Page 39 of Over Verdant Irish Hills

He tried to turn in his seat to face her, but there was nowhere to go. He settled on squeezing her hand. “Whatever you want, sugar.”

“Linc, Iamsorry.” She looked down at their joined hands. “I should never have jumped to that conclusion or lost my temper.”

“And I should have talked to you about my plan like a good partner would.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Seems old habits die hard. My whole life I’ve been a fixer. I’m probably going to want to fix things in the future, especially if my womenfolk are involved, but I promise I’ll speak to you about it from now on. I give you my word it won’t happen again, Bets.”

“Accepted.” She laid her head against his shoulder as they began taxiing down the runway. “And I’m glad to hear you talking about putting old habits to rest. I might have talked about doing the same with Liam. The two I’d like to leave behind are testing people’s love and dipping my toe in the water.”

Well, now. This was encouraging. “Are you ready to jump in the deep end with me? Because I’ve been waiting for you with my arms out for a while now.”

She mimed diving into the pool, making him grin. “Consider me good and wet. Speaking of… I can’t wait to show you the hotel room I found. It’s a superior and has a large bed. I checked.”

He bit the inside of his cheek at the innuendo in her clever segue. “You checked on the bed, huh? I find that mighty encouraging, sugar.”

“I’m sorry about the legroom.” She pointed to where his knees were pressed up against the seat in front of them. “They don’t make commercial planes bigger than this.”

“Bets, I will always cherish the fact that you arranged this.” He couldn’t feel his legs anymore, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “It showed real initiative.”

“I wanted to make it up to you for ruining our last trip.” She fidgeted in her seat. “I was glad your daughter and Kathleen agreed to help me.”

So was he. “I was thinking about darkening your door tonight after I returned from Dublin. Glad you beat me to it.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it again. “This was a really good idea, sugar.”

She kissed his shoulder in return. “I hate being upset with you, but I’m committed to working on my personal issues and better communication between us. When we’re arguing, it’s like the natural order of the universe is wrong.”

“The natural order of the universe, huh? A man could get used to being referred to in that august company. And Bets… I’m committed too. All the way.”

“You rest up, cowboy,” she said with a slight curve of her mouth. “I plan on showing you what else you can get used to when we get to the hotel.”

He made a humming sound as his mind filled with naughty images. “I can’t wait.”

He held her against his side until they landed, and then they shuffled through a sea of humanity after landing at the Charles de Gaulle airport—a monstrosity, he’d always thought. Outside, they waited in line for almost thirty minutes for a taxi. This would be the last time either of them flew commercial. He’d worked too hard to endure this fiasco, and he wasn’t going to feel bad about wanting to avoid it. No, not a bit.

When they arrived at the Jade Hotel in the secondarrondissement, he reluctantly handed over his passport to the woman behind the desk. What in the hell did she need that for anyway? He ignored Bets’ protestations about paying for the room and laid down his credit card when it was requested. When they finally had their key card, they squeezed into an elevator he was sure had been designed for two skinny Parisian models.

Bets pushed herself back into the corner of the elevator, presumably to give him room. “We do seem to be running on a cramped itinerary, don’t we?”

He decided there was only one way to make this slow, rumbling ride to the fourth floor more enjoyable. He tipped up her sweet little chin and pressed his mouth to hers. She sighed against his lips.

“I missed that,” she whispered, putting her arms around him.

“Me too.”

The elevator pinged and then seemed to drop a foot before the doors opened. Linc was happy to step off it. The last thing he needed was to fall to his death in an elevator. The hallway was pitch-black. Hell, had they not paid their electric bill? Then the lights flickered on, illuminating a narrow hallway carpeted in a blue rug that looked like it had blood splatter. The aroma of garlic and peppers tickled his nose, making him wonder where the smell was coming from. Maybe the rooms had kitchenettes.

He found their room on the left after stepping down into a narrow hallway his shoulders touched on both sides. After he swiped the key card and flicked open the door, Bets took the card and stuck it in the device by the door. The lady at reception had said the lights wouldn’t work otherwise. Energy efficiency at its finest, Linc thought. Bets switched the lights on and preceded him into their room, charged with an energy he well remembered. The narrow hallway made him nervous. Just how big was their superior room? When he reached the tiny bathroom, he stuck his head in and took a peek. He and Bets wouldn’t be sharing the dollhouse shower, but that was all right. They would rest a spell in this superior bed she’d mentioned.

“You planning on telling me what you brought in that lighter-than-air suitcase?” he asked.

He heard the loud bark of her laughter before she said, “Same as last time.”

Only a toothbrush…Well, goodness me. “Great minds think alike,” he responded, pulling out the toothbrush he’d bought at the airport.

He started to unbutton his shirt one-handed. This time he was going to greet her in nothing but his birthday suit, holding a mere toothbrush.

“Oh, no,” he heard her moan, and unfortunately it wasn’t the good kind of moan. His hand stilled on his buttons.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, coming up behind her.

“Look!”

---