Page 28 of Bracing The Storm

I look up to meet Duncan’s gaze. He smiles, the thin skin around his eyes crinkling a little, and I realize he must have asked a question and he’s waiting for an answer.

“I’m sorry I was?—”

“Miles away?” He smiles again. “Happens to me all the time.”

I seriously doubt that. He seems too professional, like he has his life together. I, on the other hand?—

“I said I’ll be out of the country for a few days but when I get back I’d love to show you around a little, given that you’re a foreigner and all that.” He winks. “No pressure or anything. Just good old Irish hospitality.”

“No pressure?” In spite of my decision to keep my distance, I find myself smiling. “That sounds great. Where would you like to start?”

He grimaces in mock concentration. “We could start with the local pub. You haven’t really been to Ireland if you hadn’t seen the inside of a pub. It’s life changing.”

“What makes you think I haven’t been yet?”

“You can’t have been otherwise your life would already be changed,” Duncan says.

I laugh. “That makes zero sense.”

“You’ll see what I’m talking about. Next week, Saturday.”

“Sure,” I find myself saying before I get a chance to change my mind.

“It’s a date, then. You’ll have fun, I promise.”

Our eyes connect and there’s something like a glint of amusement in his. He lingers for a moment longer, as though he can’t quite bring himself to leave just yet. And then his cell phone rings and that decision is taken out of his hand. “Sorry, this is important.”

He shoots me an apologetic smile and presses his phone to his ear, mouthing “Next weekend”, before he answers in what I assume is his business voice, “Matt, do you have an update for me?”

I watch him head down the gravel path, his broad shoulders straining his shirt as he heads for his car, a sporty something I would have expected Patrick to drive.

Argh!

“Patrick again!” I mumble at myself and close the door, as though the mere gesture could get rid of my roommate’s image flashing before my eyes.

Roommate.

The word sends a shiver through me. Unfortunately, it’s not even the bad kind and that sets off the alarm bells ringing at the back of my mind. I should be upset at the thought of spending a week or more in that guy’s proximity, but for some reason I’m not.

I actually look forward to seeing a little bit more of him than I have so far. Maybe he’ll drop the towel next time. Wouldn’t that be a sight?

Chapter Nine

“You came!” Sinead exclaims and envelops me in a tight hug that almost knocks the breath out of me.

“Of course I did. You gave me a job, remember?” I smile, reserved.

She laughs and immediately takes her place behind the counter. “To be honest, I didn’t expect you would come. It’s beyond me why someone from the States, with your experience, would want to work in my little café. But if that’s what you want, who am I to stop you?”

The question is there again, lingering between us. I don’t want to point out that where I’m from is not the grand place she makes it out to be, nor does my experience place me above working in her little café.

“Thanks for hiring me,” I say. “I really appreciate the chance.”

Sinead raises her brows at that, then beams at me. “Sure. Let me show you around.”

For strangers who have barely spent an hour in each other’s presence, she’s surprisingly bubbly and welcoming as she goes over her daily routine.

Irish hospitality.

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