Page 10 of Hot Irish Halloween

The sun shone brighter, and Penny grew warmer. She finished her muffin and wiped her face with a paper napkin, being careful not to take off too much lipstick in the process. “Would you mind?”

She held out her cup for him to hold momentarily while she shrugged off her jacket and draped it over one arm. His eyes dropped to her breasts, and his mouth tightened again, along with his huge fists that held their cups. Up close, the scarringon each knuckle was more obvious. Clearly, he’d spent a fair amount of time knocking people out. That probably wasn’t a good sign.

“Are you in Ireland on vacation or touring?” he finally asked, looking at the green quad with its manicured lawns and swaying trees.

Penny took her cup back and had another sip. “I live here.”

Slowly, he restated what she’d told him as if he hadn’t heard her right the first time. “You live here.”

Giving him a quirked eyebrow, Penny nodded. “Yes, temporarily. Irish Residence Permit. I’m working on a book. I’m in Ireland for the last leg of my research.”

Jack’s eyebrows rose, too, in response. “Really? What’s it about?”

“The roots of Appalachian music. I started my research back in North Carolina with the old-time musicians. Then I spent some time with artists and historians from Southeastern Native American tribes to learn about their call and response and harmonies. Mostly the Eastern Band of Cherokees, Haliwa-Saponis, Tuscaroras, Alabama Muskogees. Then I went to Nigeria and Ghana to research the stringed instruments that enslaved people brought with them to America that became the banjo. Then I was in Italy to research the mandolin and eat way too much pasta and cannoli.”

Abruptly, she stopped the nervous chatter and patted her soft tummy with a self-deprecating grin—no use trying to hide it. If a man wanted to bed her, he was going to see it all anyway. The jury was still out on whether this man would be seeing anything. Those eyes went to her belly, then to her hips, then away. She still had no idea if he was interested or irritated. He seemed somewhere caught in the middle.

It dawned on her that the date for the party might really be all he had in mind when he’d seen her photo. Maybe he’d thoughtit would be cool to show up to a party with a guest who’d had a brush with fame, even if it was a million years ago. That realization took a little wind out of her sails, but she kept smiling and continued.

“Anyway, I was in England for a year. I took trips up to the border between there and Scotland for a few months to study the traditional ballads, and I’ve been here in Ireland to soak up the fiddle and bodhrán for the past eight months. All over. I love it here…but I should probably stop talking about it so I don’t bore you to sleep.” She grinned ruefully over the rim of her cup.

“I like hearing you talk,” he said seriously. “You love what you’re doing, and it shows. Not a lot of people can say that.” That pleased her, even as it made warmth flare inside her. He opened his mouth as if to ask a question but seemed unsure what to say. Penny waited for it. Finally, he ground out, “Are you still married?”

Immediately, the dull ache that always lurked somewhere under the surface at the thought of Brendan couldn’t be suppressed as easily as it had been at the café. It rose high and fast up from her chest to her throat. Grinning, she swallowed it back down and stored it away.

“If you know Thorny Rose, you probably know I was married to the other founding member of the band. And if so, you might be wondering what I’m doing on an app looking for a date. Accurate?”

Jack nodded curtly. “I don’t usually ask married women out for dates.”

Penny appreciated that. “That’s fair. I don’t go out with married or even quasi-taken men.”

“I’m single.”

“I’m widowed.” His features froze, eyes narrowing as he stared at her. She licked her suddenly dry lips and quickly said, “I wanted a date for Halloween because it’s one of my favoriteholidays. I’m in Ireland, the land where it got its start, and I wanted to relax a little. Have some fun. Not…fun alone. So, I went online, andta-da. Here I am.”

Why had she felt the need to explain herself to this man? She was supposed to keep this light and casual and short, not give him the Cliff Notes of her autobiography. And now, instead of looking like he had anything fun in mind, his expression softened into sympathy. There was something more behind those eyes she couldn’t interpret. Whatever it was, it no longer resembled desire at all. Penny’s hopes were dashed that she’d be getting some “Vitamin D” from him tonight or any other night.

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Accident,” she answered shortly, then bit her lip again. Before the memories of that awful night could come back and drown her …before she could hear that high-pitched scream… she shook herself and squared her shoulders. “Bad luck.”

“Luck is a fickle bitch, ain’t she?” Jack said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Penny answered.

For a long moment, she was lost in his eyes, which had darkened to a serious brown. Green, brown, and amber, all in those eyes. She wanted to kiss Jack Valentine-Carr for that sympathy. But it appeared she’d killed any chance at casual lust with her story. It was just as well. Their date had been a weird glitchy mistake in The Matrix anyway.

“Well. What about this fancy party of yours? I’m still interested if you still need someone to go.”

That probably sounded pathetic at this point. The last person this gorgeous man would want to bring to a party was a hard-up woman with a sob story.

“I run an MMA training gym. Mostly teens and kids in their early twenties. The charitable foundation that funds the gym is always looking for donations. The ballroom type usually has money.”

It was fitting that a man with a honed body like this would make his living in sports. But she knew next to nothing about mixed martial arts. Avoided anything having to do with violence, sugar-coated under the banner of organized sports or not.

Judgmental maybe? Yes, she had to admit it was judgmental of her. He and his gym were clearly fulfilling a need in his community. She should be praising that.

They continued walking, avoiding the bigger crowds that passed by. It was nice in this little bubble with him, at least when the focus was on him and not herself.

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