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“Oh, Kane, hi.” Iris glanced at him, frustration clear on her face. “Um, just trying to move this table. It’s fine, just will take a moment is all.”
“Where are you trying to move it? Back to your place? I can help,” Kane said. He shook his head at her. Clearly, this was a two-person job. Stubborn woman.
“Um, well, inside here. Actually.” An unreadable look crossed Iris’s face, and Kane glanced over her shoulder to the store behind her.
“Why are you trying to move a table into someone’s store, Iris? Shouldn’t the owner be helping you?” Kane asked, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“It’s…” Iris mumbled something, and he leaned closer.
“Did you forget how to speak, Iris?”
“It’s my store, okay? Mine. I rented it. I know it’s crazy, and I’m probably going to lose a boatload of money, and nobody’s going to come for a reading. Still, I’m doing it, okay?” Iris’s eyes blazed in her face when she looked up at Kane and he realized that his prickly tough friend might be dangerously close to tears.
“Well, honestly, I’m surprised it took you this long,” Kane said with a shrug. He picked up one end of the table with his back to the store so Iris could direct him and arched a brow at her. “Go on then, don’t be stubborn. Let’s get this table inside before the rain comes.”
“It’s not going to rain. I can do this myself. It just…takes longer,” Iris argued, her hands on her hips.
A few rain droplets spat out of the clouds above her head, and Iris glared at the sky. Kane’s lips quirked.
“It always rains in Ireland, darling. Come on, then, no time left to argue. We’ll get this sorted quickly, and you’ll have your table,” Kane said. He lifted his side of the table, and Iris finally gave in, quickly directing him up the steps. They pivoted through the doorway, angling the table so it would fit. Kane barely resisted screaming, “Pivot!” loudly in case Iris had never seen that Friends episode. She’d already told him that she didn’t watch much television, and he didn’t want to look silly in front of her.
“I think…back here,” Iris said, nodding toward the back of the room. Kane dutifully walked backward until the table sat to the side of a check-out counter in front of the cupboards. Brushing off his hands, he turned and scanned the place. The space had potential with high ceilings, soft lighting, and pretty wood floors. Turning, he beamed at Iris.
“I love this spot,” Kane said.
“Do you? I…well, I guess it spoke to me. I don’t know…I don’t know what I’m doing,” Iris said, crossing her arms over her chest and worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Kane’s eyes caught on her mouth, and he needed to pull his gaze away before he got himself worked up again.
“I find that hard to believe,” Kane said, keeping his tone light.
“Really? Why?” Iris demanded, her eyes huge in her face.
“Because I think you’re capable of making anything you do a success.” Kane shrugged and turned to look at the room again. “This is a nice space in a great village, where it sounds like you might have a bit of a support network. Whatever you do here is likely going to do well. And it’s not as huge a risk as you think–so long as you’re not breaking the bank to start this. Is it…will you be doing readings again? Or are you starting something else?”
“Readings,” Iris admitted, a guilty look flashing across her face. “I know that I probably shouldn’t, what with everything that’s going on in the press. But…I love it, and it’s who I am.”
Kane hated seeing the doubt on her face. Thus far, she’d struck him as someone who could stand up for herself and speak her mind. Seeing this side of her made him want to protect her. It wasn’t easy for a strong woman, well, any strong person really, to show their vulnerable side. Without thinking, he crossed to Iris and pulled her into his arms for a hug.
“Hey, listen to me,” Kane said, pulling back a little so she could tilt her face up to look at him. He loved how she felt in his arms, and being this close to her made him even more acutely aware of their height difference. “You do not have to explain why you’re opening another shop to anyone. Nor do you have to feel guilty. The only person who should feel guilty is that asshole of an ex-boyfriend who lied about you to the press. You’ve done nothing wrong, and if this genuinely brings you joy, well, you should embrace it. In fact, I think it’s the smartest thing you can do.”
“Really?” Light bloomed in Iris’s eyes as she looked up at him.
“Sure, and I do. See, it’s like falling off your bike, right? If you wait too long to get back on and try it again, well, it builds up to something bigger and bigger in your mind and, soon, you become too scared to try again. No, this makes perfect sense. Get on with it, and you’ll be the better for it. I one hundred percent think this is the perfect choice for you.”
Plus, it keeps you here in Ireland, Kane added silently.
“I…” Before Kane even grasped what was happening, Iris’s lips were on his. But once he realized it, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity. He’d been craving a taste of her again, and now she’d given it to him. He angled his lips, deepening their kiss, and Iris moaned softly into his mouth.
It was the moan that undid him.
Scooping Iris up to sit on the table they’d just brought in, Kane nudged her legs open so he fit between them. He pressed against her, feeling how hard he was for her already, and heat licked low in his belly. Her kiss whispered a promise of something more to him, and now he didn’t want to stop.
“I need more,” Kane murmured against her lips, pulling back so he could trail kisses down her neck. Finding her collarbone, he nibbled lightly there, his hands stroking her sides as he waited to see what Iris would do. He knew she was gun-shy from her last relationship, but there was no way that she couldn’t feel the energy that zipped between them. He’d felt it since the moment he’d shaken her hand in the airport two weeks ago.
He felt it every time he opened a door for her, and she brushed close to him.
He felt it when she shoved him good-naturedly when he said something that made her laugh.
He felt it when she’d kissed him the first time, her eyes sleepy and full of need.
