I giggled. “No, sir. Sorry.”
“Figures.” He sighed, his hands going to his hips. “I need a miracle worker to get this business organised.”
“Put an advert in the paper or online,” I suggested. “You’d be surprised by how many professional receptionists are out there who need a good job.”
“I don’t think I have any other choice,” he said with a sigh. “We can’t watch the reception all the time ’cause we’re workin’ on cars, so people who come in and wait without service get fed up and leave. In this day and age, I can’t afford to lose costumers, especially since we bought the lot next door last year and had everythin’ renovated into one large shop. I’ve so much paperwork that I consider turnin’ to drink durin’ tax season. I need a fairy godmother at this point in time to sort this out.”
“Definitely try the advert,” I encouraged. “You’ll be fightin’ off applicants, just you wait and see.”
Mr Collins grinned before he looked over my shoulder and sighed.
“I’ll be right back, love,” he said. “I’ve to see to a customer who’s bein’ ignored by me lads.”
I nodded. “Take your time. I’m in no rush.”
Big. Fat. Lie.
I had never wanted to leave an establishment as much in my entire life. I placed my hands on the reception desk, then looked at the beautiful antique clock on the wall. It was after three p.m., and as it was a Monday, I would have my normal weekly dinner with my parents this evening at five. I hoped my da wouldn’t be there; I was in no mood to sit across from him at the dinner table and pretend I didn’t know he was having an affair.
I didn’t have the strength for it. Not today.
The door to the reception suddenly opened and closed. Silence stretched on for a few moments, and I could have sworn I heard a snicker, which caused me to tense even more than I already was. I would just up and die if it was Damien.
“I told you this shite with Date was goin’ to cause problems, Alannah.”
My shoulders sagged as a sigh of relief escaped me.
“I know,” I replied with a firm nod.
I didn’t move a muscle as he moved next to me, his shadow falling over the countertop.
“Yet you ignored me words of wisdom?” he mused. “I bet you feel stupid now, huh, good lookin’?”
I turned my head, tilted it back, locked eyes with Harley Collins, then rolled them.
“I never pegged you for an ‘I told you so’ kind of man.”
“You pegged me wrong because ... I told you so.”
Harley was the only person who knew about my private relationship with Dante because the pair of them were extremely close. If either of them did something or someone, the other knew about it.
“Go away,” I grumbled. “You’re mean.”
He smirked down at me.
“Date said he couldn’t get hold of you and that you revoked his access to your buildin’. He was arrested when he tried to break in, ye’know?”
What the fuck?
I choked. “What?”
“Don’t worry, he was released without charge thanks to the landlord of the place not pressin’ charges.” Harley laughed, his shoulders shaking. “The fuckin’ eejit tried to use a fire escape as a back door after he was refused entry a third time. He ran from the security guards too but dropped like a fly when they tasered ’im.”
“He was tasered and arrested?” I asked, wide-eyed.
“Fainted and everythin’.” Harley cackled. “Don’t tell ’im I told you that; his ego is still sore about it.”
“I just spoke to ’im two nights ago, and he never mentioned anythin’.”
“And you won’t hear ’im speak a word. He made me and me da promise to never speak of it.”
“Your da?”
“He was with me when Date called me from the garda station.”
I facepalmed. “This week can’t get any worse.”
“Famous last words,” Harley murmured.
I was mad. Steaming bloody mad.
“Where is he?”
“Now, Alannah,” Harley said, raising his hands in front of his chest. “He only wanted to check on—”
I walked away from Harley, hearing him curse before he jogged to catch up with me.
“Dante Collins!” I hollered. “Where are you?”
He was across the shop, lifting a large piece of a car engine up into the air on a floor jack. He paused what he was doing, then looked over his shoulder, and when he saw me, he smiled. That smile slowly slid off his face as I approached him, and I wondered if he saw how mad I was, or if Harley was doing hand signals as he trailed along behind me.
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” I snapped at Dante when I came to a stop in front of him and thumped him in the chest. “Tasered and arrested? Are you naturally thick, Date, or were you born this way?”
“Born this way,” JJ and Gavin called out in unison from somewhere in the shop.