Loving Ireland

by Mac Flynn

  Duffy emptied his pipe and refilled it. "Enjoying the peace of the forest. It's a very different feel than the noise at the castle."

  "Does that noise happen to involve a visitor?" I guessed.

  He chuckled. "It might, and it mightn't, but on such a nice day why stay inside? Would be a good chance for a picnic down by the creek. Lots o' fish to catch, if'n someone is wanting to make a meal of 'em."

  "A picnic. . ." Lily slowly repeated. I saw an evil glint in her eyes.

  "What are you thinking, Lily?" I asked her.

  "A picnic sounds lovely. We should suggest it to Sean."

  "Uh-huh, so he can what?"

  "Oh, relax and enjoy the day. He needs healing, too, what with his wrist," she reminded me.

  "And I'm sure fishing won't strain his wrist at all," I countered.

  She shrugged. "Well, it's an idea." Lily turned to Duffy. "We're grateful for your suggestion."

  He bowed his head. "Glad Ah could help, Miss Lily."

  We went on down the path and I had trouble keeping up with Lily. She had determination in her quick step, and mischief in her eyes. I caught up to her side and scowled. "I think I know what you're thinking."

  "Do you?"

  "Yes, you're thinking evil thoughts. Think different ones."

  She shook her head with her smile still on her face. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

  "Because you're too evil?"

  "Because I care too much for your happiness."

  "Is that how you're justifying this little match-making scheme you have going?"

  "Perfectly, and without regret."

  "You're an evil friend, Lily."

  "I was trained by the best."

  We came to the castle grounds and spotted a cute couple wandering around the side of the castle. It was Sean and Anna, the second draped around the first and the first looking like he'd rather be wrapped by a boa constrictor. I hesitated to interrupt them; they really were a cute couple. Lily sensed my hesitation, and like any good friend she looped her arm around mine and hauled me toward the pair.

  Sean saw us coming and his face lit up with a smile. "Good morning!" he pleasantly greeted us.

  "Good morning, Sean, good morning, Anna," Lily returned.

  Anna turned her nose up so far I feared she'd catch a butterfly with it. "Lady Aine," she corrected Lily.

  Sean's smile flickered, but when he turned to me his eyes shone with a pleasing light. "And how are you this morning, Maggie?" I cringed; the cat was out of the bag with my name and Anna.

  Anna raised her eyebrows. "Maggie? What a very, well, quaint name."

  I had my own barb ready. "I'm doing better after that chocolate injection you gave me," I told Sean.

  "I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure if any of the flavors would please you."

  "Chocolates?" Anna repeated, never one to be left out of a conversation.

  I innocently smiled at her. "Yes. Sean gave me a basket of goodies this morning."

  "Did he now?" She glanced at Sean with a disgruntled expression that he dutifully ignored.

  "But what brings you two lovely ladies to my grounds?" Sean asked us.

  Lily jumped forward before I could reply. "It was such a wonderful day that we thought you would like to join us for a picnic and maybe some fishing."

  Anna sniffed the air. "A picnic? What a-"

  "-wonderful idea," Sean finished for her. "And I know just the creek we can use to catch the fish." He nodded at the creek behind the castle, and there was a twinkle in his eyes. "It makes for fine swimming, too."

  "You'll have to show us how that's done," I quipped.

  "Well, perhaps another day, when my wrist is healed," he reminded us. "But for now why don't we ask my cook for the picnic goodies and try our hand at fishing?"

  Chapter 17

  We fetched a basket and side dishes, but Sean insisted our main course depend on his fishing skills. We were doomed to starvation at the first cast when he caught not a fish but a clump of moss off one of the rocks. We ladies sat on a blanket beside the creek, though well away from his efforts, and Lily and I laughed at his amusing failure. Anna was aghast that we would display such little disregard for his lordship's hilarious failure. "It was a good attempt, Sean," she encouraged him.

  Sean cute lips were pressed together in a thin line. "The fish are at least grateful for my efforts."

  "We were just laughing with you," I spoke up.

  "More likely you were laughing with the fish, and I admit that was a poor cast. Would anyone care to take the record from me?" He held out the fishing pole toward our little group.

  Anna curled her lips in disgust and Lily shook her head. That left me as the sole brave soul, and I puffed out my chest and stood up to the challenge, and to my feet. "I accept your challenge, and promise you I will prove a worthy opponent."

  "So you've never fly-fished before?" he guessed.

  I dropped the act and sheepishly grinned. "Nope."

  "Then you're right, you will be a worthy opponent." He nodded toward the creek bank. "Let me show you how to cast."

  I stepped up to him with mischief in my eyes. "I might have better luck teaching myself," I teased.

  "Perhaps, but how else can I give myself an advantage?"

  "That's very unsportsmanlike of you."

  "All's fair in love and lure."

  "That was awful."

  "I know, I'm aiming to distract you. Now let me show you how to cast the line and swing it back." Sean handed me the pole and slipped behind me. His arms wrapped around either side of mine, and his hands pressed mine together on the pole. His fingers intertwined in mine, and his skin was warm and soft. I felt my cheeks redden, and he didn't help when he brushed his cheek against mine. "Now it's all in the wrist," he whispered in my ear. My body temperature jumped at the sound of his soft, sultry voice. "Maggie? Are you all right?"

  "W-what? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

  He chuckled in my ear, and the low, pleasing rumble in his chest pressed against my back sent a tremor up my spine. His body pressed teasingly against mine and I stiffened when his lips brushed against my neck. "You're tense. Relax."

  "Y-you're not helping," I shakily countered.

  "What are you two doing?" Anna shrieked from the blanket. That ruined the mood, and Sean sighed.

  He turned to the woman with a strained smile on his face. "I'm advising Maggie on the proper casting technique."

  "Then let's see if she's learned anything," Anna suggested.

  I could hear Sean's teeth grind together behind me. "Very well, let's cast the line. Just pull back your arm and twist your waist-no, no, not that far. Make sure your head doesn't turn very far."

  "Are you sure you're not trying to turn me into a pretzel?" I playfully accused him.

  "Possibly, but only if you're salted."

  "Why's that?"

  He leaned toward me with a mischievous smile on his face. "So I can lick the salt off your body, now let's toss the line out into the middle of the creek." The first half of that sentence ensured that I didn't hear the second half, and so I wasn't prepared when he twisted me and tossed the line out into the creek. Rather than flick the water like it should have, my shaking hands dropped the line and the fly sank into a deep pool.

  Anna laughed from the blanket. "My goodness, but fly-fishing has changed since I last saw it done."

  I couldn't think of a biting remark to shoot back at her, but I didn't have to; there was a sudden tug on the line that was strong enough to pull the tip of the pole into the water. "You've got one!" Sean yelled behind me. We both fumbled for the reel, and somehow managed to yank and reel the whopper of a fish onto shore. It was a good fourteen inches long from tail to nose. Sean lifted it up by the hook and smiled. "Very well done, Maggie. This is quite large for something from the creek. Now perform the same trick a few more times and we'll have our lunch."

  I could have killed him after that evil little mention of licking me clean with his tongue, but I coul
dn't murder him with so many witnesses around, especially since one was unfriendly. Besides, I had a lunch to provide, and in an hour we had a small bunch of fish cooking over a makeshift, but very elegant, fire pit created by my artistic friend. Anna didn't seem to relish her fish as much as the rest of us, and she pushed her plate away with the fish only half eaten. I pointed at the travesty. "You going to eat that?" I asked her.

  She turned her nose up. "I'm watching my figure."

  "Watching it? Is it supposed to dance or something, or do you suspect it of committing a crime?"

  "I am on a diet," she bit back.

  "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." I patted my round stomach. "I'd hate to see too many of my pounds leave me. We've been good friends for a long time." Anna cringed from me. "But seriously, you going to eat that?"

  "You may have the rest."

  I picked up the plate and dug in. "Thanks. No sense letting a good hunk of meat go to waste."

  "Would anyone care for a walk after lunch?" Lily suggested to defuse the tense situation between Anna and me.

  "That sounds like a wonderful idea," Sean agreed. "Where shall we go?"

  "I know just the path, just let me lead you all through it," Anna spoke up. I paused in my ravaging of the fish and stared at her with narrowed eyes. Her offering to lead us sounded eerily like a rerun of the Donner Party where I was going to end up beside the fish.

  I expected Sean not to like her suggestion, but he was all smiles and happiness. "Very well. Let's clean up the food and be on our way."

  We cleaned up the picnic and set out on our way. Anna led us across a bridge farther down the creek and into the rear of the woods. I realized Sean's plan when the trail Anna took us down was too narrow to fit more than two people abreast, and Lily sacrificed herself and took the spot beside Anna while Sean edged up to my side. Our guide wasn't happy. "I would rather have our host beside me," she curtly commented.

  "I don't think I'm up for your pace this day. You two speed on at your own clip and don't worry about us," Sean begged her.

  Anna looked like she very much worried about us. "Oh, I don't mind slowing down. It wouldn't be polite to leave you behind." I didn't miss my not being included.

  Lily, bold, brave girl that she was and intent on playing matchmaker, looped her arm through Anna's own and sweetly smiled at Anna. "But I would very much like a quick pace. My legs are cramped from being indoors and long for a fast walk." Lily tugged her along fast down the path and I tried to keep up, but my short, stubby legs couldn't match their pace. In a few minutes they were well ahead of us, and one strategically placed bend in the path completely obscured them.

  Sean took my arm and stopped us. "A lovely day. Let's rest here for a moment to enjoy it." We stood in the middle of the thick woods with a canopy overhead and birds flitting about. I expected him to break out in song, but he led me over to a fallen log and plopped me down, or at least he tried to.

  I wasn't plopping for him just quite yet. "All right, what are you up to?" I asked him.

  "Must a man's actions always be suspect?"

  "Yours are, especially when I think you're in cahoots with Lily."

  He chuckled. "Well, perhaps she is being helpful, but this isn't a conspiracy."

  "Says the conspirator."

  "Won't you believe my intentions are true?"

  "You'll have to prove it to me." Me and my big mouth, which is what he captured when he leaned forward and kissed me. I thrashed and pushed him away, and gave him an earful so that his eardrums hummed with my shouts and screams.

  Naw, just kidding. I oozed like a mess of ice cream on a sidewalk on a warm summer day. He was dominating and confident, but not pushy. His hands on my hips pulled us closer together and he broke our kiss to trail a path of victory down my neck. I gasped, leaned back my head and grasped his arms. His touch was like fire on my flesh, and awakened in me a desire I'd never felt. It wholly consumed me, mind, body and soul, and when he broke away I whimpered. He was breathing fast like me, and not from the walk.

  "You appear to be enjoying yourself," he teased.

  I playfully wrinkled my nose. "I was until you stopped."

  "Then that's enough proof?"

  "No, I need more."

  He smirked. "My pleasure."

  He came at me like a man half-starved for satisfaction. His hot lips left a blazing trail of seduction on my neck while his hands boldly went where no man had gone before. They slid around and captured my butt in their strong grip where they were massaged with a delicacy of a horny teenager. I moaned and pushed my hips into his, and he groaned and pushed back.

  Before I knew it he'd swept us into an obscure side path and I was on the ground beneath him. His hands were all over me, delighting me with their touches and playing my body like an expert musician plays his instrument. His hands dipped beneath my shirt and each touch of his fingers on bare flesh filled me with an unquenchable thirst for more. I squirmed and rubbed myself up against him, reveling in the feel of his body pressed down against mine. He grunted and thrust his hips into mine, and I felt his hot, solid need push up against me.

  And then it all came crashing down when something loud and annoying crashed along the path. Anna had changed the hiking trail to the warpath and was making a beeline back to where we were last seen. We both scurried to our feet and picked off as much of the forest floor as we could before Anna rounded the far corner of the path. Lily was close behind and was trying her hardest to slow Anna down, but that was like trying to stop a rhino from charging. Anna arrived at us out of breath and with suspicion written all over her face with invisible ink.

  "There. . .you two are," she gasped out. "We were. . .worried about you."

  "Sorry about that. Maggie needed a rest so we stopped on this log." Sean implicated the log with a gesture of his hand.

  Anna glanced between us and the log. She settled her eyes on my hair, which I knew was covered in forest droppings. "It seems she must have been very tired to lay down on such a narrow log." We both fervently nodded our heads.

  "Very tired."

  "Practically exhausted."

  "Nearly comatose."

  "One foot in the grave."

  "Then I guess we should head back. We wouldn't want Maggie here to pass away. She would be very difficult to carry back," Anna pointed out. I was used to weight cracks like that, but I had to put a hand on Sean's shoulder when a dark cloud passed over his expression. It calmed him, but not his tongue.

  "You're perfectly right, we should return. It would be a shame to break any of your nails in an attempt to help out another human being." Sean took my hand and hurried us past Anna's stunned face. Lily had her hand clapped over her mouth to hide her shock and amusement, and she hurried after us.

  I could barely keep up with Sean's quick steps, though when we emerged from the woods he stopped and turned so we faced each other. "I'm terribly sorry about her manners. I'm not sure what's gotten into her."

  "Jealousy," I bluntly replied.

  Sean sighed. While Lily came up beside us. "Yes, I suppose that must be it, but pay her no heed."

  I shrugged. "I'm used to it, and it's not like she didn't say something that wasn't true. It wouldn't have been very fun to drag me out of there."

  "Maggie, now stop that," Lily scolded. "You're beautiful-"

  "-and kind of fat." I pinched my flabby stomach and got a handful of globular flesh. "This isn't exactly muscle."

  "Better a little meat on the bones than none at all," Sean chimed in. Coming from a man those words held a lot more weight to me than from Lily. It wasn't that I didn't trust my friend, but having someone from the opposite sex tell me I was still attractive, even in that roundabout way, gave me a boost of self-confidence.

  Unfortunately, our little group therapy session was interrupted by Anna who hurried up behind Lily. "How could you all leave me like that?" she scolded us.

  "Easily. . ." I muttered beneath my breath.

  "I was worried about Maggie,
and knew you were familiar with the paths," Sean spoke up.

  Anna was ruffled with me being ahead of herself, on the trail and in his mind. "Well, if you will excuse me I have better things to do than chase you all through the woods." She huffed off, leaving our little group a little happier for it.

  Lily glanced between us and smirked. "Should I leave you two alone a little while longer or be you needing a chaperon?"

  I blushed at her implicating words. "Lily O'Brien, you behave!" I scolded her in a complete reversal of roles.

  Sean chuckled. "As greatly as I like your suggestion I have some duties to attend to with a few of my tenants. I hope you don't mind."

  "That's quite all right. We'll even manage the picnic food and whatnot," Lily assured him.

  He bowed his head at us. "Much obliged, and I hope to see you both again soon." He glanced at me. "Very soon." He left us and was hardly out of earshot before Lily jumped me with questions.

  "Well? What happened? Tell me everything."

  "Well, not much-hey!" She'd grabbed my arm and tugged me over to the picnic blanket where I was plopped down. I wrenched myself free and scowled at her. "Mind giving me a chance to reply?"

  "Only if it's the truth," she insisted.

  "Don't I always tell the truth?"

  "No."

  "Well, most of the time."

  "Maggie."

  "Hmm?"

  "What happened between you two?"

  "Well, he held me close."

  "Yes?"

  "And talked sweet nothings to me."

  "Is that all?"

  "And we sort of kind of kissed."

  Lily let out a squeal that startled me and the fish in the creek. "I knew it! I knew it! He does like you!"

  "Maybe a little," I agreed.

  "Maggie," she scolded.

  I held up my hands and sighed. "All right, all right, we practically made out like two horny teenagers. Are you satisfied?"

  She smirked and shook her head. "Not until I see you through the courting."

  "You're evil, you know that?"

  "Perhaps, but it's for your own good."

  "Trying to act like the good Samaritan, but I think you're a wolf in sheep's clothing." Far off we heard a baa from a sheep, and we looked up over the creek to see a small flock wander over the pasture toward the water. I jerked a thumb toward the flock. "Midmorning traffic?" I asked my friend.

  Lily laughed. "In a way, but let's be getting back to the cottage."