Danny

5

THEY’D PACKED THE CAR with boxes of books, the scent of old leather filling Jordan’s station wagon. More books would be delivered to the house tomorrow and the shopkeeper had found additional sets in Dublin and Galway that he’d ordered for Jordan and send on through a delivery service.

As they drove along the coast, the sun disappeared, replaced by steely-gray clouds and a soft drizzle. Jordan stared out the window as she listened to the gentle rhythm of the wipers.

Even on such a dreary afternoon, the countryside still looked so green and magical. Until Danny had come into her life, she’d been immune to its charms. But now, caught in an affair with a sexy Irishman, she could appreciate the place that had made him.

There was something about the light, how it shimmered over the landscape, intensifying the colors and the contrasts: soft green moss growing on weathered gray rock, white clouds blowing above the deep blue of the Atlantic. Ireland was alive.

Was it the land or was it the man she was with? Had Danny made her more aware of her surroundings? Her senses were so much more heightened now. Smells and tastes could elicit an overwhelming pleasure for her. Back home, there was a quiet sameness to all her days and nights, as if she were just wandering from one day to the next, waiting for something important to happen.

Now it had. She glanced over at him, then reached out and ran her hand through his hair, brushing a stubborn curl away from his face.

“What?” he said, looking over at her.

“Nothing,” Jordan replied. “I just felt like touching you.”

Danny smiled. “I know how you feel. I pretty much think about touching you all the time.”

“I know,” Jordan said.

“You do? How do you know?”

“I just do.” She looked out the window at the landscape passing by. “I love Ireland. I didn’t think I would, but I do. Even in the rain, it’s beautiful.” She paused. “Have you ever thought of leaving?”

Danny shook his head. “No. Maybe for a holiday. I could imagine living in another country for a year or two. But I’d have to come back. Some of my cousins live in America,” he said. “In Boston. And I have cousins in New York and California, too. But I’ve never met them.”

“I feel like I haven’t really seen a lot of the country. I’ve been to almost every antique store, but I haven’t been to Blarney Castle.”

“Blarney Castle is for the tourists. We’ll go to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. We’ll see the natural sites, not the ones with lines of tourists.”

“What else will you show me?” Jordan asked.

“There is a place I could show you right now,” Danny said. “I think you’ll like it. And it’s on the way to Ballykirk.”

“It’s raining,” she said.

“Even better,” he replied. “We may see something interesting in the rain.”

“Is it a stone circle? I went to visit a stone circle here. I thought it would be like Stonehenge, but it was really small.”

“Our stone circles aren’t nearly as grand. But they’re populated by much more interesting spirits.”

“So, where are we going? Is it on my map?”

“I’m not going to tell you,” he said.

“Will it have a gift shop?”

Danny chuckled. “No. No gift shop.”

Jordan continued to question him, making a game of it, trying to tease the answer out of him. Danny grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Look how happy you are when we’re out of that house,” he said. “We need to make a point of getting away more often. You never look like this when you’re sitting in your office, worrying over your reports.”

“How do I look when I’m in my office?”

He pulled a silly face and Jordan couldn’t help but laugh. “I look constipated?”

“That was cheesed off,” Danny said. “You look annoyed. As if you’d rather be doing anything else.”

“And how do I look when I’m in bed with you?”

He made another face, his eyes fluttering and his lips parted.

“Drunk,” she said. “You’re not very good at faces.”

Danny navigated the station wagon through brilliant green hillsides along the coast. At a rocky pass, they waited for a herd of sheep to cross the road and when they wouldn’t move, Danny jumped out of the car and helped the farmer hurry them along.

No matter where she looked, there was something beautiful to see-a thatch-roofed cottage, an old cemetery filled with ornate Celtic crosses, the ruin of an ancient church.

They passed a number of signs for tourist attractions, but Danny continued on. Then he turned off the main road onto a narrow lane. Drystone walls lined either side of the road and bushes arched above them until they were driving through a tunnel of thick greenery. They came out on the other side and he pulled the car into a small parking spot, cut into the stone fence.

“This is it,” he said, hopping out of the driver’s side. He reached in the backseat and grabbed his jacket, then hurried around to help her out. They found a muddy footpath leading through a grove of trees.

The drizzle had turned to a light mist and Jordan pulled her jacket more tightly around her. Danny held the umbrella over her head, helping her over rocky spots along the path. And then he stopped. “This is it,” he murmured.

Jordan glanced around. There wasn’t much to see. They stood in the middle of some sort of circle, the earth mounded up with trees planted on either side of the small ridge. The entire circle was no more than forty or fifty feet in diameter. “What is this place?”

“This is a fairy circle,” Danny said.

“It looks like a little shallow in the woods. Maybe there was a pond here at one time.”

“No, it’s a fairy circle. They’re all over Ireland. Sometimes you find them in the middle of a meadow, just a ring of mushrooms. Or they can be made of stones. The farmers won’t touch them for fear of grievous bad luck.”

“Where are the fairies?”

“They’re watching us. You should be able to see them, sidhe.”

“I’m not a fairy.”

“That’s what a fairy would say.”

Jordan slowly walked along the elevated ridge, careful not to trip on the exposed roots from the trees. “How did this happen?”

“They say the fairies dance round and round in a circle and the earth rises up beneath them. If you walk around the circle and make a wish, it will come true.”

“I don’t believe that,” Jordan said. “Someone piled up the dirt in a circle.”

“They also say, if a man finds himself alone in a fairy ring with a fairy, then he belongs to her forever.” Danny took her into the center of the ring, then stood behind her, lifting her arms up to the sky. “Close your eyes,” he whispered.

Jordan did as she was told. Without sight, her hearing became more acute. At first, she thought it was merely the wind whistling through the trees, but then she began to hear singing. Soft, sweet voices on the breeze. “I hear them,” she said, opening her eyes and searching the landscape.

The magic was all around them, like electricity in the air. “I feel their presence,” she said. Slowly she turned, searching the trees for a sight of them.

“I told you. You have fairy blood coursing in your veins. Leanan sidhe. She chooses a human to love and if the human doesn’t love her, she becomes his slave. But if he does love her, then he is hers, forever. But forever isn’t very long, because the lovers of the leanan sidhe always die young. They say that’s why so many Irish writers and poets and artists die young, because they are captivated by the leanan sidhe.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Jordan said.

Danny reached out and smoothed his hand over her cheek, tucking a windswept strand behind her ear. “I know. But sometimes it feels that way.”

Jordan closed her eyes and turned into his touch, waiting for him to kiss her. When he finally did, his mouth was warm and demanding.

“Like now,” he whispered. “I feel like I’m going to die if I can’t have you.”

Jordan parted her lips as the kiss deepened and she felt her mind spinning with desire and her body pulsing with wild sensations. The kiss ended slowly, Danny nuzzling his face into the curve of her neck.

“You have bewitched me,” he said.

“And can you escape from the leanan sidhe?”

“Only if I find someone to take my place,” he said. “Another man to capture your fancy.”

“I don’t want anyone but you,” Jordan whispered back.

The wind freshened and her hair whipped around her face. Danny glanced up at the sky. “It looks like it’s going to rain again.”

Jordan laughed as a big droplet hit her face. “You do weave a good tale, Danny Quinn. You almost had me convinced.”

“How do you explain it then?” He took her hand and pressed it to his chest. “I can’t resist you. All I think about, day and night, is touching you, kissing you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“If you really think I’m going to lead you to an early death then you’d better run away right now. Get out of this fairy ring.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

She chuckled. “I wonder why we don’t have any mythological creatures in the States? We have ghosts. But you have fairies and leprechauns and trolls and dragons.”

Danny grabbed her by the waist and drew her over to one of the trees, trapping her against it with his arms. He pressed his hips against hers and stared down into her eyes. “Can you feel it?” he murmured, his hands skimming over her damp clothes.

“What?” Jordan teased.

His lips were warm against her throat. “Your magic. I can’t stop myself. You’re too powerful.”

Jordan laughed. “I’ve come to realize that you will use any excuse to get lucky. Are you saying you’re under a spell now?”

“I am. And it’s your fault. You and your fairy ways.”

Jordan shook her head. “You don’t seem particularly intent on resisting me.” She took his hand and placed it on his chest. “See. It’s not as though you can’t control yourself.”

He moved his hand back to her breast. “It does that all on its own. I can’t control it.” He reached down and slipped his hand beneath her shirt, finding the warm skin beneath.

Jordan shivered at his touch, then mimicked his caress, slipping her hand under his jacket and sliding her palm up his chest. “Oh, no. I think it’s contagious. Maybe we should get out of here before something else starts acting up on its own.” She glanced down at the front of his jeans. “Oh dear, I think it might be too late.”

He cupped her breast in his palm and ran his thumb over her nipple, drawing it to a peak. Jordan sighed softly and closed her eyes and a moment later, his lips met hers in a deep, demanding kiss.

Suddenly, the skies opened above them and the rain came down in sheets. Jordan yelped and Danny grabbed her hand and they ran back to the car. By the time they jumped inside they were both soaked to the skin.

He pulled her across the console to continue what they’d begun outside. Jordan couldn’t stop touching him. Her hands shoved his T-shirt up, revealing the hard flesh of his belly. Impatient, Danny twisted out of his jacket, then yanked the T-shirt over his head.

The heat from their bodies fogged the windows and the sound of the rain on the roof was a counterpoint to their soft moans and sighs. Jordan pressed her lips to his chest. She was still fully clothed and he’d made no move to undress her, his hand still hidden beneath her shirt.

Slowly, she drew her tongue along his chest to his nipple, then circled it several times. It grew to a hard peak in the chill and Jordan continued to tease at it. He groaned softly, and ran his fingers through her hair, tangling in the rain-soaked strands.

Her hands drifted down to his belt and then lower, smoothing over the fabric of his jeans until she felt his erection beneath. Normally, she might have hesitated outside the privacy of the manor house. But they were all alone in the woods and the fairy circle had worked its magic.

Danny watched as she fumbled with the button of his jeans, holding his breath as if her touch were enough to send him over the edge. She glanced up to see him smiling, droplets still clinging to his thick dark lashes.

“I guess the fairies have spoken,” he said.

Jordan slipped her hand inside his boxers, wrapping her fingers around his hard shaft. “I suppose we ought to listen to them.”

“I’ve always wanted to make love in the rain. And we have this place all to ourselves. We could take our clothes off and lie down in the grass.”

“What if someone comes along?” Jordan asked.

“They’ll think we’re fairies,” he whispered, touching his lips to hers.

Jordan had never done anything so sexually spontaneous…except for almost everything she’d done with Danny. And what harm could it do? No one could see the spot from the road and there’d be no visitors in the pouring rain.

She wanted to try everything and anything with Danny. “All right,” she murmured. Jordan began to shed her clothes and Danny watched, a look of astonishment on his face. When she was completely naked, she turned and looked at him. “Well? What about you?”

“You really want to do this?”

Jordan nodded. “When in Ireland do as the fairies do.”

Jordan jumped out of the car, into the downpour. Though the air was cold, the rain felt warm on her skin. She ran, her bare feet slipping on the wet grass, until she stood in the middle of the fairy circle. Then she turned her face up to the sky, reveling in the utter and complete freedom she felt.

Danny joined her a moment later, completely naked and fully aroused. They met in the center of the circle with another kiss, this one deep and stirring, a prelude to the passion they were about to share.

They tumbled down into the soft grass, their limbs tangled together. Jordan had never felt anything like it. It was so completely natural to touch him like this. He rolled her over beneath him, his hips resting between her thighs. “We don’t have a condom,” he said, cursing softly.

“We don’t need one,” Jordan replied, pulling him into another kiss.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. She’d always been careful about birth control, never leaving it to the moment when it was needed. And she was glad that there would be no barriers between them this time. He pulled her thighs against his hips and entered her in one smooth motion, taking her breath away.

He buried himself so completely that Jordan wasn’t sure she could take anymore. Danny gazed down into her eyes, smoothing the rain from her face with his hands and kissing her softly. The air around them was alive with electricity, the leaves of the trees rustling overhead.

Slowly, he began to move above her, his gaze still fixed on hers. Jordan could see every moment of pleasure etched across his handsome face, every surge of desire and every determined denial. He drove himself close, then retreated and waited for her, moving against her until he felt her release coming.

Here, in this spot, there was nothing but her desire. The outside world didn’t exist, the problems of the day had disappeared, everything in her life had been reduced to this perfect joining. He withdrew and slid against her, teasing at the damp folds until Jordan cried out beneath him.

And then he was inside her again, taking her over the edge, the spasms enveloping her body until she couldn’t think any longer. Everything had become sensation: pure, powerful pleasure that raced through her body like a current.

A moment later, he dissolved into his own orgasm, his body driving into hers one last time before he lost control. She whispered his name, urging him on until he was completely sated.

With a sigh, Danny pulled her on top of him, their bodies still joined. He stared up into the sky, the rain splattering in his face. “We have to be gone in the head to be out here in this rain.”

“I love it,” Jordan said. “I’m not even cold.”

“I’m freezing,” he said. “And I have grass in places I won’t even mention.”

A low rumble sounded in the distance. At first, Jordan thought it was thunder, then realized it sounded more like a car. “Someone’s coming.”

Danny shook his head. “It’s just a car passing by on the road. They won’t come out in the rain.”

Jordan got to her feet and raked her hands through her hair, letting the deluge wash all the dirt from her naked body. Danny watched her, an appreciative smile on her face. “You are a mysterious creature,” he said.

She began to dance, swaying slowly from side to side and-

“Don’t worry, Mildred, it’s supposed to be here somewhere. A little rain won’t hurt ya. Come along now. Step lively.”

Jordan spun around to see an elderly couple, decked out in rain gear, stepping into the grove. A tiny scream slipped from her lips and she looked down at Danny. He was already leaping to his feet.

He grabbed her hand and they ran for the car, but not before the couple caught sight of them. Jordan slipped once and Danny steadied her before racing on.

“Look, Mildred, I told you we’d see fairies. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Freddie, those are no more fairies than you and I are. Fairies don’t drive around the countryside in a Volvo.”

Laughing, Jordan and Danny jumped in the car and quickly made their escape. As they swerved down the narrow lane, the car spitting up mud as it gained speed, Jordan pressed her hand to her heart, the laughter making her breathless and dizzy.

They’d made love in a warm, soft bed, on the sofa in the library, on the worktable in the kitchen. But it all seemed so ordinary, so controlled, compared to what they’d just done. Never in her life had she completely surrendered to her desires-until now.

“Are we going to drive all the way home stark naked?” Danny asked. “Or would you like to stop and get dressed?”

She glanced over at him. “Oh, let’s have some fun. Forget the clothes.”

“You’re a woman after my own heart, Jordan Kennally. You know that, don’t you?”

I hope so, Jordan said to herself. Because she wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less.

“I’M LOSING MY MIND!”

Danny heard Jordan’s shout from the breakfast nook, where he was replacing the hinges on the old wooden door. He frowned, then decided to see what had set her off. No doubt she’d just finished her daily report to her father.

There were times when Danny was ready to hop on a plane, fly across the ocean and beat the shite out of the man who made Jordan’s life so miserable. How hard would it be to convince him to let Jordan go? Right now, it seemed as if her father kept her employed simply to torture her.

Parents were supposed to support their children, not torment them. He’d always taken his parents for granted, but after hearing about Jordan’s dysfunctional family, it was clear that he needed to be much more appreciative of what he had.

Danny found her standing in front of the bookshelves, staring at the neatly arranged shelves of books. She’d spent most of the previous day unpacking the crates and arranging the volumes in the library. But now, she stood in front of her work, shaking her head.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s gone,” she said. “It was here yesterday and it’s gone today. I counted out each of these books, matched them up with the packing lists. The Shakespeare plays have thirty-seven volumes. And now there are thirty-six. There’s a spot empty right here, where A Midsummer Night’s Dream belongs.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I’m not imagining this. It was here yesterday and now it’s gone. The set isn’t worth anything if it’s incomplete.” She turned away from the bookcase and began to pace the room. “We have to get rid of these brownies,” she said. “We-we need an exterminator.” She reached for the phone book on her desk. “Like those ghostbuster guys in the movie. You have to have someone in Ireland who takes care of these things.”

“Of course we do,” Danny said. “And they’re all scoundrels and cheats. They’ll take your money, sprinkle a few herbs around the room and laugh all the way to the bank.”

“What am I supposed to do? I didn’t mind it at first, but this set cost five hundred pounds. I’m going to have to replace it.”

“Unless we found the person who stole it.”

“I thought you said brownies stole it.”

He closed the phone book and grabbed her hand, leading her along to the leather sofa. “I don’t believe in brownies any more than you do. We need to figure out how this person-and I do believe it’s a person-is getting into the house. Remember Kellan told us about the secret passage? We need to find it before anything else goes missing.” Danny sat down, then pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

“Okay. So how do we do this?”

“We start by checking out the exterior and the cellars. See if we can find any entrances there. They have to come in from the outside in some way. And it can only happen from the exterior walls or the cellar.”

“Contractors have been over every inch of this place,” she said. “The cellars are solid stone so that can’t be it.”

“The pool,” Danny said. “What better place to hide an entrance?”

“No. You’d be able to see an entrance down there. The walls are tiled.”

“Maybe Kellan is wrong,” he murmured.

“No, he has to be right. My question is, who is coming in and why? They really haven’t stolen anything of value. They’re just causing mischief.”

“Maybe it’s a kid,” Danny said, smoothing a strand of hair from her temple. “Before you started working on this house, it was open for years. Maybe one of the kids who hung out here found the secret entrance and is just coming in out of curiosity.”

“That makes sense,” Jordan said.

“We need to let the dogs sleep in the house,” Danny said. “If someone comes in, they’ll bark.”

Jordan thought about his suggestion for a moment. She hadn’t allowed Finny and Mogue into the house since that very first night, when she’d thought someone was in her room. Danny understood her reluctance, considering all the work that had been done on the wooden floors. But the best defense against a troublemaker was a four-legged offense.

“All right. But I’m going to make them wear those little booties that I make the contractors wear.”

“They’re not going to like that,” Danny said. “Besides, they won’t stay on. I’ll trim their nails. They’ll be fine.”

Jordan drew a deep breath. “All right. I feel better. Now that we have a plan, we’re going to figure this out.”

Danny forced a smile. If only the rest of their troubles were so easy to solve.

He wanted to talk about what was going to happen between them when the job was over. He needed to know where he stood. All the guessing was wearing on him and he’d grown sick of trying to interpret every little thing she said to him.

When they were together, intimately entangled, Danny knew there was something there, something much deeper than just lust. When he moved inside her, it wasn’t about his pleasure, it had become all about her, as if the beauty and power of their physical relationship might somehow prove to her they belonged together.

Every day that passed, he saw proof of the end. The painters were gone, the roofers were finished. Books now filled the shelves in the library, utensils and pots and pans hung from the racks in the kitchen, and furniture and rugs would arrive in a few days. After that, the house would be transformed from a construction site to a home and it would all be over.

It was a day that Jordan was anxiously awaiting and one he could only dread. Why was he so afraid to broach the subject with her? Danny suspected that he wasn’t ready to hear her answer.

If she was planning to walk away without a second thought, then he didn’t want to know until the very last moment of their time together. She had bewitched him, and like the other victims of the leanan sidhe, he would pay for his desire when she let him go. Though it wouldn’t be death, he might feel like it for a time.

“Why don’t we just take a little break?” he suggested, nuzzling her neck. “We could go down and take a swim. Or we could go out and get an early supper.”

“We’re always taking little breaks from work,” Jordan said.

“I don’t mean that kind of break,” he said, referring to their sexual trysts. “Let’s just get out of the house and do something. Take a drive, take a walk. It’s a beautiful autumn day and you’ve been cooped up inside for too long. And I want to spend some time with you. Nothing more.”

“I can’t leave,” she said. “I have all this work to do and I-”

“I’m not asking you to take an ocean voyage for feck’s sake,” Danny teased.

She shrugged. “I know. But I sort of have something important to do this afternoon and I really wouldn’t be very good company. And I need some time to work up my courage.”

“Are you planning to go cliff diving? Or will you be jumping out of a plane?”

Jordan giggled. “No, nothing so simple. I’m going to call my father and give him an ultimatum. Either he gives me the hotel job or I’m going to quit.”

A gasp slipped from Danny’s throat, her statement taking him by surprise. If she wasn’t working for her family then she wouldn’t be tied to New York anymore. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes,” Jordan said, nodding. “Absolutely. And I have you to thank for that.”

“Me?”

“I’ve always been so careful about everything I’ve done in my life. Until I met you. Then I just threw caution to wind. I had sex in the middle of a fairy circle yesterday. I was naked, running around in the rain. If I can do that, I can certainly be honest with my father. It’s time I stood up to him.”

“And what will you do if he gives you the job?” Danny asked.

Jordan opened her mouth to reply, then paused, frowning. “I’ll do the job,” she murmured. “I’ll do a really good job and prove that I’m just as good as any of my brothers.”

“And if he refuses?”

She thought about the question for a long moment. “I don’t know. I suppose I should figure that out, too.” Jordan drew a ragged breath. “I guess I’ll…quit.”

Danny grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Are you really ready to do that?”

“It’s always been an option,” she said. “I’ve almost done it a few times in the past, but then talked myself out of it. I can’t continue like this, Danny. I should be worth something to him, as a daughter and an employee. Maybe it’s time to find out where I stand.”

“Why do you care what your father thinks? You’re an adult. You don’t need his approval.”

Jordan laughed. “Yeah, right. Don’t even try to analyze me. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to figure out why I seek my father’s approval. It’s just something I do. My brothers do it also. But I’m just willing to suffer more to get what I want.”

“You’re suffering?” Danny asked.

“Well, not at the moment.”

“I bet your brothers never had sex with one of their employees,” he said. “That’s wicked suffering there.”

“You’re not my employee and I’m not your boss, remember?”

He grabbed her waist and set her on her feet, then stood beside her. “Give me a half hour.”

“For what?”

“A swim. We could get naked, play in the water, have a little fun and have you back at work before anyone knows you’re missing.”

“You just want to get my clothes off,” she said.

“Yes, I do. That is pretty much my goal from the time we get up in the morning until the time we crawl into bed at night.”

“Oh, so now I get the real story. You’re not interested in making gates and medallions and hinges anymore. This is all about me and you.”

“Now you’re starting to understand. Finally. It’s about bloody time.” He reached for the hem of her shirt. “I’ll race you. First one naked and in the water wins.”

Jordan slowly shook her head. “No, no, no.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” he said, tugging his T-shirt over his head. He watched as her gaze drifted over his chest, then reached for the button of his jeans. He unzipped them and skimmed them down his hips, kicking off his shoes before casting the jeans aside.

He was left in only his boxers and when he hooked his fingers in the waistband, Jordan sucked in a sharp breath. With deliberate ease, he slowly slid them down until he was standing in front of her, completely naked.

“All right,” she finally said. “It would probably be better to call my father tomorrow. He’s always in a bad mood on Tuesdays.”

“That’s my girl,” Danny said. “Since I’ve had a head start, I’ll let you catch up before we race to the pool.”

“Here?”

Danny nodded. “Yes.”

Jordan took the opportunity to perform a very sexy striptease for him and when she had him completely distracted with her naked body, took off for the door. Danny headed to the kitchen and the stairs that led down from there, but Jordan took the opposite path, taking the stairs near the front door. By the time he reached the pool, she was already treading water in the deep end.

“You have a half hour,” she called, her voice echoing against the tiles. “You’d better make it worth my time.”

IT WAS NEARLY 9:00 p.m. when Jordan pulled up in front of the manor house. The drive back and forth to Wexford was a long one, but her time had gone to a good cause. Over the past sixteen months, she’d visited hundreds of antique stores all over Ireland. To her delight, she’d found period fixtures for almost every room in the manor house. Today had brought a small chandelier for the upper hallway.

The only problem with a day away was that she hadn’t had her regular dose of Danny Quinn. She’d grown used to seeing him whenever the impulse stuck.

But the ride to Wexford had given her time to think about all that had happened since his arrival at Castle Cnoc. Though she’d vowed to keep their relationship simple, the deeper her affections grew, the more difficult it became. She found herself fantasizing about a real future with the sexy Irishman.

She imagined them strolling the streets of Manhattan together, buying a weekend house in Connecticut, keeping an apartment in the city, enjoying everything that New York had to offer. Other times, she imagined herself living here in Ireland, raising a family and making a home with him. But always, she came to the realization that if they were to have a future, one of them would have to sacrifice.

Though she’d been determined to call her father and give him her ultimatum, Jordan had been putting it off for the past few days. Tomorrow was Friday and after that, the weekend. She’d call him at home on Sunday morning, knowing that without the pressures of the office, he might be more amenable. Plus, her mother would be there to run interference.

In truth, she was afraid of his answer. If he did allow her to quit, then she had to decide what to do with the rest of her life. At least now, everything was still in limbo. She still had choices.

As she stepped out of the car, she saw Danny standing at the front door. The scaffolding was gone and the original door was hung with brand-new hinges and hardware. Progress, she mused. That always brought a smile to her face.

“Hey, baby,” he said with a devilish smile. “Welcome home.”

“You’ve been busy,” she said. “It looks incredible.” He swung the door back and forth on its hinges, demonstrating how smoothly it worked. “Very nice job. Have you been waiting here long?”

“All afternoon. But I have a good reason,” he said.

“You always have a good reason,” she teased.

He strode up to her and picked her up off her feet, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I’m not always thinking about sex,” he said. “I have other things going on in my life.”

“Like what?”

Danny carried her into the house. But instead of heading back to the office, he carried her up the stairs, his mouth warm on her throat. They walked to her bedroom and then into the bathroom.

“What are we doing?”

“I’m going to draw a bath for you and then you’re going to relax and tell me about your day. And then I’m going to ask you something and you’re going to say yes.”

“Don’t I always say yes?”

“That’s true. And after you say yes, we’re going to have some dinner and spend the rest of the night in bed.”

She slipped out of her jacket and tossed it aside, then rubbed her stiff neck. Hours in the car had exhausted her and she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than a hot bath. But her curiosity was piqued. What was he going to ask? she wondered. What was so important to him that he’d bribe her with a bath to get a positive response?

“Ask me now,” Jordan demanded.

“It can wait,” he said.

As the water ran into the huge clawfoot tub, Danny slowly undressed her. When she was naked, he stood back and stared at her. It felt odd for him to be fully clothed while she was naked. Not odd, she thought. Erotic. “No, I want to know now. Did you go over budget? Did you mess something up?”

“It’s not about the house.” He helped her into the tub, then handed her a glass of wine that he’d set on the floor.

“What is it?” she asked, sinking down into the hot water. “I want to know.”

He cursed softly. “This is supposed to be relaxing and now you’re all tense,” he said. “It’s really nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, than you can ask me now. Do you need a day off? Is that it?”

He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and handed her an envelope. “It’s an invitation to my gallery opening on Saturday night. I’m showing a couple of pieces and I thought you might like to come with me. As my date.”

Jordan stared at the invitation, warmed by his offer. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, I’d love to go as your date.”

He seemed pleased with her answer, dropping a quick kiss on her shoulder. “It’s in Dublin. I thought we could go and spend the night. Maybe see a bit of the city on Sunday. Make a weekend out of it.”

Though Jordan had never spent more than a day away from Castle Cnoc, she realized that time with Danny was running out. There were so many things she wanted to experience with him, but every day that passed was one less she’d have with him. By her estimate, they had less than a month left. And yet, any time spent in Danny’s company was better than her solitary life in New York.

Was he really what she’d been waiting for? This wasn’t supposed to be how it happened. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with an Irish blacksmith with thick, dark hair and bottomless blue eyes.

She opened her eyes and glanced at him. Danny wasn’t pretty, he was sheer masculine perfection. He wore his looks the way he wore his clothes, casually, as if he weren’t aware of the effect they had on her. She was so accustomed to neatly tailored men that he seemed exotic and forbidden.

“In Manhattan, gallery openings are pretty fancy affairs. Are they that way in Dublin?”

He chuckled. “You’re going to see me in a proper jacket,” he said. “No tie, but I’m going to look very sexy. The women will be all over me.”

“I didn’t ask so you could tell me about your wardrobe choice. I’ll need to decide on a dress.”

“I could take you shopping,” he said.

“I have the perfect dress at home. I’ll have it sent from New York this afternoon.”

“Then it’s all settled. On Saturday, we’re going to Dublin.” He was watching her through hooded eyes. “Now, tell me about your day.”

“Chandelier for the upper hallway, monogrammed towels for the bathrooms, still looking for decent sheets. May have to do mail order from Frette. Unless I take a weekend and go to Italy for linens. Or Paris.”

“Is that even a possibility?”

“Yes,” Jordan said. “If that’s what’s needed, that’s what I’ll do. I’d prefer to stick with Irish linens though. Maybe if we left tonight, I could shop tomorrow in Dublin.” She groaned softly and leaned back in the bath. “God, I’m so sick of shopping.” She glanced over at him. “Enough about me. What did you do all day long?”

“Thought about you in the bed,” he said. “Made some hinges. Thought about you in the bathtub. Worked on the garden gate. Thought about you in the swimming pool, designed a front gate for the drive.”

“Really?” She laughed. “So, you had a productive day.”

“Yes,” he said. “So, boss, give me a job to do. I could rub your feet. Or wash your back. Or massage your shoulders.”

“All of those would be nice,” she murmured.

“I’ll start with the shoulders.” He sat down behind her and began to knead the knotted muscles. She tipped her head to the side and he pressed his lips to a spot at the base of her neck. “Do you ever wonder what you’d be doing if you hadn’t come here to Castle Cnoc?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Our lives seem so intertwined here. What if you were alone? What would you be doing right now?”

“I’d probably be sitting at the pub, having a beer with my brothers. Maybe tending the bar, drawing Guinness. Then a game of darts or billiards.” He chuckled. “Jaysus, I had a boring life before I met you.”

“Me, too,” she said. “I spent my free time searching the internet for fabric and furniture and fixtures. The highlight of my evening would be my decision whether to have a ham sandwich or a grilled cheese. Dinner would be followed by whatever bestseller I was reading.”

“I’d say we were damn lucky to meet each other.”

“You’ve ruined me for other men, you know.”

“How is that?”

“The sex. It’s too good.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “How can the sex be too good?”

“I never really thought sex was important,” Jordan admitted. “My parents aren’t very loving with each other. Our family shows affection by insulting each other. We just weren’t…physical. But with you, we always seem to be touching.”

“I like that,” Danny said.

“Me, too. And I never thought I would. I’d sit in the subway or at the park and watch couples hanging all over each other and wonder why they couldn’t contain themselves. Now I understand.” She turned and kissed his cheek. “Just the tiniest thing can bring the biggest thrill.”

He smoothed his palms over her shoulders and chest, then cupped her breasts. “You do have a very touchable body, boss.”

Jordan moaned softly as his thumbs rubbed across her nipples. She’d grown accustomed to this power that she held over him. When he touched her, she didn’t feel like a boss or Andrew Kennally’s daughter or the Kennally brothers’ younger sister or Kencor’s “decorator.” She was just a woman.

Her heart slammed in her chest and she arched to meet his caress. Danny circled the tub and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her naked body as his lips captured hers.

Jordan was always amazed at how powerful his kiss was. He was able to take her breath away, to make her body ache, to send her heart racing, by simply covering her mouth with his. He had a way of possessing her that made her feel weak and powerful all at once.

The kiss spun out in one long, delicious encounter, growing deeper and more passionate with every breath they shared. Danny’s hands smoothed over her damp skin but Jordan’s touch was hampered by his clothes.

A frustrated moan slipped from her throat as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. She needed him naked, needed his skin touching hers. “Stop.” Pressing her hands to his chest she pushed him back. “Take off your clothes.”

“No,” he said.

Jordan frowned, shaking her head. “No?”

“No,” Danny said. “If I take off my clothes, then I’m not going to be able to stop myself. I think we should just take our time. We have the whole evening.”

“Am I the boss or are you?”

“You’re the boss,” he said.

“Then you’re supposed to follow my orders?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Take off your clothes, Danny Quinn. And make it snappy.”

With a reluctant smile, he slowly stripped. When his boxers were around his feet, he braced his hands on his hips. “Now what? Would you like me to fix that squeaky hinge or change the oil in your car?”

“Get in the tub,” Jordan ordered.

He did as he was told, sliding down into the warm water. Then Jordan climbed in and straddled his waist, his hard shaft pressing against the crease between her legs. She grabbed a sponge and lathered it up then ran it over his chest.

“Isn’t this considered sexual harassment?”

“Yes,” she said. “And I could get fired for this.”

“Really?”

Jordan nodded. “Really. But you’re not going to say anything, are you?”

“Never,” he said. “As long as you promise to keep harassing me, I’ll keep quiet.”

She leaned over and kissed him and when she moved back, Jordan shifted on top of him, slowly taking him inside her. A gasp slipped from her lips and she smiled. “I think we’re going to be getting into a little overtime tonight.”

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”