Something to Prove (5 page)

She cleared her throat and began her speech again. “Mr. O’Leary, I’m Elizabeth Brannigan,
and I have a business proposition for you.”

He stood and his eyebrows quirked up. He gestured to the chairs in front of the desk.
“I’m not really looking to expand.”

She took a seat, putting her briefcase at her feet. “I own a bar that is in desperate
need of an overhaul. I’ve done research on the bars in the area, and yours is the
most successful and closest to what I’m trying to build.”

Sitting behind the desk, he steepled his fingers in front of his face. “You want me
to help you build up my competition?”

“I’m not in direct competition with you. I would make it in your interest to help
me succeed. I’m offering you a percentage of profits and a bonus when I sell.” She’d
spent hours running numbers to put together an attractive package. She laid the proposal
in front of him. Even if she failed, which she wouldn’t, she would be able to pay
him from her own savings.

“I’ll admit, it’s an intriguing offer, but I have too much on my plate right now.
I’m already running two bars and I’m about to become a father.”

Her heart sank. “I wouldn’t need you to run the bar. You would be more like a consultant.
I’m in new territory with this business and could use some guidance from someone who’s
been there.”

“Sorry. If you had caught me last year, I’d be all over this. I just don’t have the
time right now to devote to another business.”

She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. “I understand your position. Here’s
my card.” She slid it onto the desk. “Give me a call if you change your mind.”

She stood, willing her hand not to shake as she extended it. She’d known this was
a long shot, and she really didn’t like to lose. If Keith caught wind of this, he’d
never let her hear the end of it. He’d call it good-natured teasing, but she’d end
up grinding her teeth.

Ryan O’Leary shook her hand and she knew he wouldn’t be calling her. Well, she’d tried.
Now she’d go back to what had always worked in the past. She’d start making calls
to people she knew. Someone would send a man her way who could do the job.

Moments after Elizabeth had left, Colin walked into the office, dying to hear her
proposition. “What did Legs want?”

“Huh?” Ryan looked up from the computer screen.

“Long legs, power suit. Had a proposition?”

“Oh. Her name is Elizabeth Brannigan.”

“I heard her name when she introduced herself, but she’s a lot of leg. What was the
proposition?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter. It was business. I just Googled her. Her father
is some big investor in resorts in Florida. He buys them when they’re run-down and
fixes them.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“She bought a bar and wants help.”

“And?”

“I told her no. I don’t have time to add another business. Although, now that I’m
looking at the money and power behind her dad . . . the profit might be worth it.”

“I’ll do it.” The words left his mouth before he thought clearly about what he was
suggesting.

“What?”

“Give me the information. I’ll work with her.”

Ryan shook his head. “She’s not looking for a bed-buddy. She needs a business partner.”

Colin’s shoulders tightened. “I can do that. You just said that it would be profitable.
Something like that would give me the money I need to open my own place.”

Anger flashed in Ryan’s eyes. “So much for being here. It hasn’t even been a week
since you swore you weren’t going anywhere. That I could count on you.”

Guilt sank into Colin. It was a feeling he knew too well. “You run two bars and have
for a long time. It’s a fact you’ve been shoving in my face for a year now. I can
do what you do. I’m not an idiot.”

They stared at each other like they had as children, each thinking he knew best, each
knowing they worked better together than apart.

“Whatever.” Ryan flung a business card at him. “Do what you want. That’s something
you excel at.”

Colin scooped up the card and tucked it into his pocket. “I’ll be at the bar if you
need anything.”

Ryan answered with a grunt. He’d get over it. At least Colin was pretty sure he would.
He was ready for this. If that meant he had to prove it to Ryan first, he would.

Back at the bar, he pulled the card out.
Elizabeth Brannigan, VP Brannigan Enterprises.
Hmmm . . . VP explained the power suits she always wore. Also explained the stick
up her ass when she’d introduced herself.

Completely different from the woman who was pliant and moaning in his arms. He knew
he’d made the right choice by not sleeping with her. If he was going to get into bed
with her, she was damn well going to be sober enough to remember it.

And enjoy it.

On the back of the card, neatly printed,
Sheraton Hotel Higgins
. Now he knew where to track her down.

Stick up her ass or not, Colin could make this happen. He’d help her make the bar
a success, they’d sell with a nice profit, maybe have a little fun on the side, and
then go their separate ways. How hard could it be?

Elizabeth sat in the conference room of the hotel and sipped from the glass of lukewarm
water in front of her. She’d met with eight different men, each attempting to astound
her with their business acumen. They all held MBAs and explained how they would increase
profits and decrease loss.

She didn’t like any of them. Profit-and-loss statements she understood. She didn’t
need help with that. Something else was missing, and she didn’t even know the right
questions to ask. Normally in this situation, she’d call Keith. Doing so now, though,
would tip her hand. She still wasn’t ready to let him know her plan.

She didn’t know how long her vacation charade would last, but she hoped long enough
to prove she was on the right track with the bar.

When a soft knock sounded at the door, she cringed before answering. She wasn’t ready
for Mr. MBA-Number-Nine, but she sighed and called, “Come in.”

The door opened and Colin O’Leary strode into the room, wearing jeans and a T-shirt,
and looking utterly delicious. She choked on her latest drink of water.

“Whoa. Are you all right?”

She cleared her throat and carefully sipped more water. “Fine, thank you. What can
I do for you, Mr. O’Leary?”

The muscle in his jaw twitched and he said, “My dad’s Mr. O’Leary. Call me Colin.
And it’s what I can do for you.”

Her mind flashed to about ten different things that she’d like him do for her, and
she felt heat creeping up her neck. She forced out, “What could that possibly be?”

“My brother said you were looking for a business partner. I’m here to apply for the
job.”

She looked him up and down. “That’s how you show up for a job interview?”

He spread his arms wide and glanced down at his body. “A job at a bar? Yes. I didn’t
think this was so much a formal interview as a business negotiation.”

Nothing like a bit of arrogance in the morning.

“Exactly why would I be negotiating with you?”

“Because I can help you turn your bar around.”

She crossed her arms on the table and waited.

“I passed by the suits waiting out there. I’m assuming they’re here for you. What
bar needs more suits to run it? You need someone who knows people. If you don’t have
customers, you don’t have a business.”

“I’m aware of that.” But he definitely held her attention.

“I’ll admit that running the books isn’t my strong suit. Ryan has always been better
at that. But I grew up in a bar. I understand people. You’ve been to O’Leary’s, different
days, different times. I understand now that you were using us for research. You obviously
liked what you found.”

In so many ways. “It’s a very successful bar.”

“It’s successful because people keep coming back.”

“And you’re telling me that you’re the reason for that?”

“I’m part of the reason. It’s the whole thing. It’s atmosphere. I can help create
that.”

He was onto something. He was the first man to walk through the door who had offered
her what she wanted. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure he could deliver. In the time
since Ryan turned her down, she had done more digging. She was surprised at how much
information people from the neighborhood had given her about the O’Leary brothers.
The father founded the bar and Colin ran the bar for a while, but disappeared for
years after his father died. She was sure there was more to that story, but no one
seemed to have it. Everyone agreed, though, that Colin was the go-to man for a good
time. Men and women alike all appeared to have a genuine fondness for him.

She could see why. But she and Colin had unresolved . . . issues.

“Tell me about the bar you bought,” he said as he lowered himself into the seat across
from her.

She slid a folder to him, the same one she had forwarded to all the other candidates.

He flipped it open and a bark of laughter shot from his mouth. “You bought The Irish?”

“No. Yes.” His laughter flustered her, making her feel like she was mentally unstable
for owning this particular bar.

He closed the folder. “Which is it? Do you or don’t you own the bar?”

She cleared her throat. “I do. I personally didn’t buy it; my father bought it twelve
years ago.”

“That explains a lot.”

“What?”

“Ryan told me you’re from Florida. Why would your father buy a bar in Chicago when
he’s not around to run it?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

“You didn’t ask him?”

“You don’t have to worry about the reasons for ownership.”

He closed the folder without reading anything she’d provided. “The Irish used to be
a profitable bar. When the original owner died, things fell apart. Something like
five owners came and went in as many years.”

“I already know this. It’s a matter of record. What would you do to change what it
is now?”

“You have to close it and change everything. It’s a total dive right now because that’s
what it’s turned into. If you want it to be something different, you need to start
from scratch so the current clientele won’t want to return.”

She’d been thinking the same thing. Closing the doors after the brawl had been a good
idea. “When was the last time you were in there?”

“Years. But I don’t need to go there to know what it is. Everyone in the area knows
that The Irish is where you go if you want a brawl. The drunker and meaner, the better.”
He leaned back in the chair and forced it to recline. His long legs extended under
the table, and she had a flash of those legs between hers. He looked smug as if she
wouldn’t be able to turn him down.

“You don’t have the business management experience or education the other candidates
have.”

He smiled. “Neither does my brother, but you went to him.”

“Like the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. He’s a success. Just because you
share a branch of the family tree doesn’t guarantee me anything.”

“But you’ve seen me with people.” He thunked the chair back down on all four legs.
“I was good with you.”

Between his intense blue eyes and his low bedroom voice, his words warmed her blood
again.

“And that would be another reason to not work with you. I don’t have time for someone
who’s more interested in flirting than working.”

“Sweetheart, you flirted with me. I took your cues and acted on them. I’m completely
capable of working with a partner without sleeping with her.”

Part of Elizabeth felt relief at his statement. More of her felt another sting of
disappointment.

His steely blue gaze bore into her. No sign of lust. Nothing to imply that he planned
to kiss her again. Not even a hint of sexual attraction. If they pretended that night
had never happened, a partnership could work.