Page 24 of Cocktails & Cauldrons

“Gran didn’t allow swearing in her house. Spitballs was as risky as it got.”

“If this isn’t all an elaborate act, then you are too cute for words.”

Eoin entered on the last of their conversation. “’Tisn’t an act, Piper. Our darlin’ Brenna has been the same as long as I’ve known her.”

“But you didn’t notice me before your last show,” Brenna protested, certain she hadn’t been on his radar.

He shook his head as if baffled by her comment. “Of course, I noticed ya, love. From the first time we were introduced, I—” Whatever he intended to say was cut off when Cian and a black-haired man walked into the kitchen, followed by Bridget.

Piper smiled and walked into the arms of her husband. “Now you’ve done it, Al. All the O’Malleys in one room is pure trouble.”

“Not all.” Brenna shrugged when everyone looked her way. “Dubheasa’s not here.”

Eoin grinned, and she felt the warmth down to her toes. This time, it wasn’t an evil magical reaction. Just a hormonal one. She really hoped whatever this new curse was about, it wouldn’t last long. Although she wasn’t the type of woman able to keep up with him, she loved lingering on the fringes of his world. If she lost the ability to orbit his sun, she’d die a little inside. Hell, who was she kidding? She’d die alot.

CHAPTER 10

Eoin remained on the farthest side of the room from Brenna as his siblings each took turns approaching her, then placing a hand on her arm. And although their motives were harmless, meant to discover if she’d have an adverse reaction, his skin became too tight for his body. As if at any moment, he was going to lose his shite and bloody their noses for touching her.

And he hated it.

Hated the feeling of possessiveness he experienced when he was around her. The protectiveness he understood—or so he told himself. That was because she was naive to the ways of the world. But his desire to bundle her up and keep her far away from other men? Yeah, that was fecking odd.

Whenever her large, cautious eyes sought him out, Eoin felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. He also wanted to run as far and as fast as he could away from her. However, the contrary side of him kept taunting him withwhat ifs. What if he could have a relationship and it not be demanding of his time? What if Brenna worked beside him and made his life simpler instead of harder? What if she was theoneand he was being a fecking eejit denying the existence of more? But mostly, what if he was justlonely and out of sorts since the attack at his apartment and was looking for a distraction that his work couldn’t provide? Another project of sorts?

“Eoin?”

He hadn’t realized he was staring with such intensity at Brenna until she tentatively said his name. With a slight shake of his head and a tight smile, he began to cross the room, only to stop halfway to her. The discomfort she experienced was evident in the tight lines around her eyes and her compressed lips.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” he asked softly.

She didn’t have to answer. The truth was in her eyes for all to see. The welling of tears. The sadness. The apology. It was the apology that gutted him because she had nothing to be sorry for. None of this was her doing or remotely her fault as far as he could tell.

“It’s all right, love.” He wanted to enfold her within his embrace and stroke her wild hair back from her tragic face.

But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t touch her in any way, and the knowledge she was off-limits was a canker sore on his soul. It stung with every breath he inhaled and was irritating as hell.

Because he couldn’t look at her without wanting to hold her, he sought answers from Alastair. “What the fuck, man? Why would this happen now?”

Alastair nodded toward the case, encircled by an iridescent force field that pulsed as it encapsulated the travel bag. “Who brought that to you?”

“Reggie. He got it directly from Odessa.”

“Who’s Reggie?”

“Sure, and you must’ve met him. He attends all my showings. We’ve been friends for a long while.”

“Not that I recall, and I remember everyone I meet.” From his forbidding tone, Alastair was suspicious as feck.

“Ships passing in the night, then.” Eoin refused to believe Reggie had anything but his best interests at heart. Until now, his friend hadn’t steered him wrong, so Eoin intended to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I’ve met him,” Brenna inserted. “He’s quite opinionated but very nice, and he likes Eoin a lot.”

If he could’ve touched her, Eoin would’ve kissed her for her support. From the instant she’d approached him in the gallery the other day, she’d had nothing but trouble on her doorstep, and yet, here she was, attempting to be another person’s champion. A man she barely knew, and all because he was Eoin’s friend.

Under Alastair’s considering stare, she squirmed, but was brave enough to lift her chin and meet his eyes.

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