Page 57 of Pints & Potions

She stayed silent for him to elaborate.

He proceeded to tell her the tale. “My brother’s wife died in an accident. Aeden happened to be trapped with her dead body and that of his near-fatally wounded aunt for nigh on two hours. He stopped speaking to anyone but his da, and he suffers night terrors.”

Piper sucked in a pained breath. “Poor tyke.”

“Yeah.”

“Is this the incident that happened eight months ago?” At his nod, she asked, “How old is Aeden?”

“Just turned seven.”

“Do you want me to discuss his case with GiGi? She might be able to help him.”

“That’s Carrick’s call, but I’ll pass on the offer to him.”

She nodded and turned her face toward the moon a final time.

Cian watched Piper.He’d heard her tell Aeden her reasons for the healing, and his heart had swelled with the glory of it. He was getting used to the idea of them as a couple, and he didn’t dislike it.

The moon’s rays caressed her face like that of a lover, and he’d never seen a more incredible sight.

“Gods you’re beautiful,” he said in a thick, husky voice, unable to help himself.

Her tone was dry when she said, “Everyone’s attractive in the moonlight, Cian.”

“Not as attractive as you, love.”

She stilled. Two feet separated them, but it might as well have been two kilometres. Piper would remain on guard against him because she wasn’t the type to dally, despite what she’d offered.

“Thank you,” she finally replied. After sitting and drawing her knees up to her chest, she acknowledged him with a look when he sat down beside her. “What brought you out here tonight?”

“Couldn’t sleep. The woman I’m craving isn’t in my bed.”

“We have the rest of tonight,” she said in a voice so quiet, he almost didn’t hear.

His lungs seized and desire shot to his groin. He wanted her as he’d never wanted another. Not even Moira. Maybe it was Piper’s kindness toward Aeden. Maybe it was his new ability to discern how different she truly was, but he finally recognized the truth: he loved her.

Although his stomach was a bundle of knots, he drummed up the courage to tell her. “Piper—”

His confession was aborted by the sight of a shadowy figure lurking along the fence line between the inn and Carrick’s house. “Stay here.”

Jumping up, Cian hugged the darkness under the trees and crept toward the gate. He was happy his brother kept the hinges well-oiled as he soundlessly moved through the opening. Two feet away from the intruder, recognition struck.

“Meghan?” Cian was flummoxed as to why Carrick’s sister-in-law would be skulking around his place. “What are you doing here at this hour?”

She let out a meep and spun to fully face him with a hand on her heart. “Cian! You near caused my heart to fail.”

“I asked you a question, Meg. What are you doing here?” His tone was steely, but then again, he’d never cared for the woman. She was as sneaky and underhanded as they came, and he’d seen her lust when she looked at her sister’s husband, not caring who noticed.

She squared her shoulders. “I was checking on Aeden. I know he wanders at night.”

“And just how do you know that?” Cian demanded. “Have you been spying on him?”

“No… yes… but not the way it seems.” She sounded tentative and not at all like the crafty woman he knew her to be.

“Why don’t you explain to me how it is?”

She cast a nervous glance at Carrick’s house, as if she hoped for rescue, but Cian knew his brother would never serve up the help Meghan desired. Carrick detested the woman as much as the rest of them.

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