Page 33 of Wild Irish

Delaney

Athunderous voicejerks me from sleep. “Bullshit.”

I blink, trying to orient myself.

Cillian.It’s his deep voice that booms down the hall, and the angrier he gets, the more his brogue thickens.

Grabbing a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt from my suitcase, I put them on, then tiptoe down the hall, hovering in the doorway of the kitchen where Cillian has his back to me, pacing as he argues with whoever is on the other end of the phone.

He’s wearing a pair of faded jeans, but his chest is bare, his muscles bunching and tensing, strength rippling with even the slightest movement. I can’t help but study him, to memorize every detail of his body.

Perfection. Hard, beautiful, ink-covered perfection.

Memories of his hands on my body, bringing every nerve ending to life, has me pressing my thighs together at the soft ache that starts to form there.

Emotions fill every crevice of my chest. Blatant desire mixed with the heartbreaking reality that I only have a short time left with him.

One day.

One week.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay here, but soon I’ll have to move on.

Already, my heart and body are protesting it.

Don’t be silly, Delaney. It was just sex. Really, really good sex – but still just sex.

I try to calm my reaction to him, but I can’t help the way he makes me feel. Like I’m alive again. Maybe this is the rush Maeve was seeking. The chaos of not knowing, of throwing caution to the wind, of living every day like it’s my last.

“I don’t care what ye think ye know. I’ll believe my own damn eyes over–” He stops his rant when he sees me, then grumbles roughly, “I’m not going to argue with ye again. I have to go.”

He ends the call and puts the phone down on the counter. For a moment, we stand in awkward silence.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Trust me, ye did me a favor.”

“Your brother?”

He turns and pours me a cup of coffee, then hands it to me. “Worse. Emer. Don’t cross an Irish woman with a point to prove.”

I chuckle. “I like her. And she seems to really care about you.”

“Yeah.” He rolls his eyes. “Not sure ye’d say that if ye heard the way she laid into me this morning.” Frowning, he goes silent and rubs the back of his neck. “Ye feeling okay?”

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and nod.

He frowns, and I can tell he wants to tell me something, and it isn’t good news.

“Did your friend get back to you about the car?”

Dark brows turn down, he stares at me for a second, then shakes his head. “No.”

I can’t help the relief that spreads through me, since it means I’ll get at least one more day with Cillian.

A grin tugs at his lips, and his eyes brighten like he just thought of something.

“What?”

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