Page 10 of The Billionaire's Kiss
“So, you like it? Or not so much?” he asked as he leaned his elbow on the bar, resting his cheek on the palm of one hand.
“I love it.” I couldn’t believe they’d left it to me. “I’ve got more cousins than I can count. It was a true privilege to have that place. There are rose bushes by the front door that are ancient. And there are so many things about the house that make it very special to me.”
“Sounds like it’s a place you’ll never want to leave.”
“I know that I don’t want to leave it right now. Who knows about the future, though? If I ever do marry and have children, I know it’ll be too small for an entire family.”
“So, I take that to mean you’re single? The right man hasn’t swept you off your feet?” he asked with a sexy grin that melted things inside of me that had never melted before.
“Not yet.” I took another sip to slow the burn between my thighs.
“Good.” He laughed. “I mean, for me.” His eyes drifted to the bar, and then he looked back at me. “Not that I’m trying to hit on you.”
“It doesn’t seem like you’retryingat all. It’s coming quite naturally to you,” I teased him.
Moving one hand, he grabbed a lock of my hair and twirled it around one finger. “You must be used to this kind of thing—it must happen all the time to a woman as gorgeous as you.”
“You’d be surprised how often this doesnothappen to me.” I could feel my cheeks blushing at his compliment—a very rare occurrence for me. “And I’m cute, but that’s about it. Gorgeous is a bit too much.”
“Youaregorgeous.” His hand slipped away from me to rest on his thigh. “I think you’re very brave, you know.”
“Why is that?” I sipped my drink again, liking the way he looked at me with a soft gaze.
“Coming to a foreign country all alone. Was your family worried about you traveling on your own?”
“I’m not alone. I’m with a group a people I’ve known most of my life. And my parents were supposed to come, but my father threw out his back. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you; my father wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.”
“Lucky me again.” He chuckled, the deep sound penetrating my ears so soothingly. “Is this what they call the luck of the Irish?”
“I don’t think so. But I do feel a bit of luck myself. I’m twenty-seven, and this is the first vacation I’ve been able to take without my parents guarding me like some precious stone.”
“Ah. And have they gotten in the way of your dating life back home as well?” Something danced in his blue eyes.
“I’ve had boyfriends, Warner, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s a bit different when we’re traveling out of the country, though—they don’t want someone stealing me away to some foreign land. Apparently, as long as a lad is Irish, then that’s all they care about.”
“So they wouldn’t approve of you marrying an American?” he asked.
I’d just taken a sip and nearly spit it right back out. “Who said anything about marriage?”
“Sorry,” he said with a laugh. “Not that I’m proposing. I was just asking if they would approve of a thing like that.”
“I have no idea. They’re not prejudiced people. They’re just wary of others when traveling abroad. As long as they got a chance to get to know this hypothetical American man who wanted to marry me, then I’m sure they’d approve.”
This is some sort of record, talking about marriage before we’ve even kissed.
