Heat bubbles in my chest and I’m ready to go, but when a hand comes over mine, I glance down to see it belongs to Amberlyn. “Don’t, let him go.”

I nod and when the door slams shut, I let out the breath I was holding. “Fuckin’ eejit.”

Kane laughs as he sits down. “Jaysus, Dec, you dragged me at least a yard!”

I smile grimly. “He’s an arsehole, makes me crazy.”

Lacing my fingers with Amberlyn’s, I bring them to my lips, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles before looking deep into her eyes. Her hair is up today, in a tight bun, her eyes are dark with makeup, and her lips lush and pink. Leaning forward, I brush my mouth over hers as her hand comes to rest on my cheek. I want to deepen the kiss but we have an audience, so reluctantly, I pull away, smiling slightly. “Hi.”

She smiles. “Hi. Great entrance there.”

I grin bashfully. “I only came to tell you I was madly thinking about you all day, not with the intentions of all that. I apologize.”

Her lips curve further before she runs her thumb along my bottom lip. “No worries, but I am confused on something.”

Her eyes are teasing, her lips plump, and all my anger from before is gone, replaced with pure lust for this beautiful woman. “And that is?”

“When did I become your girl?”

I smile, my cheeks dusting with color as I pull her closer to me. “The moment I kissed you. You didn’t get the memo?”

She shakes her head, biting into her bottom lip as she holds my gaze. She says, “No, must have lost its way to me.”

“Must have,” I say, bringing our mouths together again. This time I don’t care about the audience, and I hate that the bar is between us. I want to feel her against me, get lost in her kiss, but before I can, I hear someone clear their throat, causing us to part quickly.

“No making out in the pub,” Mr. Maclaster says sternly. “Or anywhere I can walk in at for that matter.”

Dropping my hands from Amberlyn’s face, I nod. “Of course, I apologize, sir.”

He nods before looking over at Fiona. “Burke leave?”

“Yes, Da.”

“Good. Is that the Kane you’re dating?”

I look back at Kane to see him look up from where he is playing on his phone. His eyes meet Mr. Maclaster’s and he stands, his hand out. “Yes, sir. Kane Levy. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. Same rules apply to you as well.”

“Yes sir,” Kane says quickly as he drops his hand, tucking both in his pockets. Mr. Maclaster looks around the pub and then nods at us before walking away without another word.

“Well, that was awkward,” Amberlyn says with a laugh.

Fiona nods. “Hell yeah it was. My da is something.”

Something scary, I think, dropping down in the seat. “What are you doing tonight?”

Amberlyn looks at me sadly. “Working. It’s Friday.”

I nod. “I know, but after.”

“After? Like two in the morning after?”

I didn’t realize it would be that late, but I nod anyways. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know, going to bed probably.”

“Can I come see you before that? For only a bit, I won’t keep you long.”

She shrugs as a smile plays on her lips. “Sure, but I’ll be boring.”

“Never,” I claim as I reach out, taking her hands in mine. “I want to see you.”

Our hands lace together but then she asks, “How about now? I feel like an ass pulling you out of bed at two in the morning.”

Leaning towards her, I say, “You can pull me out of bed any time ya want.”

When heat flushes her face, I smile, but she pushes me away. “No, seriously, let’s go hang now. I have a couple hours before I gotta be back.”

I feign hurt as I say, “You don’t want to hang out with me tonight?”

“Oh shut up,” she says, smacking my arm before removing her apron. “Fiona, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yeah, see ya later.”

She comes around the bar, stopping in front of me, and I smile. She looks hot even in a pair of shorts and a pub tee with her green toes wiggling in her sandals. “You ready?”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, let’s go.”

We head out to the car and pull out of the drive before I even glance over at her. She is smiling, looking so contently happy, that I find myself feeling the same.

“Why don’t you want me to come later tonight?” I ask, even though I am glad to see her now. The only reason I wanted to see her was because I thought she had to work.

“Because it’s late and after a Friday shift, I am so tired. I usually crash. Plus, this way we have plenty of time to spend together before I have to go back to work.”

“I understand. I just wasn’t sure if there was another reason behind it.”

She takes my hand in hers. “Not at all. I just want to be coherent when we spend time together and at two am, I won’t be.”

I nod. “I get it. I’d probably be sleepy too. We’d probably end up falling asleep in the car.”

“If that happens, I can guarantee you my uncle will kill us if he finds us.”

I laugh. “I think you are right, so for now, we’ll go exploring.”

“Exploring?” she asks, wagging her brows at me.

Heat flushes through my body straight to my dick. I take in a deep breath before shaking my head. “Naughty girl, get your head out the gutter. I mean the distillery.”

“Oh, that’s what I thought you meant,” she said with a smile. “I’m excited.”

“Me too,” I reply, taking her hand in mine. I then ask, “Can I ask you something?”

She nods. “Sure, what’s up?”

“You weren’t mad were you… when I said you’re my girl?”

She glances over at me, smiling. “Not at all. I like you, Declan, a lot.”

Relief washes over me. I may have jumped the gun there, but I am glad she feels the same way I do. “Okay good, ’cause I feel the same.”

She grins as she squeezes my hand, holding our hands with her free hand. “It’s not too fast, right?” I ask, and she shrugs.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never had a boyfriend, so I don’t know how this is supposed to work. In books, they meet, have sex, fall in love, get into a fight, break up, and then get back together. So, I mean, I don’t have much to go on.”