A Bit of Wee Luck by Kelly Elliott

Lucas

It had been nearly two weeks since Hollie had arrived in Ireland. We’d shut the dig site down for a much-needed long weekend, and Hollie and I drove over to the Cliffs of Moher. It was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen. The vertical drop made both of us dizzy, but the sounds of the ocean crashing against the limestone cliff was almost mystical. I saw the awe on Hollie’s face as she stood there and stared out over the water. Wrapping her arms around her, she almost looked as if she was returning to a treasured spot. I had to practically drag her back to the car to get her out of the cold.

“I cannot wait to have some shepherd’s pie,” Hollie said later that night as we made our way across the street and toward O’Brien’s. She intertwined her fingers with mine, giving my hand a squeeze.

“You’re going to turn into a shepherd’s pie if that’s all you keep eating, Hollie.”

She laughed then walked into the pub. Benny was behind the bar, whistling away as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Benny seems to be in a good mood,” I stated as Hollie’s face lit up.

“Hey Benny!” I called out, drawing his attention away from wiping down the bar and over to us. I pulled a barstool out for Hollie, and she climbed on. Benny grinned as he poured me a pint and made an ice water for Hollie.

Looking a little too hopeful, Hollie asked, “What has you in such a good mood?”

That was when Benny blushed. I knew that look. It was the look of man who’d spent some time in a woman’s bed and had thoroughly enjoyed it.

“You’re not going to believe what happened to me,” he stated.

Hollie nearly bounced in her seat with anticipation. “What? Tell us!”

Benny laughed and said, “Last night at closing, Casey Storm came in looking for me.”

“Who’s Casey Storm?” I asked.

“Casey Storm is the girl I swore I was going to marry. She ended up marrying some rich bastard from London and moved away. She’s back now and divorced.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Hollie asked, stretching out the ‘ing.’

If Benny had blushed before, now he was nearly as red as a tomato. “Probably not something to talk about in front of ya, Hollie.”

Hollie looked confused. “Why not?”

Before he could explain, she made an eeep sound and slid off the stool. “Wait, don’t say a word until I get back! I have to pee!”

She made a beeline for the lady’s bathroom. The moment she was gone, I looked back at Benny.

“Casey came walking in here last night with one thing on her mind.”

I chuckled. “What was that?”

“Fucking.”

With his thick Irish accent, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d just heard. “I’m sorry?”

“She walked right up to me after the last person left. Said she was no longer with her husband, and she needed a good fuck. It was the best night of me fucking life. She was like an animal. I’ve never fucked on the bar, but I plan on doing it a lot more.”

I glanced down at the bar and curled my lip.

“Don’t worry, it was down there, and I cleaned it twice.”

My brows rose. “Just so I know for the future, where else did you two have sex?”

He shook his head. “We didn’t have sex, Lucas. We fucked. Like rabbits. Oh, that table over there, I bent her over and took her from behind.”

I had made a mental note to tell Hollie not to sit at the left end of the bar or at the table in the back-left corner.

“She’s coming over to me place later tonight. This time I plan on fucking her in me bed.”

I was beginning to wonder if I should keep track of how many times Benny had said fuck.

“It was the best fucking night of me life.”

Nodding, I replied, “You mentioned that.”

Hollie walked up and smiled as she slid onto the barstool.

“What did I miss?” she asked, looking between me and Benny.

I cleared my throat and said, “Apparently, Benny and his ex had a bit of fun in the pub last night. At that end of the bar—” I pointed to it—“and then again at that table over there in the corner.”

Leaning in, I said, “Don’t ever sit at either spot. They had sex there.”

“Sex?” Hollie practically shouted. “That was it? Just sex?”

Benny’s eyes went wide. “Just sex? It was the best night of me life. She was…”

He let his words trail off.

“She was what? Rich? Offered to become partners with you?” Hollie asked as Benny and I both looked at her with a confused expression.

“No,” Benny replied. “We just fucked.”

I was pretty sure he was up to seven fucks.

“Why would you think she’d become partners with him?” I asked Hollie.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He seemed so happy. I wasn’t aware that sex could make you so happy the day after.”

Benny smiled. “Hell yeah, it was the kind of sex that…”

“Okay, I think we get it.” I held up my hand to keep him from going on. “How about two orders of shepherd’s pie if you still have some.”

“I do!” Benny turned and headed to the kitchen.

I looked at Hollie and let out a chuckle. “I’m going to guess it’s been a while since our boy Benny had sex—or this Casey girl was the one who got away.”

Hollie giggled. “I’d say both.”

After bringing us our food, Benny went down to the other end of the bar to help the two men who’d just walked in and sat down. Poor bastards had no idea what Benny had done on that bar less than twenty-four hours ago.

An older couple sat down next to Hollie and the four of us soon fell into a conversation. They had spent some time in America and wanted to know all about Salem and the history of the witches. Little did they know, they were talking to an actual witch.

After they left, I pulled out some money to pay for our meal and Benny walked back over.

“I got the strangest email a few minutes ago,” he said.

“What was it?” Hollie asked.

“Some lady wants to pay me nearly five-hundred euros for a picture of me feet.”

“What?” I asked on a burst of laughter. “Are you sure it was your feet and not your…”

“Lucas!” Hollie hit me playfully on the chest.

“No, it was me feet. Apparently, some people are into that.”

Looking confused, Hollie asked, “Into it how exactly?”

Benny shrugged. “It’s called podophilia.”

Hollie’s mouth fell open and it took everything I had in me not to laugh. “You’ve never heard of people having a foot fetish before?” I asked.

“Of course I have,” she said, once she remembered how to talk. “But to pay someone for pictures of their feet? She doesn’t even want to see your feet in person?”

“Oh, she does. She offered a thousand euros to be able to come and touch them. I declined. That seems a tad bit too much.”

“You think?” Hollie stated. “That’s just weird.”

Benny shrugged. “I’ll send the pictures, though.”

“What?” Hollie and I both said.

“Hey, five-hundred euros is a lot of money. I’ll take it any way I can get it.”

I shook my head while Hollie appeared to gag.

The bell on the door rang and the three of us looked over to see a group of women around our age entering the pub.

“Good evening, ladies,” Benny called out. The dark-haired girl in the front glanced back at the others who appeared to encourage her to step forward.

She cleared her throat and made her way over to the bar. She was far enough away that I’m sure she thought her conversation was private, but it was far from it. Especially with Hollie leaning in her direction so she could listen.

“How may I help ya?” Benny asked.

The young woman looked embarrassed as she said, “We’re friends with Casey and she, um, well, she told us how lovely your, um, your pub was. We were wondering if we could hold our weekly book club meetings here. We’ll pay ya, of course.”

Hollie nearly fell out of her chair. I had to grab her to keep her from falling to the ground.

“What happened?” I asked.

Hollie turned to me. “What is she hoping to get out of this book club?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t think anything like that.”

Hollie raised a single brow and then focused back on Benny and the young woman.

“Ya want to have your book club here?” he asked. “In the pub?”

The woman nodded. “Yes. And we’d pay ya since our group is large.”

I could see Benny’s mind going a mile a minute. “What day of the week is your book club?”

“Mondays.”

It was the slowest day of the week at the pub, so I knew Benny would agree.

“You’re more than welcome to hold your meeting here. But ya don’t have to be paying. Just buy a few pints and we’ll call it good.”

The young woman blushed. “That’s very kind of ya. Casey speaks fondly of ya.”

“Does she?” Benny asked, causing the young girl to blush even more.

“Yes, she does. I was wondering if you’re ever free to go out to dinner or maybe even breakfast.”

Benny’s brows rose. “Are ya asking me out?”

She nodded.

“I can do breakfast, if it’s early enough, but I should tell ya, I’m dating Casey right now.”

It was my turn to raise my brows. According to Benny earlier, they’d only been fucking.

Handing him what looked to be a business card, the woman said, “Me name is Karen.”

Benny picked up the card. “Nice to meet ya, Karen. I’ll call ya then.”

A brilliant smile appeared on her face. She walked past us and started to giggle with the other girls as they all left. Spinning in her seat, Hollie looked at Benny, then back to the door. She looked utterly confused, then panicked. When she looked at me, my stomach dropped, and I instantly knew what she was up to.

“What did you do, Hollie?” I asked.

“What? I don’t know what you mean.”

Leaning in closer to her, I whispered, “You put a spell on him, didn’t you?”

She dug her upper teeth into her lower lip as she blinked rapidly and looked everywhere but at me.

“Hollie!” I whispered-shouted. “I told you not to put a spell on him.”

“I needed to do something to help him, and when I talked to Sarah about it, she said I had to make up the spell myself. It was a wealth spell!”

I closed my eyes and groaned. “A wealth of what? Sex?”

“No! Of course not!” she spat back at me. “What is wrong with me? Why do my spells keep turning out all wrong?”

I closed my eyes once again and counted to ten. When I opened them, Hollie was watching Benny.

“Why do you think he’s smiling down at his phone like that?” she asked.

“God only knows.” I sighed. “Hollie, we can’t reverse the spell, because if we even attempt to tell Benny you’re a witch he’ll never let us in here again!”

“We don’t have to reverse it. Let me call Sarah and find out what went wrong.”

“What went wrong?” I whispered-shouted again. “You did yet another spell!”

She shot me a dirty look before she got up and headed out of the pub. When Benny walked over, he was shaking his head.

“I’ve died and gone to heaven. Casey wants to have a threesome with Karen.”

I was positive my jaw hit the bar. Maybe I should pretend that Hollie never put a spell on Benny. It seemed to be working out fine for him.

“Are you going to?”

He looked at me with an expression of pure shock. “How could ya even ask that? Hell yes, I’m going to.”

What in the hell kind of spell did Hollie put on Benny?