Page 71 of Claiming Genevieve

I’d give anything to know what she’s thinking beneath all of that.

“I thought we could leave the estate for the day.” I glance at her as I sink down into my seat opposite her. “You’ve seen the city, but there are other things that I’d love to show you. You haven’t begun to see the extent of how beautiful it is here.”

Genevieve looks at me, and I can’t tell what she’s thinking. It feels as if an ocean of space has opened up between us, and I don’t know how to close that distance again. “You think it’s safe to leave?” she asks finally. “You were jittery the other day, when we went into town.” She pauses, glancing back down at her breakfast before returning her gaze to mine. “What is happening back in New York, anyway?”

I hesitate, and her gaze sharpens. She hasn’t asked me about it again since we first arrived, and I asked her to let me handle it. Now, I can see that she’s not going to easily let it go.

“Dimitri is handling it,” I say as calmly as I can. “They haven’t found him yet. But he assured me everything is under control.”

Genevieve’s tongue sweeps over her lower lip, and it takes everything in me not to stare at her mouth. “You wish you could go back and handle it, don’t you?”

The question startles me into honesty. “Yes,” I say, before I can stop myself. “I do. But I also want to stay here, with you. And I can’t do both.”

Genevieve’s eyes widen. “Rowan?—”

I cut her off before she can say something that I know I don’t want to hear. “Just come with me today? I have something I want to show you.”

She bites her bottom lip, chewing at it in a way that I know now she does when she’s anxious about something. “What?” she asks finally, and I let out a slow breath.

“There’s an island off the coast that I liked to go out and visit when I was younger. When I needed to clear my head. It’s beautiful. You’ll never see anything else like it. I thought we could go down to the beach and I could show you that, and then we could go out to the island.” I take another breath and let it out. “A distraction. I think we could both use one, don’t you?”

Genevieve pauses, and for a moment, I think she’s going to tell me no. Then her shoulders relax, and she gives me that smile again—but I’ll take it, because at least she’s smiling at me.

“Alright. When do you want to leave?”

27

GENEVIEVE

I’m nervous about Rowan’s idea. Going out to an island off the coast sounds a bit dangerous, but I can tell he’s starting to go stir-crazy cooped up in the mansion. I expect that in the past, when he lived here, he was busy with parties and women and handling his father’s business deals here in Ireland. Now all of his focus is on me, and I’ve been avoiding him.

If I’m being honest, I’m starting to feel a little fidgety, too. The peace and quiet were lovely at first, and I’m still enjoying it, but I’m used to a faster pace of life, too. Getting out of the mansion sounds like a good idea, and I’m curious to see what Irish beaches look like. I’m just unsure about the part of it that involves going out to a different island.

Rowan warned me that it might get chilly despite it being early summer, so I go upstairs to change, opting for a pair of comfortable black jeans, a soft, loose white T-shirt, and the gray wool cardigan that I purchased the first night we went into town in Galway. I pull my hair back into a low ponytail and slip on a pair of Docs, and head down to meet Rowan.

He’s similarly casually dressed, in a pair of dark gray chinos, a dark red long-sleeved Henley that looks oddly nice with his copper hair, and similar leather boots. When he hears me coming down the stairs and turns, I see his gaze sweep over me, and a smile lights his face. It’s not until I see it that I realize that he hasn’t smiled in days.

I realize that I missed it—his smiles, his teasing smirks, even his arrogance. He’s been flat since I told him about the pregnancy, but it doesn’t just feel like disappointment that he’s been forced back into celibacy. It feels like something more, something I can’t bring myself to think about too deeply. The idea of it frightens me.

“You look like you belong here, lass.” His voice is oddly gruff, and he runs a hand through his hair, taking one final look at me before heading toward the door. “I gave Rory the day off, told him I’d drive us today. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you going to scare me half to death?” I tease as we reach the car, and Rowan glances back at me, a glint of surprise in his eyes before his lips tilt in that familiar smirk.

“Only if you ask me nicely, lass.”

And just like that, I can feel that spark catch fire between us again, just like it has since the beginning. I feel the thread between us snap taut, tugging me toward him, and I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I stopped resisting it. If I just…let go.

My heart would end up in a thousand pieces again,I tell myself as I slide into the car.First, because of the loss of my career… and then because of the loss of my husband. It’s not worth it. It’s not.

I push the thought away, focusing on the drive to the beach instead. It’s utterly beautiful, the verdant green landscape taking my breath away. I let out a high-pitched squeak that makes Rowan burst into laughter when I see a flock of sheep grazing in a field surrounded by low stone walls, with several small lambs darting around.

“Have you never seen sheep before, lass?” he asks, glancing over at me, and I roll my eyes at him.

“I’m a city girl, Rowan. I grew up in the suburbs and then came straight to Manhattan. No, I’ve never seen a sheep.”

“You’ll see your fill of them here,” he says, chuckling as we continue to drive.

He parks the car a street away from the entrance to the beach, coming around to open my door. “If your ankle gets sore, just let me know and we’ll head back, lass.”

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