Page 75 of Arse Over Irish Teacup
“My God! Aidan what is this place? It’s …”
“Gorgeous.” He said, finishing Beth’s sentence.
“Yes, gorgeous.”
He was looking at her, not at the mystical stone circle before them or the landscape. But she didn’t notice, which was just as well, he decided. Because all he could see was her red hair blowing in the soft breeze behind her exposed face, her milky white skin, her graceful neck, which would undoubtedly lead to graceful soft shoulders. He moved his gaze back up. A smile was on Beth’s lips that reached her eyes.
“This is quiet beauty.” It was vast, unspoiled, and peaceful.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. What is this called again?”
“This is the Uragh Stone Circle but what I really want you to see is behind it. Look past, see the water falling down the mountain face?”
Beth was so enamored with the wide open fields, the grazing sheep scattered everywhere and the ancient stones before them that she hadn’t noticed anything else. But in the distance was a waterfall.
Lauren stayed back, taking pictures and observing. Sure, she thought the valley was beautiful but she couldn’t be distracted from her mission to find out what was really between Beth and Aidan. And don’t think for one second she hadn’t noticed him drooling into his socks over Beth! Lauren was so enamored watching the pair of them that she didn’t notice the large pile of manure she’d plopped her foot six inches deep into until she tried to take a step, and couldn’t. Gross. She never liked sheep anyway.
After Lauren got her sneaker cleaned as best as she could, they got back in the car and headed for the waterfall.
Suddenly, as if they had driven through a doorway, the land changed. They were now looking onto a lush, green meadow and graceful volcanic rock, where dozens of the cutest lambs ever seen pranced at its feet.
Beth was sure this was the Garden of Eden. “It’s Paradise,” she said as she looked around, and up at the waterfall.
“What?” Aidan asked.
“This place … is paradise.”
Lauren, who no longer existed, quietly stepped back to let them have their moment.
Aidan’s heart swelled. He’d known she would like this place but never could he have predicted she would fall in love with it as much as he had years before. This place was the inspiration for all his writing. Nowhere else had he found the serenity that enveloped him here.
But that was a long time ago and he hadn’t found solace here in a long time. Not until today. He put his hands in his pockets to keep from taking Beth in his arms. “We’ve driven all over the ring for miles and miles and the place that you think is paradise was just down the road.”
Sometimes the things we want most are closer than we think.
ChapterThirty-One
“Could’ve had a V-8, Roan,”Beth said as she shuffled the deck of cards. They had been playing poker for an hour now.
Roan looked at Lauren and whispered. “What does that mean?”
“She’s saying you made a stupid play.”
“Bethany really is competitive! I thought you were exaggerating!” Roan’s eyes were round, his face pale. Never in a million years would he have guessed that Beth had a dark side.
Lauren shook her head. This poor knucklehead didn’t stand a chance. On the other hand, across the table Aidan was seated beside Beth and although he’d taken his share of trash talk instead of folding, he’d dealt it right back. The two other neighbors playing, whatever their names were didn’t matter to Lauren, seemed fine so long as the whiskey was flowing. And it was.
“Hey! You two want to be left alone or are we going to play cards?” Beth was impatiently dealing the cards.
Aidan took away Beth’s drink and downed it himself. “Hey!”
“Listen Cupcake, you don’t need any more of that. I’m simply doing everyone here a favor.”
Beth tried not to smile so wide as she did. She wouldn’t tell Aidan of course but she liked it when he called her Cupcake. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight fire with fire. She snatched his glass of whiskey, downed it in one shot, then placed the empty glass in front of him. “You’re up, Sweetums.”
From across the table Roan had been observing Beth and Aidan teasing each other for the past hour. She hadn’t ever teased him or looked at him with stars in her eyes. The sparks between those two were unmistakable.
