Wild Irish Rebel (4 page)

Chapter Eight

morgan found herself
laughing freely with a local who had wandered into the gallery later that day. Her early morning session with Baird had done something to loosen some of the constant tension that she carried around with her. It was almost like she could step a little lighter and not take things so seriously.

"You're a lovely girl, now where is it you come from again?" A softly rounded woman with smiling blue eyes leaned casually on the counter. Instead of brushing off the question, Morgan took a deep breath and smiled into the woman's friendly eyes.

"By way of Killarney," she said easily, not bothering to expand.

"Ah, lovely town. What brings you to Grace's Cove?"

Morgan thought about how to answer that as she wrapped up the prints that the woman was sending to her niece in the States.

"Well, just look at it here. It's hard not to fall in love with this town," Morgan said, hoping that the woman accepted her answer.

Her smiled widened and she nodded at Morgan. "Quite right, you are. Well, we're happy to have you. You've certainly done a wonderful job with the gallery. You should come to the pub more, we'd love to see you out."

Morgan made a noncommittal noise while silently congratulating herself on carrying on a successful conversation with a local. It wasn't so hard after all. Though she knew from experience that deeper questions always followed. For now, she was happy to make a connection and hoped that it would improve her reputation around town. It was obvious that people were curious about her past and when they couldn't uncover details, the rumor mill typically started working.

"See you at the pub tonight?"

"I'll try my best," Morgan said with a wave and blew out a breath of air as the door closed after her inquisitive customer.

"Okay, back to business," Morgan murmured and went to the computer to check the gallery's online orders. "Wow," Morgan said as she scanned the list. Checking her inventory sheet, she immediately updated any listings that would need to be backordered so as not to upset any customers and then moved to her prints file.

Pulling out the first one, she smiled at the picture of the cove where both the setting sun and the moon rising could be seen together. It was one of their most popular prints and Morgan knew that Keelin had the original over the mantle in her home. She carefully slid the print into the custom-sized envelope and then wrapped a twine strand around it in a bow, pressing a small dried flower to the middle along with the card of the gallery. She added a handwritten thank you on the back of the card. It was a small touch that Morgan added and she smiled down at it, knowing that their clients would appreciate the extra personal touch.

Humming to herself, she continued to work her way through the list and jumped when the tinkle of the little bell over the door surprised her from her reverie.

"Patrick!"

She was surprised by how excited she was to see him. Typically seeing Patrick just made her nervous but something had shifted for her the other day. Not to mention Baird's comment about being patient with herself to help her to relieve a little of the pressure.

"Hi, Morgan. I was just leaving the coffee shop and thought that I would bring you a tea."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at the takeaway cup he held in his hand. A t-shirt with Gallagher's Pub emblazoned across it hugged his muscular chest and his hair looked like the wind had tousled it a bit. It shouldn't have been as sexy as it was, and yet… Morgan felt a little tug low in her belly.

"That's quite kind of you. Something that friends do for each other, is it?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

A raspy laugh fell from his lips and she found herself smiling at Patrick as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure and can't I bring a friend a cup of tea?" he asked, returning her raised eyebrow with one of his own.

"You can," Morgan said, backing down. She reached out to grab the tea from him and gasped as little shivers of sensation slipped up her arm when her hand brushed across his.

"Too hot?" Patrick said, his voice heavy with meaning.

Morgan found herself staring into his eyes, her mind drawing a complete blank, as warmth filled her. She licked her suddenly dry lips and tried to think of something to say.

"Dear God, Morgan, if you keep licking your lips and looking at me with those big eyes, I'm going to take you upstairs and show you something really hot."

Morgan felt the blood rush from her face and a trickle of panic fill her. Right along with a wave of lust that slammed into her gut. Maybe going upstairs wouldn't be a bad idea after all.

Patrick's mouth dropped open.

"You're actually considering it," he said and moved in quickly, putting the tea on the counter behind her and caging her in with his arms. Morgan gulped as she felt the press of the hard counter into her back, and the hard length of Patrick on her front.

"I…I," she stuttered, unable to look away from his face.

"I'm going to kiss you again," Patrick said, warning her in advance.

Morgan could only nod. It was what she secretly wanted. She'd replayed the kiss from the other night several times, each time making her feel warm and lovely inside. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't want another taste. Praying that everything in the shop didn't go flying off the walls, Morgan closed her eyes as Patrick's lips brushed softly over hers.

The taste of him was sweet, mixed with something darker, a promise to be remembered, a wish to be given. Morgan moaned slightly as she pressed into Patrick, running her hands up his hard chest, allowing him to slip his tongue between her lips. A wave of lust washed through her, so dizzying in its promise that she stumbled against him. Patrick wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer until she melded to every inch of him.

"Whoops," Aislinn said softly from behind them and Morgan jumped back, tears immediately pricking her eyes, anger and embarrassment slamming into her. Needing an outlet, she turned on Patrick.

"You shouldn't have done this at my work," Morgan seethed at Patrick, and Patrick raised his hands, backing up a step.

"Hey, Morgan, it's fine," Aislinn said immediately, reading Morgan's feelings.

Morgan swiped at her eyes angrily and turned to Aislinn.

"No, it's not. You've put your trust in me and I violated that by allowing this to happen here. I'm so sorry, Aislinn." Her lips trembled as she looked at her employer.

"It's not like I found you stealing from the cash register, Morgan. Trust me, I've done way worse here. Hey, Patrick," Aislinn said, giving Patrick an easy smile, turning her head between the two.

"Aislinn," Patrick said stiffly, his eyes on Morgan.

Morgan turned to him, not meeting his eyes. Why couldn't he see that this was a big deal?

"Please leave, and don't put my job in jeopardy again," Morgan said stiffly. She couldn't meet his eyes, knowing that she was hurting him, but unable to back down. She could read it all over Patrick, from the emotions he was projecting to taking a dip into his brain where he struggled to understand how someone so warm had gone so cold.

"Morgan, that's unnecessary. This isn't a high-level government job. Ease up on the guy, would ya?" Aislinn ordered and Morgan felt shame creep through her.

"I'm sorry, it's just that this job is really important to me," Morgan said softly.

"And I've said you won't be losing it, haven't I?" Aislinn said sternly.

Morgan nodded and finally faced Patrick.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"No problem," Patrick said. "I hope you enjoy the tea." With a brisk nod for Aislinn, he made his way from the store, embarrassment wrapped tightly around him. Morgan wanted to cry even more.

"Hey, are you okay? What was that all about?" Aislinn moved forward and ran her hand down Morgan's arm. Morgan stifled her impulse to drop her head onto Aislinn's shoulder and lean in for a hug.

"I just, I don't know. I didn't expect him to be here, okay? He surprised me with a cup of tea. We were supposed to just be friends," Morgan said, anger making her words come out in staccato jerks.

"Okay…"Aislinn said, her eyes tracking across Morgan's face.

"And, he just, he kissed me. Here, at my work. And my boss walked in. That's just…that's
bad
. If I lose this job and have to start over…I'd lose my apartment." Morgan's hands flew around her face as she punctuated each point, her breath coming fast, and panic winding its way around her lungs. She tried to calm herself down, knowing that paintings could start levitating any minute. "I need to step outside," she said and pushed past Aislinn to the back door.

Outside, the afternoon sun filtered through a low cloud cover, casting a warm glow across the cozy courtyard. Morgan leaned against the back wall of the gallery, feeling the warmth from the stones seep into her back.

"You didn't have to leave," Aislinn said from the door.

"I was afraid paintings could go flying," Morgan said, her eyes closed as she counted to a twenty in her head and let the warmth of the sun seep into her.

"Ah, okay."

"Which is another reason that I shouldn't have let him kiss me in there. Anything could have happened to the paintings," Morgan said, keeping her eyes closed.

"How so?"

"It appears that I'm unable to control that particular ability of mine when I am being kissed," Morgan said stiffly. The sun really did feel good and was doing wonders to soothe her.

"And you know this how?" Aislinn asked, knowing full well Morgan's history and her lack of kissing partners in the past.

"Patrick kissed me the other night. And my pint levitated and dumped all over my lap," Morgan said morosely, rubbing her hands up her arms.

A snort from Aislinn popped Morgan's eyes open and she turned to glare at her boss.

Aislinn slapped her hand over her mouth, but the riot of curls shaking around her head gave away her laughter. Morgan narrowed her eyes at her boss.

"You think this is funny?"

"Oh, God, yes. I'm so sorry, but yes, I do," Aislinn wheezed, another undignified snort coming from her pretty nose.

Morgan found herself relaxing. There was something about Aislinn's laughter that whispered of Morgan taking herself too seriously. She said as much to Aislinn.

"Oh, Morgan, I know that our abilities are a huge deal. Truly, I get it. But, sometimes you just have to laugh at the awkward moments," Aislinn said. She came to lean against the wall next to Morgan, a smile still on her face.

"It was my first kiss," Morgan said stiffly.

"I know, I know. And, I know how you feel about it since your incident in the past," Aislinn said.

The incident she spoke of was something that Morgan didn't care to remember. It had happened at the last foster home she'd been staying in. Things had actually been going along quite well and Morgan thought that she would be able to stay there until she finished school and maybe went on to university. Unfortunately, she'd developed a desperate crush on their oldest son, a year older than her at school. He must have discovered her diary because one day he had snuck her outside of school. Morgan rolled her eyes as she thought about how stupid she'd been. Here she'd thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, as soon as she'd closed her eyes, he'd pulled her skirt down in front of a yard full of other kids. It was stupid and immature, but the other kids' jeers and taunting had left a mark on her. Morgan had packed up her bag and left that night, hitting the road. It was the final straw in a life full of insults. She'd made it on her own ever since.

"You know then why this job is so important to me," Morgan said.

"I know. But you can't always live like you are on the edge. Just because everyone in your past was awful to you, doesn’t mean that everyone in your future will be."

"I like it here. I want to stay," Morgan whispered.

"We want you to stay. Trust me, you're doing a fantastic job. A kiss from Patrick at the store is not going to ruin that for you," Aislinn said and squeezed her arm. "Now, let's get back in there and finish those orders."

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan said, feeling lighter. She stopped at the back door and looked up at Aislinn in the back hallway.

"I owe him an apology, don't I?"

"He's a good guy," Aislinn said softly before going into the gallery. Morgan's shoulders slumped as she thought about how she would apologize to Patrick. She hated emotional stuff, which is why she strayed away from relationships. Feelings get hurt, things get sticky. Best to keep it to the friends path, then. Satisfied with her decision, Morgan pushed Patrick from her mind and went to work.

Chapter Nine

Sure, and it hadn't
been that big of a deal, had it? Patrick wiped down the bar again, grumbling as he worked at a particularly sticky patch. It wasn't like Aislinn was going to fire the best thing that had happened to the gallery. Patrick shot a stormy glare at a regular who requested another pint.

"I'll get to it when I get to it," he said stiffly and then cursed himself as the regular's smile fell from his face.

"I've got you," Cait called and Patrick felt his back go up as his 8-months-pregnant boss eased under the pass-through of the bar and began to build a pint for the regular, chatting easily about the weather all the while. Cait shot Patrick a glare and Patrick returned it with his own.

"I'll be in the stockroom," he said, slipping past her and ducking under the pass-through. It was still early enough in the day that she could handle the few customers that ranged along the worn wood bar. Patrick would take his temper out with some manual labor.

An hour later, he surveyed his work. Not only had he unloaded all of the new inventory, but he'd reorganized the entire set of liquor shelves by type of liquor, and then in alphabetical order in their sections. With a nod, he turned to leave and jumped to see his pregnant boss standing in the doorway, her arms folded across her impressive belly.

"You work your mad off yet?" Cait asked, shooting him a glare.

"I'm fine," Patrick said, meeting her gaze.

Cait sighed and rubbed her belly, and Patrick immediately felt guilty for leaving her to tend bar.

"Let's get you off your feet. I'm sorry," Patrick said.

Cait waved him away.

"I'm fine. Though I'm happy with the organizing you've done in here, I've rarely seen you so upset. What gives?"

Patrick folded his arms across his chest and debated how much to tell Cait. Though he knew she could read his mind, he wasn't sure how much of his situation he should tell her or how embarrassed Morgan would be if she knew that he was repeating stuff back to Cait.

Cait sighed. "I know it's about Morgan. I'll hear it one way or the other, so you might as well tell me."

"I stopped by the gallery today to bring her a tea. I kissed her. Aislinn walked in. Morgan freaked out at me for putting her job in jeopardy. I left. End of story." Patrick bit out the words as he clenched his fists, furious at himself for not sticking to the "just friends" agreement.

"Oh, well then," Cait said.

"I mean…like Aislinn would fire her. Come on," Patrick scoffed and paced the small room. He was beginning to wonder why he was even mooning after this girl. At this rate, it would take him years to get close to her.

"No, I don't suppose that Aislinn would at that," Cait agreed. "Just…be gentle with her, okay? She's not like your regular girls."

Patrick rounded on her.

"So everyone keeps saying and yet nobody will really tell me what's so different about her," Patrick seethed.

"She had a rough upbringing. You know this. It has to come from her, not us. Now either you decide to be patient with her and stick it out, or get over her, move on, and get the heck out of my storeroom," Cait ordered and turned, slamming the door, leaving him alone in the storeroom.

Patrick threw up his hands. "I've had it with moody women today," he shouted through the door.

"I heard that!" Cait called to him and Patrick winced.