But, in order for Sam’s back-to-Boston plan to work she needed to get drunk, or at least make Devon think she was.
Devon
“Who’s the lucky lass?” the bartender asked jutting his chin over Devon’s shoulder.
Pete was tending bar tonight. He was one of Devon’s father’s old fishing buddies. Devon tried to shrug off answering, but Pete was like a bloodhound. Plus, it didn’t help that Devon’s cheeks were probably turning on him. His face always flushed color when he was nervous.
“Oh, come on. She must be somebody,” Pete pressed.
Devon slapped a few euros on the counter and grabbed the pints, but Pete didn’t let go. “If you don’t tell me, I guess I’ll just have ta go over and card ‘er me self.”
Devon paled. “Christ, Pete. If ya must know, it’s Sam Connors.”
“No! Thomas and Elizabeth’s daughter? It’s can’t be!”
“It is. Now don’t make a big deal about this.”
Pete gave a raspy laugh. “Yer still in love wit her like the day ya was born.”
Devon leveled his eyes with Pete and scowled. Pete got the hint. He was still laughing but he took his hands off the pints and backed away with them in the air.
Devon loosed a breath as he weaved his way slowly to the table trying not to spill the pints. It was nearly sundown and the bar was starting to fill up. He didn’t like the idea of his first date with Sam being at Finnegan’s. But it was pretty much the only pub worth visiting in Dalkey—which was half the problem. He didn’t want to run into any of his mates while he was with her just yet. They’d rib him way worse than Ol’ Pete. Devon glanced at the clock—plenty of time. The boys didn’t usually come out until after the dinner crowd left.
He turned his attention back to Sam. She was gazing out the window, the last glow of summer sun casting a golden glow over her. She looked like a painting. And if possible, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her clothes were a bit grungy, but who knew what passed as keen in Boston? That kind of thing never mattered to Devon anyway. It was Sam’s spirit that drew him in. She was always so feisty and sure of herself. None of the girls at Eddington were like that. All they cared about were appearances.
Devon set the pints down on the table. “Guinness for the lady.”
“Thanks.” Sam offered him a big smile and held up her glass. “Cheers.”
“Sláinte,” Devon said, clinking glasses.
He watched her take three big gulps. Shite! He didn’t know it was a chugging contest. He took a few more swigs himself and put the beer down shaking his head.
“What?” Sam scoffed. “Don’t Irish women drink?”
“You are an Irish woman, ya know?”
She laughed. “Just because I was born here doesn’t make me Irish.”
“That’s exactly what it makes you,” Devon argued.
“I barely remember this place.”
“Well, it remembers you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Devon said taking another swig of his pint.
Sam raised her glass and drained it. “How ‘bout another round?”
“Don’t you think you should pace yourself? And maybe order some dinner?”
“Look, Devon, I’m not eight-years-old anymore. You can’t bully me. If I want another drink, I’ll have another drink.”
She was on her feet, swiveling her hips toward the bar. He chased after her, touching her elbow when he caught up. “Sam.”
She jerked her arm away and signaled to Pete. “I’ll have an Irish whiskey, please.”
He chuckled. “You’re in Ireland lass, we only serve Irish whiskey. Which one do ya want?”
Devon watched Sam’s cheeks flush and had the sudden urge to pull her into his arms. Christ! He needed to get ahold of himself.
“Oh. Um, I’ll have Jameson, please,” Sam said, recovering her composure.
“Make that two, Pete,” Devon called over Sam’s shoulder.
She turned and scowled at him.
“Make mine a double,” Sam called. “And I’ll have another pint too.”
Shite! He couldn’t let her drink him under the table. “Me too,” Devon added.
Pete just shook his head and served up the drinks. Sam drained her shot without even glancing at Devon. He reached past her to pay and did his shot by himself while Sam marched back to their table.
Devon followed her back and sat down. He took a deep breath and tried to meet Sam’s icy glare. “Is that what you think of me?” he asked, his heart in his throat. “Some big bully?”
Sam studied him with her blue-green eyes. Devon felt like an airplane losing cabin pressure when she looked directly at him. Everything he’d tried to keep bottled up just wanted out. “I’m not that guy anymore, Sam. But you’re right. I shouldn’t pretend to know you. It’s been a long time. It’s just . . . I thought we used to be friends. And I could really use a friend right now.”
Sam
Sam caught her heart skipping a beat as she stared at Devon’s beautiful features. His face was crumpling and he seemed genuinely upset that she wasn’t all chummy with him. But what had he expected? She hadn’t seen or heard from him in nine years. Just because he’d turned into the most beautiful man in Ireland didn’t excuse his Neanderthal behavior when he was a kid.
But still, it caught her off guard to see that he cared what she thought about him at all. I mean a guy that looked like this in Boston wouldn’t give a crap what she said to him in a bar. Scratch that. She couldn’t get into any bars in Boston. One point for Ireland—where the drinking age is eighteen and you never get carded if you look at least sixteen!
“We’re friends,” she finally said.
“We are?”
Devon’s face lit up and she had to fight the urge to cup his chiseled cheeks. Spam! He called you Spam and stole your first kiss! Do not feel bad for him. Besides he probably does this with all the girls. You can do this. Devon is your ticket back to Boston! Sam cleared her throat. “Yeah. I mean it’s not like I know anyone else here. I’m willing to put the past behind us.”
“Great!”
“But, we really should remedy the whole not-knowing-each-other thing,” she added coyly.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Have you ever played, never-have-I-ever?”
He laughed. “Of course.”
“Good.” Sam waved to get the bartender’s attention. “Another round.”
6
Sam
Maybe Sam’s idea to get wasted on her first night out wasn’t such a good one. It certainly wasn’t going as planned. She was just supposed to pretend to be drunk, so when Devon brought her home she could show her father what a bad influence he was.
Look, Dad. First night in Ireland and your bestie’s son gets your perfect daughter wasted. This kind of thing would never happen in Boston.
The problem was, Sam was a bit drunk. But the bigger problem was that Devon was way drunker. He was really bad at never-have-I-ever. Sam had totally been cheating, but still. For looking like an Irish heartthrob, it seemed like Devon really wasn’t much of a bad boy. He had the typical drunken teenager stories, but he refused to talk about girlfriends or sex. What a prude!
Maybe he was still a virgin? Nah, no one looks like that and holds onto their v-card this long.
Maybe he was gay? Nah, she wasn’t getting that vibe from him.
The drunker he got the more handsy he got. And he kept staring at her like the answer to the universe was hidden just inside her eyes.
Conning Devon was going to be even easier than she thought. She could probably get him to sleep with her and then tell her father he’d forced her. That would get her on the first flight back to Boston! But maybe not tonight. Devon seemed a little too drunk to get the job done. Plus, he was morphing from flirty-drunk to gloomy-drunk.
“Ya know? I’m really glad you’re here, Sam. Things with my dad . . . it’s not good. I know he doesn’t ha
ve much time left.” Devon sniffled and took another drink. “I don’t know how you did it, Sam. Losing your mom . . . how did you survive it?”
Shit. It was time to cut him off.
“I don’t think I can survive this,” Devon continued, staring into his drink.
“You’d be surprised what you can survive,” she said. “But come on. Let’s not start mourning anyone just yet,” she said taking another sip of her coke.
They’d switched to rum and coke a few rounds ago and Sam kept getting hers sans rum. She expected Devon to notice, but the pub was bonkers. It had turned from a normal restaurant atmosphere to a drunken zoo as soon as it got dark. There were burly men in soccer jerseys chanting fight songs and drunken women, talking and laughing too loudly. It was probably time to go. Sam looked at her phone to check the time. It was dead—but to be fair she hadn’t charged it since she left Boston.
Boston. Just thinking the word sent pain lancing through her. She looked over at Devon. He was now back to flirty-drunk, smirking at her adoringly. She’d done enough damage for tonight. “Come on, Casanova. Let’s pay our tab.”
Devon looked confused. “Who? Why? We’re just starting to have fun.”
“I think you might have had a bit too much fun,” she said helping him up from his chair. She dragged him toward the crowded bar to pay. Devon kept a hold on her hand and when they got close enough to the bar to pay, he was smashed right up behind her.
Sam hated how much she liked the way Devon felt pressed against her. He paid their tab and while they waited for change, he looped a hand possessively around her waist. She nearly had a stroke when he hooked a thumb inside the waistband of her leggings. It was an intimate gesture. Something a boyfriend would do, not a boy you hadn’t seen in nine years. But God, was it hot!
Devon finally removed his hand when the bartender gave him his change. Sam was already slipping from his grasp, anxious to get out to the street where there was more space and less Devon. He staggered a bit and she had to put her shoulder under his arm to steady him as they moved through the crowd. They were almost to the door, but Devon didn’t seem in any rush to leave. He was saying goodbye to everyone they passed and when Sam reached for the door, she let go of him. He almost toppled over and she had to lunge back to grab him, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him from going down. And of course, Devon took that as an invitation to pull Sam into another bone-crunching hug.
“Christ, I’m so glad you came home, Sam.”
“Yep,” she said trying to pry herself loose. “Me too.” She had experience with drunk people—okay, mostly just drunk Megan—but Sam knew being agreeable was usually the best plan of attack.
Devon loosened his grip so he could look down at her. He really had to look down too because the top of her head only came to his chin. It hurt her neck to look up at him.
“I really missed you, Sam,” he said dreamily.
“Yep, I missed you too. Now let’s go,” she said trying to pull him out the door. But Devon pulled back and before she knew it, she was locked in his arms, her feet dangling inches from the sticky wood floor. She tried to say something in protest, but her face was so incredibly close to his, she worried if she opened her mouth they’d be kissing.
Devon nuzzled her cheek with his nose. He smelled like a distillery.
“I don’t think you understand, Sam,” he whispered. “I really missed you. Like for the past nine years, missed you.”
Her breath caught in her throat again, and all her devious plans vanished. All she knew was that she needed to get out of Devon’s arms or soon she would be kissing him—and from the looks of his perfect lips—enjoying it. Down girl!
God, she’d never wished for a bucket of ice water so badly.
“Devon,” she started. But he nuzzled her lips with his nose. And that was dangerous territory, because his lips were right under his nose—his perfect, beautiful, delicious lips. And then, they were on her lips.
Shit! Stop!
No, wait. Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.
If kissing were an Olympic sport, Devon would be a gold medalist. No, he’d be Michael Phelps. Yes, Devon was definitely the Michael Phelps of kissing. His tongue swept hers slowly at first, but then his strokes increased. Sam wrapped her hands around Devon’s strong neck, hanging on for dear life as he swam for the finish line in her mouth.
Good God! No wonder Devon hadn’t said anything about his past girlfriends. They were probably all deceased if he could kiss like this. Died of spontaneous combustion. Sam was pretty sure her panties were on fire at the moment. She was just waiting for the rest of her to go up in flames as she curled her fingers in his perfect brown hair when a splash of something cold hit her in the face.
Not now!
Of all the times for her stupid wishes to come true . . . Sam and Devon broke apart, which pretty much meant she stumbled to the floor trying to catch her breath and balance all at the same time, while wiping at the contents of whatever beverage had just been dumped on her—it didn’t taste like water . . . more like vodka.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” a shrill female voice demanded.
Sam regained her composure and followed the voice. It belonged to a petite blonde that looked like she’d just walked out of a Ralph Lauren ad. She was holding an empty glass and glaring at Devon.
“Sophie?” Devon looked like he was just waking up from a nightmare.
“Still snogging anything with tits, I see,” she added with a scathing sneer.
“It’s not any of your business who I snog. You broke up with me, remember?”
“Best decision of her life,” said the handsome thick-necked man that walked up behind Sophie. He put his hands around her waist and promptly shoved his tongue down her throat.
Watching them kiss wasn’t pretty, but it must have been offensive to Devon, because he paled three shades and then a red flush crept from the back of his neck to the hollows of his cheeks. His mouth hung open for a moment before he tried to form a sentence. But it just came out as jumbled sounds. He looked like a fish gulping for air. The anguish twisting his perfect features was agonizing to watch. Sam didn’t really know what was going on, but she couldn’t help but feel bad for Devon, because it seemed to be crippling him. Her instincts told her to pull him away from the couple who were still going at it. Damn, was kissing an Olympic sport in Ireland?
Thankfully, Devon followed Sam’s gentle tugging and let her lead him out of the bar.
“Good seeing, ya Dev!” the thick-neck boy called after them.
Sam looked back to see the couple had finally stopped kissing. The blonde girl was sneering at Devon and finger-waving patronizingly, while thick-neck laughed. Sam didn’t know who the hell they were to Devon, but she instantly knew them. They were the popular kids—mean girls and jock gods—and their language was universal. Sam would recognize it anywhere. How could she not? She was one of them. Or at least she used to be at her old school. It seemed all bets were off here if that’s how they treated a guy that looked like Devon.
Sophie
Sophie McKenna stared after Devon and the scrubby looking brunette she’d caught him snogging. After Sophie watched them get into Devon’s car, she whirled on her boyfriend, Zander. “Who the hell was that twit with Devon?”
“Samantha Connors, I think. She’s his friend from the states. She’ll be joining us at Eddington this year.”
“How do you know that?”
“Her father is Henry’s business partner. Henry asked him to come help run the company and get Devon up to speed. He’s supposed to be brilliant. I’d love to pick his brain about Cor-Tec and—”
“Oh shut up, Zander! I hate when you blither on. I thought we agreed no geek talk. I’m not dating you for your brain.”
“Right,” Zander grumbled.
“What else do you know about Samantha?” Sophie asked, hissing the other girl’s name like it was a dirty word.
“Not much. She was born here, but moved to
the states, Boston I think, after her mum died. And now she’s back.”
“How do you know all this?”
Zander laughed. “Devon never shuts up about her. He used to have a crush on her when she lived here. And I’d say he still does.”
Sophie felt her temper flaring. Stupid prat. Zander should have led with that! It was all she needed to hear to make up her mind. There was no way Sophie was going to let some American twit dressed like a rehab-reality star get in the way of her plan.
She could feel Zander frowning at the back of her head. “What?” Sophie spat, not even turning to look at him.
“Is Samantha a problem for you?”
Sophie laughed. “Girls like that are never a problem for me.”
Devon
“Friends of yours?” Sam asked when they were outside.
“Used to be,” he mumbled.
“Do they go to Eddington?”
He nodded.
“Great.” Sam groaned. “Is everyone at Eddington so welcoming?”
Devon scrubbed his face in frustration. Seeing his ex-girlfriend snogging his ex-mate had made him queasy. “I don’t wanna talk about it, Sam. Can we just get out of here, please?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t think I should drive,” Devon said, once they’d crossed the street. He stood outside his Defender with his hand on the back of his neck. He felt like a total wanker asking her to drive, but the last thing he wanted to do was endanger her by getting behind the wheel after drinking too much. He’d put her through enough tonight.
Sam looked at him like she was just figuring out he was drunk. He tossed her the keys. “You drive.”
“What? No! I can’t.”
“Sam, I’m not kidding. I’m not gonna drive you home like this.”
“Well, I can’t either,” she said trying to hand the keys back.
Devon refused to take them. “I don’t know how you managed, but somehow you seem a lot more sober than me, so just drive, okay? I don’t want to be here right now.”
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