Seduced by the Baron (The Fairy Tales of New York Book 4) (19 page)

Faith blinked as Raf’s long and winding invitation came to an end. The fact that he was going to be gone soon was completely lost in the surge of excitement. A ball? He wanted her to go to a ball. With him.

She’d never been to a ball. Not a proper one.

“A ball?”

He nodded. “At the Waldorf no less.”

Faith’s head spun. Raf wanted her to accompany him to a
ball
at the freaking Waldorf Astoria.

She knew there were a lot of reasons why she should reject his invitation outright. For starters, she had
nothing
to wear to a ball
at the Waldorf
but her head spun with the possibilities anyway. And he’d be gone two days later…

“When is it?”

“The seventeenth.”

Crap.
The seventeenth?
The bitter sting of disappointment needled at her skin as she stared at his image on the screen. “That’s St. Patrick’s day.”

“Oh,” he said frowning. “So it is.”

“I can’t get away that day. It’s the busiest day of the year. Like…I can’t even begin to describe to you how crazy it is from ten in the morning til close. It’s like a goddamn carnival. With leprechauns. I hire extra staff from an agency just for that one day. Pop would have a stroke if I skipped out on him on the most significant date in Sully’s calendar. And it’s traditional. It’s a family thing.”

Damn it
. She didn’t realize how much she wanted to go with Raf to the Waldorf until she knew it was impossible. She wanted to go like she’d never wanted anything else. And if it had been any day other than the seventeenth she’d have moved heaven and earth.

But it just wasn’t going to happen.

“It’s fine. Of course, I understand.”

“Do you?” There was bitterness in her voice and she hated herself for it. It wasn’t Raf’s fault.

“Faith…I would love you to come with me but I do watch the news. I’ve seen footage of St. Pat’s day in New York, I know it’s big and I know you need to be at Sully’s. I’m sorry, I just didn’t think about the date.”

Faith took a deep breath. His tone was considerate and his face was molded into a perfect expression of understanding. It was hard to believe he was hundreds of miles away. “I’m sorry too,” she said with a sigh. “I would have loved to have accompanied you.”

“How about we go out to dinner the next night? It’ll be nice just the two of us especially with me leaving the next day?”

The specter of his leaving rose between them bursting the happy little bubble they’d been cocooned in since he’d Skyped her. Her chest ached and she rubbed his tie between the fingers of her spare hand. “Yes. That sounds great.”

“The Marriott has a revolving restaurant. We could go there?”

“Perfect.” And it was. Who wouldn’t want to sit in a Manhattan restaurant with the sexiest man on the planet?

“And I’ll be back tomorrow. At midday. You should just be in the basement so we can cut to the chase.”

Faith laughed despite the cloud of gloom that was sitting on her chest like a freaking elephant. “Okay.”

“Oh, hang on,” he said, frowning, his finger touching the screen so close she could practically make out the whorls of his fingerprint. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a call coming in from Douggy, one of my guys in Sydney.”

Faith nodded. “Of course, take it. But you probably should put some clothes on first if it’s a Skype call.”

He laughed. “It’s okay, Douggy’s safe, it’s coming in on my cell.”

“Okay…night then.” She really didn’t want to hang up.

“Just one more look?” he asked. Faith rolled her eyes but lifted the phone up and out. “God,” he muttered, “
sooo
good.”

Faith smiled. “Take your call.” She tapped the end button and hugged the phone close to her heart wishing it was him instead.

‡

B
y seven o’clock
at the end of the following week, Faith could barely hear herself think over the merry St. Patrick’s Day crowd. Patrons pressed in several deep at the bar waiting to be served. Her feet ached, the floor was tacky with spilled beer and she smelled like a brewery. But it was hard not to be caught up in the atmosphere of the standing room only crowd especially with her brothers pulling beers alongside her.

There was green everywhere she looked. From the shamrocks that decorated all corners of the room to people dressed in green clothes and scarves and ridiculous leprechaun hats and beards and capes. Kiss Me I’m Irish t-shirts abounded.

And green beer, of course.

The jaunty sounds of fiddle music coming from the stage blended in with the mix. As with every St. Pat’s day, Ronan and Casey were set up entertaining the crowd with their particular brand of Celtic music. Songs from yesteryear and present day were welcomed with equal enthusiasm.

It was one day Faith never tired of hearing O Danny Boy over and over.

Her father was also behind the bar, and in his absolute element. He rarely stayed all day at the pub these days but he always made an exception for St. Pat’s day and he was certainly firing on all cylinders. It had been a long time since she’d seen him so robust and lively. Since before her mom had died. He was grinning from ear to ear and showing no signs of exhaustion.

She’d tried to get him to sit down and take a rest several times but he kept waving away her objections with a patient smile and a, “St. Patrick didn’t rest the day he was banishing snakes from Ireland now did he, Faith?”

So she let him go and served side by side along with Finn and Ty who’d been there since opening. It had become somewhat of a tradition that all the Sullivan siblings pitched in on St. Pat’s Day – even Ronan and Casey rolled up their sleeves in between sets – and she knew it was a big reason for pop’s happiness.

It was crazy busy. Extra bar and kitchen staff helped service the cheery crowd. But still it wasn’t enough to keep Faith’s mind off the text Raf had sent her an hour ago.

I know it’s not possible but if you can get away tonight am leaving ticket at door for you.

Faith looked at the crowd pressing in on the bar.
Yeh, right.

Just then she spotted Dawn and Zel pushing through the throngs followed closely by Mercy and Seb.

“I’ve reserved a table for you,” she shouted over the noise as she cocked her head to the right in the direction of the one empty table. A sign said
reserved for the Sullivan family
and given the crowd was mostly local, it had been respected.

“Thanks,” Dawn shouted, waving at Finn.

“I’ll bring some drinks over in a minute,” Faith said.

She served her current customer then quickly poured three pints of Guinness and Zel’s virgin Mojito. She shoved them on a tray and, ignoring the crush of people at the bar all wanting drinks, she walked to the end and let herself out with Finn and Ty following close behind.

“Happy St Pat’s day,” Faith said, raising her voice as she set them down and distributed them.

“Is it always this crazy?” Dawn, who was experiencing her first St. Patrick’s Day looked around, ignoring her drink.

“Yep,” Finn confirmed, pecking her on a cheek that looked paler than usual.

“It was like Christmas when we were kids,” Ty added sliding his hands on to Zel’s shoulders. “The only day we were allowed downstairs to mix with the customers.”

“JP looks like he’s enjoying himself,” Mercy said.

“Oh yes,” Faith agreed. “I’ve tried to get him to take a break but he seems indefatigable today.”

“Casey and Ronan sound amazing,” Zel said.

Everyone swiveled their heads towards the stage craning their necks to see the Sullivan brothers through the throng.

“They do indeed,” Faith agreed. She may be biased but she always thought they did their best performances at Sully’s.

“Where’s Raf?” Mercy asked checking out the bar area.

Faith picked up the tray. “He had a…thing tonight.”

Mercy frowned. “What kind of a thing? You’d think he’d kill to hawk his lager to this size crowd.”

“Some ball at the Waldorf,” she said casually like it was no big deal. Like every person she knew went to the poshest hotel in Manhattan for balls. “A beer industry thing or something.”

“A ball? At the Waldorf?” Zel repeated.

“Yes.”

Zel narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Did he invite you?”

“It’s St Patrick’s day,” Faith dismissed.

“So he
did
invite you?”

“He understands.”

Zel looked at Dawn and Mercy before downing her drink and standing. “Ty and Finn, you can handle the bar without Faith, right?”

Faith shook her head. “Zel, it’s fine.”

“No, Faith, it’s not. One of the sexiest men any of us have laid eyes on – ”

“Hey,” Ty protested.

“Present company excluded of course.” Zel smiled at Ty before ploughing on again. “Asked you to go with him to a ball at the Waldorf. You get invitations like that every day, do you?”

“Today is not
every
day.”

“Trust me, as someone who is intimately acquainted with regret, you
do not
want to regret this. You, Faith Sullivan,
are
going to the ball.”

If it hadn’t been so real Faith might have laughed at Zel’s bossy fairy godmother act. “I can’t. This is not the day to be doing this. It’s our day,” she said looking at her brothers.

Finn looked at her and Faith was excruciatingly aware of how much her brother had witnessed that night in the kitchen between her and Raf. “Zelda’s right,” he said. “You have to go, Faith. There’ll be plenty more Paddy’s Days and we can handle the bar.”

Dawn stood too, slipping her hand into Finn’s. “I second that.”

Mercy also stood. “I third it.”

Faith shook her head. “I can’t go,” she said stubbornly.

“Of course you can,” Mercy said, dismissively.

They didn’t understand. Of course they could cope without her but it was
tradition
and it was important to Pop. He was in sparkling form and he would be disappointed in her deserting him on this day that he loved so much.

And besides, there was her wardrobe issues. “I don’t have anything to wear to the
freaking
Waldorf.”

“Well lucky for you I have a thousand outfits and we’re about the same size,” Zel said. She glanced at Dawn and Mercy. “I feel a makeover coming on.” She looked at her brother. “I know we only just got here but could you drive us back to the townhouse, Seb? All my clothes from the old days are still there.”

They’d both grown up in a luxury townhouse overlooking Central Park. After their parents died Seb had rattled around there by himself with his demons for company while Zel had been banished to boarding school. But now she was with Ty and Mercy was with Seb and their sibling relationship had been repaired, Zel didn’t dread going back home anymore.

“Of course,” he said as he stood, slipping an arm around Mercy’s waist.

“Okay then,” Zel said, nodding and grabbing her jacket off the back of her chair. “Let’s do this thing.”

Faith looked from one friend to the next to the next. She’d definitely been outvoted. But still she didn’t dare get excited. “Just let me talk to Pop first, okay?”

“We’ll go together,” Ty said to her and Finn nodded.

“We’ll be outside at the car,” Mercy said.

Faith was nervous as she weaved through the crowd with her brothers. “About time you three stopped slacking off over there,” Pop said, with a broad grin and booming voice as they trooped back behind the bar.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ty said with a smile. “Faith’s off though. She’s going to a ball with Raf so it’ll just be us guys.”

Pop frowned. “What?” He looked from Faith to Ty and Finn then back to Faith. “What ball?”

“It’s a beer thing,” she said, aware that they had thirsty patrons waiting to be served. “It’s at the Waldorf.”

“The Waldorf?” He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “It can’t be better than all this, love.”

He swept an arm out and Faith looked at the sea of merry faces all enjoying themselves to the background of a particularly rousing rendition of Molly Malone. One of the things she loved about her father was how staunchly parochial he was. He’d been a lad when his parents had immigrated to New York and opened the pub and even after sixty years he still had the unflinching conviction that Sully’s was the best place on earth.

And he’d passed that on to her. But…

“Pop,” Finn said, “Faith’s going to the ball. You say you never see us anymore, so let’s you, me and Ty pull some beers together like we used to, huh? Just like old times.”

Pop’s frown turned to a slow smile as he nodded. “Of course.” The smile broadened into a grin as he slapped both his sons on the back. “Just like old times.”

Finn smiled then turned to Faith. “Go.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Have a good time.”

Faith hugged him and Ty and her father in turn, guilt still tugging around the edges. But not hard enough to quash a tiny electric thrill pulsing in her chest.

She
was
going to the ball.

*