“Barb?” I stood on my tiptoes and removed a mug from the cupboard.
Brendan busied himself by rolling the sausages in the skillet, but I didn’t miss the flush on his cheeks.
“She’s a lovely woman.”
“Is she now?” It seemed Keegan and I weren’t the only two people in the castle having fun.
He nodded. “She thinks I have a little goldmine here. She’s going to help me with marketing and promotion.”
“Does this have anything to do with your wine cellar?” I pinched a sausage from a platter by the stovetop and took a bite.
“I might have given her a tour of the cellar last night.”
“I bet that’s not all you gave her a tour of, you old charmer.”
His eyes twinkled. “A gentleman never tells.”
“What happens next week when she goes back to her champagne lifestyle?” I poured myself a mug of coffee and held it to my chest.
“She’s going to spend Christmas and New Year’s here…”
“You’re a fast worker. I’m impressed.”
“For years, my heart’s known nothing but misery and grief. It’s time I let go and got on with my life.” He laid down the spatula and cracked an egg into the pan. “I like Barb. She takes no prisoners, no bullshit.”
“Damn skippy I don’t.” Barb strutted into the kitchen with Max by her heels.
“By God, it’s a glorious day.” Brendan gave Barb a quick wink.
I quirked an eyebrow at the love story unfolding in front of me and took a sip of coffee. “I guess it is.”
Barb scampered over to Brendan and wrapped her arms around his waist. How Brendan had tamed a tigress like Barb was beyond my comprehension.
“Tessa, honey, you look shocked,” Barb said. “Aren’t us old fogies allowed to fall in love too?”
“Love? So soon.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Brendan said with a happy sigh.
Keegan strolled in. His scent drifted over to me like a cool breeze on a sultry summer day. It was all I could do not to drag him back to the bedroom.
“Exactly what I need,” he said, “a greasy fry up. That’ll chase the cobwebs away nicely.”
I didn’t know if what I was about to say was the right thing. It could all backfire and leave me jobless, but I had to risk it.
With muscles as taut as a snow-laden power line, I shuffled toward Keegan and squeezed his hand. I swallowed and cleared my throat. “Everyone, there’s something I have to say.”
Awareness flared in Keegan’s eyes, and he closed a hand around my bicep. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Later. There are a few things I need to talk to everyone about.”
His jaw worked back and forth. “If it’s what I think it is, you don’t.”
I took a deep breath. “Keegan isn’t my fiancé. I didn’t even know him until this week.”
Keegan dropped his hand from my arm. His eyes blazed in disbelief and anger. I’d lost him, but there was no going back.
“Meh! Tell me something I didn’t know.” Barb shrugged her shoulders and waved a hand.
Stunned, I gaped at her and reached for the countertop to balance myself. “Wait. What? You knew?”
“Oh, honey, I deal with actresses every day. They could lie to the devil, and he’d buy it. And that ring on your finger. Where’d you find it? In a kid’s dress-up box? You weren’t fooling anyone.”
“She fooled me.” Brendan scooped an overcooked egg from the frying pan and threw it into the trash. “I knew something wasn’t right, but not that. I thought maybe Keegan had cold feet.”
“You.” Barb cast a stony glance toward Keegan. “Who are you? Someone she hired to play her doting fiancé?”
Keegan’s jaw tensed. The potent cocktail of emotions emanating from him all but knocked me over. Shit. I’d made a mistake—a huge one.
“Keegan Devlin.” His tone was precariously low.
“Devlin, Devlin—” Barb snapped her fingers “—Devlin Events. Didn’t your company make a pitch for the wedding?”
Keegan nodded but didn’t speak. The muscles in his cheek worked as he swallowed.
“Why’d you pretend to be her fated fiancé?” Barb continued.
“If you want to know all of the details,” I said, “I’ll tell you.”
Barb poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned over the butcher’s block. “You know, now it’s out in the open, I think I do want the details. My client is shelling out tens of thousands for this farce. I guess I should stop the wire transfer.”
“No, please don’t.” I took a sip of coffee to wet my mouth. “It wasn’t his doing. I needed the job to save my business. I got into some trouble this year. I have creditors who want to be paid. I’d read enough gossip about Violet to know since filming Prophecy here she was crazy about Ireland and Irish mythology, so I figured—”
“You figured if you told her what she wanted to hear then you’d be home free.” The rhythmic click, click, click of Barb’s fingernails against her mug grated on my unraveling nerves. “You, Romeo. If you want to save her sweet little ass, tell me your side of the story.”
Anger radiated from his tight eyes. “I found out she’d lied to win the job. I wanted to be here when she botched everything up, and then I was going to step in and take over.”
I bit down on my bottom lip and wished I could take my words back. Wished I had said nothing. Keeping my mouth closed would have been better for everyone involved.
“Quite the team, aren’t you?” Barb
