Kitabı oku: «The Bridal Bet»

CHAPTER ONE

‘YES, I am still standing at the bottom of the ladder, and yes, I am looking straight up your dress.’

Ryan grinned and tried valiantly to avert his gaze. It wasn’t easy. Molly O’Brien had great legs; he had never argued with that. In all his years as her nemesis, friend and elder brother figure he had never once been blind to her good points or her bad. The moment he glanced upwards he was awarded an eyeful of two of those good points….

‘Callaghan, the moment I get down from here, you die.’

‘Are you threatening to fall on me? ’Cos I should warn you, your wee body falling on me isn’t likely to kill me outright. Now, if you were to be up a few feet more you might knock me out, but from where you are the best you’re likely to do is bruise me a little.’

Molly laughed out loud, despite her best efforts not to. ‘A good bruising would do you no harm, buster!’

‘That’s right, treat me rough, Moll. I can take it.’ An obliging breeze lifted the edge of her dress and Ryan was forced to swallow hard as his eyes caught a glimpse of white lace. He felt an irritating warm flush cross his cheeks. ‘Haven’t you got that stupid creature yet?’

She stretched her fingers out an extra inch and was rewarded with the touch of soft fur. ‘Good kitty, come to Mammy…ha!’ She pulled him towards her chest. ‘Gotcha. Next time you climb on the porch, Houdini, you can darn well get down on your own, and then I won’t have to have that lump down there look where he shouldn’t—you hear me?’

Ryan held the ladder patiently until she hit terra firma. Then he grinned a lop-sided grin at her. ‘I could hear that, y’know.’

Molly tilted her head to look up at him. ‘Mmm, you were supposed to. How anyone over six foot two can possibly have vertigo stuns me. If you were any sort of a gentleman you would have gone up there to rescue Houdini yourself instead of sending me up there!’

‘I hate heights—you know I hate heights. And I still maintain if you didn’t keep rescuing that stupid beast every time he gets stuck then he would soon learn how to get out of these messes on his own.’

She stuck her tongue out at him, then laughed. ‘You always bring out my mature side. It’s one of your less endearing qualities.’

Ryan bent down until his nose almost touched hers, his breath fanning her face. ‘Molly, all my qualities are endearing. You just haven’t noticed that yet.’

‘You wish!’

After lifting the ladder down he stored it away beneath the porch, before following her inside the house they had been sharing for almost six months. As pretty much his best friend, Molly had been Ryan’s sparring partner for as long as he had known her, and he had to admit it was fun spending time with her again. Almost like being kids again—well, almost.

Turning a pine stool around to sit astride at the breakfast bar, he watched as Molly moved around the kitchen. She was the same Molly he had known for nearly fifteen years, and yet since she’d come home from the States she was different somehow. Lately he’d found himself watching her, trying to see what it was.

With her back to him as she filled the kettle with water, she felt the hair prickling on the back of her neck and smiled softly. ‘You’re staring again, Callaghan.’

‘Who, me?’

‘Yeah, you.’

‘You know, you’ve really got to stop this ego trip. Thinking I have nothing better to do with my time than stand and stare at you.’

Turning the kettle on, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. ‘Sit and stare, you mean.’

She moved to lean her back against the counter top, folding her arms across her chest before awarding him one of her patented ‘don’t kid me’ glares. ‘And it’s not the first time this week. What’s up?’

Ryan plastered his best innocent look across his face and blinked at her with dark eyes. ‘What do you mean, what’s up? There’s nothing up. Am I not allowed to look at you now?’ Green eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched his little act. ‘You are such a bad liar, Callaghan. Come on, spill it….’

‘Spill it? Ah now that would be one of those quaint American sayings of yours, would it? I make that about the twentieth one you’ve used this week.’

‘Don’t change the subject.’

‘I’m not. I’m just saying, that’s all. How long do you think it’ll take to make you Irish again after spending six years going all Yank on us?’

Molly unfolded her arms and slowly moved across the room to face him over the breakfast bar. ‘I have always been Irish and I will always be Irish, you great rat, and you know it!’

He leaned towards her. ‘Now, Molly O’Brien, did you just go calling me a rat again?’ His dark eyebrows raised in question as his eyes shone at her. ‘Because you know that would be the third time today you’ve done that, and that would mean you owe me.’

Her eyes widened and then closed as she shook her head. He had been teasing her about her new accent and her Americanised ways ever since her return. He knew how riled she got at the taunts. ‘I don’t believe you. You tricked me into losing a bet and now you’re going to gloat, aren’t you?’

If her eyes had opened a second sooner she’d have seen him smile affectionately at her. As it was, he looked cool and calm when she looked into his eyes. ‘What’s the payment, rat face?’

‘Ah now, I’ll need to think about that for a while.’ He stood up and replaced the stool before walking towards the doorway. ‘There’s no point in rushing these things—takes all the fun clean out of them. I’ll tell you later at the dance.’

‘We’re gonna have to pre-set these, you know.’

He stopped at the door, grinning over his shoulder. ‘Now, where would be the sense in that? I’ve got to keep you on your toes somehow.’

Molly lifted an available tea towel and threw it in his direction. ‘Go away and do Park Ranger things before I’m forced to do something I’ll regret, Callaghan.’

His deep laughter forced an answering grin from her. ‘There you go, making promises you can’t keep again. One of these days I think I might just stick around and see what that thing you might regret might be…’.

‘That’ll be the day.’

Ryan lived to be outdoors. In all the time Molly had known him he’d been his happiest under an open sky. Being Head Park Ranger and running the daily operations of a large forest park was the ideal job for him and Molly knew it. She smiled at him across the crowd at the summer barbecue and dance held for the residents of the local village of Boyle, wondering how the villagers managed to take him seriously.

At that precise moment two businessmen and their wives—though it had to be said probably more so the wives—stood enthralled as he spoke. He was a well-respected member of the small community, and yet they never seemed to see the clownish side of him that Molly knew so well. She wondered how they’d react if they knew about the wicked sense of humour he possessed, and the rare talent he had for torturing his friends.

Taking a sip of warm red wine, she smiled up at the wide expanse of darkened blue sky. She breathed deeply. It was good to be home again. Nowhere else filled her soul with the same peace she felt in Ireland. Then she turned her attention to the crowd. It was a hobby of hers, people-watching.

The local community had grown considerably since she had been away, and there were more than a few faces she didn’t know in the crowd. A sign of the times, she guessed, with a new bypass making it easier for people to commute to the larger towns for work. But the surroundings hadn’t changed at all since the summers she had spent running wildly through the park’s many acres and swimming in the often chilly waters of its lough.

As she turned to look across the dark waters a voice sounded close beside her.

‘Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met?’

Molly had long since ceased to believe in the tingling sensation described in romance novels when a woman heard a stranger’s voice for the first time. But all of a sudden she understood it now. The man’s voice was deep and undeniably sexy. Intriguing, even.

Turning, she found herself looking up at the brightest of blue eyes. The handsome tanned face was one she didn’t recognise.

She smiled, unconsciously brushing her auburn hair behind her ear. ‘No, I think I’d probably have remembered meeting you.’

The fair-headed man smiled. ‘That’s exactly the reason I knew I hadn’t met you.’ He extended a large hand towards her. ‘I’m Nick—Nick Scallon. I just moved into the house over by Doon Cottages.’

‘Aha, that’d make you the property tycoon guy we’ve all heard so much gossip about for the last few months. You’re running the holiday cottages now, then, I take it?’ She shook his hand and was embarrassed to find he held onto her smaller hand for a moment longer than he needed to. ‘You’re the main topic of conversation in the supermarket, you know.’

‘I’ll just bet I am.’ He looked down at her hand in his. Seeming to remember he needed to let go of it, he allowed it to slip from his hold. ‘And you would be?’

Impressed was nearly her answer, but she managed to replace it with another. ‘Molly O’Brien. I, uh, live over at Ryan Callaghan’s.’

‘Oh.’

She nearly fell over herself to correct his assumption. ‘We’re friends—I mean, I’ve known Ryan all my life—like a brother kind of a thing—I mean, we’re not actually…’

Nick smiled as she blushed. ‘Well, that’s all right, then. He’ll not kill me if I ask you to dance will he?’

Molly realised what an idiot she’d just made of herself and cringed inwardly. ‘No, no. He’ll not mind at all.’

Ryan was walking towards the refreshment table when they first caught his attention. He very nearly broke his neck with the speed of his own double-take. She hadn’t even mentioned she’d met Nick Scallon, let alone knew him well enough to be drooling all over the man’s shoes.

Selecting a bottle of beer from the table, he moved around the makeshift flooring until he found a tree to lean against.

God, could he hold onto her any tighter? How could she breathe? Ryan had seen Molly with other men before—well, maybe not that many men. It had been before she’d gone to the States, and she’d been younger then, so he supposed they had been—well, younger men. But he couldn’t remember ever having been irritated by it. In a gut-wrenching, testosterone-induced kind of a way, anyway. What was with that?

After all she was Molly—just Molly. Molly, who he tortured on a regular basis, even though he should be mature enough to know better. It wasn’t his business to be irritated by who she did or didn’t dance with. It was just that…

He took a long swig of his beer before deciding that it was just that he’d got used to having her to himself again. At least since she’d come home. Yeah, that was it. If she started going out with Nick ‘Mr Smarmy’ Scallon then he wouldn’t see as much of her, and he guessed he’d miss that. But then, he’d be seeing less of her when her house was finished and she moved out, so that was no big deal, right? Maybe it was just that massive sense of protectiveness he’d always felt towards her. That and the sudden dislike he had for Mr Smarmy. A very sudden dislike, in fact.

Nick said something that had Molly laughing and Ryan was slightly more irritated. He swigged down more amber liquid.

‘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 was ridiculous? No, that just couldn’t be. No way. Not her Ryan. Not her ‘safe and reliable’ Ryan. She blinked at him.

He glared down at her.

Molly smiled, attempting to ease the sudden tension between them. ‘Poor baby.’

Ryan’s eyes softened the smallest amount, so small an amount that someone who didn’t know him as well as Molly did would never have noticed it. But notice it she did, and almost sighed with relief. ‘Look, Callaghan, Nick Scallon seems like a perfectly nice guy. I don’t see what you have against him.’

‘I have plenty against him if he’s chasing after you for some short-lived affair.’

Molly frowned up at him. ‘You don’t know that!’

‘How do you know he’s not?’

She shook her head. ‘You’re being really stupid about this.’

Ryan smiled sarcastically. ‘You wanna bet?’ ‘Ryan, quit it.’

‘No. C’mon Molly.’ He squeezed his arm tighter against her waist, drawing her body closer to his. ‘If you’re so convinced that he’s such a nice guy then you should stand by your convictions.’

She allowed her body to move in time with the music, matching the gentle sway of his hips. ‘And how exactly do I do that, then?’

Ryan’s smile was slow, and a challenge was lighting up in the back of his eyes. ‘By proving me wrong. Go out with me, pretend we’re an item for a few months, and we’ll see just how nice a guy Mr Nick Scallon is. If he continues chasing you then you’ll know exactly what his intentions are.’

The air was forced out of her lungs. ‘You’re off your trolley!’ She glared at Ryan in amazement as he pulled her off the dance floor towards the walkway at the loughside.

He knew the warning signs of an impending O’Brien explosion and decided the further away she was from the general population, the less the fallout would be. ‘It’s not like you to go chicken on me, O’Brien.’

‘Chicken?’

‘Yeah, chicken.’ He stopped and stared down at her. ‘If you don’t think you can handle the fact that I’m right, as usual, then say so.’

Snatching her arm away from him, she marched to the darker end of the walkway. Once there she turned to face him so quickly that he almost crashed into her. ‘You’ve had some absolute whoppers of ideas in your time, but this one definitely gets the award.’

He folded his arms across his broad chest and waited.

‘I mean, you and me—a couple? Who’s gonna believe that?’

He sighed. ‘Molly—’

‘And to suggest that we’d ever be able to fool anyone—I mean, there are days we have difficulty just getting on well enough to still like each other as friends!’ She started pacing in front of him.

He sighed again. ‘If you’d just—’

‘We’d have to be able to look at each other without sniggering every two minutes. And as for the kissing thing—’ She stopped pacing long enough to waggle a finger at him. ‘You do realise if we were actually dating we’d be expected to kiss and—well, other stuff like that….’

There was a deadly silence as they stared at each other in shock. Ryan swallowed hard. ‘I know that—’

She recommenced the pacing. ‘It’s the most ridiculous suggestion you’ve ever made, Callaghan, and you should know that, for crying out loud!’

‘O’Brien—’

She stopped again and looked up into his eyes. ‘I mean, honestly, what makes you think for one second we could fool anyone?’

Ryan frowned at her. ‘Methinks the girl protests too much.’

‘And just what does that mean?’

‘Maybe you’re too frightened to kiss me.’

Her eyes widened, fire glinting in their depths. ‘Me? Frightened, of you? What in hell is there for me to be frightened of?’

He stepped closer, his body almost touching hers. Towering over her smaller frame until any dim light was almost obscured, he leaned down towards her. ‘Maybe you might just like kissing me.’

‘You wanna bet?’

‘Well, actually, yes, I do.’ His gaze was steady. ‘I thought we’d established that fact.’

Her mouth gaped. ‘I don’t believe this. As if I’d like kissing you, of all people! Like as in enjoy? Like as in, participate—’

He did the only reasonable thing he could think of to shut her up. He hauled her body to his and kissed her.

At first Molly couldn’t believe what he was doing. This was Ryan Callaghan. The Ryan she had known for half her life. The Ryan who, along with her soulmate Kieran, had managed to alternately torture, humour and protect her most of the way through her late teens. They’d been the three musketeers back then—almost invincible. She had thought she knew Ryan better than anyone else on the planet. It should have felt like kissing a brother. Somehow it didn’t.

It felt—well, it felt nowhere near as awful as it could have been. In fact, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. In fact…

This just couldn’t be right.

Ryan couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing. He was actually kissing Molly! Hello—earth calling Ryan. What was he doing? Then he forgot for a moment as he felt her mouth soften against his. Good Lord, he was kissing Molly. And, hell, but it felt good. Too good. He moved his mouth over hers, felt her small sigh against his lips. She was so warm, and sweet-tasting, and soft, and—

‘Oops, sorry Mr Callaghan.’ There was a childish giggle. ‘We didn’t see you there.’

They pulled away from each other, both staring at the two Collins children who had materialised by their side. Ryan found his voice first. Well, he assumed it was his voice. The sound certainly seemed to come out of his mouth, so it pretty much had to be his. ‘That’s okay, kids. Don’t worry about it.’

The children looked backwards and forwards at the two adults, giggling again. The fair-haired girl waved at Molly before turning back into the darkness with her brother.

‘See.’ Her voice was the loudest of stage whispers. ‘Mammy said they were goin’ together. Let’s go tell her she’s right.’

Her brother’s voice got louder as they moved further away. ‘I’m telling her first!’

The echo of running footsteps bounced across the still water of the lough. ‘No, you’re not! I am!’

Ryan stared into the darkness as if he could still see them while Molly stared at his broad back. ‘Callaghan—’

‘Well, I guess that takes care of the kissing bit. They seemed fairly convinced.’ He turned to look at her. ‘Don’t you think?’

‘Oh, you—you’ll just do anything to prove a point, won’t you?’ The burst of laughter sounded false, even to her own ears. For the first time in a very long time she felt awkward in his company. Unable to look him in the eye. ‘But surely you can see this is a really dumb-ass idea?’

With only a moment’s hesitation he reached down to frame her face with his large hands, forcing her to look at him. ‘Protest noted. But, hey, come on, O’Brien.’ He smiled a lop-sided smile at her, the one women always seemed to find endearing. ‘It’ll be hilarious. And we’ve already started the jungle telegraph talking. Since when have you ever chickened out of one of our bets?’ He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Unless you’re prepared to admit I’m right about Scallon.’

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, suddenly afraid that he might try to convince her some more, Molly moved back, out of his hold. She had never turned down one of Ryan’s bets. Never allowed him the upper hand in their long relationship. And she wasn’t about to start now.

She liked Nick Scallon, for crying out loud. He was the most attractive man she’d met in a good while. And she could think of nothing more rewarding than proving Ryan wrong about him. So if that meant she’d have to play charades for a few weeks then she could manage that. Really, she could. Piece of cake. And Ryan’s forfeit would be hell…

Raising her chin to look at him, she smiled calmly. ‘Okay, Callaghan, you’re on. Let’s just hope—’ she moved close to him to brush an imaginary speck of dirt from his shirt ‘—you can take the heat.’

Ryan stared at her, his throat suddenly dry. What had he started? From past history he just knew that his payback would be a nightmare. Molly would make sure of that.

He grinned. Bring it on.