Keira felt her cheeks burn. “I have a boyfriend,” she said. Maybe she imagined it, but out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Shane flinch. “Zach. He works in computers.”
“You’re happy with this man?” William asked.
“Yes, very,” Keira replied, trotting out the old party line.
William didn’t look convinced. He tapped the book that Keira had set down on the desk. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m an expert in love and I can see it in people’s eyes. I’m not so certain this man is right for you.”
Keira knew he wasn’t trying to be rude, but his skepticism touched a nerve, especially with her and Zach arguing so much at the moment. But William was also journalism gold and she wanted as much out of him as possible.
“Not right for me in what way?” she pressed.
“He doesn’t support you in the ways you need. You’re no longer growing together, no longer following the same path.”
Keira felt chills all over. This was far too close to the bone.
“You’re a fortune teller as well as a matchmaker?” she quipped. “You hiding a bunch of tarot cards under there?”
William let out a belly laugh. “Oh no, nothing like that. But I have developed an intuition over the years. There was no sparkle in your eyes when you said his name. No lilt in your voice.”
“I think that’s just my cynical New Yorker personality,” Keira said.
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s because you don’t really love him.”
Keira pondered that statement. She and Zach rarely exchanged the L word. In fact, she couldn’t even recall when they last had.
“I don’t think love always has to come into these things,” she said.
“But why waste your time with someone you don’t love when you could be out looking for The One?”
Keira folded her arms. “Because maybe there isn’t a ‘One.’”
“You don’t believe in The One?” William pressed.
Keira shook her head. “Nope.”
This admission seemed to excite William. “We have a naysayer,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “Which means it’s our challenge to change your mind. Shane, lad?” He gestured for the tour guide to come over, which he did. Once he was standing beside him, William slung an arm across his shoulders. “You’ve been promoted,” he joked. “You’re no longer just to guide this young woman through the festival, you’re to guide her towards true love. I fear it may be a tall order!”
Keira shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. But despite her discomfort at being the center of the strange meeting, she knew she’d collected some excellent material for her article, thanks to the doddering old man and his antiquated opinions on relationships. Elliot was going to love this. And writing it, for Keira, would be somewhat therapeutic.
She just had to get through her first day with Shane and then she’d be able to purge herself of all this silliness by typing.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I don’t know how long this trip we’re going on is supposed to be,” Keira said as she got into the passenger side of Shane’s car and fiddled with her seat belt. “But I need a coffee ASAP. And if you could get me back with a few hours to spare before the festival kicks off that would be great. I need to get in some solid writing hours.” She finally got buckled in. “So, where are we going?”
When she received no response from Shane she looked over to see him wearing his characteristic amused expression. She folded her arms. “What?”
He gave her a shrug. “Well, it’s hardly the weather for sunglasses, that’s all I was thinking.”
Keira pushed her sunglasses resolutely against her nose. “There might be early morning glare,” she replied, cringing at the haughtiness she heard in her voice. “And anyway, you’re hardly one to judge someone else’s attire. Did you even use a mirror to dress this morning?”
Shane tipped his head back and laughed with abandon. Keira felt her lips twitch with satisfaction, then checked herself. She’d just allowed herself to take one step closer toward flirting with him, which definitely was not part of the ain’t nothing wrong with looking philosophy!
“I thought I would take you somewhere nearby to start off with,” Shane told her as he accelerated onto the main street. “So I’ve chosen the Burren, which is only a twenty-minute drive. It’s a national park. You heard of it?”
Keira shook her head. “I can’t wait,” she said as a mental picture formulated in her mind of a beautiful Irish scene.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Shane smirk. When they pulled up in the parking lot of the Burren twenty minutes later she realized why. There wasn’t a blade of grass in sight! The Burren was made of bleak, gray rock.
She turned to Shane, frowning. “Is this a prank? I thought you said it was a national park.”
Shane started laughing. “It is! One and a half thousand hectares of protected land, consisting almost entirely of limestone.”
Keira let out a sigh of exasperation. “So of all the places you could have taken me to show off the majesty of Ireland, you chose this.”
“I picked up on some snooty vibes back at William’s place,” Shane said, raising a combative eyebrow. “I figured this would be the best place to take you to get you off your high horse. Ireland isn’t some fantasy land filled with leprechauns, though there are some parts that play up the stereotypes for the sake of the tourists. But if you dig a little bit beneath the surface we’re a country with real heart, real romance. We have a rich and interesting history, if you let yourself give us a chance.”
Keira folded her arms. Everything he’d said about her was right, of course, but she wasn’t about to admit that. “I’m not snooty,” was all she said.
Shane just shrugged. “Come on, this way. The view from the top of the hill is incredible.”
Keira followed. “I don’t really have the appropriate footwear for a hike,” she complained.
“Don’t worry, I won’t take us on the three-hour mountain trek, although it’s breathtaking and a shame to miss out on.” He gave her a withering look. “Think you can handle a half hour loop? It’ll take us through meadows and some amazing woodland.”
“Yes, I think I can I manage thirty minutes,” Keira muttered.
“I meant without killing me,” Shane laughed.
He seemed to enjoy winding Keira up.
“I feel like we’ve gotten off to a bad start,” Keira said as she tried to keep up with his brisk pace. She wasn’t used to hilly walks. “Have I said something to insult you?”
At first, Shane ignored the question. Instead, he pointed to a wooden stake in the ground with several colorful arrows on it. “We’re following the orange trail, okay?”
Keira nodded. They continued ascending the gray hillside. The landscape was so barren Keira felt as if she were walking on the surface of the moon. The craggy craters on either side of her added further to the illusion. When she saw a tuft of grass – somehow growing through a crack in the rock – it gave her a bit of a shock to think that grass could grow on the moon. She had to remind herself that this place was actually on Earth.
“Well?” Keira pressed. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“About whether we got off on the wrong foot or not?” Shane said. Then he chewed his bottom lip in contemplation. “Why does it matter?”
“Because we have thirty days to spend together so we may as well get along.”
Shane fell silent again. Keira couldn’t help