Page 35 of Tempting Irish

Chapter 10

Bree

IcurseOwen under my breath as I struggle with the keycard to get into my hotel room. Just when I finally hear the click, and see the small green light on the door, I hear my name behind me. I don’t need to turn around to know that it’sEmer.

Damnit.

It would be easy to scoot inside the room, shut her and all my problems out. And for a second, I considerit.

I glance over my shoulder, while still keeping my hand on the slightly openeddoor.

She frowns when she looks at me, and I can only imagine what she sees. Red eyes, blotchy skin, a mess of emotions that I’m trying desperately to keepcontained.

“If Cillian told you to check onme-”

“Cillian?” She frowns and shakes her head, her lips pursed. “What did he donow?”

“Nothing. I thought…” I sigh, looking back at the door, not wanting to have this, or any, conversation rightnow.

“I came to ask ye to join us for dinnertonight-”

“No.” I stop her before she has the chance to finish. “Thank you. You’ve been really sweet and, like I said earlier, it was nice seeing you. But this was a mistake. Coming here.Thinking…”

She tilts her head, studying me. “Thinkingwhat?”

“Nothing.”

“Just as stubborn and guarded as always,” she says with a small shake of her head, despite the affection in her voice when she saysit.

My defenses go up. “I’mnot-”

She laughs. “See. Ye always had to argue witheverything.”

“I don’t,” I mutter, knowing the words only prove herpoint.

“Do ye remember when ye used to lock yerself in the henhouse because ye didn’t want to go to church? Or when ye ate a whole pumpkin pie by yerself because Cillian bet yecouldn’t?”

I groan. “I was sick fordays.”

Silence stretches betweenus.

“We didn’t forget about ye, if that’s what ye’re thinking.” Emer says gently, giving me a sad smile. “I missed ye. We alldid.”

There’s a little girl inside of me that wants to shout at her that if she cared at all she would have written or called. But what would that provenow?

“I missed you, too,” I say softly, wishing the admission changed something. But itdoesn’t.

Her smile returns. “So, ye’ll come todinner?”

She’s persistent, I’ll give her that. And if I hadn’t made a big mess with Owen, maybe everything between Emer and I could bedifferent.

“I made an ass of myself with Owen,” I admit, not sure why I tell her, other than that I don’t want to be the person that Owen accused me of being. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a liar. “I lied to you. I knew you were stayinghere.”

A sad smile tugs at her lips. “I figuredthat.”

“You did?” Heat fills my cheeks and I glance down at my hand, still resting on the partly openeddoor.

“It was a bit of a coincidence that ye’re in the samehotel.”

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