Page 24 of After Indigo Irish Nights
“Thanks, I’ll grab some before I head upstairs and crash. How are you both? Work going okay?”
“I’m good,” Ellie said, her mouth lifting into a small smile. “My window for the center is coming together. Kathleen is the one you should ask.”
His breath arrested as Kathleen sat up straighter. So she was facing her own fight. Well, he could pity them both.
“I only mean,” Ellie managed after an uncomfortable silence, “that she is working as hard as you are.”
“No, I’m not, Ellie,” his beautiful siren said, standing and holding his gaze. “Otherwise, I’d look something like Declan here, and I certainly wouldn’t have been shooting the breeze with you since six.”
“Yes, but when I teach my night classes on Tuesday and Thursday, you work until after midnight.”
He glanced between the two of them, aware of the sudden subtext in the room. Ellie, it seemed, was worried about both of them.
“You know I like to work late,” Kathleen said, resting her bottom on the edge of an armchair. “You should grab some dinner, Ace, before you fall over.”
“Declan, let me heat it for you.” Ellie took his hand suddenly, making him wince. “Good God! Are your hands supposed to look like that?”
“He’s punching people, Ellie,” Kathleen said, coming off the chair. “It happens. Right, Ace?”
He could hear the edge in her voice when she used that nickname—the one that kept distance yawning between them—but he appreciated her alleviating Ellie’s worries.
“Wouldn’t be called boxing otherwise,” he agreed. “Ellie, you don’t need to heat my supper. I can manage.”
“Nonsense,” Ellie said, dashing for the doorway. “I’ll see if we have enough ice in the trays for an icebag. Kathleen and I used some of it for drinks.”
“A bag of peas will do just fine, Ellie, but really, I can take care of all that.”
“Grab a seat, Declan.” Her voice wasn’t sugary now. “Kathleen, sit on him if you must.”
Ellie raced from the room while Kathleen studied him quietly. “I’m glad the boxing is going well. Although if the stories about you using stones in your training are true, you Irish are a hell of a lot more brutal than the boys I know back home who fight.”
He wasn’t surprised she knew fighters. “Eoghan said such stories inspire fear and create mystique. Boxers love stuff like that.”
“Like Boston Strong Boy—”
“John L.,” he continued, “who wore a supposed magic stone given to him by his mother under his sash along with his signature green trunks. His parents were Irish, you know.”
“Some of the best boxers were and are,” Kathleen said, crossing to him with her long, endless legs. “I love the story about Eoghan tossing stones at you for training. I even mentioned it to my brother, Robbie, who used to box. But I have to say, I know when a man looks like he’s training too hard, and that, Ace, is how you look to me.”
“Can you never simply call me Declan like everyone else?” he asked, his emotions frayed at last.
She let her hands fist at her sides. “I’m not anyone else,Ace. You must be tired to take offense.”
Angry at himself and the desire to hear his name on her lips, he lifted a hand in entreaty. “I’m poor company. Tell Ellie not to bother with supper.”
“But you need to eat,” she said, stepping even closer to him. “Declan, you’re pushing yourself too hard.”
Sweat broke out along his temples at the mere thought of taking her into his arms. “I’m working out my temptations.”
Her breath was audible, a whisper of desire between them. Their eyes met. He could feel the heat coming from her. This was madness.
“Are you working too much, like Ellie said?”
He watched as she bit her lip. “Maybe a little. I don’t like being cooped up in that cottage. It’s too quiet. There’s not much to do when Ellie isn’t around. She needs her time with Brady too. We’re finding a new rhythm.”
“You’re lonely.” He clenched his hands into fists to keep from comforting her, which made him wince. His muscles had stiffened after the battering he’d taken tonight.
She took a moment, but he watched her swallow thickly, the long line of her neck bared by her shirt. “You aren’t supposed to know things like that about me.”
