Chapter Five

His eyes were drawn to her the moment she entered the factory. They continued to follow her every move around the floor below.

Sheamus Brady had been preparing for another hard day of work. He'd been standing on the 3rd floor landing talking idly with his coworkers when she walked in the large front doors. He was immediately aware of her.

Lord, she was beautiful. Her wild auburn locks stood out beneath the gray bonnet she wore. Even though he couldn't see it from this distance he could imagine her creamy complexion, her full red lips and those sad green eyes. Even her heavy Victorian garments did little to hide her luscious figure.

Sheamus scowled darkly, angry at himself for his strange attraction to the girl. {It's just lust.} he assured himself. Still, he couldn't take his eyes away from her.

{What the hell is SHE doing here?!} he thought angrily, pushing aside his baser thoughts for the moment. Surely, she didn't mean to manage the company all by herself. He watched closely as she was lead on a tour around the factory. They seemed to be teaching her about the business.

{This is great. Just great.} He thought sourly. {So much for getting a chance to move up in the company.} He already knew how it would be. Little Rhianna Cassidy would sit in her office all day, playing make believe, while all the real work would be done by the workers. Just like before. He sighed heavily and clocked in, preparing himself for a long, hard day.

Sheamus lost himself in his work that day. When he wasn't supervising the members of his team, he was working himself on his own machine. He pushed the visions of her out of his head and focused on the hard, strenuous labor. Finally, the fourteen-hour shift was over and after closing down the machines and finishing his reports, he was ready to punch out for the day.

As he stood outside the 3rd floor offices getting his things together, he heard snippets of conversation coming from the office. He heard a young woman's voice and she was obviously upset. She must have been on the telephone, for he could only hear her side of the conversation.

"I understand your concerns Mr. Andrews, but I assure ye that Cassidy's is more than capable of taking care of ye, just as we have in the past. My father may have died, but nothing else has changed. Our company is in the best hands.. Aye, but..I understand...But..Aye..(heavy sigh) I thank ye for your condolences..Goodbye."

Sheamus chuckled harshly to himself. {First day on the job and the little princess is already having problems. Of course, if she's losing customers, then that's not good for business.} He immediately understood why they were leaving. No businessman wants to do business with a young girl.

{That's what she gets for tryin' t' do a man's job.} He paused as an idea formed in his head. Perhaps this was just the chance he'd been waiting for, an opportunity to show what he could do, a chance to advance.

{This girl may be just what I need.}

Rhianna sat at her oak desk with her head in her hands. Bitter tears stung at her eyes but she refused to give vent to her sadness, her frustration. She struggled for breath as her fears and anxieties threatened to suffocate her.

"Oh Father, what am I going to do?" she moaned out loud.

"For starters, don't ask questions of the dead. They cannot help ye." A strange voice spoke into the air, startling her out of her thoughts. She looked up in surprise.

"You?" she cried in astonishment.

Sheamus was immediately struck by the pain on her face. He could tell that she had been trying not to cry and he grudgingly felt admiration for her. He recognized this and fought against it, hardening himself against her. {This is your chance, Sheamus.} he reminded himself.

Rhianna pulled herself together and stood to her feet. She was embarrassed to have been caught in such an emotional and vulnerable state, especially by him. She remembered him from the funeral; her housekeeper's son. She remembered the arrogant looks he shot her, the insolent way his eyes bore into her figure. She crossed her arms in front of her as if to shield herself from the strange man.

"What are ye doing here?" she demanded haughtily.

"I work here." He replied with an insolent smirk as his eyes again traveled over her luscious curves.

"Really? I don't recall meeting you." She stated coolly.

"I missed the formal introductions. Too busy working. I'm Sheamus Brady." He said simply.

"I know." She replied quickly, perhaps too quickly to conceal her inner thoughts.

Sheamus cocked a blond eyebrow. "Really? Tell me, are ye a mind reader or something?" he asked with a sly smile.

Rhianna averted her eyes as a faint blush crept up her cheeks. "Nae. I just know that ye're the son of Mrs. Brady - our housekeeper." She replied with as much dignity as she could muster.

His face soured. {Housekeeper.}

"How is she doing, anyway? My brother and I miss her terribly at the castle." She began at an attempt to start a conversation. "Why, I even tried cooking the other day. It was pretty ba."

"My mother is fine." He replied curtly.

An awkward silence followed in the small office. Finally Rhianna gifted Sheamus with a direct stare. "So, is there something I can do for ye, Mr. Brady?"

He shook himself out of his angry reverie and remembered the reason for his visit. "Actually, Lady Cassidy, I came by to see if there was something I could do for ye."

"Like what?" she asked with a cool toss of her red gold hair.

"Well, I happened to overhear your little conversation right now. Having problems with your customers?" he taunted.

"Nothing I cannot handle." She replied with a frosty smile.

"Right, cause ye were handling it so well just a moment ago."

"Ye think ye can do better?" she asked hotly.

He laughed loudly. "Well, I cannot do worse." He motioned to the phone on her desk. "May I?"

"By all means." She replied as she settled back into her chair to watch.

Sheamus picked up the customer information report that she had been working from and dialed the next customer on the list.

"Mr. Finnagin!" he greeted him cheerfully. "Tis Sheamus Brady. Ye went to school with me da. Aye, it's wee little Sheamus. I'm not so wee now. (laughs) Aye, the time does certainly fly fast. How's your family? Och, your wee ones are grown too? My mum's fine, thanks for askin'. She's still got a touch of the flu that's been goin' round. Aye it has been a nasty one.."

Rhianna watched in awe as Sheamus chatted happily with her customer. Charm simply oozed out of his mouth. He was friendly, and affable, and perfectly at ease with the customer, where she had been very shy and uncertain with them.

Sheamus continued. "Now, Mr. Finnagin, are ye sure ye won't reconsider your decision? I understand your concerns, believe me I do. It is always difficult when a great leader of a company like Lord Cassidy dies. But let me personally assure you, this factory is in great hands. Our workers have worked here all of their lives, our foreman has many years of experience. I know ye're hesitant to do business with a young woman like Rhianna, but her primary functions will be to manage the books and look pretty." Sheamus laughed loudly.

Rhianna scowled, shooting red-hot daggers and the man before her. How dare he demean her like that? She was still glaring at him when he hung up the phone, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Well, not only is Mr. Finnagin going to remain with us, but he has increased his usual order. Aren't ye happy? This is good news!"

"I'm just here to look pretty!!!" she cried, indignant.

Sheamus grinned widely. "Aye, and ye're doin a great job." He declared with a bold wink. He watched her face become a darker shade of furious red and he threw up his hands in surrender. "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

She nodded in understanding. She didn't like it, but that was how the world was, unfortunately. She looked at the rest of the customers on the list. "Think you can do it again?" she challenged, her eyes flashing with green fire.

One by one, Sheamus went through the names. Many of the people he already knew, others he had only heard of. Even the complete strangers, though, soon warmed up to his irresistible charm. Thirty minutes later, he hung up the phone, a large stack of orders beside him.

Rhianna stared at him in wonder. "Ye did it. I don't know how ye did it, but ye did it." Their eyes locked momentarily, dueling spheres of sapphire and emerald. Rhianna's pulse quickened and she fidgeted nervously.

"Thank ye." She said simply, gratitude shining in her large eyes.

Sheamus broke contact and shuttered his eyes. Something about that intense moment had unnerved him greatly. A cold hard smile settled over his features as he once again fell into character.

"Don't thank me, princess. I didn't do it for ye. Now I'll agree to be your new salesman but I want a raise of 20% plus commission." He stated simply.

Rhianna nodded quickly, stunned by the intimate encounter.

"Good." He replied with a curt nod. "Then I'll see ye tomorrow." He said as he walked out the office door.