Page 22 of Trying Sophie

Startled out of my memory of my epic orgasm the night before, I flinched with mortification. It was bad enough I’d masturbated to the thought of Declan; I didn’t need him invading my thoughts during the day as well.

And after our awkward moment the night before, I certainly didn’t want Cian to think my blushes were for him.

“It’s warm in here,” I answered, pulling my shirt away and fluttering it against my heated skin.

It was hot in the pub. With temperatures dropping into the low 40s outside and rain lashing against the windows—weather everyone kept calling “Baltic”—we had fires blazing in all of the grates. It’d taken awhile for the pub to warm up, but now that the turf had burned for a couple of hours, the temperature inside had risen considerably. I’d started the day in jeans and a sweater, but about an hour ago, I’d rushed upstairs and threw on the v-neck tee that was now sticking to me.

Cian nudged his hip against mine. “Come on, let’s take a break outside. You look like you could use some air.”

“You ain’t kidding,” I replied, fanning my face. “It’s like a sauna in here.”

“Yeah, one of the downfalls of an Irish winter is everyone is so damn cold all the time that when they come inside, they go nuts with the heat. You’ll learn to dress in layers.”

“I’m not sure I have any layers to lose,” I answered before realizing the image my words presented.

Me stripped down to my bra and underwear while I poured pints wasn’t something I wanted Cian picturing.

“Unless I came down in a bathing suit and sarong,” I added, though that image wasn’t much better.

He snickered, and I knew he knew I had been trying to salvage my statement by talking about my bathing suit.

“After you.”

I bypassed my jacket and grabbed a scarf my grandma had crocheted for me a few days before. While I might be sweltering now, there was no reason to tempt fate by heading out in the rain in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans.

Once outside, I careful to stay under the awning. Even though it was snug for the two of us, there was no sense in letting the rain soak into my clothes by giving Cian a wider birth. I wanted to cool down, not freeze to death.

“Wow, there’s steam coming off you,” Cian observed, his eyes raking over my exposed skin while his hand hovered over my heated flesh. “I knew you were hot, but you’re literally smoking.”

He waggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly in a cartoonish show of comedy.

“Har har,” I responded dryly.

Cian’s eyes twinkled as he thankfully put some distance between us. Pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and putting one between his lips came as a surprise. Cupping his hands, he lit the cancer stick and inhaled appreciatively before blowing the smoke away from me.

“Want one?” He indicated the box in his hand.

“No thanks, I’m good. I don’t smoke.”

“You will,” he responded. “All the girls in Dublin do.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

I scrunched up my nose. I’d wanted a moment outside for some fresh air, not to be bathed in the stench of cigarettes. I’d have to wash my hair now before going to bed so my sheets didn’t stink.

He pulled another drag into his lungs and raised his eyebrow. Exhaling, he said, “I’ve been told it’s rather sexy.”

“Yes, I’m sure you have.”

Because yes, if I was in to Cian, I’d probably find the sight of him standing in the rain in a tight black shirt, jeans hanging artfully low on his hips, with a cigarette dangling from his lips the sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen. But I wasn’t so I chuckled and said, “You need to check your ego because not every girl is into the bad boy thing you have going on.”

“Are you sure?”

He stepped into my space, causing me to scuttle back, perilously close to the edge of the awning where rain poured down in heavy buckets. Dragging a finger down my arm, he took another step and leaned forward, his face hovering dangerously close.

“You don’t think I couldn’t entice you?” he asked, half whisper, half growl, his smoke-tinged breath brushing over my lips.

When I settled my hands against his chest his eyes flashed with triumph, then resentment when I pushed him away.

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