Page 65 of Since We're Here
“Mmm-hmm.” He stares at me with that assessing gaze and a smile just beneath the surface.
“We’re friends, right?” I take a deep breath.
He nods and cocks his head.
“Friends and mature adults. We had sex and it was... kinda hot. Like, really hot.” If possible, my face gets even warmer. I’m sure it’s scarlet.
“It was your idea, by the way.” He moves his thumbs ever-so-slightly on the backs of my hands and tingles shoot up my wrists.
“Whatever. I say tomato...” I bite my lower lip.
“What’s your point, Madison?” But his voice is lower, and his gaze drifts down to my mouth, making me want to lick my lips.
“Can I trust you?” I’m not sure I have the nerve to say what I want to. I bite my tongue to distract myself.
“Yes.” Patrick’s eyebrows crease together.
I swallow the nerves dancing in my throat.
“I’m thinking...” I lean forward, placing his hands around my waist and sitting up on my knees just a bit so I can put my mouth within reach of his, pausing before our lips make contact, giving him every single chance to pull away or push me away. “Maybe what we did doesn’t have to be just once?”
Patrick makes a guttural sound, and his fingers tighten around my waist.
“We probably shouldn’t.” But he closes the space between our mouths by half, and the warmth of his lips radiates onto mine. The opposite of pulling away. “You promised me.”
“What a stupid promise. And I forget why. Can you remind me?”
He closes the gap between us and kisses me gently on the lips, then with a pretty impressive maneuver, gets me to straddle him.
“I actually don’t remember, Maddie.”
I wiggle on his lap, trying to ease some of the need coursing through my veins. He breathes out sharply and runs his hands over my ass, pressing me down onto him in a repeat of this morning.
“We’re going to have to keep doing this so you keep calling me Maddie.”
It’s hard to figure out if I’m digging a deeper hole for myself, or if I’m digging out of the hole I was already in. But right now, as Patrick presses his lips against my neck, I’m not sure I care one way or the other. I breathe out and throw my head back to give him full access.
This place—Dingle—while cold and dreary and not exactly what I expected, is also kind of intoxicating.
Or maybe it’s Patrick.
Either way, I feel safe here with him. And I’m desperate to trust someone again.
But no matter how I insist I won’t, I can feel myself falling, and the only safe landing place is with Patrick.
17
PATRICK
Monday, 10 March
Isleep like the dead next to Maddie Hart, waking up in the flat with my arms wrapped around her for the second morning in a row. Christ, how I wish I didn’t have to head to the brewery. But I do, leaving her warm and half-naked in bed.
When I arrive at Slea Head Brewery, Cormac’s just finishing up giving the fermenter a hot rinse with the pressure washer to remove any remaining germs. It’ll take about four hours to brew the actual beer, then four weeks to ferment the lager, then another few weeks to carbonate before it’s ready to try. I rub my hands together and imagine what it could be like to release Slea Head’s first autumn brew—Irish Oktoberfest—in September.
My mistake yesterday only puts us behind by one day. It hardly makes a difference, but still, I grind my teeth together. Half-naked American woman or not, I need to make sure I stay focused on what’s important in the long run.
But I can’t move Slea Head forward all on my own. Cormac needs to learn more about the process. Sean has the experience, but he makes my life difficult every damn step of the way. I’mdetermined to pull Saoirse into the business at some point. I know she’s settled working at the hotel for now, but I need her here, and I think if I could show her there’s growth potential and security, she’d feel more comfortable working with me.
