Wild Irish Dreamer - Tricia O'Malley Page 0,18

a gift like that.”

“I can understand where that would be hard for you. But you have to know it was done out of love. You never let them help you.”

“It’s important to me that I can stand on me own.”

“You’ve proven that now, haven’t you? No reason not to accept a gift like that at this point. It would be different if you were just out of uni accepting gifts of that nature. But you’ve gone out and proven yourself and your ability to provide for yourself. You have to let the people who love you do something for you once in a while.”

“This is a big something,” Fi said. She’d always been uncomfortable with receiving gifts, though she loved to give them.

“And you say, yes, thank you, I love you. Let your parents give you their gift of love,” Fiona admonished from across the room.

“I did, and I do. But love doesn’t have to be tangible gifts. Or a house.”

“It’s Shane’s way of showing love. He knows it will be a property that can be a nest egg for you for life. Don’t be difficult,” Fiona said.

“I’m not…” Fi hunched her shoulders under Fiona’s glare. “Yes, Fiona. I hear you.”

“Now, back to Liam.” Grace broke off a piece of cranberry scone and buttered it. “You know he’s the Liam I saved.”

“I do now. I wish I had known the connection sooner. It’s right terrible what happened to him at the cove.”

“He took a risk. That’s his nature. Luckily, he believes in magick and all things mystical, so you won’t have that working against you two.”

“There is no… it’s not ‘us two.’ It’s just… it was one night.” Fi threw up her hands.

“A night you still haven’t told us about,” Grace reminded her.

“It’s really nothing,” Fi said. Then she sighed and launched into the full details of her night with Liam in Croatia, leaving nothing out. Once she was done, she waited while Grace studied her.

“You never called him.”

“Why would I? It was a one-night thing. He was broken-hearted. I was moving to another country. It doesn’t matter.”

“It’s rude.”

“Oh please, it’s not rude. There was no expectation of anything. You don’t have to call if you don’t want a relationship.”

“But you said you were his friend first. You took him out on a mate’s night. Mates would call.”

“She’s right,” Fiona chimed in.

Fi jumped, having forgotten the old woman was there for a moment. “Since when does a woman owe a man a call after he chooses to please her? Isn’t she allowed to take her pleasure and leave? She owes him nothing. How many times do men do this and women just accept it?”

“But he was being nice by leaving a note. He was treating you with respect and being a friend. You could have just sent him a breezy text checking in or something. Maybe saying thanks for a good night, hope to see you down the road – you know, putting him back in the friend zone but still being polite.”

“I think she was worried about the fact that he threatened her carefully curated lifestyle,” Fiona observed.

Fi got up. “Okay, I’ve had enough. I’ll catch up with you later, Gracie. We can talk hen party stuff tomorrow. I need to go.”

“Oh, Fi, don’t go off in a huff.”

“I’m not in a huff. I’m just done speaking on this. And I have things to do. Important things.” Fi breezed out of the house, right into a wall of rain, and ran to her car. Knowing she was being impossibly childish, but not particularly caring, she turned her car toward town.

Chapter 10

He could feel her body under his hands.

Still. After all these years, it was as though Fi had imprinted on his brain and he couldn’t rid himself of her essence. She was a study in contrasts, lean limbs and sharp cheekbones, with a lusty laugh that could spear straight to a man’s gut. She wasn’t overtly feminine, not like the women he usually went for, but something about her reluctance to embrace the flowery womanly ways made her all the more sensual and appealing to him. Her slim jeans and loose button-down shirt seemed like a casual afterthought, and it made him want to unbutton her shirt slowly, revealing the smooth curve of her breast to him, and trail his lips over her skin like he’d done once before.

If only he hadn’t been in his cups that night, he was certain he could have remembered even more details that