He got a notification on his phone, and his stomach tightened in anticipation. His back fell back on the couch in horror as he watched that white-haired man from Conwy walking around her bedroom.
She was there picking things up to show the man, who was smiling and chatting. He turned up the volume, dread singeing his insides.
“I’m so glad you came to town,” she said, while leaning against a heavily framed floor-standing mirror.
The man’s back was to the camera, but he could see his face in the mirror. He was older than he’d thought when he’d seen him in the parking lot, but handsome. He clenched his jaw in irritation.
Very handsome. “Damn.”
“One of my better decisions,” the man replied. “I would have come sooner, but I know how hard the last few weeks of the semester can be.”
“One more year before I get to work full-time for Triskelion. I can’t wait.”
Triskelion was her family’s interior design shop. He’d found that out after they’d first met. He wasn’t above a little social media snooping.
“I hate this evening to end, but since you insist on taking me to the ferry, we’d better go. I don’t want you driving home too late.”
He watched as the man stepped close, and drawn like a damn magnet, she stepped toward him. He watched as their hands twitched, clearly aching to reach out to the other.
The man cleared his throat and spun on his heel to leave her bedroom. His camera was able to catch the misery on the man’s face. He hoped the man, whoever he was, choked on his feelings.
Bébhinn looked sad as she followed the stranger out of her room. The man was leaving on the ferry, and hopefully that was that.
He knew Bébhinn wasn’t serious about this white-haired man. She might try to hide her feelings, but after so many months, he knew her better than she knew herself. A woman as gorgeous as her would naturally attract and be attracted to extremely handsome people.
He wasn’t near her standard type, but their compatibility would more than make up for his lack of…certain attributes.
Only a few more weeks, he thought, glancing once more at his new tent.
thirty-four
BÉBHINN
Back in her room,she would have sworn Dagr had been about to do…something, anything besides turning tail and practically sprinting from her bedroom.
He was inside the car rental place now. Bébhinn was twisting her fingers together, sick with worry that she had read him all wrong when she’d taken that step to close the distance between them.
“What a mess,” she sighed, thumping her head against the seat’s headrest.
She’d done well to keep up a steady stream of conversation like they always did over the phone. She enjoyed hearing about Dagr’s cases and encouraged him to speak of his latest one as they drove.
He was responsive and funny like normal, but there was a forced element to their discourse that hadn’t been there before that moment in her bedroom. It could be something as simple as work stress that he didn’t wish to discuss, and she was blowing it way out of proportion.
She knew she hadn’t imagined his leg or hand touching her tonight at the pub. His fingers had rested on her lower back more than once. It was familiar and hot as hell all in one go.
When he’d asked her to go out for a drink, and not only that, but flew to Dublin instead of Wales to do it, she couldn’t help but feel like they were moving toward something.
Now…she wasn’t as sure.
She had turned down a few dates the past few months, and not solely because of Dagr—mostly but not wholly. She was happy and busy and still recovering from losing her father. She had her mother and her family to think about, plus school, and her “internship” at Triskelion.
Her best friends took up time with their own daily dramas, as did her damn brothers and nephews, who loved nothing more than to poke their noses into her business.
She was satisfied. “I am satisfied just as things are.” She was thankful no one was around to hear that pathetic vision board quote.
He had just shoved open the rental place’s glass door and was going to her Jeep. “Don’t make this weird,” she whispered to herself before he opened the passenger door.
“I’m all settled. I can’t thank you enough for the ride,” Dagr said as he leaned into the cab.
