band playing on the tiny stage in the corner. They’re playing Celtic music, complete with a fiddle, piano, and what looks like an accordion.
Suddenly, Maggie jumps onto the stage and sings several verses of the lively song, laughing and dancing and giving the crowd a thrill.
Maggie is a beautiful woman. I’d say she’s in her mid-twenties, with gorgeous auburn hair and the same green eyes as Shawn. In fact, Keegan’s eyes are green, as well, but his dark hair matches his brothers’.
“How are you getting on then?” Keegan asks.
“With what?”
“The movie writing, of course.” He sees that my wine glass is almost empty and immediately reaches for the bottle, filling it up again.
“Oh, it’s going slowly, I’m afraid.”
“And why would that be?”
I could sit here for days on end and listen to Keegan O’Callaghan speak. His accent is the thickest of the siblings I’ve met, and just like when Shawn’s shines through, it makes my belly clench deliciously.
“It could be because your brother is a stubborn mule.”
“And just like that, I find you telling lies to my very own brother.”
I turn at the sound of Shawn’s voice, and find him smiling down at me. The lilt in his voice is heavier this evening, probably because we’re here among others who sound the same.
Dear God, he’s something to look at. Lucifer himself couldn’t hold a candle to Shawn O’Callaghan with all that thick, dark hair, square jaw, and green eyes. And it’s completely unfair how black his eyelashes are.
I shrug.
“There have been days that Shawn’s been a stubborn one, and that’s the truth of it,” Keegan says. “Are you hungry, Lexi?”
“Oh, no. Shawn made dinner before we came tonight.” Shawn wasn’t kidding when he said he enjoyed cooking. He made grilled salmon with some kind of fancy rice and asparagus that just melted in my mouth.
And I’m not particularly fond of the green stalks.
“Next time, don’t fill your belly before you arrive, and we’ll feed you some proper Irish food.” Keegan winks and then moves down the bar to wait on other customers.
The music has slowed, and Maggie now croons a ballad about boys going to war and the girls who pine for them at home.
Suddenly, Shawn tugs me off the stool and sweeps me into his arms, dancing me around the bar.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” I say, trying to keep up with him.
“Seems that you are,” he says. “All you have to do is move with me.”
“I’m clumsy.”
“You’re quite lovely,” he replies, and I’m not sure what to say to that. “Even when you’re calling me a stubborn ass.”
“I said mule.”
“Same difference.” He moves effortlessly. His big body is graceful as he guides me around the floor. “I liked seeing you at the bar.”
“I’m completely out of my element here.”
His lips twitch with a half-smile. “I can see that. But you’ll get used to it. No one means anyone harm here. It’s a happy, lively crowd, and one I enjoy being around on an evening now and again.”
I can’t help myself. I let my fingers slip into the hair at the back of his neck. It’s soft, running like silk over my skin.
“It’s quite different from the quiet at your house when you’re working.”
“You’re absolutely right. I can’t be alone in the silence all the damn time. A person could go crazy.”
I frown and glance over his shoulder to watch Maggie lean in and share a microphone with another man as they sing in harmony.
“I spend most of my time alone in the silence,” I murmur. “I quite prefer it.”
“You need people eventually.” He turns his head, and his lips graze my temple, sending shockwaves down my spine and straight to my core as if his lips carry electric currents.
I’ve never been so frustrated by a man and yet want to climb him so badly in all of my life.
The slow song ends, and just as I’m about to return to the bar, Shawn catches my elbow and swings me around into a fast-paced dance. If I had time to think, I’d be mortified. Instead, all I can do is try to keep up with him and not fall on my face.
He spins and twirls me about, singing loudly along with the song.
It seems Maggie isn’t the only one with pipes in the family.
And as quickly as it began, the song ends, and I’m in Shawn’s arms, panting and laughing and staring up into his happy face.
He leans closer, and I swear he’s going to kiss me.
Right here.
In