Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Least of all myself because I’d wanted to see him. Couldn’t stop thinking about the handsome Yank and besides, he made me promise last night that I’d try.
Tommy was mucking out stalls when I arrived, sleeves rolled up, forearms dusted with sweat and dirt, moving with the kind of ease that said he was used to hard labor despite coming from wealth. He worked without complaint, tossing straw and old bedding into a wheelbarrow, chatting occasionally with the other stable hands.
I took the moment and watched him, wondering why someone as beautiful as he was would even be interested in a wee Irish lass like me.
Even though I hadn’t moved a muscle, I think he sensed my presence. Tommy looked up, eyes locating and locking onto me.
“Hard at work?” I asked, forcing myself to sound casual, as if I’d barely noticed him.
He leaned against the stall door, wiping his forearm across his brow, his smirk lazy and knowing. “Something like that.”
I lingered longer than I should have, pretending to be interested in the horses, making idle conversation about the weather, the farm, anything but the real reason I was there. He didn’t call me on it, but I could feel it in the way he watched me.
And then, when no one else was paying attention, he set the muck rake aside and closed the space between us.
He didn’t touch me—he didn’t have to.
He leaned in, his voice low and teasing, his breath warm against my ear. “You came.”
I gave a slight shrug. “I didn’t have anything better to do.”
Tommy laughed and glanced around. “I can’t break away today. One of the hands called out sick. But let’s do something tonight.”
“I can’t—”
“I’m going to be outside your house at midnight. Come join me.”
Midnight? My da would resort to murder if he caught me.
I shivered, heat spreading down my spine, but I lifted my chin in defiance. “I can’t.”
His mouth twitched. “I bet you will.”
And then he turned away, went right back to shoveling straw as if the moment had never happened, as if he hadn’t just sent my heart into a tailspin.
That had been hours ago.
Now it was one minute after midnight and I was still pacing, trying to talk myself out of it, but my pulse was already quickening with anticipation.
I wanted to see him.
I wanted his hands on me again, wanted that feeling I’d had in the barn when he kissed me—the reckless, breathless, limitless feeling of being free.
I grabbed my warmest coat, shrugging it over my thick knit sweater, then pulled on a scarf and gloves. My boots were by the door, and I picked them up, needing the stealth of my socks to get down the stairs.
I took just a moment to imagine what would happen if my father caught me sneaking out and it should have been terrifying enough to keep me indoors, but I was more afraid of missing out on something with Tommy than my da’s wrath.
Holding my breath, I cracked open my bedroom door and stepped into the darkened hallway. I had made it barely two steps when—
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” I gasped, nearly swallowing my own tongue.
Siobhan stood right in front of me, eyes wide with shock, her nightgown pooling around her ankles. I snatched her by the arm, dragging her back into my room and shutting the door quietly behind us.
She took me in… coat, scarf, boots in hand. “Where in feck’s name are ye goin’ at this hour?”
I pressed a finger to my lips. “Shhh.”
She looked me up and down, glaring at me with suspicion, then suddenly lit up like the feckin’ sunrise. “Oh my God,” she breathed, her voice rising with excitement. “Yer meetin’ Brian, aren’t ye?”
I clapped a hand over her mouth, muffling the delighted squeal that threatened to break the entire house’s slumber. “For the love of all things holy, be quiet. And no, I’m not meeting Brian. Now will ye calm down?”
She nodded rapidly beneath my palm, bouncing on her toes like an overexcited filly.
I sighed. “Ye have to keep this a secret.”
She pulled back, pressing a hand over her heart as if offended. “Fiona. I am the very soul of discretion.”
I rolled my eyes, but I decided to tell her the full truth. She might have been a couple years younger than me, but she would always have my back. “I’m meeting Tommy.”
Siobhan gasped and her mouth sagged open in shock before a twinkle started deep in her irises. Her lips curved into a wicked grin. “Yer not?”
“I am,” I said breathlessly, feeling the excitement creep back in. “Ye cannot tell anyone.”
“Soul of discretion,” she repeated earnestly and then motioned toward the door. “What are ye waitin’ for, then? Go.”
I exhaled deeply, bracing myself before slipping out the door once more. On impulse, I threw my arms around her and she squeezed me tight. “Be safe, but have fun,” she whispered.