Page 12 of Intimately Faithful

Both scents rumbled Aoife’s belly until she had no choice but to follow the smells.

With the baby tucked neatly into her chest, snug as a bug in a rug, she ambled down the staircase, listening carefully for any sounds.

Aoife needn’t have bothered tiptoeing through the house in hopes of not disturbing Danny at such an early hour; not even six am yet, because she found the man himself pottering around the kitchen.

She could barely stand under the attack offeelingcrashing around inside her chest.

It was both pain and elation vying for the top dog position.

The room was so nice and cozy, so as to settle her rampaging nerves, she looked around setting her eyes on the clean countertops and over all the appliances. Functional and used and the idea of watching Danny wielding the stove and pots and pans made her belly go through a series of jolted flips.

It hit her all of a sudden how grown he was.

Danny was the kind of handsome that left a profound and unparalleled impact low in the belly when you looked at him.

It didn’t matter how unattainable he was.

The girls back home all wanted Danny and he’d only ever had eyes for one.

Most people would revere him anyway, just because he’s so damn pleasing to look at.

No longer the sandy haired boy who wore an easy smirk and an even easier thirst for life. He was a fully-grown man. Responsible for more than himself with a whole town to look after.

The thought terrified her and gave her comfort.

She was happy for him. He’d found his peace after all.

And here she was bringing trouble to his door.

If she possessed an ounce of bravery in her she would walk away now and take her trouble with her.

But she needed him.

Needed his help, she amended quickly, though that first thought sprouted hopeful wings and bloomed all through her body, until she felt like she might literally be on fire.

She would be ridiculed from one end of the River Corrib to the other if any of her old crew could see her now. Aoife Flanagan the least likely to achieve anything other than having a brood of bairns around her ankles.

She paused in the doorway just to take him in.

She’d never set foot in this modest house before, and yet she felt like she was out of a scene somehow, watching him command everything he touched. Danny standing at the stove flipping an omelet and filling cups with coffee.

Who was this man she knew and yet a complete stranger at the same time?

His back was wide. Much wider than her memory remembered. He’d always been lean, but now it was honed down to the last inch. Strong shoulders, forearms like rocks with a fine dusting of the same sandy brown hair on top of his head, with those protruding veins.

Make a sound. Let him know you’re there.She shouldn’t be caught perving on him, to be sure she would be cherry red if he saw the way she unobtrusively watched him fill two plates. She watched how his legs held him up and the tilt of his head when he buttered toast.

He’d grown into a fine man.

Something caught in her throat—a tumble of words, air andwant.

Her body buzzed … alert …awake.

More awake than she’d felt in forever.

An off the charts kind of buzzing just from watching how he moved his body.

God. He was beautiful. So beautiful that every part of her ached.

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