‘Why, Ryan, what are you doing, hiding under here?’
He gulped more beer. Hiding from limpet-like women? This was just great—his night was completed now that Maura Connell was by his side. With curiosity he wondered how someone so well spoken could manage to have the same effect on his nerves as fingernails down a blackboard. Somehow he managed to force a smile.
‘Maura, how lovely to see you—and may I say how…’ His eyes glanced down over the expensive trouser suit he thought completely over-the-top for an outdoor barbecue. ‘How very, uh, smart you look.’
Her brown eyes narrowed slightly but she recovered quickly. ‘Why, thank you. You men are just always so flattering with your words. Especially strong, outdoorsy types like yourself. But I guess we women are used to it by now.’
Thanks. ‘That’s very understanding of you.’ He glanced across the dance floor. Were they dancing closer? How’d that happen? Osmosis?
Maura noticed his frown and followed the line of his gaze. She smiled silkily. ‘Well, I see Molly has an eye for the money in town. I didn’t realise she knew Nick.’
Nick. Ryan noted how Maura spoke his name as if she knew him intimately. ‘They’re just dancing. There’s no reason to get jealous.’
‘I’m not the jealous one here, Ryan.’ She linked her arm through his, moving closer to his side. ‘I think we both know where my interests lie, and at least with Molly dancing with Nick the rumour mill can have a rest about you two. And I can take more of a public interest in you myself. I think it’s about time you and I got to know each other better.’
He coughed to clear her strong perfume from the back of his throat, gently removing her arm from his. ‘What little rumour about us two would that be, Maura?’
It was notable how he had managed to evade her proposition. Maura wasn’t best pleased by the snub. ‘Why, half the village thinks you and Molly are sleeping together. Didn’t you know?’
‘What?’
‘Oh, come on, Ryan. It’s a small community, an old-fashioned one at that. What else did you think they were going to say about you two living together?’ She smiled, seeming to forgive him for the recent snub. ‘But we could put paid to that rumour simply enough, you know….’
He couldn’t resist baiting the stupid woman. ‘If it was a rumour we certainly could.’
Maura ran an elegantly manicured hand across her smooth blonde hair, watching Molly and Nick dancing. ‘Well, if it’s not a rumour then Nick will be all the more interested. From what I hear he’s quite the ladies’ man in Dublin, whether they’re spoken for or not. But I’ll understand if you want to pretend you are a couple to engage his interest in your little friend. He’d be quite a catch for her.’
She turned her attention back to Ryan. ‘And once she’s out of the way I’m sure you’ll realise that I’m the most suitable choice for you, Ryan. No one else can advance your placing in this community like I can, and we both know it. We’d make the perfect couple.’ She sighed dramatically. ‘But I won’t wait for ever.’
Ryan watched as she strode away and then raised his eyes heavenwards. ‘I sincerely hope not.’
‘You don’t mind if I steal Molly, do you?’ Ryan tried not to look too pleased as he interrupted the dance.
‘Of course not, Ryan.’
Both men knew he lied, and they each knew that the other knew.
Ryan grinned. ‘Thanks.’
Nick looked at the taller man with chilly eyes which warmed noticeably as he looked back at Molly. ‘I’ll see you later, and maybe we’ll go for that midnight swim.’
She giggled like a schoolgirl. Ryan was forced to look and see where his Molly had gone.
‘I’ll hold you to that, you know.’
Side by side they watched as Nick left the dance floor and was accosted by Maura.
“‘I’ll hold you to that you know.’” Ryan mimicked her in a high-pitched voice before laughing as he swung her into a dance. ‘What was that supposed to be?’
‘You can take a running jump off the nearest pier, Callaghan!’
He thumped one large fist against his broad chest. ‘You wound me deeply, old pal of mine. You’re not honestly going to tell me you like that man?’
‘And why shouldn’t I?’ Green eyes blazed up into familiar dark ones. ‘He’s a charming, handsome, sophisticated, rich man. So naturally I’m going to find him completely gross!’
‘Don’t tell me—that’d be another of those quaint American sayings, wouldn’t it?’
She thumped his shoulder before placing her hand there. ‘You are such an absolute rat. I don’t even know why I like you at all. Can you remind me?’
He leaned down towards her, his voice low and intimate. ‘Because deep down you truly love me and you know it, that’s why.’
Molly shook her head, but her eyes had softened and a smile was teasing the corners of her mouth. ‘Well, if that’s what you want to think, you just keep livin’ the dream.’
They were silent for a moment as the music slowed and hung on the warm evening air. Ryan glanced up at the newly formed curtain of stars above them and sighed. ‘Maura Connell says the man’s a well-known womaniser.’
‘She’s the girl that would know, right enough.’
He smiled down at her. ‘Meow. Seriously, though, wouldn’t you rather know that, one way or another?’
Molly raised one eyebrow and looked him straight in the eye. ‘Maybe he’s changed. Maybe he’s moved to the country to get away from that reputation and meet someone genuine. Has that occurred to you inside that overprotective head of yours?’
If any thought occurred to him it was only the irritating one that recognised that Molly might genuinely have an interest in Mr Smarmy. Another thought swiftly followed. He, Ryan Callaghan, didn’t like that idea one little bit. But then, that was only because—as Molly rightly pointed out—he was her protector. It was his job. Yeah, that was it.
‘There’s one way to find out for sure.’
Green eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, yeah, and what might that be?’
‘Maura reckons he’ll be all the more interested in you if he thinks you’re involved with someone else.’ He couldn’t look her in the eye. ‘And apparently half the town already thinks you’re involved with someone else, so that could be why he approached you in the first place.’
Molly noticed that he couldn’t meet her gaze, and she knew she wasn’t going to like where the conversation was headed. ‘Who do they think I’m involved with?’
Ryan cleared his throat and found his eyes focused on her mouth for some unknown reason. ‘Me.’
She burst out laughing. ‘You’re kidding? That’s utterly ridiculous. You and me? As if!’
‘Well, that’s what comes of sharing a house with one of the town’s most eligible men.’ He raised his chin indignantly, his dark eyes sparking with barely hidden irritation. ‘Not everyone looks at me and sees some elder brother figure, all safe and reliable.’
‘Safe and reliable—oh, yeah, that’s how I see you right enough.’ She was still laughing.
Ryan’s anger rose. ‘Well, maybe if you just took the time to notice you’d see that I’m actually not that damn bad!’
Her eyes widened at the hard edge to his voice. He was, what, angry that she thought the idea of her being attracted to him