Walking the Line Read Free Page A

least I had her full attention.
    “Because my family wants to migrate here and
my grandfather pulled strings to get me a turf management position
as a way of testing the lay of the land.”
    To my astonishment, the corners of her mouth
curved into a semi-smile. “You’re their scout? Checking that we
don’t have kangaroos roaming the city streets?”
    “Yeah, go figure.” I smiled and for a long,
drawn out moment it felt like we connected. “Lucky for you, I’m no
boy scout.”
    Rather than bristle and shut down as
expected, she rolled her eyes. “That pesky flirting is just part of
your Irish charm, isn’t it?”
    I leaned in closer, buoyed when she didn’t
edge away. “Is it working?”
    “Hell no,” she said a tad loudly and I
laughed.
    “Guess I’ll have to keep trying then.”
    She held up both hands. “Please don’t.”
    “Nice to know you think I’m charming though.”
I winked. “Gives a guy something to work on.”
    “The only work you’ll be doing around here is
this.” She gestured at the bar. “I’ll show you where everything is,
watch you pull a few beers, then throw you in the deep end.”
    “I’m up for it.”
    For the second time in as many minutes our
gazes locked. Hot. Loaded. Potent.
    And suddenly, gaining access to the room
upstairs was more than having a decent place to stay.
    It meant I’d be closer to Ellie.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    ELLIE
     
     
    Working with Finn was hell.
    Pure,
yanking-out-eyebrow-hairs-one-at-a-time, Brazilian-wax, torturous
hell.
    Being understaffed, I’d had to work the bar
alongside him tonight. So I’d been privy to his constant sexy
smiles, his incessant flirting and the panty-dropping charm that
seemed to come as natural to him as breathing.
    And while he did it with everyone, he seemed
to focus most of it on me. I’d tried freezing him out, shooting
death glares, even the odd name-calling. The result? He tried
harder. What was worse, I actually liked it.
    I didn’t flirt. I didn’t encourage guys. I
donned my armor every morning, from my foundation to the five ring
piercings in each ear, and faced the world head on. That was
another thing; when I’d walked downstairs earlier, the way he’d
looked at me seemed like he could see beneath my deliberately
chosen leather exterior to the real me beneath. It had disarmed me
more than anything and I’d wanted to fire him on the spot.
    Kye had been right about the optimism thing
too. I’d heard Finn say he’d had his money stolen by some chick at
the backpackers’ where he was staying, had lost his passport and
had his pockets picked, but then he’d waxed lyrical about Sydney
and made the crappy stuff sound insignificant.
    The guy was one of those annoyingly chipper
people who bounced through life with a permanent smile on their
face, oblivious to the darker realities. I couldn’t stand that kind
of blatant cheeriness. It grated. And made me want to shake some
sense into him.
    But then Finn would turn some of that warm
liveliness on me and for an all-too-brief second I’d forget the
reasons why I’d morphed into a hard bitch and allow myself the
luxury of basking in his all’s-right-with-the-world happiness.
    Eager to get the hell away from him, I slid
the last bolt home on the front door. “I’ll pay you for tonight
then you can leave out the back.”
    “Actually, could we talk?”
    Liquid warmth pooled in places it shouldn’t
and I inwardly cursed my body’s reaction to his voice. “What’s
up?”
    “Firstly, aren’t you going to commend me on a
stellar job?” He grinned like a proud little boy who’d mastered
toilet training. “Several of those customers said they were moving
on to other clubs but ended up staying here all night.”
    Annoyed that he was right, I crossed my arms.
“And you think that’s because of you?”
    “Damn right.” He perched on a bar stool and
patted the one next to him. “They enjoy my flirtatious charm as
much as you do.”
    I frowned. “But I