Page 86 of After Indigo Irish Nights
She pressed her hand to the bottom of her nose as if she were fighting off potent emotion. He could feel it too, swirling around them like the black water he’d just left.
“Tell me.”
When she lifted her eyes, there was a wetness there she hadn’t been able to conquer. “The thing is… I might have gotten it wrong, but I thought you turned your back on me when I came to see you after the fight.”
Tension filled his chest. “I’m sorry you thought that. Kathleen, you aren’t going to want to hear this, but I did that so Owen wouldn’t know there was something between us—”
“What?” she cried.
“Hear me out. Owen came to the shed and threatened you yesterday. He did it because he wanted to find out what Donal and the others have been up to—and possibly to cause trouble before the fight. I don’t think he knows about us yet.”
She tapped her foot impatiently. “He didn’t say anything about you. I admit he’s creepy—”
“Have you thought about what Owen might he do if hedidknow how special you are to me?” He met her shocked gaze head-on. “My next fight is still important to Donal and the others’ efforts to influence the council members—”
“For heaven’s sake—”
“Dammit! Listen to me. He might tell Jimmy, and—” He was getting swept away, and he knew it. “I want you to look at a text he sent me, okay? Owen is dangerous, but I can assure you Jimmy is worse. You have to trust me on that. Together, they’d be a nightmare.”
She worried her lip for a moment before holding out her hand. “Show me the text.”
He could feel her eyes on his back as she watched him limp back to the car. His stiff hands didn’t fumble any less when he tried to open the car door.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Tell me where your phone is, and I’ll get it. It hurts to watch you.”
He told her where to find his phone and then leaned against the car while she retrieved it. Her mouth hardened as she read the message, he was relieved to see. “This could be considered harassment,” she said, her mouth grim.
“It’s out of line, but we’re boxers.”
“Fine, I see your point. I saw Jimmy with my own eyes, and yeah, he turned my stomach. But don’t you think you’re being a little overprotective?”
He shook his head.
“Of course you don’t. We’re a pair, aren’t we? I like you because you’re tough and protective—to a point. But that doesn’t absolve you from not coming home or finding me. We’re in a relationship. We’re supposed to support each other. I wanted to be there for you last night, and you shut me out!”
So they were at the cliff again, the sea crashing against the rocks of their relationship. He would steer them away. “I know. I’ll be in a better place after the next fight.”
“And what about the next fight? And the fight after that?”
He saw what he wanted suddenly with the clarity of Waterford crystal.
When he’d agreed to start fighting again, there hadn’t been anything else going on in his life. He’d seen it as a chance to make the money he needed, and yes, redeem his reputation.
But then Kathleen had come along. Before his life had felt empty, purposeless. There’d been plenty of room for training, for fighting.
She’d changed all that. He wanted to come home to her and wake up with her. He wanted to be able to hold her without his hands hurting from the swelling after another punishing fight.
“I won’t be fighting anymore. After Jimmy, it’s done.”
“What about the money for the butcher shop? Will you have it?”
“I’ll find another way to get it if I must.” He would not utter the words,if I don’t beat Jimmy.
She only shook her head. “You can’t train and fight like this unless something is driving you.”
Before it had been the money for the butcher shop, but in the end, he had to admit this was a chance to vindicate himself. With Jimmy. With the town. “Kathleen, I don’t want to continue like I am, stealing a few hours with you.”
Wariness came into her eyes. “I don’t like it either, but—”
