“You’re actually enjoying this,” she said incredulously.
“I am,” he admitted. “I’ve never had two women fight over me before.”
She turned to Moira then. “And you’re willing to feed into his display of ego?”
“Truthfully, Luke’s less of a concern to me right now than you are. When will you get the message, Kristen? Luke’s no longer interested in you. From all I’ve heard about you, you’re not the sort of woman to keep humiliating herself by coming by to beg for a scrap of his attention. You did the same thing with Mack. Have you learned nothing from the shame of that terrible situation?”
Luke saw that Kristen’s hand was shaking as she reached for her purse, and he knew it was time to intervene. Even for a woman with Kristen’s arrogance and insensitivity, some words could strike a little too close and leave wounds.
For all his increasing impatience with her deplorable behavior, he’d once seen another side of her. And he’d drawn her into his orbit, albeit to save Susie’s marriage, but he’d kept her in his life for longer than he should have. He had to accept some responsibility for this mess.
It was that sense of honor that had him saying quietly, “Kristen, why don’t I walk you out?”
Though Moira looked as if she had quite a lot more she wanted to say, she nodded and walked away, clearly satisfied at having accomplished what she’d set out to do.
Outside, he touched Kristen’s shoulder, realizing that this strong woman he’d assumed was indomitable was near tears. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “But you intentionally pushed her. All she did was push back.”
“But you did nothing to stop her,” she accused.
“How could I? Nothing I’ve said to you seemed to sink in. I thought perhaps Moira would have better luck making things clear.”
She drew in a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Well, they’re clear enough now. I still think you’re going to regret this, Luke, but I’m done.”
“And I think when enough time has passed, you’ll realize it was all for the best. I’m not the right one for you, Kristen. I never was.”
“And you’re the right one for her?” she asked disparagingly, fighting till the bitter end.
“We’re still working that out,” Luke told her candidly. “But I want the time to try.”
She shook her head. “I honestly don’t see it.”
He laughed. “But you’re not the one who has to, are you?”
“No, I suppose I’m not,” she said, then turned and walked away.
Luke stared after her for a moment, then drew in a deep breath and headed back inside to try to figure out just exactly what that whole little scene had really meant. Much as he wished it might be otherwise, he had a sinking feeling that it had been played totally for Kristen’s benefit and not because he’d been entirely forgiven for yesterday’s debacle at Sally’s.
20
The audacity of the woman, Moira thought as she paced the kitchen waiting for Luke to return. They’d been broken up for what, not even twenty-four hours, and Kristen Lewis had swooped in to stake her own claim. Did the woman have no shame? Apparently not.
“Do I need to lock up the knives?” Bryan inquired as she stalked around, muttering to herself.
“It might be wise,” she said, then sighed. “Sorry, I am acting like a bit of a lunatic, aren’t I?”
“Was that the other woman, then?” he asked.
She regarded him with surprise. “How did you know?”
He chuckled. “No one gets as worked up as you are over an innocent visit from a casual acquaintance. I got a glimpse of her as well. I recognized the type.”
“Predatory, right?” Moira said, seeking confirmation for her own possibly jaded view.
“Oh, yeah,” he said.
“Why doesn’t Luke see that? After all, she was chasing his brother-in-law when they first met. Shouldn’t that have given him a clue?”
Bryan looked stunned. “His brother-in-law?”
“Mack, who’s married to his sister,” Moira confirmed. “Luke swooped in to protect his sister’s interests and got caught in Kristen’s web, apparently.”
A grin spread across Bryan’s ruddy face. “God, I’m going to love working here. I’ve been in the city too long. Small towns are clearly far more fascinating.”
Moira laughed. “It’s been a revelation to me, too, though my town back in Ireland wasn’t much bigger than this. Truly, the only excitement we ever heard about was when Mr. O’Meara came wobbling home after having a bit too much to drink and Mrs. O’Meara made him, quite literally, sleep in the doghouse. It was such a regular occurrence that, after a time, we didn’t give it a second thought.”
Just then Luke walked into the kitchen. “Do you have a minute?” he asked her in what sounded like much more of a command than a question. As she headed dutifully out the door, he turned to Bryan. “The lunch hour went great today. Everybody was raving about the fish and chips. My uncle Mick said they were the best he’s had outside of Ireland.”
“I’ll accept the compliment in Nell’s absence, but we owe it to her,” Bryan told him. “She had the secret recipe for the batter that’s made all the difference.”
Luke nodded, then joined Moira as they walked to the privacy of his office. His silence was beginning to unnerve her a little. Was he mad at her for causing a scene? Well, if he was, that was just too bad. Even if the pub had been crawling with customers, which it hadn’t been at that hour, she was never going to be polite to Kristen when she was only here to prey on the man in Moira’s life.
Luke followed her into the office, then closed the door and turned to back her against it. With one arm braced on either side of her, he pinned her
