“No.” Tessa moved away from me.
I caught Tessa’s hand and entwined my fingers with hers. A tremor of something passed between us, and by the way Tessa’s eyes widened, she felt it too.
“Your man will be staying with you.” I held her seething gaze, her eyes a raging whirlpool. “We wouldn’t want to put Brendan to any more trouble by messing up two guest rooms so close to the event, would we, pooh bear?”
“I’m… I’m sure it’s no trouble.” She tore her eyes from mine. “I’ll clean them myself. You know we, ehm, promised each other we wouldn’t sleep together again until our wedding night.”
“For God’s sake, spare me the details,” Brendan said with a roll of his eyes.
I lowered my lips to her ear and whispered. “Afraid of what you might see if you walk in on me in the shower?”
“Get over yourself.” She looked me up and down, but I didn’t miss the way her eyes lingered on my crotch. “Think you have something I haven’t seen before?” She snatched her hand from mine and walked to the butcher’s block. “One room it is.”
“I’ll go up and light the fire.” Brendan poured a bottle of Guinness into the stew pot then set a lid on top.
“No need. I will,” I offered.
Tessa snorted. “It’s an easy-light log. Any idiot can light it.”
“It’s a good thing I’m an idiot, isn’t it?”
“Your words…”
“You two are giving me a bloody headache. I’ll light the stupid fire.” He washed and dried his hands, pulled an old brass key from his pocket and slid it across the countertop. “Stay in the Áine suite on the second floor. It’s not that bad. There are fresh linens in the laundry room. Grab some on the way.” Without a backward glance, he left the kitchen.
“Why are you such a jerk?” Tessa grabbed the key and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“What can I say?” I leaned my back against the butcher’s block and cradled the still warm but empty glass in my hand. “It’s my cross to carry.”
She paced back and forth in front of the fire, Max trotting behind her, and blew damp straggles of hair out of her face. “You infuriate me like no other man I’ve ever met. I’ve a thousand things to do before this day is over. Then I plan on a long soak before curling up in front of the fire with my laptop and Netflix. I don’t want you anywhere near me. I don’t want to think about you. I don’t want to see you. And don’t even think we’re sleeping in the same bed.”
Tessa crouched and tickled Max’s head. “I’ll come back for you later. Be good. Don’t pee on anything.” She started toward the steps leading to the foyer. I followed. The sway of her hips and the stride of her long legs drew my gaze. And the curve of her ass in her tight jeans was a sight I’d never tire of.
“Getting a good enough look?” she asked, walking upstairs.
“At what?”
“Don’t even pretend.”
“You’re walking up a set of stairs in front of me. Where else am I supposed to look?”
“Typical man, thinking with his dick.”
“I can assure you, I’m anything but typical.”
She spun around. A kaleidoscope of emotions shifted over her face. “You just proved my point. You’re a typical man who thinks he’s God’s gift to women.”
Her defiant tone taunted me, and if she’d thrown down the gauntlet, I was more than willing to pick it up.
“Are you trying to get me to prove something? Because if you are, I have no problem doing exactly that.”
“In your dreams.”
There was zero conviction behind her words. Without thought, I stepped forward until I was close enough to feel the warmth of her breath. A squeak of protest sounded from her throat, and as if to push me away, her hand flattened over my racing heart, but then her lips parted as if inviting me in.
I accepted the invitation and lowered my head. The softness of her lips defeated me, and my body flew a white flag of surrender as blood surged south. I reached for her hair and tugged her messy bun loose, my fingers tightening around the mass of caramel waves as they fell.
Our lips molded together, and I pulled her deeper into our embattled kiss. When our tongues touched, my mind blanked, thoroughly erasing any need for her to fail. The taste of coffee and whiskey coated her lips, and the scent of sweet apples and vanilla from her hair left me woozy. It was all I could do not to throw Tessa over my shoulder, find one of the secret rooms Brendan had mentioned and explore how out of control things between us could get.
She moaned into my mouth and crushed herself against me. The feel of her breasts pressing against me sent all common-sense packing. A week of this, of her, wouldn’t be such a bad thing, would it? I nipped at her lower lip and ran my hands over her lush curves, but before I could investigate any further, she broke away, gasping for air.
Her fingers flew to her lips. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“I thought you wanted…” I ran a hand through my hair.
She took half a step back and pressed herself against the stone wall, her throat working hard as she swallowed.
“You took me by surprise. I didn’t have time to think. You’re so not staying in the same room as me.”
“Frightened you won’t be able to control yourself, sweetheart?” I hadn’t meant my words to sound as caustic as they did—I
