“What the hell do you want?”
Michael signaled for a server. One promptly appeared with a fresh longneck. When she walked away, Michael twisted the cap off and sat back. “Tell me about the girl.”
Rob shrugged. “A misunderstanding, that’s all.”
“A misunderstanding, huh?”
“Yeah.” Rob shifted. “I mean, you saw her. A hot chick like that, all alone in the bar, I thought I’d give it a shot.”
“And she said no.”
“I thought she was playing hard to get,” Rob reasoned, glancing around the table for support, finding none.
“Hmmm,” Michael hummed. “Have you been following her?”
Rob’s expression changed from disgruntled to disbelief. It would have been convincing, too, if Michael hadn’t seen the truth in the guy’s eyes before he shielded it.
“Is that what she said? That I’ve been following her?”
Michael shrugged noncommittally. “Have you?”
“It’s a small fucking town. We’re bound to run into each other once in a while. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“And a man can’t help but notice someone like her. Pretty. Kind of fresh. Almost...innocent.” Michael’s tone was neutral.
“Yeah, exactly. So maybe I put in a little prep time, better my odds. That’s not a crime.”
Prep time. As in learning schedules, habits, social contacts. Not unlike what he had been doing at his grandfather’s request. But what Michael had done was for an honorable purpose, whereas he didn’t think Rob’s was.
Unfortunately, though, Rob was right. Stalking wasn’t a crime, not unless he threatened or caused physical harm or damage, which, as far as Michael knew, he hadn’t. Which also meant that any action taken in this case would be of the non-official variety.
The guy didn’t appear to have anything openly incriminating on him, but his plan had included getting Bailey out of the bar. The question was, then what?
Michael looked at Johnny. “Got his keys?”
“What the hell do you need my keys for?”
They ignored him. “Yeah,” Johnny confirmed. “It’s a rental. Silver KIA.”
Michael laughed; he couldn’t help it. This guy was too much. Nondescript appearance, nondescript name, nondescript car. But his body language gave him away. The way Rob (no way that was his real name) held himself – straight backed, arms slightly away from the body, unflinching – screamed former military.
“Nice story. Now tell me who you really are and what you want with her.”
“Give me my fucking keys and let me the hell out of here.”
So much for doing things the easy way. It didn’t appear as if Rob was going to be cooperative.
“You’re not ready to leave yet, are you, Rob? We’re having such a nice chat.” Michael’s eyes grew cold and he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “And you still haven’t answered my questions.”
“Fuck you.”
Michael’s lips curled into a feral grin. “No, Rob. Fuck you.”
“You won’t do anything,” Rob sneered. “Too many witnesses.”
Michael gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He looked around the room and cleared his throat. Instantly, he had everyone’s undivided attention.
“Oi! This piece of shit has been stalking that fine, young, Irish lady you all saw in here earlier. And not just any fine young Irish lady. My fine, young, Irish lady.” Assorted gasps were heard throughout the room, Johnny’s included. Michael waited, daring anyone to challenge him. No one did.
“He thinks that he will not be held accountable for his actions because there are witnesses present. Does anyone here agree with him?”
There were a few seconds of dead silence. Only the pulsing beat from the main dance floor could be heard, the sound muffled by the thick cinderblock walls separating the back room from the public areas. Then a voice spoke up.
“What piece of shit would that be, Mike?” someone called from the other side of the room. “All I see here are a bunch of good ol’ lads kicking back a few and shooting some pool.”
Others murmured their agreement. Michael turned back to the table, holding up his hands and baring his teeth in the semblance of a smile. “Sorry, Rob.”
Before Rob knew what hit him, Michael reached across the table and grabbed him by the collar. Johnny and Kyle moved back as Michael yanked Rob up from the chair, hauled him over the table then lifted him so that his toes hung a good inch from the floor.
He half carried, half dragged Rob to the back door.
Much to Rob’s dismay, not one person seemed to have a problem with this. Several, in fact, seemed quite anxious to assist Michael in providing the lesson.
“Did what I think just happened actually happen?” Kyle asked, looking at Johnny in astonishment as they followed. Michael had just publicly declared he was claiming Bailey as his woman. Word would spread like wildfire, and no one would dare make a move on her now. Unless she took up with Michael, she would be as untouchable as a cloistered nun.
Johnny seemed similarly stunned, but then a huge grin spread across his face. “I guess we know who the woman on his mind is now, huh? Wonder if she knows yet...”
* * *
The clock struck one in the near-empty diner, and Michael still hadn’t returned. Had he changed his mind?
Bailey looked worriedly out the window when she heard the sirens and saw an ambulance heading in the direction of Tommy’s. Her thoughts turned even darker. Had something happened? Had he been in an accident?
She breathed a sigh of relief a few minutes later, when Michael walked through the door looking as gorgeous as always and none the worse for wear. In fact, he looked even sexier than usual. He radiated power and purpose, his eyes bright and his hair windblown from the ride.
Exhilaration coursed through her. He had come back to see her, just as he said he would.
“Michael! You made it.”
“I told you I would. You didn’t doubt me, did you?”
She hesitated before answering, leading him to his favorite corner booth. Along the way, she picked up a freshly-made pot of coffee and the plate of rolls from the warmer.
“I heard the sirens. I thought maybe...” Bailey let the sentence hang, unwilling to give voice to her thoughts.
“You were worried about me, weren’t you?” he asked, his lips twitching across the table. Bailey sat across from him, grateful for the late night lull in business.
He savored each bite of the gooey roll as if it was the best dessert he’d ever had. A tiny glob of icing stuck to his slightly fuller bottom lip. She couldn’t help her sharp intake of breath when his tongue peeked out and cleared it away. Parts of her body lit up and tingled as she imagined him licking her like that.
Embarrassed by the direction her thoughts had taken, her cheeks pinked a rosy hue and her eyes dropped shyly. “It’s silly, I know,” she said, finding the way her fingers folded and unfolded in her lap suddenly very interesting. “I’m sure you are more than capable of taking care of yourself. I mean, you’re so...”
Once again, Bailey didn’t finish her sentence, suddenly feeling foolish. Surely he was well acquainted with his own large, capable body. Just the little bit she’d felt earlier promised her endless nights of hot, steamy dreams. In any event, he certainly didn’t need her to tell him. He probably had women falling over him all the time.
She could picture it so clearly. A veritable harem of females crowding around him, hoping to be the one he chose. Oh Michael, you’re so big and strong. The corners of her mouth curved upward. Then other phrases popped unbidden into her mind. Oh Michael, what big muscles you have. Oh Michael, what a big...”
A rush of heat flooded her and her cheeks burned when she recalled the way he’d pulled her against him earlier at Tommy’s. Specifically that large, thick evidence of desire that pressed into her belly.
Oh Michael, indeed.
He was watching her closely, which only exacerbated
her embarrassment.
“So...what?” he prompted.
Oh, no. She wasn’t going there. She sipped her coffee, moistening her suddenly dry throat and took a different path.
“Tell me, do you make it a habit of coming to the aid of damsels in distress, Michael?”
He grinned, sending her heartbeat into an erratic pattern. “Only the ones who kiss like you do.”
“I’m...” She wanted to say she was sorry about what had happened, but that would be a bald-faced lie. That kiss made her feel a lot of things, regret not one of them. So instead, she lowered her head and studied her fingers some more.
He reached across the table to place his finger under her chin, lifted it so that she would look at him.
“Not to put too fine a point on it, but you had everyone at Tommy’s so hot for you tonight that I felt compelled to lay claim.”
Her head snapped up. “You did what?”
“I called dibs.” He gave her a boyish grin that made her insides clench then soften into something gooey. “To protect your honor, of course. They’re a wild bunch, to be sure, and I cannot permit any suggestion of impropriety.”
Bailey’s lips quirked. “Do you take it upon yourself to safeguard the honor of maidens often?”
He looked at her intently, his green eyes glowing. “Since I have not come across many maidens, I would have to say no. You are the first.”
He was teasing, she knew, by throwing her own word back at her, but it was the truth. By her reckoning, she was one of the last among a dying breed of twenty-five year old virgins. It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to, or that she wasn’t curious. She did and she was. But she wanted it to mean something beyond experience points or satisfying her curiosity. Since she avoided relationships and couldn’t allow herself to get close to anyone, anything more than a one-night stand was next to impossible, a dream she didn’t see ever coming true.
Michael was a bit of an exception, though. Despite her best efforts to remain distant, he’d managed to burrow under her armor with his quiet intensity and repeated visits. And then there was the whole knight fantasy. If only her problems could be solved with him riding in on his white horse and slaying her dragons.
“Why does my honor concern you so?”
“Because I am going to marry you.” Michael’s mouth curved up into an angelic smile that robbed her of her breath momentarily.
Her insides twisted and clenched again, even though she knew he was only kidding. She swallowed through the pain to play along. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
“Of course. You get to say ‘yes’ and ‘I do’.”
Bailey laughed, and it felt good. There was something about him that left her feeling a little off-kilter, but in a good way. She liked that she didn’t know what he would say or do next. Michael’s unpredictability was fun and exciting, not frightening or threatening.
Chapter Five
Michael shrugged. He could tell she had no idea he was telling her the honest truth. He was going to marry her; that was a given. He’d decided that about a minute or so after he’d realized who and what she was to him, but clearly, she hadn’t reached the same conclusion yet.
And while she was coming around, they had a long way to go.
He finished off the last of his roll, then wiped his mouth with a napkin, taking personal satisfaction in the way her eyes lingered on his lips. “You may feel free to use your baking skills to seduce me at any time.”
Bailey smiled and he felt the incredible power of it course through his veins. Some veins more than others, he thought, as he shifted slightly beneath the table.
“Is that all it takes to win your attention?” she teased. “A cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee?”
“That was the best cinnamon roll I have ever had. And this is really good coffee.” She laughed, the sound like music to his ears. “But it’s not enough, I’m afraid.”
Such a cute pout, too. “Oh? I thought we had a deal.”
“We did. But you did get to ride my trusty steed, and I neglected to factor that in. That costs extra, you see.”
“Indeed,” she mused thoughtfully. “So I’m still in your debt, then, am I?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Hmmm. Will it be another roll, then?” Michael grinned and shook his head.
“More coffee?”
“Nope.”
“Then what?”
His grin widened. “A kiss.”
* * *
“A kiss?” Bailey caught her breath, instantly recalling the mind-numbing lip-locker he’d given her earlier. Granted, she had been the one to initiate it, but he’d gone above and beyond. She should be paying him for another one of those.
“Aye.” He winked.
“What kind of kiss, exactly?”
“I will leave that up to you, my lady. You may decide what you think is a fair price to pay for my knightly services.”
“You mean I could give you a peck on the cheek and you would consider that payment in full?”
“If you feel that’s all I am worth, certainly.”
Oh, he was good. “And when is this payment due?”
“That is also entirely up to you.”
She appeared to give this some serious thought, but in her mind there was no question she would be kissing this man again.
“So what happens if I don’t settle our accounts right away?”
“I will keep returning until you do.” His lips quirked.
That sounded awesome, if she was going to be around. Which she wasn’t, she reminded herself. Now, more than ever – before things became even more complicated. Before any more “stalkers” showed up.
Before she fell any harder for Michael Connelly.
“And if I choose to kiss you right now?”
Michael placed his hand over his heart. “Then your debt will be paid in full. Though I fear, my lady, I shall be returning evermore.”
The words flowed from his lips, smooth and sweet as honey. Men had come onto her before, but none had ever reached deep inside and wrapped around her heart as he had. In that moment, she could think of nothing she wanted more.
“I think I would like to kiss you now.”
“As you wish.”
Bailey made up her mind before she lost her nerve. There was no way she was going to let such an opportunity slip by. She licked her lips, slid out of the booth, and ... came face to chest with the owner.
“Oh! Mr. O’Leary, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
The older man smiled at her, then at Michael with a knowing look. Of course he knew. She could feel the guilt and embarrassment coloring her cheeks; he’d probably heard every word.
Bailey smoothed down her uniform and suddenly realized that she’d spent the last thirty minutes sitting in a booth with Michael when she was supposed to be working.
“I’ll just get back to work then,” she stammered. “I’ll stay past my shift, of course, to make up for this.”
Conlan patted her shoulder soothingly. “You’ll do nothing of the sort. What could I possibly need you to do, lass? Business is slow tonight. You’ve already cleaned every table, refilled the shakers, and done enough baking to carry me through the next few days.”
That was true enough. She’d been doing her best to keep occupied while waiting (hoping) for Michael’s return and she may have been slightly overzealous.
His eyes twinkled mischievously. “I was coming out to tell you to leave early tonight.”
“Really?”
“Aye. You’ve earned a night off, I’m thinking. Only thing is, I can’t leave till Meg comes in at seven, and I can’t see you walking home alone in the middle of the night...”
His eyes flicked toward Michael, who immediately got to his feet. “I’d be happy to see her home safely.”
“Aye,” the old man chuckled. “Somehow I thought you might. Is that all right with you, lass?”
All right? It was more than all right. Anticipation welled up i
nside her at the thought of having a few extra stolen moments with Michael. “Yes.”
“Then it’s settled. Go on now, get your things.”
* * *
While Bailey went into the back, Conlan’s smile faded and he regarded Michael seriously. “I know I asked you to do this as a special favor, but I saw the way the lass was looking at you. It’s gone beyond that now, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You might be my grandson, but I’m telling you right now – if you hurt that lass, I’m going to take it out of your arse, do you hear me?”
Michael grinned. “Daideo, that woman is going to be my bride. She’s going to give you an entire brood of great-grandchildren. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
The old man slapped Michael on the back and let out a hearty bark of laughter. “That’s my boy.”
* * *
When Bailey returned a few minutes later, she had the distinct impression she’d missed something. Both men were laughing and smiling. She looked from one to the other. When they stood next to one another like that, she could see a definite resemblance. They shared the same overall build, angled, masculine features, and slightly crooked grins.
Then Michael’s luminous green gaze turned her way and her mind went blank.
“Your trusty steed awaits, my lady,” Michael said with a slight bow, making her giggle. The way he looked at her made her forget nearly everything else, except the promise of the kiss she “owed” him. Placing her hand in his, feeling his long fingers closing around hers as his warmth seeped into her, she could think of little else.
“Why do you work nights?” Michael asked her as they walked hand in hand out to the parking lot.
She shrugged, offering a partial truth. There was no way she was going to tell him that night was when most bad things happened, when vigilance was key. Daytime was far safer, when there were fewer shadows and more eyes watching.
“My inner clock’s nocturnal, I guess.”
He seemed to accept that. “Have you ever seen the sun rise over the lake?”
“No, I can’t say that I have.” She’d watched the dawn arrive often enough in this little town, but her view was usually limited to brief glimpses through the huge panes of diner glass during the early morning rush.
Michael (Connelly Cousins #3) Page 5
