Page 11 of An Irish Hope

“You think I don’t know that? This weekend was supposed to be the first anniversary of my marriage.” Spending the weekend with Grady certainly hadn’t been part of the plan.

A commotion drew attention to the door where a new crowd had come in. And unlike most of the others, this crowd was very dressed up, the men in suits, the women carrying jackets and wearing emerald green—

His heartbeat quickened. It was her. But this time she was laughing, smiling, relaxed. The exact opposite of his last encounter with her. He slunk down in his seat.

“Hey, is that the woman from before?” Grady asked.

“Yeah.” He averted his gaze, propped his chin in his hand. He had no desire for her to notice him again.

The room was fairly full now, and with the arrival of the newcomers the noise level had increased too. They obviously were true locals, the three women and two men talking with the bar staff, and several others who waved or hugged or patted their shoulders and spoke to them. But then, if they were connected to the hotel, people would know them. Now he could see the three women together he recognised one of them from the reception desk from before. So she worked at the hotel and yet had enough clout that their brother’s wedding would close the entire hotel for a private event?

He watched from the corner of his eye as they searched for a table, and he grew aware what it must look like to be two men in a booth made for six. And that the only spare table was nearby.

Sure enough, the woman he recognised who worked there spied the open table and moved towards it, then spied him. “Oh!”

Grady smiled. “The wedding’s finished?”

“Yes.” She glanced at Andy. “Uh, would you mind if we joined you? It’s a little crowded out here.”

“We actually have two people coming,” Grady said. “Sorry.”

“Oh, okay.” She snuck another look at Andy, which seemed weird as it was obvious the handsome dude was with her. “You don’t mind if we sit here, then?”

“Not at all.”

She flashed a smile, then waved a hand at where her sisters were looking around. And he saw the way the curvy one he’d bumped into before noticed her. Then noticed him. And her jaw fell.

CHAPTER FOUR

He was here. In the middle of the crowded room his gaze caught hers and her stomach fluttered. Which sounded as cliched as a Mills and Boon novel but she couldn’t help this reaction. In fact, she couldn’t help any of this reaction. She felt a tug as strong as before. Which was weird, because given a choice, the man’s looks were not her usual version of what she thought of as handsome. He had as many freckles as she did, and he was lean rather than muscled. But she couldn’t deny the flip-flop inside. And knowing how crazy she must’ve sounded before when she’d ripped into him made her want to make it up to him. So she smiled.

He blinked, then offered a tentative smile in return. Her stomach swooped. Okay, the more she looked the more he appealed.

“Ash?” Fiona muttered. “Who are you looking at?”

Oh! She dragged her gaze back to her sister. That’s right. This was a public place and others could see her. “Ah, no one.”

“Who’s the fella over there in the booth?” Declan asked.

He’d noticed too? Oh dear. “Um, I think he’s the mystery guest at the hotel.”

“The one who insisted on still coming even though it was a private event?” Fiona rolled her eyes.

Trying to explain to her sister exactly why he had insisted on coming was too hard. Especially here. Besides, she didn’t want to expose him to her sister’s certain ridicule.

“Come on, let’s get those seats.” Declan led the way to where Rory and Aidan were already seated.

She moved to join them. Then paused. Smiled at the man in the booth, who seemed as taken aback as before. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Uh, hi.”

The sleazy looking guy, the one who seemed to think himself God’s gift to women, crooked a grin. “You have fun today?”

Why did everything he say sound laced with innuendo? She kept her smile on with effort. “It was a good day. Well, most of it,” she added in tease.

She really didn’t want to sound like she blamed his friend for the un-fun part of the day. But her words and glance went there anyway. And sure enough, he was looking embarrassed. Which was so not what she’d intended.

“Ash?” Rory touched her hand, drawing attention to who she was supposed to be with.