Page 41 of An Irish Kiss
Her sister blew her a kiss and left Rory to the delights of a hot shower.And while she’d love nothing more than to hop into cosy pyjamas, she figured she might need to talk to some people—talk to aparticularperson—before the sun went down.
What was that verse about not letting the sun go down on her wrath?Grace said she probably needed to practice what was preached.
An hour later,washed, warm, and hugged by her worried mother, she was finally released to return downstairs to her post at the reception desk.It seemed that word had passed around about her afternoon’s exploits, and she wondered how Aidan must be feeling.For it was one thing to be considered the heroine in the scenario, but was probably quite another to feel like the victim.And while she was partly inclined to follow Aisling’s lead in blaming him, another part of her was conscious that the way she’d treated him before wasn’t exactly God-honouring.She wanted to do better than before.
“Here you are.”Aisling held a tray of hot chocolates.Two of them.“Now where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You haven’t called him to check he’s okay?”
“No.He’s an adult.And I’m not responsible for him.”
“I think you’ll find that as the manager for the hotel you are.”Aisling winked.
Her cheeks grew hot.“Look, I was simply concerned about him.It doesn’t mean anything else.”
A cleared throat drew their attention to the stairs.Where the subject of their conversation stood, dressed in jeans, holding her jacket, and wearing a dark green cardigan that looked soft and warm, and did wonders for his eyes.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
Oh, why did she still have this fluttery feeling?It didn’t seem to matter how much she’d tried to bury it under layers of resentment, he still caused warming sensations to ripple through her chest.She ducked her head.
“You look a little warmer now,” Aisling said with a straight face.
“Much warmer, thank you.”
“Actually, I have two hot chocolates here.Are you a hot chocolate fan by any chance?”she asked him.
“I, uh…” He glanced at Rory.
“The other one is for her.You know, today’s hero.”Aisling offered a smile as sweet as Irish cream.She turned to Rory.“Now you two better go and enjoy these while they’re still hot, okay?”She placed the tray on the reception desk, then booted Rory from her chair.“Go on.I’ve got this.”
“But—”
“Go!”
At that moment, the door opened and two guests appeared.The awkwardness she already felt was only going to increase with the drinks taking centre stage on the reception desk, so she picked up the tray and moved to the adjoining lounge.A glance behind showed that Aidan followed.She placed the tray down on the coffee table between two armchairs.The same armchair in which she’d found him asleep on that first day.“You can take your drink elsewhere, if you like.”
“Do you want me to go somewhere else?”he asked.
She shrugged.“I’m okay.”
“Then I’m okay too.I would like the chance to talk to you some more.”
Her brows arched.“About why you felt a sudden need to sail away?”
“Like the Orinoco flow?”His lips twisted.
“You know Enya?”Wow.
“My grandmother is more the fan than I am,” he said.
