Page 11 of The Irish Rogue

“Absolutely. I’ll be here tomorrow. Will ye meet me for breakfast?”

Immediately, Kennedi brightened at the thought of seeing him again. “Of course!” she gasped.

He smiled, then leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers. “Until tomorrow. Be careful tonight, lass.”

Then he turned, heading for his car parked two streets over. He whistled a bit, thinking that Kennedi was different, in a very good way, from the women he’d been with in the past. His previous mistress had been a bit of a…well, she’d been too demanding. He normally didn’t take much time off between business transactions. Once he found a company that he wanted to acquire, he released his lawyers and negotiators on that business. The due diligence process, not to mention, the intricacies of working out a deal, always caused him to shift into overdrive. Sean greatly enjoyed the challenge of buying up a business, finding out what needed to be fixed, then selling it off for a profit.

He didn’t analyze the reasons why he never kept any of the businesses he purchased, other than the breweries and one third ownership in TBC, The Bastards Club that he owned jointly with his two best friends, Levi Harris and Matteo del Campo. Both men were also bastards, rejected by their wealthy fathers. Just like him.

And the breweries? One didn’t need to have a degree in psychology to understand that little hobby of his. He wanted to “stick it” to his father. Every time the Earl of Winton hinted at any interest in a US company, Sean bought it up at once, stopping the old man from purchasing the business.

In Sean’s mind, it was his way of protecting the businesses. Martin O’Clary, Earl of Winton, was a bastard of the worst sort. He’d sexually assaulted Sean’s mother, then left her pregnant and penniless. And it had all started in the little pub in the tiny town near his “father’s” home. Sean’s mother had been a waitress there. She’d been young and beautiful, but vulnerable to a powerful man.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he drove through the streets of the city, then decided to go further out into the country, just to pass the time. At one point, he glanced across a field of soybean and thought he saw something. Narrowing his eyes, he caught a brief flash of…red? What would that color be doing out here in the middle of a field.

Sean pulled over, carefully watching the place where he’d seen the flash. But nothing moved. The stillness of the late afternoon heat shimmered in the air, but there was no hint of red.

Thinking that he’d just imagined it, he pulled back onto the street and kept driving, thinking about Kennedi and her sweet, sexy smile.

Chapter 3

“Kennedi, you need a refill!” Clara called out.

Kennedi smiled, but put a hand over her glass. “I’m good,” she replied. “Still working on this one.”

Then she glanced through the window. Again!

It was him, she thought, worrying her lower lip. Sean was at the house next door. It was a big, beautiful home and the man in question was sitting outside by the fire pit. She could see his face, lit by the flames, and her heart pounded against her ribs.

Was he watching her? Did he know she was here? Clara’s parents were out of town for the weekend, so their “Bunco night” had migrated from Clara’s tiny apartment to her parents’ luxurious, lakeside residence. There were enormous windows that looked out at the lake. But at night, their antics were lit from the inside and she prayed that Sean hadn’t seen them dancing wildly earlier.

“It’s your roll, Kennedi,” someone called out.

Sighing, she turned and sat down at the table. Bunco nights were fun because the game required zero skill. One simply rolled the dice and wrote down the numbers that came up. There were winning numbers and losing numbers. Basically, Bunco was a great way for a group of people to get together to play a game while also chatting and enjoying each other’s company.

Kennedi sipped her cocktail, then glanced out the window again.

Another jolting pulse of electricity sizzled up her spine.

Surely he couldn’t see her, she thought. Okay, the windows in Clara’s house were huge and the lights were bright. Could Sean see into the house? Surely he couldn’t seeher, specifically.

Right?

She wanted to believe that, but the sensation of Sean’s eyes on her was…thrilling. It excited her in an odd way.

Wasn’t she supposed to dislike men watching her? And wasn’t it a little invasive that he was watching their party from next door?

Okay, “next door” wasn’t exactly next door. There were plenty of trees in between the houses. During the day, the trees gave one a sense of privacy. But at night, the light traveled through the darkness and the feeling of isolation abated.

However, the electrifying sensation of his gaze didn’t ease! He was too tall and too powerfully built to ignore.

And he must be relatively wealthy if he could afford to rent the house next door. It was big and luxurious. Kennedi had no idea how much the owners charged their tenants, but it had to be a significant amount.

“It’s your roll, Kennedi,” someone called out again.

She blinked and pulled her attention back to the game.

“What has you so distracted tonight?” Clara asked, taking a big sip of her cocktail.

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