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Liam glanced at Taylor, who smiled and shrugged. He didn’t have to read her mind to know she was game. “We’d love to,” he answered.
“Wonderful!” Clara declared. “We’ll make a date.”
“You’re also welcome to the Wild Irish Rose Inn anytime. For fun.” Trevor glanced at Liam. “I still think Buttercup might set her eyes on your guy, Taylor.”
The joke was lost on him as everyone around him laughed. “Who’s Buttercup?”
“Their lovesick alpaca,” Taylor told him, pinching his cheek. “Totally adorable. Like you. Now, Arthur, are you ready? The whole town is inside and can’t wait to thank you.”
The older man made an embarrassedbahof a sound before Clara shushed him and said, “Keep going, dear.”
“Sure thing,” Taylor said with a beautiful smile. “As we’ve discussed, no one should know that Eoghan and I made a visit to the inn or had any involvement in the article. We’ve covered our tracks with the small circle who knew.”
“We are agreed,” Arthur said solemnly. “Shall we?
Clara took his arm and started walking to the main center. “Don’t speak too long, Arthur. Public speaking is about leaving people hanging. Plus, we all want to get to the partying.”
“Hanging?” J.T. whispered as they all followed behind the couple. “Where does she get this stuff?”
“Years with Hargreaves, maybe?” Quinn offered with a shrug. “Liam, that’s my aunt’s former butler—he’s a year older than she is.”
“Sounds like he’d fit in well at our arts center,” Liam commented.
“He would,” Quinn said with a laugh. “His artistry is incredible. Taylor, have you been to his chocolate shop outside of Manhattan?”
“Of course! He and Alice had the best treats outside France, if you ask me. And his chocolate sculptures are works of art.”
She liked chocolate, did she? Liam filed that away for the future.
“Before everything gets crazy,” she said as they stopped outside the door, “please thank Connor and Flynn for their help. I know they had to head back to their families in the States.”
“Ouch,” J.T. said, clutching his heart. “You make me sound like a bad guy for staying. Actually, Caroline and I are meeting up in Paris since I’m over here. Michaela and Boyd agreed to babysit. Connor did want me to tell you something, though. Your donation to the homeless center totally choked him up—which still gets me right here. He wasn’t expecting that.”
She hadn’t told Liam about that yet. Ah, his soulmate. He watched as she ducked her head and said, “Please! It’s for a great cause. Besides, Louisa helped organize anI Am Veritasprotest. I wanted to do something. Also, Trevor, here…”
Liam watched as she handed him an envelope. Looking puzzled, Trevor slit it open and looked inside, then threw his head back and laughed before hugging her. “You’re the best! Becca will love it.”
“Let me see,” J.T. said, grabbing the envelope and holding it out so the others could see it too.
Liam felt his throat catch as he read it. She’d gotten him a gift certificate to a major paint store. To refill the supply they’d used on her Waterford mural.
“God, that’s a good one,” J.T. said, giving her a high five. “Hey! You should start your own paint line, Taylor, as—”
“Watch it!” Trev said, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Ouch. Just saying. Quinn, couldn’t the new Merriam Enterprises set her up with an anonymous line or something?”
Quinn rubbed his jaw. “I could talk to Francesca about it if you want… She apologized for being MIA today. Big construction meeting.”
Taylor was clearly mulling through the possibility of a Veritas paint line, so Liam took the opportunity to ask Quinn, “You guys build things? How big?”
“As big as you need it,” Quinn deadpanned. “Old joke. Why?”
He thought it over. “Well, I’d need to do more research and talk to Linc and the board, but the truth is, we have a lot of building to do here. We have a major Irish contractor involved for the hotel—our priority since there’s nowhere close to stay—but they don’t think they can handle the museum at the same time. We haven’t been happy with the groups we’ve met with so far. How did we not know about you?”
“We’re new to Ireland,” Quinn said. “Our portfolio has been abroad, but we’re making inroads. Check us out. We’d be happy to talk about what you have in mind.”
Liam could already feel the energy pulsing in the air. Suddenly the very ground beneath him was vibrating with power. Yeah, this was going to work. But he would follow procedure by researching and interviewing them. Taylor must have sensed what he was feeling because she raised her eyebrow in his direction and said, “Well, isn’t that a nice possibility? Umm… As for the other, I’m not sure. I’ll need to think about it.”
