Page 56 of The Billionaire's Kiss
Chapter Twenty-Four
Orla
I stood behind the bar, stirring a Latin-Irish Rose, a new cocktail I’d come up with. It was a mixture of Irish whisky and rose tequila with a bit of lime juice. It was a knock-off of a margarita, and I served it in a margarita glass with an extra shooter of Patron Silver. Our guests loved it. Placing the finished cocktail in front of the lady who’d ordered it, I smiled. “And here is your Latin-Irish Rose, ma’am.”
“It looks beautiful,” she said in her American accent. “Thank you, dear.”
I watched her as she took her drink and walked away. That accent made my heart ache. I missed him so much—not a day went by that I didn’t think about him.
Three months had passed since I’d left. Three months that seemed more like three years. My heart was getting no better. My friends had tried to help me move on, but I just couldn’t do it.
No one measured up to Warner Nash—my prince, my cowboy, my lover.
“Good evening, Orla,” came a man’s voice that I easily recognized.
Turning to find my on-again-off-again boyfriend since high school, I tried to look happy to see him. “Hello, Killian.”
“You’d better come out from behind that bar to give your man a hug, lass.” He held his arms out wide.
I knew he would come right behind the bar if I didn’t do as he asked. So I went and hugged the man I’d hugged many times in my life. “How are you, Killian?”
He held me too long, and I heard him inhaling my scent. “I’m much better now, Orla.”
I gave him a gentle push—I wasn’t exactly comfortable hugging him like that. “Oh, are you now?” I moved back behind the bar. “And why is that?”
He took a seat, his dark eyes never leaving me. “Because I’ve missed ya.” He tapped the place in front of him. “A pint would be welcome.”
Filling a mug with the dark brew, I placed it on the bar. “It’s on the house.”
With a nod, he lifted the drink to his lips, sipping a hefty amount. Chills ran through me, as I had the feeling that he was trying to build up some courage. And that meant he was about to make a come-on once again.
Putting the mug down, he asked, “Haven’t ya missed me at all, lass?”
I hadn’t even thought about him in a very long time. But saying that would be rude. “Killian, you seem melancholy.”
“Ah, so you havenotmissed your fella, then.” He picked up the mug and took another drink.
It was hard to call Killian something as close as a fella or boyfriend. He wasn’t one to let me know when he was tired of our relationship and often ghosted me without ever giving me a reason why. “We both know that you’re not the boyfriend type. You’re a loner—but I don’t mean that in a bad way.”
“I turned twenty-nine a few months back. Did you know that?”
I hadn’t thought about it. “Did you now?”
“And I’ve been taking stock of my life. It’s not looking great at this point.” I ran a towel over the shiny bar’s surface to rid it of any smudges. He took my hand as it came near him. “I’m lonely.”
I moved my hand, not falling for any of his antics. “Who isn’t?”
“You and I have chemistry.”
“If our chemistry was so good, then why did you keep leaving me?” I raised one brow as I looked at him for his answer. He’d never given me even one speck of information on this subject.
He couldn’t look me in the eye and looked down at the bar instead. “I was afraid of how I would begin to feel with you. And that had me leaving ya. I was afraid of falling in love with you, Orla Quinn.” He looked up at me. “I was afraid of that because I knew you weren’t falling in love with me.”
How right he was. “I’m sorry for that, Killian. It may have been my fault the first time. But the other times, it wasn’t. When you left me the very first time, I lost the ability to fall in love with you for fear you’d leave me again. So we’re both to blame for the lack of love in our relationship.”
Nodding, he seemed to accept his share of the blame. “But we’re grown now. And we’ve finally been honest with each other—which is new. I can’t stop thinking about you, Orla. I think it’s a sign that we should try one more time to make things work between us. I think you might be the one for me, mot.”
Closing my eyes, I knew that I didn’t want the man who sat in front of me. I wanted Warner. But I couldn’t have him.
