Page 8 of An Irish Kiss
A tinkle of the overhead door bell indicated a customer had entered, and she hurried to welcome them, to assure that they had everything they might need.
Several more customers later, and she finally had time to do the social media work for the bookstore.It was good to be busy.Busyness meant less time for wondering about a certain guest who might not be the tanned he-god of Thor proportions she’d come to expect of Aussie actors and hence Aussie men in general, but he’d certainly had something of Thor’s muscle definition.As soon as he’d left the pool last night, she’d wanted to take a plunge in the sea, to get her body temperature down to something other than steamy.
Aisling had pivoted to study her, one hand on her hip, like a model at London Fashion Week.“And what was that?”
“Nothing,” she’d insisted.And itwasnothing.No matter how much her sister might press, there was nothing to say.
“Can we talk about how fine that man is?”
“No.”
“Why not?If I had a man like that strutting around me then I’d be paying attention.”
Oh, she’d been paying attention alright.But not for a million euros would she ever admit that.
“Hmm.”Her sister had eyed her, as they’d finally enjoyed the warm soothing waters of the spa pool.“I think the fact you fell into the pool suggested you were more affected than you want me to believe.”
“Or it suggests I was taken by surprise.Which Iwas.”
“Okay, okay.What’s with all the aggression?”
“I’mnotaggressive.”
Aisling just smiled at her.
“Fine.Believe what you want.I don’t want to think about him.”
“Or how hot he is.”
“Yes.No!And I mean that,no.Don’t go saying things like that.The man is a guest, for goodness sake.”
“A guest with an intriguing ability for putting you out of your usual good mood, it seems.What’s going on?”
Admit to that feeling of lightning through her veins when she’d first met him?No, she still couldn’t do that.“I’m just tired.”
Her sister had snickered.“Not as tired as Aidan, apparently.Seems like that man could sleep anywhere.”
“Could we please not talk about him?It’s been a big day, and I just want to relax and forget it.”And forget him, she’d added silently.
And she’d tried her best, but visions of his stricken face as he moved to help, then him striding from the water in boardshorts—thank goodness he’d worn those and not the other sort!—had woven through her dreams, refusing sleep.
She’d been grateful to not see him at dinner.Grateful to not see him at breakfast.And she’d be mightily grateful to God if they could avoid each other for the remainder of his stay.Just one more day, according to the booking.And she could do that.Ask Aisling to cover the desk while she did something, anything, out of sight.Which might be immature of her, but the feelings he evoked were unlike anything she’d experienced before, and she didn’t know what to do with them.So it was just as well she was working here and not there, trying to do her best to avoid him.
“Rory, could you come back here a moment, please?”
“Sure.”She checked on the customers, all of whom were happy browsing, then made her way back to the office where Mary was busily scanning books.
“Would you mind shelving these ones?I’ve already added them to the system so they’re ready to go.”
“Of course.”She picked up the novels and moved to the shelves.Maeve Binchy was always popular, and Tana French’s books sold well.Sally Rooney was another newer Irish author who readers enjoyed.She placed a copy of each author’s books face out, their front cover designed to attract the browsers into pausing and reading the blurb and first pages.
Oh, she loved books.Loved how they could transport a person away into another time or place.Books made her happy.And even e-books held a similar magic, although it was never quite the same as holding a real book in her hands.There was something about the smell of fresh pages.The feel of an embossed cover.The delight in being the first person to crack the spine, which probably sounded like an over-enthusiastic chiropractor, but still.She smiled at herself, glancing up as the door tinkled hello again.
Then her smile drained away.“You.”
Aidan paused in the door, blinked, then carefully closed it.“Why Miss Aurora.I did not expect to see you here.”
“Nor I you.”She drew close, did her best to not frown.“Can I help you?”
