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“Eh, I’ll live.”
“Phew. I know it was touch and go there for a minute. I’m Iris, by the way.”
Distracted by the way her lips pulled into a smile, I nearly forgot to introduce myself. “Ronan. Nice to meet you, Iris.” I nodded at her dog. “And Steven is currently besotted with Daisy, it seems.”
“She has that way about her. I am madly in love with her too.” Iris smoothed her hand over the side of her hair, and I took note of black and gray tattoos on her knuckles. I couldn’t stop my filthy mind from wanting to peel away the soft cotton of her hoodie to explore where the ink ended and smooth skin began.
“Isn’t that a hazard of your job?”
A bubble of a laugh burst out of her. “Dog sitting isn’t my job, just a hobby. Lucky for me, Daisy belongs to a friend, so I can visit her pretty little self any time I want.”
I would have asked what her job was, but that would have led to me talking about my own, and for the moment, work was the farthest thing from my mind.
“What does your tattoo say?” I dragged my finger across my knuckles, nodding to hers.
She held her hand out, showing me her long, graceful fingers with shiny black nails.Musewas spelled out on her knuckles, and a lotus flower in black and gray covered the top of her hand.
“Muse?”
Her lids lowered, and she tucked her hand away. “Mmm. Got that at nineteen as a reminder to be my own muse.”
“Are you an artist then?”
“Of a sort.” One of her eyebrows raised. “Are you from Dublin?”
Five years away from the motherland and my accent still told tales about me. I was surprised she’d guessed the city, though. “A small town near there. What gave me away?”
She cocked her hip and rolled her wrist toward me. “I’ve done some traveling and spent my fair share of time in pubs in the Temple Bar. If you had a pint in your hand instead of a leash, I’d feel like I was back there now.”
“That’s funny.” I rubbed the back of my neck, more intrigued by this woman with each minute I spent in her company. “I was just thinking I could use a pint.”
Another appraising look from Iris, sweeping from my head to toe. She tapped her bottom lip in contemplation. “Would you be up for company? I know a place that might make you feel at home.”
My brows popped up. “Do you? This city’s been keepin’ secrets from me.” I mulled it over, but not for long. A drink was a drink, not a commitment. I could do a drink and spend more time looking over this lovely woman. “I’ll take you up on that offer, Iris.”
She made a great show of shivering. “Oh, I like the way my name sounds coming from you.”
I folded my arms across my chest, not buying her coquettishness for a minute, yet finding it fucking adorable. “If you spent a great deal of time in the Temple Bar, I have no doubt many a lad cooed your name.”
Her chin pressed into her shoulder, and she fluttered her lashes playfully. “I’ll never tell. That was my misspent youth, after all.”
“You look pretty youthful to me.” If I were in search of something more than a distraction, the obvious difference in our ages would have been a red flag. But I was not, so I had no trouble with it.
“Is that your polite way of asking my age?”
I met her gaze. “Are you over twenty-one?”
Her lashes lowered to fan her cheeks. Her lips tipped into a smirk. “A few years past that.”
“Then I’ll remain a gentleman and not inquire the exact number. All I care about is if you’re old enough to join me in that pub you dangled before me.”
“I thought I was dangling my company.” Those lips pursed again in a manner that should have been illegal. I liked the way she softened her natural sultriness with an edge of humor, as if she was well aware of her effect on mere mortals.
“That you did.” My lids lowered as I took her in once again, not bothering to hide my admiration. “The drinks are a much appreciated bonus.”
She dug her teeth into her bottom lip, biting back a smile. “Well then, as long as we’re on the same page.”
Dropping my voice to a low timbre, I gave her the forthrightness she deserved. “Are we? Because I would very much like to spend an evening enjoying you, Iris.”
