“If I didn’t own the castle—” He moved in closer to her, and Aine’s heart galloped in her chest. Her mouth was dry, her stomach twisting into knots. Anxious, Aine took a breath and held it.
She could feel the heat of him reaching out to her. They were alone here at the end of the pier, with only the sigh of the ocean waves as they surged toward shore. Sunlight streamed from a sky studded with thick white clouds, and the cool sea breeze wrapped itself around the two of them, as if trying to draw them closer. Aine swallowed hard and forced herself to stand her ground, though it might have been safer all around if she’d taken a step back.
“If you didn’t own the castle, I wouldn’t be here at all, would I?”
He nodded. “Then, it’s good I do own it, isn’t it?”
“I suppose.” Oh, at the moment, she thought it was very good indeed that he’d brought her here and that they had wandered to this spot of privacy in the middle of the city.
“And this thing between us?” His voice dropped until it became a rush of sound as deep as the ocean. “Do you think that’s good, too?”
She flushed. She felt it; she only hoped he couldn’t see it. How humiliating to be a woman near thirty and feel heat flood her cheeks. But it wasn’t voluntary, was it? Wasn’t her fault that he triggered something inside her that made her every reaction to him twice as fast and hot as anything she’d ever known. And he asked if she was glad of the thing burning between them? Whether she was or not, it was there and as each day passed, more difficult to ignore. But that didn’t mean she had to speak of it with him.
“I don’t know what you mean—”
“Don’t pretend,” he said, cutting her off before she could tell a hopeless lie. “We both feel it. Have from the first.” He laid his hand over hers where it rested on the top bar of the pier railing.
His touch set off sparks and flames that hissed and burned inside her until it felt as if her skin was bubbling with the intensity. Blast him for touching her, for making it impossible to ignore what she felt around him or to hide those feelings from him.
“All right, then, yes,” she said and tugged her hand free. “There’s something...”
“We’ve been together every day for more than a week, and it’s time we talked about this.”
Aine laughed shortly and shook her head. “Talk about it? To what end?” she asked. “We’re both of us adults. Just because we feel a thing doesn’t mean we’ll act on it.”
“And we won’t,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to talk about. It would be a mistake to do anything about this. I’m your boss.”
“I know that,” Aine said, feeling the first flare of anger erupt. “’Tisn’t necessary for you to warn me away from you or to tell me I’ve to keep my hormones in check around you. I’m not planning to have my wicked way with you, Brady Finn. Your honor is safe with me.”
He shook his head. “You keep surprising me, Aine.”
“Well, I’ll say the same to you,” she answered, folding her arms across her chest and taking that one all-important step backward. “This is the first conversation of the type I’ve ever had.”
“Me, too,” he said. “Usually, when I want a woman, I just go after her.”
She cocked her head and gave him a narrowed look. “And she falls gratefully into your manly arms?”
He laughed, and the transformation his face went under was enough to take her breath away. A handsome man when frowning, he was staggering when he smiled.
“Most of the time, yeah.”
“It’s disappointed I am in my gender,” Aine said, then reached up and pushed her windblown hair out of her eyes. “As for being one of the few who’ve managed to resist your charms, I’m doubly glad to take a stand for myself as I’d have no interest in being part of a crowd anyway.”
“You wouldn’t be,” he said and his voice lost all trace of amusement. “You’re one of a kind, Aine. I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”
“Thanks for that,” she said, then added, “and at the risk of inflating an ego too many women before me have stroked, I’ll say the same of you.” She tipped her head back to meet the shadowed eyes she felt watching her with tightly restrained hunger.
He gave her a nod. “Then, it’s good we’re not doing this.”
“Absolutely. ’Tis the sensible solution.”
“This is business,” Brady said. “Sex would just confuse the situation.”
And, oh, she thought she might really love to be confused by this man. But clearly, he was more interested in backing away from her as quickly as he could. “You’re right again.”
He moved in closer. “It’s good we talked about it. Cleared the air. Got things settled.”
“It is.” She leaned toward him. “I’m sure we’ll both be better off now and able to focus on our shared task.”
“Concentration is good.”
“A laudable talent.”
Nodding, gaze locked with hers, he whispered, “We’re not going to be sensible, are we?”
“Not at the moment, no,” she said.
Then he kissed her.
* * *
The first touch of his mouth to hers turned Brady’s world upside down. He’d expected heat, the flash of desire, the hunger that had been building in him for the past week. What he hadn’t expected was the compulsion to devour. The frantic need to pull her closer, tighter to him, to feel her body bend to his. Her arms circled his neck; her fingers threaded through his hair, nails scraping along his scalp.
Her mouth opened under his, and the first taste of her staggered him until he was forced to lock his knees to keep from simply sagging to the ground beneath the onslaught of sensations. No woman had ever done this to him before. Hell, he hadn’t known he could feel like this. Sex was easy. Desire was enjoyable, naturally. But this fire was unlike anything else he’d ever experienced. He fisted his hands at the small of her back and held her with arms of steel.
One taste awakened the need for more, and a wild voice in his mind whispered a taste would never be enough. He wanted to drown in her, feel her legs wrap around his hips and hold his body deeply within hers. Even as those thoughts beat at his brain, he fought against them. Wanting her was okay. Needing was something else.
She moaned, and the soft sound whispered into his mind, bringing him to his senses before he could lose his grip on the last tattered threads of his self-control. Hell, they were locked together in broad daylight where anyone could walk up and get an eyeful. It cost him, but he tore his mouth free, then rested his forehead against hers while he caught his breath and tried to find his way back to sanity. It wasn’t easy.
What the hell was wrong with her ex-fiancé? What kind of man made the decision to marry a woman like Aine, then gave her up? Brady wasn’t looking for forever, but he didn’t want to let her go, either.
“Well, then,” she murmured, the Irish in her voice singing as she, too, fought for air, “that was an unexpected feast.”
He laughed shortly. “It was.” Lifting his head, he looked down at her, saw her green eyes shining, glittering, and steeled himself against giving in to the impulse to grab her and taste her again. Give in once and he might never let her go, and that was unacceptable.
“And,” he said firmly, as much to himself as to her, “now that we’ve got that out of our systems, working together will go much more smoothly.”
She blew out a breath, then lifted both hands to scoop them through her hair. After a moment, she nodded. “So then, you kissed me, half devoured me, for the sake of the work?”
At the word devoured, his body tightened, but he said only, “Yes. We both felt the tension all week. I thought it would be a good idea to just give in and get it out of the way. Now the urge’s been satisfied.”
Not nearly, his brain screamed. In fact, if he
had her over, under, around him for weeks, Brady doubted his hunger for her would be quenched.
“I see.” She nodded, turned her face into the wind and stared out to sea for a long moment before speaking. “Then, I’ll thank you for being so brave as to throw yourself on a live grenade such as myself—for the good of the work.”
Brady frowned. Figured she’d take this the wrong way. Had she even once reacted to something the way he thought she would? It wasn’t as if he’d sacrificed himself by kissing her—it was only that he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about that kiss. “I didn’t say that.”
“Aye, you did.” She whipped her gaze back to his. Her green eyes flashed, and damned if he didn’t want her even more than he had before that kiss. “Why, it was practically saintly how you took on the chore of teaching me a lesson. You kissed me for my own good. To make sure I can work with you and stay focused on my job rather than wasting time with idle daydreams of you.”
With every word she spoke, Brady felt like more of an ass. Which he didn’t appreciate. “I didn’t say that, either,” he ground out.
“Oh, what a trial it must be for you,” she continued, tipping her head back to glare at him. “Being so handsome and rich and such a magnet for women. Why, you should think about hiring a bodyguard to protect you from those you haven’t had time to teach how to control themselves.”
“For—” Brady shoved one hand through his hair and muttered, “You’re putting words in my mouth, Aine.”
“You might as well have said them yourself.”
“No. I say exactly what I mean,” Brady told her and shot a quick glare at some tourist who was wandering too close to them. The man immediately turned and walked the other way. Brady refocused on Aine. “I don’t need you guessing what I might have meant. You won’t have to. I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking.”
“As you have,” she said, folding both arms across her chest and then tapping her fingertips against her upper arms. “Well, you’ll be happy to know I agree with you. It was a lovely kiss, I’m sure, but you needn’t worry I’ll swoon into your arms demanding another.”
Gritting his teeth, Brady’s eyes rolled back briefly. “Swoon?”
“Or throw myself at your feet,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “As I said, it was a lovely kiss, but it wasn’t enough to drive me into a rage of frustrated lust. I’m here to do a job, and I intend to do it and then go home. You’re completely safe from my wiles.” She paused only long enough to take a breath, then added, “I’ve been kissed before and managed to hold on to my sanity.”
He barked out a sharp laugh.
“’Tisn’t funny,” she snapped.
Yeah, it was. He knew she was lying because he’d felt her reaction to that kiss. Didn’t matter how she tried to bluff her way out of it. She’d been as rocked by it as he was, and hearing her lie about it now made him smile. The woman kept him guessing all the time. Strange how much he was beginning to like it. “Damn. You’ve got a mouth on you, I’ll give you that.”
She flushed a bit at that. “What it is about you that makes my temper boil over, I don’t know. But I’ll not apologize for what I’ve said, even if you fire me for it.”
“Who said anything about firing you?”
“No one, as of yet. Mind, I won’t be kissing you again, Brady Finn, so if it’s all the same to you, keep your own mouth to yourself in the future.”
“That’s the plan,” he said, though it wouldn’t be easy. But then what the hell else in his life had ever been easy?
“Then, we’ve an agreement on this.” While he watched, she turned and started walking away from him.
For a long moment, Brady admired the view. Coming or going, Aine Donovan was a feast for any man’s eyes. But, he reminded himself sternly as his gaze dropped to the curve of her behind, he wasn’t looking for a feast.
His hands curled into fists as he started after her. The sun was just dipping toward the ocean, the light fading into a soft twilight. In the last rays of the sun, her dark red hair looked alight with fire. She was more than he’d expected. More than he wanted. The only answer, he thought as he caught up to her and took hold of her upper arm in a firm grip that had her turning her green eyes to his, was to finish their business and get her back to Ireland as quickly as possible.
She tried to tug free of his grip, but Brady kept hold of her.
“Let go of me,” Aine said, her eyes flashing.
“Trust me, I’ll be doing that just as soon as I can,” Brady assured her, steering her down the pier and back to the crowds along Pacific Coast Highway.
* * *
“How are things at home, Mum?” Aine paced the hotel suite that felt, at the moment, like a lavishly decorated cage. She was tense, on edge, and because she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss she’d shared with Brady just a few hours ago, it was only getting worse. Every cell in her body felt as if it were on fire. Her skin was buzzing and her concentration was simply shot.
She’d always prided herself on her ability to compartmentalize things in her life. But now her personal life was sliding into her business life, and she didn’t know how to stop it. Or worse, even if she wanted to stop it. Then there was the problem of forever losing her temper with the man who could fire her with a word. Oh, God help her, life would be so much easier if only she was home again.
“Oh, it’s been noisy as ten drums about here lately,” Molly Donovan said. “There’s lorries coming and going from the castle dozens of times a day. Some American men arrived today, construction people they say they are, only waiting for everything to be readied before they begin fixing the castle.”
“American crews?” Aine asked, interrupting her mother before the woman could get on such a roll she wouldn’t be stopped. “Are there no local men working there?”
“Not so far, but they’ve not started as yet. Just carting in half of Ireland in the way of rocks and lumber and what have you.” Her mother clucked her tongue and added, “Although Danny Leary is down to the pub telling all who’ll listen that it should be Irish workmen bringing our own castle back to life.”
Aine sighed, and rested her forehead against the cold glass of the French doors. Danny Leary ran the best construction crews in County Mayo, and if he was unhappy with the work situation, that meant word of this was spreading throughout the county. People wouldn’t be pleased. Sure, the idea of Castle Butler being renovated was a good one, but if the people at home didn’t feel a part of it, how could they support it? And if those in the village wanted to, they could make the work very hard indeed. They could block roads—accidentally, of course—and slow down deliveries. All manner of things could go wrong. This could end up being a huge mess, all because Brady Finn wouldn’t listen when she’d told him to hire local crews.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine,” her mother was saying. “As soon as you tell your Mr. Finn that he’d do better to use Irish hands on the job.”
“I’ve told him, Mum,” Aine admitted on another sigh, remembering their conversation about just this not long after she’d arrived. “’Tis clear now he wasn’t listening.”
“And since when is it that you couldn’t make yourself heard, Aine Donovan?” Molly’s voice went as firm as steel and Aine winced as she recognized the no-nonsense tone. “You’ve a place there. And a voice. Your Mr. Finn—”
“He’s not my anything, Mum,” Aine interrupted, ignoring the stir of something inside her, “except my employer, who could fire me at a whim.”
“And why would he do that?” her mother countered. “Didn’t he fly you to California like a queen on her own plane? Hasn’t he kept you there for more than a week already to listen to your ideas?”
“Yes, but—”
“Hasn’t he told you more than once that he values an honest opinion and not simply the mindless nattering
of a yes man?”
“He has, but—”
“Let me ask you this,” Molly continued.
Ask away, Aine thought, and wondered if her mother would let her get a word in to answer whatever question was coming.
“Are you good at your job, Aine?”
“Of course I am.” That wasn’t in question.
“Do you know what’s best for the castle and the village?”
“I do.” Aine swallowed her impatience, as it wouldn’t do her a bit of good when dealing with her mother. Besides, she thought, Molly was right in all she was saying, but that didn’t mean Aine could repeat any of it to Brady. Yes, he’d said he wanted to hear her opinions, but there was a coolness to him, something that kept everyone around him at a distance.
Of course, her mind whispered, there’d been no distance between them at all when he’d kissed her out on the pier, with the waves crashing below and the wind swimming around them in a cold embrace. No, he hadn’t held back then, and neither had she, though she nearly cringed to admit that. Though he’d done a quick step away when the kiss ended and had managed to insult her all at the same time.
He was her boss. With the power to dismiss her from the job she loved. He was a wealthy man with all the expectations of the rich, no doubt. If he wanted something, he took it, and be damned to consequences. Well, she was one who had to think of what might be. And kissing Brady Finn again would be another foolish step along a road that could only lead her to regret.
“Then, Aine,” her mother said, drawing her attention back to the matter at hand, “you must speak up. You must do what you can for all of our sakes. The man’s a businessman. He’ll surely see the right of it when you lay it out for him plainly.” Then she half covered the phone receiver and said, “Robbie, your sister’s in no mind to answer questions from you about the silly games.”
Aine couldn’t help but smile. Her younger brother was fascinated by computer games, and Celtic Knot’s in particular. If he’d had his way, Robbie would have been on the plane with her to visit the offices of his favorite gaming company.
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