Page 76 of Hot Irish Halloween

Taking a deep breath, then blowing it out, he tried not to let what was left of his ravaged, bloody heart shut down before he said what he came to say.

“That’s kind of a big coincidence.” She wasn’t smiling. Impulsively Jack wanted to kiss her until a smile reappeared, the smile he’d become addicted to seeing every morning when he woke up.

“Yeah, sure. But with you…” He paused. “I don’t think anything is a coincidence when it comes to you.” She didn’t respond, only stood there staring at him. “How’s the baby?”

“Good. Moving more. I’m doing an ultrasound next week. I’ll find out what gender it is then.” In a protective gesture, she placed a hand on her stomach. “I thought I’d wait and be surprised like we discussed, but my mom and Jade are pushing to know, like, yesterday.”

Even though he couldn’t quite see a difference due to the winter layers she had on, he itched to touch her there, to feel that little miracle for himself. He needed that like he needed air.

But if he touched her now, he’d never stop. She might not want him touching her in the first place. And she’d said, “I’ll find out.” Not “we.” It was another stab to the heart.

“Is that what you called to talk about? The baby?” he ground out. “Not an apology?”

Penny looked taken aback by the hostile tone, but her eyes were searching his face and his body almost tenderly.

“Maybe. Since I’ve been back, I’ve had a lot to think about. About Brendan —”

“Of course. Brendan.” With a sarcastic laugh, he looked away from her. “The real man in this relationship.”

She took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “It looks like you haven’t traded blows with La Roque yet, so I guess it’s my turn first. Shouldn’t you be training or resting? I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do before an epic battle between good and evil.”

He huffed a short laugh. “It’s cold out here. You should be inside.” The words were spoken harshly, despite the caring intent.

“Oh great. You want to yell at me in the warmth of my parent’s house. Okay, come on in.”

Penny opened the door and held it for him. Once inside, she calmly took his coat and hung it on the rack/bench combo. When she took off her own coat, he finally saw the faintly rounder stomach, and he swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat. It was all he could do not to fold her into his arms right then and there and touch that roundness, kiss the full glossy bottom lip that was caught between her teeth as she stared at him.

“Damn, you’re fit,” she said with a breathless laugh. “Are you up to twenty-four-seven workouts now?”

His face heating, he shrugged. “I still take Saturdays off.”

The air between their bodies was humming with electrical energy. High voltage. Pent-up desire for her was stirring in him. For a moment, as she stared at him with eyes that said she was feeling this too, he had the urge to push her against the wall and pull off every stitch she wore. Lavish love on her changing body, sink into her soft heat, and forget his rage. Forget the world.

He resisted. He was going to stay strong.

As if coming out of a trance, Penny refocused. She wiped her boots off on the mat and sat down to pull them off. “You can leave yours on if you want. I’ll make us some tea.”

Jack followed her through the living room, furnished comfortably but a little old-fashioned. Aside from the giant flat-screen TV, it looked like the newest piece of furniture had been bought in the 90s. The only sounds were a ticking clock and a bird warbling outside. He’d been to New York before, but to the city, not a town like this one. This quiet was unexpected.

Watching her from the doorway of the warm, sunlit kitchen as she prepped the kettle and the mugs, it was strange seeing Penny in her home element. Despite what she’d told him about feeling smothered growing up here, she seemed comfortable. Too comfortable.

“You can have a seat,” she said, gesturing at the kitchen table.

“If it’s alright, I’ll stand.”

He remained at the doorway, watching her, drinking in the sight of her. Every movement of her graceful arms, the way she swayed from side to side unconsciously as she waited at the stove for the water to boil. Her fingers that grasped the handle looked delicate, but he remembered the slight roughness of those fingertips caressing his jaw while she gazed at him with so much tenderness. It fucking ached to think about it.

Emotion welled in his chest, up the channel of his throat, as she poured the steaming water into the mugs. They could be any old married couple preparing to have a cuppa on a cold winter day. They weren’t. Because so many important things had gone unsaid, because he’d held back. He couldn’t anymore. Suddenly, he couldn’t keep up the anger, the resentment, the stiff armor he’d worn his whole life to protect himself.

Penny went stock still when he uttered, “I don’t want the tea. I didn’t come here to make nice and pretend that a cup of tea can fix everything that’s wrong between us.”

“Alright. Then what do you want?” Facing him, she crossed her arms and waited. Still so far away.

“I want to know why you left like that. I knew you were disappointed in me when you left the gym that day. I know I said things that hurt you. But to come home and find you gone…Do you have any idea what that did to me?” His throat was raw, his voice low and jagged.

Penny’s eyebrows drew together as anguish crossed her features. “I handled things badly, but I was angry and overwhelmed. You promised me no more fighting, and then you turned around and made this huge decision to do it anyway without talking to me first. And it wasn’t the first time you’d done that. Like taking me to the FitzGerald’s house and not telling me about Clarissa and what I might be in for. But a fight,where you could get hurt or worse…for you to not talk to me about something that important, it hurt.”

With the recitation of his faults and omissions, Jack flushed. The steam was rising again.

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