by Mari Carr
He chuckled at the sight, causing Rory to look over and wink at him.
When he glanced back, Ailis had finally calmed down enough to return her attention to the stage, to him. He’d never seen her smile so big, so genuine. His heart jumped and thudded harder than it had been just a few minutes earlier.
Sweet Jesus. What the hell had happened to her?
No. Wrong question. The more accurate one was what the fuck was wrong with him?
How had he missed this? Missed that beauty? That light that seemed to shine out of every part of her for so long?
It was as if the veil she’d hidden behind had finally fallen completely away, and now it took every ounce of strength he possessed not to run to her or pass out under the lights from the ever-increasing temperature in his body.
The announcer, Mike O’Shea, a local newscaster, added the last name to the list—Jenni St. James—which left Victor and another woman, Belle French, on the wrong side of the stage.
Hunter stopped listening to Mike’s chatter about it being a great competition and inviting them to return next week. Instead, he focused on a very bitter, very angry Victor as he stormed off the stage. When he passed Ailis, he turned and said something to her. Something that wiped the gorgeous smile off her face. Ailis frowned, and Hunter struggled to decide if she was angry or scared. He was too far away to tell.
He silently willed Mike to wrap it up, but the man was clearly enjoying his role as master of ceremonies. Finally, after another five minutes, he bid everyone a good night, and Hunter was free to walk over to Ailis.
It was on the tip of his tongue to demand to know what Victor had said to her. That bastard was cruising for another helping of his fist, but before he could open his mouth, Ailis was in his arms.
“You were fifth,” she cried out in delight. “Fifth!”
“That won’t be good enough next week,” he said.
She gripped him tighter. “Shut up. Don’t kill my happy buzz!”
He laughed. “Wouldn’t think of it. What did Victor say?”
“Accused me and Les of colluding together. He thinks we got one of the sound guys to tamper with his earpiece to pay him back for that scene at the pub. Said he couldn’t hear the music. I have to admit, I believe him. He was really struggling to find his place.”
“And he seriously thinks that’s your fault?”
“He needed an outlet. I was the first person he saw.” She hugged him again. “I’m so freaking happy right now!”
He laughed again and accepted her embrace.
Ailis was forced to release him when Les stepped over to shake his hand and congratulate him. “Good job, Hunter. I’ll admit I had my reservations about how you’d manage in the contest, but I should have known better. Ailis knows talent when she sees it.”
“My talent alone wouldn’t have gotten me to the next round,” Hunter said. “I wouldn’t be in next week’s show without Ailis’s guidance, her knowledge. This was her win as much as mine.”
“Mmph,” Les grunted. “Keep saying shit like that, son, and I’m going to have to start liking you. And I like very few people.”
Ailis laughed. “Oh hush, Les. What do you say we hit the pub to celebrate? I’ve already texted Tris and Padraig. Uncle Sean set it up so the competition played over all the big screens. Apparently, everyone is lining up at the bar to buy you a drink.”
Hunter grinned. “That sounds like a plan.”
The two of them headed to the car, and Hunter listened with great amusement as Ailis dissected his performance, from the second he walked out onto the stage until he walked off again. She had pointed out no less than twelve things they needed to work on for next week, and she’d changed her mind about some small part of the outfit they’d intended for him to wear during the second show. Her mind was going a mile a minute and she was sharing it all in rapid-fire commentary.
Hunter tried to follow along, to pay attention, but his eyes kept sneaking glimpses of her lips, her breasts.
“Your hair looks pretty tonight, A. I love it down like that.”
She stumbled briefly, obviously confused by his completely off-topic compliment. “Thanks,” she said. “I used the flat iron. I was also thinking about Rory’s performance. I think there are a lot of things you could pick up from her that…” She kept talking, but Hunter’s attention wavered again, recalling that kiss they’d shared on the stage earlier in the day.
“Hunter,” she said, pointing. “There’s a spot. Better grab it. Rare to get one this close to the pub.”
He parked the car, then slid around the front of the hood quickly to help her out. He took her hand in his again, lifting it to kiss her knuckles. She gave him a happy grin.
“You might have to spend the night on the couch tonight if things get as out of control as I think they will. There’s nothing the Irish like more than a celebration.”
“The couch sounds good.” Not as good as her bed, of course. He’d told her to think about his invitation this afternoon. Looked like Ailis wasn’t finished fighting.
The atmosphere in Pat’s Pub was just as Ailis had warned. The place was packed as everyone wanted to share in his success, and he was treated to more than a few congratulatory shots. He accepted one after another from the patrons, who’d always cheered him on night after night here at the pub. But he resisted drinking them all, finding ways to share them with Ailis and her cousins. He didn’t want to get drunk tonight. He already felt tipsy, slightly off-balance just from looking at Ailis. Adding alcohol didn’t seem like a good idea.
Ailis had opted for the alcohol version of tipsy, though she was also a far cry from drunk.
She was laughing at some joke Finn had told when his powers of resistance faltered. He leaned over and kissed her. Right in the middle of the pub. At a table with no less than six of her cousins.
Tris appeared beside him fairly quickly. Hunter would have laughed if not for the knowledge that he needed both hands unbroken to play the guitar.
“Thinking maybe you’ve had enough to drink tonight,” Ailis’s uncle said, though not with the usual amount of intimidation he might have used on a stranger who’d kissed one of his nieces. Obviously, Tris thought Hunter had drunk all the shots he’d delivered and was wasted and putting the moves on Ailis.
“Yeah,” Hunter said, standing on very steady feet. “I have had enough.”
His lack of slurred words had Tris studying him more closely. “You’re not drunk,” the older man said at last.
“Not even a little bit,” Hunter assured him.
“But—”
“Uncle Tris,” Ailis said, stumbling as she tried to stand next to Hunter. “It’s just Hunter.”
“Yeah, but—”
Ailis’s Pop Pop stepped next to him. “I wonder if I might have a word with Hunter alone.”
Shit. Hunter would have preferred to get his ass handed to him by Ailis’s uncles. Disappointing Mr. Collins was something he never wanted to do.
“Sure thing, Pop,” Tris said, returning to the bar.
Mr. Collins and Hunter both looked at Ailis, who hadn’t moved.
“Why don’t you run on upstairs, sweetheart? I’ll send your young man up to say good night after our chat.”
“He’s not my—”
Hunter cut her off. “I’ll be up in a few minutes, A.”
Ailis was hesitant to leave, but when it was clear no conversation was going to happen until she did, she dragged herself away, disappearing through the doorway that led to her apartment.
“Mr. Collins—” Hunter began.
“Come grab a seat at the bar with me.”
The two of them sat on the high stools. “You want a drink?” Mr. Collins, ever the barman, asked.
Hunter shook his head. “No. Believe me, I’m good. Had more than enough. Listen, Mr. Collins, if you’re planning to warn me off, to tell me to stay away from Ailis—”
Mr. Collins frowned. “Stay away? From Ailis? Why, no, that’s not my purpo
se at all. What I want to say is it’s about time.”
“Time?” Hunter tried to figure out where he’d missed a step…or three.
Mr. Collins rolled his eyes. “This is going to be a long talk if you don’t try to keep up, son. It’s about time you took off those blinders you’ve been wearing and realized what was standing right in front of you.”
“Ailis?”
“I know the two of you got knocked down a peg when those blasted idiots ran off to Vegas. And it’s taken some time for you and Ailis to lick your wounds. It appears you’ve healed faster.”
“Healed?”
“Keep trying, son. You’re almost there. I’ve been watching you tonight—actually, for the past few months. I’ve seen the way you look at Ailis. Not hard to recognize a man in love.”
Hunter shook his head. “Love?”
Mr. Collins patted Hunter on the shoulder, a kind, fatherly sort of touch that was half support and half sympathy. There was no denying Mr. Collins was looking at him as if he was six eggs short of a dozen.
“I don’t have it wrong. And you know it. Maybe you don’t want to admit it to yourself yet, and that’s okay. Like I said, there’s been some heartbreak to recover from. Makes sense that you and Ailis would build a few protective walls. The trick is to not cower behind them forever. You’re starting to peek out. I’m not sure Ailis is. So, I want to ask a favor of you.”
Hunter nodded, simply because he couldn’t think of anything to say. He was feeling overwhelmed and maybe even a little bit exposed. It had been a hell of a night.
“I want you to drag her out. She’s always been a quiet little thing, spends a lot of time in her head, thinking. She’s a smart girl, one who grew up surrounded by adults, rather than kids her own age, so I’m not sure she had a lot of experience with cutting loose and having fun until this year with you. The doctor used her—used her brains, her kindness, her seriousness. I think you and I both know she did the lion’s share of his homework for him.”
Hunter grimaced. Paul had admitted as much to him one night when they’d been three sheets to the wind. It wasn’t that Paul wasn’t intelligent enough to do the work himself. He was just lazy. “Yeah.”
“She comes alive with you. She talks more these days. Laughs more.”
Hunter hadn’t realized that until Mr. Collins said it. He thought back to the Ailis, the mouse, who’d been his best friend’s girlfriend. She’d rarely spoken, rarely smiled. It wasn’t that she wasn’t pleasant, she was just distant, content to hover in the corners of the room, watching the world go by. Maybe that was the beacon he was seeing lately.
“It’s time for her to use those brains of hers for something other than waitressing. We were happy to take her in after Paul walked out because she needed us and we missed having her in our lives. We all rallied around because that’s what family does. But we’ve made it too easy for her to stay.”
Hunter considered everything Ailis had done for him today—the outfit, the music advice, the fans. “It’s not just the waitressing. She was wasted at the marketing firm too.”
Mr. Collins’s smile grew. “That she was, but for a girl who grew up on the road, I think she spent a fair amount of time coveting what the rest of us had here.”
“She says she doesn’t want to go back out on the road.”
“Well now, I think that was true for a while. The old adage holds steady here. The grass is always greener on the other side. You’ve only ever known the Ailis who lives in Baltimore. I knew the Ailis who was on the bus. She loved that lifestyle too, though she doesn’t admit it. Lately, I’ve been thinking she even misses it.”
Hunter thought he’d recognized a spark of wanderlust growing in her eyes whenever she talked about the possibility of him going out on tour. “I think so too.”
“You’re a talented young man. I’ve seen a lot of musicians in my time. You’re the…what is it they say? The real deal. Ailis can help you get where you’re going.”
“Yeah,” Hunter said. “Yeah, I think she can.”
“But you can get her where she needs to go too. That’s the difference between you and the doctor.”
Mr. Collins had mentioned blinders. Hunter hadn’t realized he’d been wearing them until that moment onstage…when they fell away.
His future had started tonight.
And so had hers.
He wondered how long it would have taken him to be able to admit the truth if not for her grandfather. “Mr. Collins—” he started.
“Och. No need to thank me, son. That’s just wasting time you could spend with our girl. Go give her a kiss goodnight.”
Hunter stood, unable to hide his smile. For the first time in forever, he wasn’t going to fly by the seat of his pants. He had a plan, a solid one.
By the time he reached the door to Ailis’s bedroom, he was more determined than ever. He glanced through the open doorway to find her pacing.
“What did Pop Pop want?”
Hunter knew she was going to ask him. And he wasn’t about to tell her. “To congratulate me.”
She raised one disbelieving eyebrow. “And he needed to do that in private?”
He reached out and stroked her hair affectionately. “You know, every now and then, you might just want to let me get away with something.”
Ailis seemed to consider that, then said, “I might. But tonight isn’t one of those times.”
“Fine,” Hunter said, cupping her cheeks in his palms. “He told me to kiss you goodnight.”
“I highly doubt—”
That was as much as he heard before he did exactly as her grandfather suggested. A handful of kisses in and Hunter was completely addicted.
His tongue touched hers and she moved closer, her hands fisting his hair, tugging it, using it to hold him there. If his mouth had been free, he would have told her she didn’t have to worry. He wasn’t going anywhere. His hands drifted away from her face, sliding along her back.
“Caitlyn?” he murmured.
“Staying at Lucas’s.”
He figured as much. Caitlyn had all but moved in with the billionaire, though she didn’t seem ready to admit the guy was her boyfriend. What was it with these Collins women that made them so resistant to commit? Then he recalled that—like Ailis—Caitlyn had suffered a pretty serious heartbreak as well.
So maybe the question was, what was wrong with the men in Baltimore?
“Good. Are you ready?” he asked.
“Ready?”
“For you and me, A, because this is happening.”
She tilted her head, confused. “You’re going to have to clarify what exactly is happening.”
“Everything.”
“Sex?”
He nodded.
“Okay. I want that too. Wait, are you drunk?”
“You know I’m not.”
“Is this some sort of adrenaline rush? Horniness caused by elation?”
He laughed. “Do you want to have sex with me, Ailis, or not?”
She bit her lower lip and looked away as if trying to decide.
“You wanted it this afternoon. Have you reconsidered?”
She shook her head slowly as if searching for the right words. Ailis was a thinker, which meant it took her longer to speak, but when she did, he knew he was hearing the truth. “You said it’s going to be more than one night.”
“Actually, what I just said was everything.”
“Define that.”
He leaned closer. “You know exactly what that means.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Hunter, I think maybe we need to talk about—”
“No, we don’t.” He cut off anything else she might want to say with a hard kiss. Then he turned around and shut the door, throwing the lock. Her cousins were all still downstairs celebrating without them. Hopefully they’d stay there a while.
Her place wasn’t ideal for what he had in mind. Her bed was too small, but
there was no way they’d make it back to his apartment without getting arrested for public indecency. He needed her naked and under him now.
She waited until he came back to her before placing a hand on his chest to hold him back.
“You’re not going to throw that ‘I’m waiting for marriage’ crap at me, are you?”
She shook her head. “I never said marriage. I said love. And I think we know that was a lie. It was a way to make me feel safe, to avoid getting too close to someone. Sort of like your ‘I’m a confirmed bachelor’ bullshit.”
He chuckled. “We’ve both been telling ourselves a lot of lies.”
“You know I’m still not there, right? I mean, I think I’m pretty screwed up in a lot of ways.”
“You think I’m not? We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst. I’m pretty sure we can handle whatever comes at us.”
“Maybe so, but that’s not really what I’m talking about. What I mean is, some of those reasons I’ve given for holding back on this, on us, are actually valid. They aren’t lies I’ve told myself. They’re still going to be hurdles.”
“You’re right. But I’ve since had my eyes opened to a few facts I’d previously been blind to, and I’m of the belief that there’s nothing we can’t overcome together.”
“What did Pop Pop say to you?”
“Can’t you give me some credit for figuring out a few things on my own? Without having to be told?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“God, you’re annoying.” He picked her up. “And funny.” He laid her down on her bed. “And beautiful.” He came down on top of her, kissing her again as their bodies crushed together. “And sexy as fuck.”
“Hunter,” she said breathlessly. “I’m being serious.”
“I know. And we’ll talk about it. Later. Can we at least scale one wall tonight? Because I really want to be inside you.”
She sighed. “God. I want that too. So much.”
They kissed again. Given how hard his cock was, Hunter was impressed with his ability to be patient, but the truth was he was content to just kiss her. To feel the heat of her breath, to smell and taste the sweet bourbon on her lips. Neither of them reached for more. Not right away.