Page 78 of After Indigo Irish Nights
The bell rang, and the referee pulled them apart. He looked to the judges. They conferred, heads close together, then handed the referee a paper. He opened it and nodded before raising Paul’s arm in victory.
He stood there, his vision wavering. Paul’s arm couldn’t be up. He couldn’t have won. But the man was grinning, his mouth bleeding. His manager hugged him and put his robe around him.
Hands touched Declan. A whisper of cool cloth surrounded him. His robe.
“You made it ten rounds in your first fight in five years,” Donal said, taking his arm. “You did good.”
Good? He’d lost.
Jimmy had watched. Kathleen had watched. The whole village.
He crossed to congratulate Paul. The man barely glanced at him.
The press was firing off questions. “Did you ever worry the judges would declare Declan McGrath the winner?”
“No,” Paul replied. “The better fighter won today. They knew it.”
Teeth gritted, Declan walked off to the corner. Eoghan laid his hands on his arms and tipped his face to the right and left before saying, “You stayed right in there until the end. You be proud of yourself.”
“Any fighter can stay up,” Jimmy called out from where he stood beside the ropes.
Beside Owen Kincaid.
“Only a real man takes the prize, McGrath.” Jimmy’s sudden laughter rang in his ears.
He meant Morag…
Declan’s stomach heaved. He bore down the gore, but then he saw Kathleen marching toward him, her face composed, as if Owen was nothing to her. God, she was tough. His brother and Ellie were with her.
Jimmy stood watching.
Then Owen lifted a hand and waved. “Hi, Kathleen. Good to see you again.”
Thatbastard.
She stopped short and gave a tough-as-nails shrug as if he wasn’t worth her time.
Declan’s every protective instinct rose up, but before he could move toward Owen, Eoghan stepped forward and pointed at the man. “Get off with yourself before something happens, Owen. Something you deserve.”
Jimmy leaned against the ropes and crossed his arms. Watching. If he knew how much Kathleen meant to Declan, he would do something to her. Kathleen wouldn’t be open to any kind of overtures from Jimmy, but he couldhurther. For God’s sake, he’d been sitting with Owen, who’d spent his afternoon trying to terrorize her. Who was trying to do more of the same now.
The image he’d had in his mind all day of taking Kathleen in his arms after the fight died inside him. He couldn’t let those bastards see them together.
He had to keep her safe.
Before she could take another step toward the ring, he made himself turn his back on her.
“I’m headed to the showers,” he told Eoghan. “Clear everyone out of here.”
He walked off without a backward glance.
CHAPTERTWENTY
He’d turned his back on her and walked away before she could reach him.
What the hell?
“Where does he think he’s going?” she hissed to her best friend.
