“Oh, I noticed, sweetheart. You were the most beautiful woman in the pub and yet so fuckin’ sad that all I wanted to do was toss your untouched beer out and give you a hug.”
She laughed, her eyes dancing. “Maybe that’s what you should’ve done. I remember I certainly didn’t drink much of it, and I would never turn down a hug from you.” Her eyes cast down toward their linked hands, and she sucked in a deep breath before lifting her gaze back to his. “I noticed you, too… that night.”
His head jerked slightly. “Seriously?”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Oh, Torin, come on. You have to know that you’re the fantasy of most of the women who come in here. Tall, your shirts stretch over your muscles and show off your tattoos. I’ll bet most nights you get a lot of women’s phone numbers scribbled on napkins, don’t you?”
“I get some, but they end up in the trash.” Surprise moved through her eyes, and he nodded. “That’s the honest truth. But I would’ve loved to have gotten yours.”
She rolled her eyes again but smiled. “Nah, I think we got together the best way. Out running.”
Maeve popped up next to Torin and smiled. “Hey, Erin, good to see you.” Twisting her head up to look at Torin, she asked, “Hate to interrupt, bro, but you gotta bring some more crates from the storeroom. I’ll pull the drinks out here and keep Erin company while you do that.”
Erin winked and let go of his fingers, and he immediately missed her touch. Leaning forward even more, he touched his lips to hers, both because he was desperate to kiss her and because he didn’t mind claiming her in front of anyone else around. “I’ll be right back.” Turning, he looked down at Maeve and warned, “And don’t fill her head with embarrassing stories.”
By the time he made it back from the storeroom, he was surprised to see his grandparents sitting next to Erin with Maeve leaning against the bar. The four were laughing, but it was Erin who held his complete attention. Her head was thrown back, her thick, dark hair flowing about her shoulders. Her expression was open, so completely honest. And the fact that she seemed completely at ease with his family caused the left side of his chest to ache with a longing for something he hadn’t realized had been missing from his life.
“Hey, sugar, you want to get me a drink?”
He glanced to the side, seeing a redhead in a tight shirt and jeans that looked like they’d been painted on. She leaned over the bar, looking up at him with a practiced glance, self-confidence oozing off her.
“And after my drink, you can use this.”
He glanced down as she pushed a napkin with her phone number toward him. He grinned, snatched it off the bar, wadded it up in his fist, and made a perfect shot into the trash can. “The server will get your drink. And I won’t need the number.” Looking at the other end of the bar with Erin enjoying herself with his sister and grandparents, his breath caught in his throat as Erin turned and looked at him, her eyes twinkling and her smile wide. He immediately headed her way, leaving the redhead behind. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”
12
Erin walked out of the nursing school building, the smile on her face so wide that almost everyone she met did a double-take. She wasn’t sure if it was because she had so rarely had a smile on her face since they’d known her or if the lighthearted feeling she had made her seem as though she were floating above the ground.
She had just completed the last of her finals for the semester and had no doubt that she’d aced each of her tests. One step closer to my goal.
The fact that for the past several evenings she had not been able to see Torin since she needed to study was the only thing that interrupted her happiness, but just thinking about him made her smile wider.
She’d had to run in the afternoon, but tomorrow she would meet him in the morning. The marathon was soon going to be upon them, and she wanted to get her last long runs in before she needed to shorten her practices.
Now in her car, she headed to Caitlyn’s apartment. Since she’d made her revelation to the family last week, she’d found that each of them had taken