Page 12 of Taming Irish

Love.

“Happiness is a sweet lie, and love a cruel mistress.” I repeat the quote my mom used to say whenever I asked her why she never dated again after my fatherleft.

I never understood it until now. Never wanted to. She’d carried her bitterness around like a shield, opening her heart only tome.

I don’t want that. To live my life in fear of beinghurt.

But hell, it’s hard not to. Not when I know how painful the fall canbe.

Maybe Shane was right. What I need is to remove emotions fromsex.

And what better man to start with than the Irish god, that had blatantly laid himself out like a tempting beefcakesmorgasbord?

My phone rings, startling me. I’d forgotten I’d taken it off airplane mode. “Hello?”

“Is this Makena?” A woman speaks in a thick Irishaccent.

“Yes.”

“This is Nora, Colleen’s sister. She said for me to pick ye up in front of the airport. I’m herenow.”

“Right. Thank you. I’ll be out in aminute.”

Colleen should be arriving in New York about now. Quinn had stayed in the city to wait for her and take her back to PortClover.

This whole experience isstrange.

Living someone else’slife.

But anything was better than the one I leftbehind.

I cart my luggage through the airport, following the signs that are written in both English and what I assume is Gaelic. Dozens of different accents float through the crowded area. There’s a huge mob of people, cameras flashing, girl’s squealing, near one of theexits.

Curiosity has me craning my neck to see what celebrity is receiving so much attention, but whoever it is remains hidden in thecrowd.

Outside, I glance down the long row of cars until I see a young woman waving at me frantically from a small, bug-like car that’s the same baby blue as the streaks in the girl’s otherwise silver-white dyedhair.

“Nora?” I ask as Iapproach.

“That’s me.” She beams down at me and grabs my carry-on, then starts chatting away like we’ve known each other for years. “Colleen sent me yer picture, so I’d know yer face. Ye’re even more adorable than yer photo. Ye know who ye look like? That actress. What’s her name?” Her lips purse as she opens the door. “The one that was married to BenAffleck.”

“JenniferGarner.”

“Right. Has anyone told ye thatbefore?”

I nod. Only a hundred times, even though I could never see itmyself.

“Did ye have a good flight? I’ve always hated flying myself, but I guess there’s no other way to get here. Unless ye take a boat, but that would takeforever…”

Nora puts my luggage in the trunk of hercar.

“I appreciate you picking me up,” I say when I sit down in the passenger seat beside her, which feels weird since it’s normally the driver’sside.

“The less Yanks on the road, the better.” She winks, but I can tell she’s not really joking. “It’s not that ye’reallbad drivers. But best ye learn how to navigate Irish roads out in the country, rather than starting here in thecity.”

I don’t argue with her, because I hadn’t planned on getting behind the wheel while I was here, even though Colleen left her car for me touse.

Nora doesn’t stop talking as she pulls out of the airport pick-up area and into Dublintraffic.

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