by Laura Burton
Conor looked around as she led the way to the small galley kitchen and started making coffee.
In a way, he seemed to fit in like he belonged here.
And in another way, he filled the entire space with so much masculine energy that she felt overwhelmed by it.
The entire village and all of its residents were already half in love with him.
The problem was that Jenna was, too.
And she wasn’t sure if she was doing a very good job of hiding it.
Every night when they parted ways after her shoving the wonders of Dunkilly down his throat for hours, Conor kissed her.
Not a friendly peck on the cheek.
A full-blown, passionate, one-foot-off-the-ground kind of kiss.
And every one of them was as explosive as the last.
He took her breath away and truth be told, she was half wishing that he’d take it further tonight.
She’d confessed as much to Kate, who’d fully encouraged a quick fling with the billionaire.
But the longer she spent with him, the more she realised that it wasn’t a quick fling she was after.
And that, she’d argued to Kate, was a very good reason not to fling or be flung.
Because while it was highly likely that a man as worldly and sophisticated as Conor King could enjoy a few nights of wild passion and then go about his business, a woman like Jenna couldn’t.
“Jenna?”
“What? Sorry – what?”
He smiled at her.
“The water is boiling,” he said gently.
“Right. Yes. Right – ok.”
She busied herself making coffee until she felt his hand on her arm.
“Hey, you ok?” he asked.
No, she thought.
“Yes,” she said.
He studied her, and she could only gaze up at him wondering what he was looking for in her eyes.
He leaned down and she knew he’d kiss her, just like she knew she wanted him to.
The air around them fairly crackled with electricity.
This felt – different.
Maybe it was because they were in her apartment where there would be no interruptions.
Or maybe it was because he sensed where her mind had been.
Either way, she knew that this time it wouldn’t stop at a kiss unless she wanted it to.
“Um – the coffee,” she mumbled like a big eejit.
“Forget the coffee,” he whispered against her lips.
So, she did.
Conor sat on a stool at the breakfast bar in Jenna’s apartment drinking his coffee and frowning at his phone and listening to the sound of the shower running.
Last night had been –
Well, he didn’t know what it had been.
Life-changing sounded like the romantic nonsense Callie spewed. But it was true, and deep down he knew it.
In only a week, Jenna McCarthy had done something to him.
Changed him at a level he couldn’t even comprehend.
Unbelievable as it seemed, Conor had found something that felt very much like real, honest happiness here in this tiny little part of Ireland.
Jenna had been right.
A week had made him see just how special this place was, exactly as it was.
Where are you?
When are you coming back?
What is going on with you, man??
Who are you and what have you done with my big brother?
He scrolled through the messages from his family, and he couldn’t blame them for their confusion.
Taking time off was out of character enough, but added to that his decision not to go ahead with what would be a lucrative project? He was surprised they hadn’t all arrived here en masse to have him examined.
Those messages weren’t what was bothering him, though.
His lawyers were asking about when they should get things moving.
His PA had preliminarily booked him on three flights, all leaving tomorrow.
And Anita had been messaging more and more frequently.
He was tempted to just send her a goodbye email and put a stop to the messages once and for all.
But she didn’t deserve that.
It wasn’t Anita’s fault that he’d fallen for a feisty Irish girl. The exact type of woman he’d thought he didn’t want.
And the exact type of woman that he needed.
Conor heard the water stop and movement from the bathroom, so he quickly finished his coffee and typed out a message to Anita.
I’m still in Ireland. Had to push back plans for a week. But let’s meet when I’m back. We need to talk. C.
The door opened, and he dropped his phone on the bar, turning to see Jenna standing in the doorway in a robe, her hair damp around her shoulders, looking like she’d just stepped out of a fantasy.
“Good morning,” she said shyly. “I – um. I was just going to make some coffee.”
He smiled and held out the cup that he’d already poured for her.
She walked over to take it, and he snaked a hand around her waist, pulling her closer.
With him sitting on the stool and her standing, their faces were level, and he took the opportunity to steal a kiss that soon turned heated.
“Did you want the shower?” she asked when he let her up for air.
“Sure. I don’t suppose you feel like another one?” He winked then laughed when she lightly slapped him.
“You go shower. I’ll make a fresh pot while I think of some way to entertain you today.”
“Oh, I can think of lots of ways you can entertain me today,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck.
She laughingly pushed him away.
“Go,” she commanded. And he did, grinning from ear to ear as he went.
Chapter 15
Kate was going to be over the moon, Jenna thought as she made a fresh pot of coffee.
But not as over the moon as she was herself.
Last night had been incredible. Mind-blowing.
And even though she knew she shouldn’t get ahead of herself, she couldn’t help feeling that she’d lost her heart to the blue-eyed billionaire.
But she could be mature about this, she told herself as she sat with her coffee on the stool he’d occupied only minutes ago. She could be casual.
He’d have to go home soon, she knew. And the chances of them seeing each other again were probably pretty slim.
On the other hand, he hadn’t mentioned going home.
And all week he’d seemed to be falling in love with Dunkilly, just like she’d predicted he would.
Did that mean she had a chance to keep the castle? Maybe it did.
But what that could mean for them, she couldn’t even begin to guess.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she couldn’t put any pressure on him.
It wasn’t Conor’s fault that Jenna wasn’t mature enough to have a fling without losing her heart in the process.
He hadn’t made her any promises. Of course, he hadn’t! It had only been a week.
When the time came for him to leave, whenever that might be, she would wish him well and say her goodbyes.
After that, if she chose to cry herself into dehydration, then so be it.
But that would be her problem, not his.
Anyway – he hadn’t even mentioned going home.
Was it possible that he was staying? He was a billionaire, after all. And CEO, which pretty much meant boss, didn’t it? So, if he wanted to take another few weeks off, it wasn’t like he’d lose his job or go bankrupt.
Jenna couldn’t stop smiling.
And she allowed her mind to wander to all sorts of places. Conor still here at Halloween, for example, when Tom Nugent held a pumpkin patch party on his farm, which every year descended into an impromptu céilí.
Or Christmas with Gran when her mum and dad came down and they all squeezed into the cottage.
She could picture him there. Right beside her.
&nbs
p; The sound of Conor’s phone vibrating beside her elbow made Jenna jump, and she looked down to see a message pop up on the screen.
You poor thing, still stuck in some Irish backwater. Just get the thing bulldozed and come home, darling. Your assistant said you’re flying out tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to stop by. I miss you. Xx
Jenna stared at the words on the phone in shock, not even able to comprehend what they meant.
But the longer she sat there, the more they etched themselves on her brain.
Get the thing bulldozed.
You’re flying out tomorrow.
I miss you.
Darling.
“Oh my god,” Jenna whispered as her stomach roiled.
She was an idiot. An absolute idiot.
How could she have been so stupid? So blind?
Why would a ruthless businessman suddenly decide to just give up on one of his investments?
How could she have thought that someone like Conor King would care about a place like Dunkilly?
And how, how had she been so naïve as to think what had happened between them would mean anything to him?
Jenna felt tears spring to her eyes, and she knew she had to get out of there before he came out of the bathroom.
She couldn’t see him now. She couldn’t let him see her cry.
Making a mad dash for her bedroom, she kept her eyes averted from the bed as she threw on jeans and an oversized hoody.
She didn’t care what she wore, or what she looked like. She just had to get out of there.
The sound of running water stopped, and Jenna’s heart sank.
Running for the door, she’d just opened it when he called out to her.
But she didn’t turn around, and she didn’t stop.
She just ran.
Conor stood staring at the door in shock.
What the hell had just happened?
He looked around the room as if the explanation for Jenna’s behaviour would suddenly appear. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He’d been gone for five minutes, what –
His phone vibrating interrupted his train of thought, and he walked over to pick it up distractedly, his mind still on Jenna.
Looking down, Conor’s heart stopped dead in his chest as he saw the message that flashed up on his screen.
“No,” he whispered, opening the phone and reading the message fully. “No, no, no.”
Jenna must have seen the message from Anita.
And he could only imagine the conclusions she’d jumped to.
He stood there not knowing what to do first, how to fix it.
Which was a first for him.
Fixing things was what he did. So, he could fix this.
For a moment, Conor didn’t recognise the emotion he was feeling as he stood there in the middle of Jenna’s apartment.
And then he realised it was panic. He was suddenly terrified. Terrified that he wouldn’t be able to explain this away. That he wouldn’t get Jenna to listen or believe him.
That he’d lose her because of this.
And that fear brought him up short.
This past week, he hadn’t really allowed himself to think of the future. Another first for him.
But standing there, even though he knew how insane it was, he knew with absolute certainty that whatever future he had, he wanted her in it.
Maybe it was too soon to be even thinking that way. But it was true. He wasn’t willing to walk away from her.
Not now.
Not ever.
But before he could even think about that, he needed to find her.
Rushing into the bedroom, Conor pulled on his jeans and sweater.
He dialled his PA and told her to cancel all of tomorrow’s flights.
Then he dialled his lawyer and told them to draw up new papers, ignoring the shock and cutting off the objections.
Finally, he conference called his siblings.
This would be the difficult conversation, he knew.
How to put into words that he, the eldest, the ruthless one, the workaholic, had just killed a deal worth a fortune?
The company wouldn’t suffer for it. And he would personally take the substantial financial hit.
His siblings wouldn’t care about the money.
But that’s not what would make the conversation.
Conor sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
Every instinct he had was screaming at him to go find Jenna.
But he didn’t want to go to her until he’d fixed this. That meant making this call to his brothers and sister. And then making another one to Anita. Face to face would have been preferable, but his priority was Jenna.
And the only way to fix it was to start being honest. With everyone else and more importantly, with himself.
Chapter 16
Jenna smiled and waved as yet another acquaintance passed her by.
To her relief though, nobody stopped to talk to her.
Usually, she wouldn’t mind a chat but today with her heart battered and her pride dented, she didn’t think she’d be able to string two words together without bursting into tears.
She sat pressed against the wall of the castle, watching the gulls wheeling in the sky above her.
It was another grey day, but the rain had held off. She wished the heavens would open. A good lash of rain would suit her mood perfectly. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so bad if the sky cried with her.
She pushed her head back against the stone and closed her eyes, letting her misery wash over her.
She wasn’t just upset because he’d planned to bulldoze the castle the whole time, he was leading her to believe that she had a chance of saving it.
But because she’d fallen for him, hook, line, and sinker.
And all she’d been to him had been a quick fling of no consequence. That part she had suspected.
But he had someone waiting for him in New York. Someone who called him darling and who missed him.
Jenna could just about handle being less important to him than he was to her.
Could just about handle the fact that he wasn’t stupid enough to fall in love after only a week.
But she absolutely couldn’t handle being the other woman. His dirty little secret. The shame was too much to bear.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Jenna squeezed her eyes shut tighter and attempted to ignore the fact that Conor was here.
Maybe subconsciously she’d wanted him to find her.
Because to be fair, it was a pretty stupid idea choosing the castle she’d been obsessing about all week as her hiding spot.
“I’m guessing you saw Anita’s message?” he asked softly, and her heart twisted painfully at the mention of his girlfriend.
Anita.
She was probably gorgeous.
Jenna bit the inside of her lip to keep from answering him.
But if she’d been hoping he’d leave, she was sorely disappointed because he sat beside her, his thigh pressing against her own.
He smelt like her shower gel, and that made her furious. Not content to use her heart, he had to use her Vanilla Dream body wash, too?
“You don’t want to talk to me?” he asked gently.
“No, I want to punch you in the face,” she snapped, annoyed that his laugh still made her feel funny.
“Jenna, please. Just hear me out. I know I have some explaining to do.”
She sighed and opened her eyes, turning to glare at him.
Hating that he looked so handsome. Hating that she couldn’t hate him.
“I’m not interested in what you have to say.” She tried to sound commanding, but her voice came out all croaky and sad. “And I’m not interested in you.”
“Not even a little bit?” he asked, his smile all crooked and charming and annoying. “You said once that I made your tummy feel funny.”
“Yeah, well you still make it feel funny. Only this time its nausea.”
She jumped to
her feet and marched toward the cliff edge, needing to put some space between them.
But of course, he followed.
“Look, I can’t make you talk to me,” he said from behind her. “But I also can’t leave here until I set a few things straight. So, if you really want me to go, it’s in your best interest to listen.”
Jenna huffed out a breath, so he’d know she was being mightily inconvenienced. But he was right. And also, she desperately wanted to hear what he had to say. Desperately hoped that there’d be some explanation that would ease the pain in her heart.
“Anita is someone that I saw occasionally while I was in New York. It wasn’t serious between us, and it was never going to be. I wanted to speak to her face to face to end things for good. But then you saw that message, and that changed everything. So, I called her.”
He stepped forward.
“Just so we’re clear,” he said intently. “There’s nobody else. Not Anita, who by the way, couldn’t care less about our arrangement coming to end. Not anybody.”
The feeling of relief she felt was so strong Jenna nearly staggered from it.
But she stayed put.
“Thank you for telling me,” she muttered, eyes fixed on her feet.
“Anita was just like every other woman I’ve had relationships with over the years, Jenna.” He stepped closer. But she couldn’t move unless she wanted to take up cliff diving. Which she didn’t. “Someone convenient. Someone whose heart was as uninvolved as my own.”
He smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.
“I’m a busy man. A workaholic, according to my sister. I never really had the time or inclination to get my heart involved in any of my dealings.”
He paused and waited until she looked up at him.
“Until now,” he whispered.
Oh, God. That was very romantic.
Jenna swallowed, not sure what to say.
“I cancelled my flight home,” he said, changing the subject abruptly and leaving her reeling a little bit. “Told my family I was taking some more time off.”
“Y-you are?” she asked.
“I am.” He nodded. “They were shocked, but once I explained things, they understood.”
“Lucky them,” she drawled sarcastically but instead of upsetting him, her words just made him grin.