“I noticed.” His voice was husky.
Our lips connected, but only for a second. Finn pulled away slowly. “Go get freshened up. Wear something comfortable. I have an idea of where we should go.”
I made quick work of doing a simple smoky eye, taming my long hair, and putting on a pair of black skinny jeans, a bra, a light teal blouse, and my ostrich boots. After grabbing a blazer and dabbing on a touch of Victoria’s Secret perfume, I reentered the living room.
“Ready?”
Finn was on the couch, feet up on my coffee table, Dozer rooted to his side with his head in Finn’s lap.
“Yeah.” He downed the last of the wine in his glass. “You look wonderful.”
I grabbed my keys. “See you later, buddy.” I kissed Dozer on the head and we made our way down to the lobby. After grabbing a cab and heading to the Upper East Side, we made our way down the block to a restaurant that I had never even heard of before.
“Where are you taking me?”
Finn grabbed for the door handle, holding it open for me. “You’ll love it here.”
We walked into the narrow bar where most of the high top tables and bar seats were already filled. Live music was emanating from the back of the restaurant, some kind of Irish folk music. An older bartender waved to Finn and pointed to a table right next to the bar that was being cleaned off by a busser.
“Come here often?”
Finn led me to the table by my hand and helped me into the high seat. “Actually, this was the first place I worked when I came to the States.”
The bartender made his way over to our table. “Finn, it’s good to see you.”
“Hi, Johnny, this is Joey.”
Johnny took my hand and kissed the back of it swiftly. “It’s a pleasure, Joey. What are ye havin’?”
He handed me a menu, which listed all of the bottled and draft beers they offered and had a logo at the top that said “Doc Watson’s”. “Oh, I’ll take a Magner’s please.”
Johnny nodded and looked over to Finn. “A pint of the black stuff, Johnny. Thanks.”
“No problem. Be right back.”
“Black stuff?”
Finn laughed a little. “In Ireland, black stuff is Guinness. I just ordered a glass of Guinness.”
The music picked up tempo, bringing a whole new feel to the old wood-covered bar.
“This place is pretty great.”
“Aye.” Finn looked around. “It’s like home.”
“Do you ever want to go back?”
Finn shook his head. “I like living here. Besides, there’s nothing to go back to over there.”
“No family or anything?”
Johnny set the drinks down in front of us. “Anything to eat?”
Finn ordered us a lamb burger with goat cheese and fish ’n’ chips. Without missing a beat, he took a sip of his beer and answered, “Kathy’s all the family I got left.”
Well this got serious fast.
The sweet cider covered my lips as Finn took my hand. His eyes were slightly glassed over while he sat in thought.