“Not from football fans.”
“You two need to work this out,” Seamus said.
“Precisely!” Diana slammed her hands hard on the kitchen counter. Kendra, like the men and the dog, turned to stare at her. “You need to work side by side, together.”
“What?” Kendra and Deuce responded in unison.
“She’s right,” Seamus acknowledged. “I can’t make a choice without hurting someone I care about. We’ll go on our trip, and you two run the place together.”
“What do you mean—together?” Deuce asked.
Diana came around the breakfast bar into the family room, her gaze on Seamus, a shared, secret arcing between them, but Kendra had no idea what it was. “Why doesn’t Kendra run the Internet café in the day, and Deuce run the bar at night? Let the customers decide where and when they want to spend their money.”
“Run a bar at night?” Kendra almost sputtered in shock. “And lose all my nighttime business?”
“That’s been a tiny percentage of the profits,” Seamus responded. “You’ve been shutting down by nine o’clock lately.”
“But it’s April now. The warm weather is starting, more tourists are coming.” She worked to modulate her voice, refusing to whine. “Those are the people who need Internet access, who bring their laptops so they can work on vacation.”
“People drink on vacation,” Deuce corrected her. “At least at night.” He slapped his hands on his thighs and slid them over his khaki pants, a smug smile in place. “I think it’s a great idea.”
They all looked at her expectantly. Was she going to back down? Let Deuce appear more willing to take the challenge than she was?
No one came in that bar looking for a drink anymore. What remained of the liquor bottles had to be regularly dusted. She’d been running Monroe’s as though it were a coffee shop and Internet café for a long time; her customers were loyal online users. The people looking for a neighborhood bar went to the bigger chains that had come into town.
“Okay. Fine. Whatever you want, Seamus.”
“I want you both to have a chance.” He stood slowly, his gaze moving between them. “I’d like to see the decision be made by you, not me.”
“We’ll let the people of Rockingham decide,” Deuce said, looking at Diana as he echoed her thoughts. Sure, now they were allies.
But Deuce had no idea what he was up against, getting between a woman and her dream. Twice.
Her Internet café was significantly more profitable than a bar, and Diana and Seamus’s trip was only two weeks long. There was no way Deuce could turn a profit in less than a month.
Seamus stepped toward Diana and slid his arm around her again. “Tomorrow, Diana and I are leaving for Boston, New York and San Francisco for meetings arranged with investors and banks.” He paused and pulled Diana closer, sharing that secret smile again. “And we’ve decided to tack on an early honeymoon.”
“What do you mean?” Kendra asked.
“We were going to tell you this morning, honey,” Diana said, “but we were so surprised by Deuce’s visit.”
“Tell us what?” Deuce looked horrified. “Did you already get married?”
Diana laughed lightly. “No. But I found the most amazing timeshare in Hawaii. A gorgeous house in Kauai, on the water. We couldn’t resist.”
“How long will you be gone?” Kendra asked, a sinking sensation tugging at her stomach.
Seamus grinned. “A month in Hawaii, plus the two weeks of business trip.”
“A month?” Kendra looked from one to the other. “You’ll be gone for six weeks?”
“Great,” Deuce said, standing up. “Diana, do you think you can find me a place to rent until I sell my house in Vegas?”
Kendra glared at him. “Why don’t you wait to sell your place until we see who…what happens.”
“You can stay here,” Diana offered. “Newman seems to have taken a liking to you.”
“I take care of Newman,” Kendra said. Good Lord, she didn’t want Deuce a hundred yards away from her for six weeks.
“You can handle him in the evenings,” Deuce said, his gaze on her. “I’ll be at the bar.”
“There’s no way you’re going to be there, in charge and alone,” she said quickly. “I’ll do my paperwork at night.”
“Then I’ll do mine during the day.”
Kendra hadn’t noticed that Seamus and Diana had slipped into the kitchen, until she heard their soft laughter. They stood with their heads close to each other, slowly walking toward the hallway.
“I kind of hate to leave,” Seamus whispered. “Just when it’s getting interesting.”
Deuce grinned at Kendra. She glared at him.
“This is so not interesting,” she mumbled, turning to retrieve her papers and put them back in order.
“I disagree,” he said, suddenly way too close to her back. “This could be very interesting. Remember the night we—”
She spun around and stuck her finger right in his face. “Don’t go there, Deuce Monroe.”
With a playful smile, he put both hands over his heart, feigning pain. “Was that night so horrible that you can’t even think about it?”
If only he knew. If only. But he wouldn’t, Kendra swore silently. He would never know.
She gave him a blank stare. “What night, Deuce? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Is that right?” His voice was silky smooth, and the dark glimmer in his eyes sent firecrackers right down to her toes. “I bet I can make you remember.”
“One bet’s enough for me today,” she said, seizing one of the sketches of the new Monroe’s layout and holding it in front of her face. “And I bet I get this.”
He slid the paper out of her hand, and leaned so close to her mouth she could just about feel that Hollywood stubble as it threatened to graze her.
“Let’s play ball,” he whispered.
CHAPTER FOUR
WITHOUT KNOCKING, Deuce leaned against the solid wood door that separated a back office from the storage areas piled high with empty computer hardware boxes. He’d done as much as he could for the past two days from Diana’s home. He’d stopped into Monroe’s a few times, perused the small kitchen and made a few changes around the bar. But he hadn’t yet entered what he still
