everyday I come to realize more and more that Nina isn’t the judgmental type.

“There are three men here looking for you. They say they’re from Vermont and know you from
The Pint
,” Richard says nervously, walking quickly up to the bar.

“Is one of them Franklin Royal?” I pop the top off a beer and set it down on the bar in front of a customer.

“Yes.” Richard says warily, which pisses me the fuck off. Does he really think I’d get involved with anyone from
The Pint
—
ever again
? That isn’t who I am. I thought he knew that!

“Let them in,” I say. Turning towards him, I add, “Trust me, he hates Troy and King.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Richard says, nodding his head and turning to walk back towards the vestibule.

I go back to serving customers and chatting with the other bartender, John, and some of the regulars. In the back of my mind, I can’t help wondering why Franklin Royal is looking for me.

Before I have to wait too long, he’s striding towards the bar, and putting out his hand. “You’re a hard man to track down, Masters.”

I reach over and shake it, noticing that Teddy O’Connell and a moderately-built blond man are right behind him. The three of them are wearing dark, tailored suits. The group doesn’t exactly fit into the relaxed vibe of the club on a Friday night
.

The two men give me both nods of acknowledge, which I reciprocate. Franklin makes himself comfortable on an empty barstool before introducing me to the unknown man. “This is Father Joseph O’Neill.”

What the fuck? He brought a priest along with his enforcer?

I wonder if he does last rites.

“Gotta say, this is a step up from your last gig.” Teddy laughs, looking around the room as he and Father O’Neill make themselves comfortable on either side of Franklin.

Ain’t that the fucking truth!

“What can I get you?” I ask with a cautious smile.

“I’ll have a whiskey neat, top shelf,” Franklin says. I turn around to reach for the bottle, pouring his drink while I wait for others to order.

“I’ll have whatever’s good on tap.” Teddy says with a smile when I set Franklin’s drink down in front of him.

“Just an orange juice for me, please,” Father O’Neill adds, and I’m guessing that he’s their designated driver for the evening.

“Coming right up,” I say, moving down the bar to collect their drinks and check on several other customers.

By the time I make it back to their end of the bar, Richard is walking over—no doubt coming to check up on me.

“Richard, will you go take care of
that
?” After briefly introducing the men, I point to where our women are dancing up on the stage, and gesture to the men around them—who all seem a bit
too
friendly. Nina is wearing a sexy black dress, which to my irritation shows off all of her considerable assets to the rest of the club.

“I know your woman’s drowning her sorrows, but I’m cutting mine off.” I add, handing him a bottle of water.

I understand that Becca’s upset because she isn’t knocked up yet, but really, they haven’t been trying for that long. I don’t like her being a bad influence on my Nina.

“Give me another,” Richard says angrily. He snatches the bottle from me before stomping over to the stage and pulling the girls away from their overexcited dancing partners.

“Which one’s yours?” Teddy asks, looking over towards the women with interest.

“The petite brunette.”

“Nice!” Franklin replies with a smile, then mutters, “Although, I prefer redheads.”

“I doubt you are here to check out my woman,” I growl at them.

“Right.” Franklin says, turning back around to face me. “My father wants a meeting.”

“As you probably know, I’m not involved in
The Pint
anymore. So I’m not the one to get you a meeting with King. You need to speak to Troy.”

“I’m surprised working there wasn’t a violation of your parole,” Teddy comments, sipping his beer and resting his elbows on the bar.

“You’ve had me checked out?” I ask, crossing my arm against my chest and staring at the man angrily.

“Of course we did,” Teddy guffaws, taking another sip of his beer. “I have a friend on the Pinetree police force. He did me a favor and pulled your record.”

“Tom Allen did that for you?” Father O’Neill asks, clearly shocked as he raising his eyebrows over his orange juice.

“No. George,” Teddy replies.

“Still got the old man in your pocket after all these years?” Father O’Neill snickers, making me realize that these three men have known each other for a very long time, and I find myself oddly jealous at the obvious tightness of their bond.

“Of course I do,” Teddy says, smiling smugly.

“How else is he supposed to keep track of Violet?” Franklin asks, taking a sip of his drink and smirking at his friend.

“Shut the fuck up,” Teddy growls, punching him in the arm and turning back to take a long swallow of his beer.

“
Frankie
.” Father. O’Neill admonishes, giving him a disapproving look.

Curiosity almost got the better of me, but it was clear that
Violet
was not a topic of conversation to bring up if I wanted to stay on Teddy’s good side.

“My father wants a meeting with
you
,” Franklin says, turning back to the original topic of conversation.

“Me?” I ask incredulously. “But I’m not involved in the trade, haven’t been for a long time.”

“That’s why.”

“Well, I’m not getting involved in
anything
. I’ve got a good woman, and I don’t intend on getting myself back inside,” I state emphatically.

“Frankie, you suck at this,” Teddy says, rolling his eyes. “His father wants to meet you and possibly offer you a
clean job
, running their new pub.”

“My brother, David, is a master brewer now, and is just back from Chicago. We’ve torn down the old distillery, built a new brewery and plan on redoing the pub area. Completely legit,” Franklin clarifies.

“What about the other
enterprises
you run?” I ask cautiously.

“This wouldn’t be a front, if that’s what you’re concerned about. None of our other—
ventures
would touch it,” he explains.

“How come you’re not going to run this new pub?” I ask, trying to understand exactly what they want with me.
Wouldn’t Royal Sr. want his son and heir apparent to run the new business?

“I’m a CPA, so I’ll have an office upstairs to do the books for the Pub and our other ventures. But truthfully, I know nothing about managing a bar,” Franklin says, taking a sip of his whisky.

“You’re an
accountant
?”

“I’ve got the degree to prove it.” Franklin says with a grin, while Teddy and Father O’Neill snicker next to him.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I say cautiously.

Being the manager of a pub is very appealing, especially one that’s just starting out. I could influence its creation and growth from the ground up.

“That’s all I ask,” Franklin says sincerely, and then adds, “Wouldn’t you like to build something of your own?”

Before I can answer his astute question, Nina comes stumbling over towards the bar, holding onto Richard’s arm. Rebecca is clinging to his other one, and both are giggling like crazy.

“I’m taking Becca to the office, but I think this one’s all yours,” his growls in annoyance above their laughter.

“Thanks.” Coming around the bar, I put my arm around her waist to guide her to an empty stool. With my hands on her hips, I lift her up onto one next to Father O’Neill.

“Someone’s been naughty.” I say, smiling down at my completely toasted woman and kiss her forehead.

“Are you going to spank me?” she asks excitedly.

“Not tonight,” I chuckle.

“Why?” she pouts adorably.

“You’re drunk, Sunshine.” I take the bottle of water from her hand and open it before handing it back to her. “Drink up.”

Leaning forward, almost upending her stool, she whispers loudly, “But I like it when you spank me.”

The men next to her pretend not to overhear our conversation, but their loud chuckles gives them away.
Fuck, that’s all I need to add to my reputation!

“Will
you
spank me?” Nina turns and directs her question to Father O’Neill. His eyes widen, his face goes red, and his mouth opens. His friends start laughing loudly next to him, compounding his obvious embarrassment.

“Nina, stop.” I warn her, moving back out from around the bar. “Leave the Father alone. Come and sit back here with me and behave yourself.”

“You’re a father? I love babies!” Nina states enthusiastically, as I guide her back over to the other side of the bar, away from the patrons.

“Not that kind of father,” I chuckle at her.

“Huh?” she asks, still confused as I place the bottle of water back into her hands.

~:~:~:~:~

“Good mornin’, Sunshine. How are you feeling?” I chuckle, as Nina shuffles sleepily into the kitchen, wearing a pair of ratty slipper socks.
I wonder if she’d like a new pair?
My t-shirt’s falling off of her sexy little body and the tights—or whatever they’re called—are showing off her gorgeous legs.

Russell comes trotting along next to her. After being let out and given his breakfast, he had plopped himself down by the closed basement door—wanting to be closer to Nina.
He’s as obsessed with the woman as I am.

Despite the fact that I supplied her with plenty of water and aspirin before bed, she is clearly still suffering from the effects of last night
. I’ll have to remember for the future that my woman’s a lightweight. I should’ve cut her off earlier.

Pushing my chair back away from the table, I take hold of her hand as she comes closer, pulling her between my legs and onto my lap.

“’Morning,” she says groggily, resting her head on my shoulder and relaxing into my chest.

“Rough night?” Sarah snickers from across the table, where she is trying to get Harry to spoon his oatmeal into his mouth and not up his nose.

Nina responds by groaning into my neck. She grips the front of my shirt and burrows further into my body. I wrap my arms more firmly around her waist, feeling how small, delicate, and vulnerable she really is.

“Why did you let me drink so much?” Nina whines softly into my ear.

“
Let
you?” I laugh. “You were sucking those shots back all on your own.”

“I had to,” she states pitifully. “Becca was really upset, and as her friend, I had to help her drown her sorrows. She’d been a few days late and thought she was pregnant. But, she’s not.”

“It can be really emotional and stressful trying to get pregnant. I remember when Ben and I were trying—”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear about you and Ben,” I interrupt Sarah, turning up my nose at the idea. Sarah laughs, and I can feel the woman in my arms gently giggling into my neck.

“If trying to get pregnant gets you women so stressed and upset, then we’re not
ever
trying,” I inform Nina, kissing her forehead gently.

“What?” Nina sounds more awake as she sits up straighter and looks at my face, her own expression clearly worried. “I thought you wanted kids?”

“I do,” I answer emphatically.

I do?