Chapter 7

• Aislinn put on what she considered to be her best interview clothes. The outfit consisted of a pair of black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a shear black scarf she tied at her neck. She put on a pair of black heels and combed her hair into a twist at the back of her head. She didn't really know what kind of business was at the other end of the address, but she figured that the look was conservative enough for just about anything and not overly dressy. She had bought the clothes to attend a funeral and hadn't been given another opportunity to wear them.
• She took one last look at herself in the mirror before pocketing the piece of paper she'd been given and heading downstairs. She'd been putting this off for more than a week. When she had gone into work at the bar the day after she had met Cullen she found out that Derrick had ended up in the hospital after all. Luke said that he'd been told Derrick would be out for a couple of weeks or more.
• When Derrick had initially gotten to the hospital he'd been unconscious. Some nice passerby doing a good deed had called the ambulance. Aislinn had decided to wait and see what would happen. She hoped that he wouldn't want to admit to what had actually happened because he wouldn't want to have to deal with her accusing him of attempted rape. But when he woke up he fired her, then he decided to press charges against her for battery. She was arrested and spent the night in jail before Renee and Luke managed to put together bail money.
• The story she ended up getting was that Derrick claimed she tried to steal some money from the register that night. Supposedly he caught her and she took off with the money. He chased her down and she and some big guy that Derrick didn't know beat him up and left him for dead. When Aislinn told the cops what had really happened they suggested she bring up charges of attempted assault.
• Everything was going to hell. Aislinn hadn't wanted to accept this job after Cullen had taken off after that kiss like there had been something wrong with it. She didn't understand why she felt betrayed by that. It was all too strange. On top of that there was the court case, and now she owed Renee and Luke a lot of money. She tried to find another job at a different bar but Derrick apparently had a few friends and no one was hiring Aislinn. So she finally decided that she needed the money too badly to let her pride get in the way of taking the job she had been offered.
• Aislinn had been so caught up in her misery that she didn't pay attention o where the taxi was going. When the taxi pulled up in front of Taigh-osda, the restaurant/bar/hotel attached to the most popular casino in town, the Madadh-Alluidh Saobhaidh, was positive that he had to have the wrong address. "Are you sure this is it?"
• "Yhea lady. That'll be 13 even."
• Aislinn handed the guy her last twenty and accepted her change. She took a deep breath and turned around, heading for the restaurant. When she got to the front door of the popular steak house a girl in expensive looking heels, a knee-length brown skirt, and a white silky shirt opened and held the door for her. "Welcome to Tigh-osda," the girl said warmly. Aislinn immediately felt as if she were in over her head.
• Aislinn walked in with as much confidence as she could manage and headed for the front desk. An incredibly attractive dark haired woman with a clip board approached her. The woman's eyes were the same kind of dark brown as Cullen's and from the look of the woman she could have been his sister. Aislinn wondered if she had ever met a more attractive woman in her life.
• "Do you have a reservation?"
• "Um, no," Aislinn said. She pulled the paper out of her purse, noticing that her purse didn't match her shoes and wondered if the woman she was talking to noticed. "I'm here to see Liam about a job. Cullen sent me." She held out the paper to the woman.
• The woman's dark eyes showed obvious shock and uncertainty. Aislinn was fairly certain that this woman wouldn't have believed her if it weren't for the note.
• "Okay," the woman said haltingly. "Uh, wait here a minute. I'll go get Liam." She handed Aislinn back the paper and she headed through a door just off to the right of the desk.
• Aislinn had to step out of the way as a couple came up to the desk and a different woman, also very attractive and with a similar look to the other approached the couple and spoke with them quietly. Then the couple was led off toward the restaurant entrance. As Aislinn waited she couldn't help take in the delicious smell of steak that was wafting from the restaurant. Once the initial nervousness of the situation wore off some she decided to look around a bit while she waited. She took a few steps through the hotel lobby so that she could get a view of the inside of the restaurant through the entrance.
• The lighting was low and the booths were high backed and mostly private so she couldn't tell how many customers were there. But it was relatively early. The place probably picks up when the casino opens, she thought as she glanced across the elegant lobby to the casino entrance that was opposite the restaurant. The Taigh-osda had only opened for lunch about an hour before she showed up. So it was still pretty early. The casino was pretty empty yet as well. But both venues were definitely more of a night life kinda thing. She knew of this place by reputation and it appeared well deserved.