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“Niall’s back,” Róisín said after a few minutes and Cordelia almost choked on a potato. There was a smattering of applause from the patrons at the bar.

“All right, boyo?” Darragh called.

“Grand, Darragh,” Niall said. “It’s a gorgeous day for a swim, don’t you think?”

That set the bar laughing. Rain had begun to fall outside, spattering against the windows and whipping about in the wind. Cordelia noticed a lot of people glancing at her, so she hid her face in her drink.

“There’s food here for you, Niall,” Alison said as Niall sat down beside Cordelia.

“Thank god, I’m starving,” he said. He seemed so at ease as he helped himself to the stew, and Cordelia wondered if maybe he really wasn’t embarrassed by her display.

“Nearly drowning will give a man an appetite,” Róisín said.

“He was only in the water for about ten seconds before we pulled him out,” Colin protested.

“Let’s throw you in there next time, see what you have to say about it.”

“Niall, you’ve got to see this,” Fiona said, hurrying over. She held out an iPhone and Cordelia saw the whole scene play out again on the small screen. She watched, mortified, as she flew down the pier, hearing the voice of Aoife behind the camera saying, “Oh look, there goes Cordelia,” before Cordelia ran right into Niall and started kissing him. Aoife said, “Aw, isn’t that lovely,” and there were cheers along with some wolf whistles. Aoife called to someone behind her, “He’s all right! They’ve got him on the pier now.”

Fiona was smiling at her. She patted Cordelia on the arm and said, “You’re a good lass.” Then she started to fuss over Niall, insisting he eat more stew and going to get him another hot drink.

There wasn’t much to photograph because of the rain, so an hour later, Cordelia found herself in Fiona’s car alone with Niall as he drove to his house. She’d offered to come with him, thinking they needed a moment by themselves, plus she was very much over the looks everyone in the bar kept shooting at the two of them. Though now that she and Niall were alone, she didn’t know what to do. She should probably be playing this cool. But she was terrible at playing things cool.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Niall said as he parked at the end of the drive. Rain spattered against the windshield.

“I’m fine,” Cordelia said in a voice too high to be normal. “You should get inside. You’ve had a day.”

“That I have,” he said. He turned to her. “Coming?”

She ducked her head in a nod and they hurried into the house. Niall hung up their coats as Pocket trotted up, tail wagging. The silence seemed to expand around them. Niall scratched Pocket behind the ears. Then he leaned his forehead against Cordelia’s.

“So,” he said.

“So,” she replied. There were things she knew she should be saying, but she couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. Her fingers trembled. She wanted to kiss him so badly it scared her. “Um, why don’t you go sit down? I’ll make some tea.”

Niall hesitated, like he was gauging her reaction. Then he said, “That’d be grand. Come on, Pocket.”

The dog happily followed him to the couch as Cordelia made her way down the hall. Once in the kitchen, she pressed her back to the door, clutching her hands to her chest. Her heart careened wildly against her ribs. It was disorienting, like she’d shed the skin of the person she’d been yesterday and emerged as someone entirely new. She set about filling the kettle and taking out mugs when another thought crashed into her.

Sex. She and Niall were all alone in this house. Was he expecting them to sleep together? Should they? Was she ready? It had been almost three years since she’d slept with anyone. What if she was bad at it now?

The high-pitched shriek of the kettle startled her out of her thoughts. She filled the mugs carefully, her hands shaking, and headed down the hall to the living room.

Be cool, she told herself.

But she needn’t have worried.

Niall was snoring softly as she entered the living room, Pocket curled up against his side. Cordelia smiled and put the mugs down on the coffee table, then grabbed a blanket from where it hung on the back of an armchair. She gently laid it over Niall’s legs and gave Pocket a parting pet before quietly slipping out the door and walking back to the cottage.

Chapter Seventeen

Niall woke the next morning with the sense that he was floating in some half-remembered dream.

Yesterday’s events filtered back to him – Cordelia kissing him on the pier, her hands on his bare skin in the back room, the feel of her mouth, her warm body against his. She’d been gone by the time Colin woke him up where he’d fallen asleep on the couch, but there’d been a text from her on his phone – Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Niall grinned and checked it again, just to remind himself this was all real. What a change a month made. He blinked around at his room, seeing everything with fresh eyes. He found he couldn’t stop smiling as he padded down the hall to take a shower.

The sun was shining today, reflecting his mood. He felt like a kid on Christmas. He couldn’t wait to see Cordelia.

He tried on almost every shirt in his wardrobe before dressing in a blue-checkered button-down and a pair of dark jeans, then headed downstairs to make coffee. By the time Colin wandered in, bleary-eyed and yawning, Niall had made a full fry up: eggs, rashers, sausage, beans, roast tomatoes, and fried bread.