“I appreciate what you’re saying, Rid, but I feel like I have a lot to worry about.” She looks at me, sadness making her eyes red. “I don’t have the money for an attorney. I used the very last chunk I had to buy him out. If he takes me to court, I’m just going to have to give in because I can’t pay a solicitor to help me.”

I frown at her like she’s lost it, because clearly she has. “Hello? Am I not a fully-licensed attorney sitting right here next to you on the couch?”

She swirls the melting ice cream around in the container. “I can’t ask you to do that. Plus it’s not even up to you. Your big old law firm boss will never be okay with you working for free.”

“Bullshit. They do pro bono work all year long. We choose the projects we want to take on. I’ll take on yours.”

“Pro boner? That’s funny.” The first smile of the night lights up her face.

I lean back into the corner of the couch and nudge her with my food. “Stop freaking out. We just need to figure out how we’re going to handle this and come up with a game plan.”

Erin leans forwards to put the ice cream down on the coffee table. Then she takes the opposite side of the couch and faces me. We line our legs up next to each other and hug pillows as we plan and scheme.

“Okay, so first thing’s first,” I say, all business now, “do not under any circumstances admit to him that you did anything wrong.”

She looks uncomfortable. “Okaaaay…”

“What? What did you do?”

She cringes. “I might have whinged a little about how I’d worked my fingers to the bone and I wasn’t going to let my investment be given away to some stranger … or something to that effect.”

I bury my face in my pillow until I know I can give my friend a calmer expression. I slide the pillow down a few seconds later. “Okay. Fine. What’s done is done. But no more of that bullshit. I don’t care how tight his ass is, okay?”

She grins. “He does have a tight ass, that’s a fact. I’d forgotten just how tight until today.” Her eyes get a faraway look to them. “He’s handsomer in Boston. Is that possible, to be better looking in one country over another?”

I kick her thigh. “Focus, Erin. Seriously. Obviously he knows the effect he has on you and he’s playing you like a fiddle. Please don’t be so naive. This is your business. Your life. If you fuck this up, you put your entire future in jeopardy.”

She loses all that fantasy goo-goo eyed stuff and goes fearful. “Are you serious or are you just trying to scare me?”

I lower my head and stare her down. “What do you think?”

“You look serious.”

“I am. Worst case scenario, you say the wrong thing, he brings that info to his lawyer, they sue you, and you lose.”

“What happens then?”

“You have to get a loan to pay him off, which you probably won’t qualify for, or you bring him on as a partner if that’s what he wants — and then forget having control over the business decisions from then on — or even worse … you have a firesale of the bar.”

“A firesale? What’s that?”

“Where you sell fast to the highest bidder, and everyone bidding knows you’re in distress so they never offer even close to market value. You’ll lose pretty much everything. And then you share that terrible deal with Michaél!”

She buries her face in her pillow. I can barely understand her when she talks like that. “I am so fucked.”

“No, you’re not. Not necessarily.” I lean forward and pull her pillow off her face. “I need you to listen very carefully. I have a plan.”

She nods, blinking the tears away. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“Do you trust me?”

She nods again. “Completely.”

“Okay, then, do what I tell you to do without questioning it. Just do it.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Tonight, you go back to your apartment and you say nothing. Be too tired. Sleep alone, in your own room. Lock the door. You are not to have any sexual or semi-sexual interactions with him until this is all done.”

“I knew this plan would suck.”

I almost yell, I’m so frustrated. “What’s more important to you, Erin? A piece of ass or your bar?!”

She wrinkles her mouth up in anger, barely getting the words out. “My bar.”

“Fine. Then act like it. This is war, my friend, not love.”

She nods, seemingly resolute. “Right.”

“When you get up in the morning, you get to work. You work your ass off. You show him how running that bar is a six in the morning until two in the morning next day gig.”

“Right. Okay. Hard work. Got it.”

“Get his lawyer’s contact information first thing and text it to me. And you can inform him that you have been instructed not to discuss the business with him until the attorneys have discussed the situation. And then don’t do it, okay? Do not discuss the business at all. Not even for a second.”

“So he can’t work at the bar?”

“No, he can’t work at the bar. He can sit at the bar and be a customer, but no way in hell can he work there until I see what’s going on with his attorney.”

“Okay. So he’ll just sit there all day and stare at me.”

“If he wants to be a dick, sure.”

“How long? I mean, how many days?”

“Until I talk to the lawyer. It could be only one day. It could be weeks. I won’t know until we have that conversation.”

“Okay and what about after-hours?”

“What after-hours? You’re sleeping four hours a day. You’re working otherwise. There are no after-hours.”

“He’s my roommate. Surely we’ll share a meal or two.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t. But you’re an adult, so I’ll leave that up to you. Just remember, keep it professional. No flirting, no sex, not even any kissing.”

“You have no idea how hard this is going to be for me.”

“I can imagine. He’s pretty cute.”

She grins. “He is, right?” A long sigh comes out and she shifts into sadness again. “Why did things have to turn out this way? I mean with him living in Ireland and us meeting at that pub? Destiny must really hate me.”

“You were bound to meet him anyway. If you want to blame someone, blame your grandmother. She’s the one who got you two together.”

“Do you think she did it on purpose?” Erin asks, intrigued by the idea.

I shrug. “Who knows what that old battle-axe had up her sleeve. She was a tricky bitch.”

“That she was.” Erin slides her legs off the couch and stands. “Thanks, Rid, for all your advice.”

“The advice is only worth anything if you follow it.”

“I know, I know. Jaysus, when did you become such a nag?”

“When I got you as a client.” I stand too and give her a hug, patting her on the back. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to work out okay.”

“I hope so. Because if it doesn’t, I’m moving in with you and becoming your housekeeper.”

“Excellent motivation to help me win your case.” I walk her to the door and kiss her on the cheek as she stops in the entrance. “Call me tomorrow?”

“Sure thing. And I’ll text you whenever I have any questions. Be on the lookout and don’t make me wait for your answers. I’m liable to screw everything up and lose the bar in the process.” She walks out into the hallway.

“Just remember,” I say, going serious again, “this is war. He’s the enemy, not your lover, not your friend, not your countryman. Until this is all settled, he is not to be trusted.”

She nods once. “Okay. I can do this.”

“Yes, you can.”

I slowly shut the door as she turns and walks down the hallway. She thinks I can’t hear her when she mumbles, but she’s wrong. Her words come to my ears loud and clear.

“I don’t care what you say. He’s not my enemy.”