Page 47 of Arse Over Irish Teacup
Lauren crossed her fingers and prayed silently for forgiveness before delivering her lie. “Actually, your flight got cancelled.” She winced, waiting for Beth to respond. This could get ugly.
Beth poured herself a drink of water and took a sip while looking outside at the colorful garden and replayed the scene of being naked in the sunshine. Her skin warmed at the thought. “That’s okay.”
Beth’s voice wasn’t all that disappointed so Lauren didn’t feel terrible when she told the second ever so small, teensy white lie that the next flight wasn’t until Sunday.
Beth trusted her friend explicitly so if Lauren said there wasn’t another flight home until Sunday then there wasn’t.
“I guess that means I could go to the wedding.”
“What wedding?”
“Roan invited me to a wedding on Saturday.”
Lauren hugged the phone receiver tight to her chest while she squealed. This is exactly what Beth needed. “I think you should go. You can tell him after you’ve gone to the grocery store.”
Lauren wasn’t always so bossy but Beth was in no state to make her own decisions at the moment. At least not the decisions Lauren wanted her to make.
ChapterTwenty-One
Once inside the grocery store,which was thankfully small and therefore manageable, Beth got a cart and began reading the aisle markers. First, she needed a chicken. She spotted the butcher counter in the back and headed in that direction. Everything was going fine until she turned a corner and crashed into another cart. Without looking at the person pushing the art, she apologized and backed away.
“Spinner?”
Beth looked up and into familiar eyes. “Aidan!”
The delighted surprise in her eyes warmed his heart for a moment. If he was honest there hadn’t been a day he hadn’t thought of her but dammit he didn’t want to think of her! And now here she was, crashing into him! Again! He hardened his stare and must have hardened it too much because she suddenly shrunk away from him. It wasn’t his intention to intimidate her. He scolded himself, and softened his tone. “What are you doing here?”
Her head dropped and what little smile was in her eyes disappeared. Although his tone wasn’t so harsh his eyes were blazing annoyed so she answered him while looking at the selection of bread on the nearby shelf. “Buying groceries.”
Duh. “I meant what are you doinghere. You never said you were coming to Kenmare.” He’d just scolded her, again, even though he hadn’t meant to. The first words Beth ever said to him rang in his ears. He didn’t need to be so mean about it.
“I didn’t mean to!” she cried. She looked him square in the eye that time, then moved her cart out of the way of another oncoming shopper. “I got lost in the storm the other day and then there was the accident!”
“You were in an accident?” Aidan’s irritation disappeared completely.
“Sort of.” Ashamed, she gripped her cart’s handlebar a bit tighter for stability when what she wanted was to throw herself into his arms and sob. But she couldn’t do that, not again. She lowered her eyes and, with all her might, willed her tears to dry up.
Something was wrong. Aidan could feel it. Beth wouldn’t look at him and her knuckles were so white it wouldn’t surprise him when the handlebar bent. He wanted to ask what was wrong. Could he take her for a drink? Did she need a hug?
Of course, she needed a hug, dammit!
Nope! Not going there, remember?“At least you’re having that adventure you were looking for.”
“Not really.” All the thoughts she’d had about slapping him disappeared. Beth raised her head and met his eyes. The bluest, most sincere eyes. She would miss them, but at least she got to see them one last time. “I’m going home. Ireland isn’t for me. I’ll stick to the Ireland I know in your book.”
Beth was leaving?
If Aidan wasn’t fighting his feelings for her so hard, he would have actually heard his heart crack. He sure as hell felt it though.
NO.
He had to get away from her before he said or did something stupid. “I’m sorry it wasn’t everything you wanted it to be. I hope you have a safe flight. Take care, Spinner. It’s been fun—meeting you.” He nodded his head in goodbye and left, marching straight out the front door, leaving his full cart behind and Beth wondering what she’d said to make him run off in such a rush. Humph, he was probably trying to avoid being run over by her—again.
Beth blinked a couple times, then shook her head. Authors sure were moody people. At least this one was. He was right though, it had been fun meeting him. A picture of Aidan laughing came to the front of her mind. He had a great laugh.
Well, that’s enough of that.
She didn’t think she would ever see Aidan again but there he was and she got to say goodbye, more or less. She couldn’t ask for more than that.
