Page 63 of An Irish Kiss
“I haven’t cheated.And he hasn’t either.”He didn’t have a girlfriend, surely.Except, maybe, now her.Her heart tingled.
“Youdidcheat.You’re consorting with the enemy.”
Oh, she’d done a lot more than just consort.Her cheeks gave away her thoughts, streaking pink.
“Oh my gosh.”
“I don’t know why you’re so concerned about this.”
“Because he’s a hotelguest.He’s Australian.And he’s the enemy, in case you’ve forgotten.Which clearly you have.How could you spend all day with that man?”
“He’s nice,” she protested.
“He’s trying to steal our family’s land.”
“I don’t think he is, not really.”
“Oh my goodness, you’ve got it bad.Do I need to remind you that a few days ago you were so upset with him that steam was coming out of your ears?”
“I don’t think it was actually coming out of my—”
“And you’re the one who called an emergency meeting looking for a solution in how to deal with this situation.”
She pressed her lips together.Explaining all of this to her family would be fun if this was Aisling’s reaction.
“You need to watch out for him, Rory.What if he’s doing all this just to butter you up?”
Hurt creased her chest.“You don’t think a man would like me without having an ulterior motive?”
“I’m not saying that,” her sister said, hugging her.“You’re a fabulous human being, we all know that, and any man would be lucky to have you like him.It’s just awfully sudden.On both of your sides, if I’m being honest.”
Was now the time to finally share about that lightning bolt of attraction she’d met upon their first meeting?“Actually…”
“Actually what?”Her sister frowned.“Don’t tell me you’ve been hiding your feelings behind fake outrage.”
She bit her lip.
“Oh my gosh, you have!”
“Shh, don’t wake up Mam.”
“Don’tyougo saying things that might make me want to wake up Mam.Are you saying you’ve liked him all this time?”
Rory shook her head.“I didn’t expect it, but when I first saw him I felt this kind of instant connection, like my soul recognised him as being…”
“As being what?”Aisling asked suspiciously.
She swallowed.“As being mine.”
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.You sound just like Colin.”Her sister’s hands floated to clasp her cheeks.“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
She winced, then nodded.
“Let me be clear,” her sister went on.“You’re saying that the Fairall legacy works for us girls, too?”
She shrugged.“I don’t know if I can truly say that until we’ve spent more than just one day together, but yes, I really feel like he’s the one.”
“Oh my goodness.This must be serious.You’ve never been one for making ‘He’s the one’ type comments, have you?”
