Chapter Eight
How was it, someone like Brendan ended up with a girl like Chloe? It'd had kept Niall up the previous night. Even more so how any self-respecting girl like her would allow him to treat her so badly.
He paced back and forth outside Ashburger's waiting for her to arrive. He had one day with her and was determined to make an impression. An impression she may remember in the future that highlighted the proper way to treat a girl. It was a lesson Brendan could have done with learning.
Her arrival stopped his pacing and froze his feet to the ground beneath them. She wore tights similar to the ones she had on the day before, a pattern stitched into the fabric. Her black boots came up and over her knees, no buckles and a red military style winter jacket wrapped around her snugly. She smiled and gave him a mitten clad wave.
"Good morning," she said.
It was a great morning. "Morning. Are you ready?"
Chloe clasped her mittens together and held them under her chin. "I'm so ready. I've been waiting to see Dublin - more of it than the airport, since I was six years old."
Niall offered her his arm. "Let's not wait any longer then, yeah?"
He held the door to the car open for her. As they drove and the heat circulated through the small space, Chloe undid her jacket and removed her mitts. "I'm so excited that you agreed to take me."
"I'm happy you agreed to come," he told her honestly. It was a pleasant and unexpected bonus of his holiday so far. He nodded to the dashboard. "You can pick something on the radio," he said. "If you want."
Despite having removed her outerwear, Chloe sat ramrod straight with her hands folded in her lap staring straight ahead. She was rigid, nervous, maybe and the entire thing was making Niall uneasy. He wished she'd loosen up. He didn't like being the direct cause of making anyone anxious.
"Brendan doesn't like when I touch the stereo. He's possessive of it."
Niall thought better of it than to ask her if he resembled Brendan, instead stating, "Brendan is many things I am not. Go ahead. Put on some music that you like." He had motive, wanting to know more about Chloe, including the kind of music she was into.
She leaned forward and began hitting each button, test driving each radio station. Her channel surfing came to an abrupt halt when she found a station that specialized in 50's music. A familiar Buddy Holly song filtered through the airwaves, genuinely surprising Niall. He grinned. "Chloe, I didn't peg you for a 50's girl."
She leaned back, took off her shoes and set her feet on the dashboard. "You thought I was a Rock and Roll rebel, huh?"
He thought of Brendan and all his tattoos and nodded. "Pretty much."
"I get that a lot," she said. "But truly, I was born in the wrong time. I would love to rock the poodle skirts and bobby socks."
Niall laughed. "You could pull it off," he said. "You're lovely, yeah? And gorgeous. I think you would look wonderful in a poodle skirt and bobby socks."
"Maybe on Halloween," she said. "Maybe this year I'll go as a 50's diva."
Niall cranked the wheel and looked at her. "Why wait? Live for the day. If you want to wear an old school skirt I don't think you should have to wait until Halloween. Wear it now."
"Brendan says I'd look like an idiot."
Niall rolled his eyes and bit in tongue. The boyfriend was the idiot, not Chloe. He decided it would be safer to change the subject than to discuss Brendan. "So," he said. "I reckon we didn't plan today to talk about Brendan. What's on your to-do list in Dublin?"
