The Firebrand Who Unlocked His Heart (11 page)

‘Have you kissed the Blarney stone recently?’ she asked, striving to keep her voice light.

He laughed. She liked it when he laughed. It made his face soften and his green eyes glint. Good God, what was she thinking? And her just recently unengaged? It wasn’t as if she and Daniel had anything in common—apart from Harry, of course.

‘Maybe you
should
be a lawyer. You always have a ready answer. I’m going to miss you when you leave.’

She felt a pang of loss at his words. The faint scent of his aftershave drifted on the still evening air.

‘I won’t be leaving for a while,’ she said. Again she felt that hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach. One day she would be back in Ireland, her time here a distant dream.

‘What’s wrong, Colleen?’ he asked. ‘Are you okay?’

She shook her head. ‘Now what could be wrong? My patient is getting better. His father is taking time off to be with him. Soon I won’t be needed here.’

‘Harry will miss you terribly,’ Daniel said. ‘And so will I. We’ve got used to having you around.’

Used to having her around. Like a friend. Her heart sank. Maybe it was because she was tired. She didn’t want Daniel to be her friend. It felt unsatisfactory, yet…dangerous.

‘I’m tired,’ she said. ‘If you don’t mind, I think I’ll turn in for the night.’

Suddenly his hand was in her hair and he leant down and kissed her lightly on the lips. For a moment the world spun. ‘Good night then, Colleen. I’ll see you in the morning.’

* * *

After a night spent more awake than asleep, Colleen gave up trying to sleep and slipped out of bed. She glanced at her watch. It was only six. Too early to wake Harry. She supposed she could go for a walk, but it was raining hard outside.

But she needed to get rid of this restless feeling somehow. Making up her mind, she pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and headed down to the gym. Exercise would help.

The gym had weights, which she ignored, a treadmill and another machine Colleen hadn’t seen before. She decided that half an hour on the treadmill would do the trick. If only she could remember how to use it. The last time she’d been to the gym was with Trish a couple of years ago. But how difficult could it be?

There was a quick-start button so Colleen pressed that. The treadmill started to roll beneath her at a rapid–but-doable walking speed. This was okay.

But then, to her consternation, the running machine started to speed up. She broke into a jog, but the machine kept increasing speed until she was practically sprinting. She glanced around frantically for a stop button, but before she could reach it, she stumbled and, before she knew it, the machine had thrown her off as if it were a badly behaved horse.

She lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, wondering what had just happened and trying to get her breath back.

‘Are you having a nap down there?’ an amused voice came from above her.

She looked up to find Daniel looking down at her, grinning. Slowly her eyes travelled down from his face. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt that emphasised the muscles in his arms and a pair of low-slung tracksuit bottoms. What little breath she had caught in her throat. She closed her eyes as her cheeks burned.

He crouched next to her. ‘Normally people stay on the machine,’ he said.

‘Very funny,’ she gasped. Hopefully he’d put her shortness of breath down to being on the machine. She struggled into a sitting position. ‘I don’t know what happened. One minute I was going along just fine. The next the damn thing was trying to make me do a seven-minute mile.’

‘It’s programmed to go to twelve mph after a two-minute warm-up,’ Daniel said. ‘That’s the setting I always use. You needed to set it manually for your speed.’

His jade eyes were alight with mirth.

‘You might have told me,’ she said huffily.

‘I would have, had you asked. Did you hurt yourself?’ His hands were on her ankles, gently pressing.

A flash of heat ran up Colleen’s legs all the way to her pelvis. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

‘Hey, relax. Let me just make sure.’

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the way her body was overheating from the touch of his deft fingers on her skin. What was the matter with her? How could her body be responding this way? It had never behaved like this when Ciaran had touched her.

‘Everything seems in one piece.’ His voice sounded hoarse.

Colleen forced her eyes open. He was looking at
her intensely. Their gazes locked and Colleen’s breath stopped in her throat.

He placed his hands under her arms and pulled her to her feet. He held her against him for a long moment. She became aware of the heat of his skin burning her fingertips before he muttered something under his breath and released her so abruptly, she staggered a little. Or was it because her knees were weak?

‘I’ll set the treadmill for you,’ he said, ‘at a more appropriate speed.’

All Colleen wanted to do was to escape to her room so she could examine these strange sensations coursing through her body. ‘No, you obviously wanted to use it.’

‘I was going to lift some weights,’ Daniel said. ‘I can do that while you’re on the machine.’ He was punching something into the buttons on the front of the machine. Colleen had no choice but to step back on and, with her knees still feeling as if they were made from plasticine, started running at a more sedate pace.

As the equipment was in front of the running machine, she was forced to watch as Daniel lay down on a bench and started lifting weights.

The way his muscles contracted and bunched every time he raised the weights above his chest did nothing to help the warm feeling in Colleen’s abdomen.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of her trying to concentrate on keeping her wobbly legs moving, Daniel stood up and pressed a switch. The treadmill slowed to a stop. ‘I think that’s long enough for your first day.’

‘I was managing fine,’ Colleen protested.

‘I could have gone on for twice as long.’

Daniel smiled at her and, if she hadn’t known it was impossible, her heart rate went up another twenty beats.

‘It’s better to mix your work-out routine,’ he said. ‘A bit of cardiovascular with a bit of resistance training.’

Resistance training was just what she needed, but not the kind he was referring to.

‘Come on. I’ll help you lift some weights,’ he said.

Unable to find enough breath to refuse, she let him lead her over to the bench he had been lying on.

She lay down on the bench with her legs draped over the end.

Daniel placed a bar with weights on either side in her hands and stood behind her.

‘Okay, now lift them straight up,’ he said.

She did as he instructed.

‘That’s good, but don’t lock your elbows.’ She felt his hands on her elbows. ‘Keep a little bend here.’

There was no way she could do this. If he continued to touch her the way he was doing, she would start to whimper. She placed the bar back in its holder, looked at her watch and faked dismay. ‘Goodness. Is that the time? I must go. I want to have a shower, then it’ll be time for the night nurse to leave and I don’t want to keep her waiting.’

She sprang to her feet, only too aware of his amused eyes on her.

‘Thanks…er…for your help. I’ll see you later?’ And before he could say anything, she flicked her fingers at him and, as casually as she could manage on legs that felt like rubber, walked out of the room.

* * *

Daniel watched Colleen’s retreating back until she’d disappeared. He reset the treadmill to its usual setting and started to run. He would do an extra five miles this morning, he decided. He needed something to distract his head—and his pelvis—from the image of Colleen in
her skimpy shorts and T-shirt. He felt a smile tug at his mouth. What was it about her that drew him? It wasn’t just that he found her so sexy, it was the way he felt good around her. She captivated him in a way no woman had before. He never quite knew what she was going to do next and he found himself constantly listening out for the sound of her voice, her laughter, her quick steps.

He turned the speed up and ran faster.

Dear God, it wasn’t just that he had the hots for her—somewhere along the way, he had fallen in love with her. And no amount of telling himself otherwise was going to make the slightest difference.

T
HE
flight to Dublin was short and uneventful. They hadn’t had to queue at security. All they had to do was show their passports and then they were ushered on to the plane. Daniel had carried his son up the short flight of steps as if he weighed no more than a bag of sugar. The three of them had played ‘Go Fish’ during the flight—after explaining the rules to a baffled-looking Daniel. She hadn’t seen much of him since that day in the gym, and when she did, he had treated her with his usual courtesy. She’d almost managed to make herself believe that she was mistaken about the charged atmosphere between them.

‘I win,’ said Harry, waving his empty hand in the air. ‘You’re useless at this, Dad.’

‘Just as well I don’t have to make my living as a card player, then,’ he laughed. He looked good in his short-sleeved, open-necked shirt and jeans. Almost too good.

And he and Harry were getting on well, although Harry would tell his father off every now and again for babying him.

* * *

The journey to the farm had taken an hour and Colleen had felt herself relax as soon as Daniel had steered the car off the motorway and on to the country roads-lead
to the farm. Her mother had cleared out one of the unused farmworker cottages for Daniel and was planning to put Harry into Colleen’s old room as it was the only one on the ground floor.

As soon as they stepped out of the car Colleen’s mother came rushing up to greet them. ‘I’ve put the dogs away in case they jumped on Harry,’ she said. As soon as Daniel had transferred Harry to his wheelchair, she bent down and shook Harry’s hand. ‘I’m Sheila, Colleen’s Mammy. You must be Harry. Welcome to our home.’

Harry smiled shyly. ‘Thank you for asking me.’

Sheila straightened. ‘And you must be Harry’s dad. Daniel, isn’t it? Well, come in, Danny and Harry. Let’s get you fed. Colleen tells me you’re wanting to see the puppies. We’ll do that after you’ve had a taste of my special dumplings. Why don’t you go and say hello to your brothers, Colleen, while I settle our guests?’ She waved a hand in the direction of the hills. ‘They’re out there somewhere.’

‘It’s okay, Mammy. I’ll catch up with them later. I want to be around when Harry sees the puppies. Actually, I can’t wait to see them myself.’

The large, scrubbed pine table in the kitchen was laid for tea. There were plates groaning with sandwiches, others piled high with home baking, while her mother’s enormous tea pot took centre stage. It was always like this, Colleen thought, happily. The minute she stepped inside this room it was as if she’d never been away.

Daniel pushed Harry in his wheelchair up to the kitchen table and Colleen handed the sandwiches around. It was an inspired choice by her mother as Harry would be able to feed himself. If she’d made soup, he would have needed help. Colleen knew instinctively that
the lad would have hated that in front of people who were strangers.

‘Do you like horses, Harry?’ Sheila asked.

‘Yes. I can’t ride, though.’

‘Colleen could take you up on Dobbin if you like. He’s as gentle as a lamb and my daughter rides better than most people can run.’

Daniel stopped eating and stared at Colleen in surprise.

‘I’m a woman of many talents,’ she quipped.

‘Why? What else can you do?’ Daniel said with a wink at Harry.

Colleen pretended to think. ‘Mmm. Let me see…I can do a Sudoku puzzle in under three minutes and I’m an okay pool player. Learnt from my brothers.’

‘Don’t let her fool you, Daniel. She wipes the floor with most of the men down at our local.’

‘We should have a game some time,’ Daniel said.

Colleen smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Sure, as long as you don’t mind losing.’

The look he gave her left her in no doubt that that wasn’t going to happen—not in his lifetime at any rate. Or was she reading too much into his lingering gaze that was oh so difficult to pull away from. Flustered, Colleen pushed her chair back from the table. ‘Leave the dishes, Mammy, I’ll do them. You sit down and relax for a bit.’

Sheila looked incredulous. ‘What do I need to relax for? Besides, wouldn’t it be good if you showed our guests to their rooms?’

Colleen knew there was no point arguing with her mother. ‘Let’s get Harry settled first, then.’ With a tilt of her head, she beckoned Daniel to follow her and Harry down the hall.

‘Harry’s in my old room,’ she said over her shoulder.

‘It’s got French doors leading out to the back courtyard as you can see.’ The three of them squeezed into the small bedroom and Colleen coloured at the poster of a once-popular Irish boy band on the wall.

Harry looked at Colleen and grinned. ‘You didn’t like them, did you?’

‘Hey, they’re Irish. Of course I love them.’

‘Seems the more we find out about Colleen, the more she surprises us!’ Daniel said. The gleam in his eyes made her heart lurch.

‘Can we go look at the puppies now?’ Harry asked. ‘I want to choose the one that’s going to be mine.’

‘Of course we can.’ Anything to get away from Daniel and that breath-stealing look in his eyes. ‘Then we’ll show your dad his room.’

* * *

Daniel looked around the tiny bedroom of the cottage where he’d be staying for the next couple of days. He lay down on the narrow bed. If he stretched his arms out wide he could touch both of the walls simultaneously and if he stretched out to his full height, his feet would touch that wall, too. Come to think of it, it was very like the room he’d had in boarding school. That had been about the same size and was equally sparsely furnished. But this room didn’t fill him with dread as that room had. This room was bright and, with the addition of a vase of wild flowers on the bedside table, more welcoming than most rooms in which he had stayed in the past. The whole house had the same sort of feel. The McCullochs weren’t rich, anyone could see that, but what they might be lacking in wall-to-wall TVs was more than made up for by the warm and friendly atmosphere.

And Colleen was at the centre. Just as she was at the
centre of his and Harry’s life. And he didn’t want her just because he needed her—he wanted her because he couldn’t imagine a life without her. Now she was no longer engaged, it was time for him to find out whether she could love him.

Leaving his unpacking for later, he went to find her.

* * *

Colleen was pushing Harry in his wheelchair towards him.

‘Are you coming to see the puppies, Dad?’ Harry said excitedly. Already his son seemed happier than Daniel had ever seen him. Although he needed time alone with Colleen, it would have to wait for a few minutes. Soon, he hoped, they’d have all the time in the world.

The puppies, who were in a small enclosure in one of the other, unused outhouses, were, as Colleen had guessed, an instant hit. Harry watched in delight as the chocolate Labradors squirmed and wriggled over their mum in an attempt to feed. He was far more delighted with the puppies than any present Daniel had ever given him. Once again, Colleen was right. Harry wanted company and attention, not gifts. How come he hadn’t been able to see that before?

But he knew the answer. He hadn’t known it before because he had needed Colleen to show him what love meant.

‘They’re only small yet,’ Colleen told Harry, ‘so you won’t be able to take one home for another couple of weeks. You can choose one today though, if you like. She reached out for the biggest puppy and placed it in Harry’s lap. What about this one? He has the cutest white socks.’

Harry petted the puppy for a few moments before pointing to the littlest one who was struggling in vain
to shove his brothers and sisters out of the way so he could feed, too. ‘I want that one.’

Colleen looked doubtful. The puppy Harry had pointed to was the runt of the litter and so small it was possible it might not make it.

‘Won’t you prefer one of the others? That little one isn’t doing so well.’

But Harry stuck out his lower lip. ‘That’s why I want him. He’s weak, like me. But he’s going to get better, get stronger, like me.’

‘If that’s the one you want, that’s the one you’re going to have,’ Daniel said firmly. If he and Harry were about to lose Colleen, this was the least he could do to make it up to his son.

Not that he was ready to let Colleen walk out of his life. Not by a long way.

* * *

A short while later, back in the house, Sheila shooed them outside.

‘Why don’t you and Daniel go for a walk, Colleen? Harry will be fine with me.’

Before Colleen could object, Daniel had taken her by the elbow and steered her outside.

‘We’ll be back shortly,’ he said.

‘Where would you like to go?’ Colleen asked when they were outside.

‘Why don’t you show me around? I’ve never been on a working brood farm before.’

‘Okay. If you like. By the way, have you seen Ciaran?’

‘Ciaran?’ Daniel asked with a frown.

‘Yes, Ciaran. The same Ciaran who came to London.’

Daniel stopped abruptly and looked down at her with the strangest expression on his face. ‘I want to ask you something,’ he said.

‘Sure. Although I don’t promise that I can answer it.’

Daniel looked around. ‘Is there anywhere more private?’ he asked. ‘Maybe on the other side of the house? Where no one can overhear us?’

‘There’s a bench down by the lake, but what is it, Daniel? Is there something wrong?’

‘Let’s go down there and then we can talk.’

Was he going to tell her that her services were no longer needed? That Harry was making such good progress that they could manage on their own? The thought filled her with dismay. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them, but the truth was that Daniel only saw her as his son’s nurse. Oh, she’d no doubt Daniel needed her and liked having her around, but one day soon he and Harry would no longer need her. Harry was making so much progress and his relationship with his father was improving day by day. Which was brilliant. Everything she’d hoped for. Why, then, did it feel as if her heart was been slowly ripped into tiny pieces?

She led the way down a slope at the back of the house until they came to a bench built of stones. Her father had made it when he and her mother had first moved to the farm. He’d always said it was the place he came to when he needed to work out a problem. They sat down next to each other and Colleen was acutely conscious of Daniel’s thigh touching hers. She longed to rest her head against him and let the world carry on without them—keep everything the way it was—even for a short while.

‘Okay, shoot. Ask me your question,’ Colleen said, pushing the thought away. She still had a job to do.

‘How many times have you been in love?’

The question took her so much by surprise that she laughed out loud. ‘I can’t see that that is any of your business,’ she said. ‘When I said you could ask me anything,
I thought it was about Harry. My private life is—private.’

‘But you know everything about my private life. Come on, Colleen, we’re friends, aren’t we?’

Friends? Is that what they were? ‘I guess so,’ she said slowly. ‘Still doesn’t mean you can ask me personal questions.’

‘Just humour me, please.’

‘How many times have I been in love? I had a crush on a boy in my class when I was eight that lasted about a year, but I don’t think that counts. Then with Ciaran, I guess.’

‘So how did you know that you were in love?’

Colleen laughed again, but it sounded forced, even to her own ears. ‘Let me get this right. I’m here because you’re looking for some kind of agony aunt. You’ve met someone and don’t know whether it’s the real McCoy, is that it?’

Who? Who had he met? When did he have time to be with a woman? As far as she knew, when he wasn’t working he was with Harry—or her.

‘No. I would know.’

‘And how would you know?’

‘Because being with that person makes me happy. I want to be with her all the time, want to see her smile, want to make her laugh, want to comfort her when she’s down, want to make love to her all the time.’ Something in his tone, as if he found the words difficult to say, made her realise he was deadly serious.

‘The way you felt about Eleanor when you first got together?’ she asked. Envy ate into her soul. It would be something to be loved by Daniel.

‘No, the way I felt about Eleanor was different. I wanted her—I thought she was beautiful. But…there
was something missing. I only realised that for sure when…’ He cleared his throat. ‘I only realised that later.’

Colleen’s heart was racing. ‘I’m not sure where this is going, Daniel.’

He turned so he was facing her. He pushed her hair off her face and, gently cupping his hands on either side of her neck, drew her towards him.

She was frozen to the spot as he brought her lips down on hers, so lightly at first it was almost as if she were imagining it. Then the pressure grew firmer and before she knew what she was doing, her fists were knotting into the front of his shirt as she tugged him closer to her. He groaned and pulled her to her feet, pressing her body into his. She felt as if she were on fire from the tips of her toes to the skin on her scalp. It was as if her body had a mind of its own. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting his kisses to be deeper, moulding her body to the length of his. The world receded as she was sucked into a vortex of desire. His hands dropped to cup her bottom and as he pressed her into him, she felt the unmistakable proof of his desire. She moaned as an answering red-hot flame of desire shot through her pelvis.

She’d never felt like this before. She wanted to rip his clothes from his body, so she could feel his naked skin on hers. She wanted her body to melt into his. She had never wanted anything more in the world.

Suddenly he stopped kissing her and stepped back. She felt bereft and chilled with the sudden loss of his warmth. They were both breathing heavily.

‘Did Ciaran ever kiss you like that?’ Daniel said hoarsely. ‘Did he make you want him so much you can hardly bear it? Did he fill your waking thoughts, your dreams?’

No
, was the answer.
Not ever.
Thoughts clambered around her head. But why was he talking about Ciaran?