Page 78 of Arse Over Irish Teacup
That got her attention.
He reached for her, closing the distance between them.
It had taken so long to find her, he wanted to rush in, but she deserved soft, slow romance.
His fingertips feathered down her cheek and her breath caught when he cupped the back of her neck, tipping her head.
Aidan leaned in, intending to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. “Ouch” was not the word he’d intended to say but it’s usually the word used when headbutted by Bethany Spinner.
A glittering meteor blazing across the sky now stole his thunder. Thanks a lot, Copernicus.
“Are you okay? I’m so sorry! Beth looked closely at his face, something was on his skin. “Aidan! Your nose is bleeding!”
Nurse Spinner quickly removed her shawl and used it to pack his nose, while she ordered him to pinch it and not tip his head back.
Yep. Romantic moment officially ruined.
Well, he had wanted to see stars.
After assessing that his nose was not broken, Beth drove them home without any trouble—except grinding the first gear. And second. And third. He was fairly certain the transmission had dropped out, and if it hadn’t, if he didn’t intervene it soon would.
Finally, Aidan couldn’t take it anymore. His nose wasn’t bleeding anymore, there was nothing holding him back. “Beth, pull over for a minute, would you?”
She pulled over and he got out of the car and walked around to her door. “What are you doing?”
“I’m flexing my male dominance by driving.” In other words, he wanted to live long enough to see where this relationship would go—which wouldn’t be far if they ended up at the bottom of a ravine.
Once they arrived back at her cottage, he walked her to the door. They lingered under the porch roof, gazing into each other’s eyes. This had been a perfect night. Or it would have been if she hadn’t given him a bloody nose. But that was a minor detail. Aidan looked at Beth with as much, if not more affection, then he had an hour before. If his face wasn’t such a mess he would pick up where they had left off. But it was, so he didn’t. That would be something to look forward to.
It was time to call it a night but he couldn’t leave her without asking one thing burning his brain. “I have a quick question.”
“What’s that?”
“A meteor shower, the Grand Canyon, painting, those regrets I can understand but why do you want to ride a goat?”
She grinned and looked up and away. “Goodnight, Aidan,” she said as she opened the door and stepped inside.
“Goodnight, Beth.”
ChapterThirty-Three
In the window,Lauren observed Beth seated on the bench by the yellow door, enveloped by flowers and sunlight. Two days had passed and Aidan seemed to have vanished. Not that Beth held it against him, but Lauren sure as hell did! So what if their evening had unraveled into a complete disaster? His nose wasn’t broken and Beth had driven them home safely—more or less. It wasn’t Beth’s fault. Accidents happen!
Yet, there Beth was, sulking and wallowing in self-pity, resembling nothing so much as a lovesick teenager. And that was Lauren’s fault.
Lauren closed the curtains and turned away. This wasn’t what she wanted for Beth, and Aidan obviously wasn’t the man she thought he was. It was time to return to Minnesota but first, she owed her friend an apology.
She went outside and joined Beth on the bench. “Are you ready to go home?”
Beth stared at the ground and nodded.
“Me too. I’ll get us on the first flight home. But, first there’s something I have to tell you. It’s about your flights.”
“The cancelled ones?”
“That’s just it.” Lauren turned her head to face her friend. “I never cancelled them because I never booked them.”
Beth eyes shifted from confusion, to understanding, to blazing mad. “Why would you do a thing like that?” she shouted.
