First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“Oh.” She bit her lip. She would be gone by then, but there was no need to bring that up now. The last thing she needed was for them all to gang up on her at once. She just didn’t have the strength.

Lexi wandered around the house again while she waited for the others. They seemed to understand her desire to be alone, but she also knew she was always within sight of one of them. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be the focus of so much attention, so much worry. It was comforting, in a way, yet somewhat suffocating.

And what was Ian doing there? Kieran mentioned something about a security system, and Ian was the resident genius when it came to electronics. It was hard to concentrate, knowing he was there, in the next room or just down the hallway. Despite herself, she sought him out, always hoping to catch him in her peripheral vision, or to turn suddenly and find him there, watching her. But she’d only managed occasional glimpses of him now and then.

Still, she felt his presence keenly. And as the afternoon went on, the weight of the tension between them increased. The pressure in the air around her grew heavier until it felt like a huge storm was bearing down on them. Thankfully, no one else seemed to be aware of it.

Escaping outdoors had its own perils as well, even though it seemed like such a good idea at the time. The yard was overgrown; the path around the once lovingly-tended gardens was now little more than a haphazard collection of barely-visible, disjointed stones.

Lexi meandered around the area, fondly recalling the beauty she had seen there so long ago. Her eyes widened in excitement when she saw the huge clump of black raspberries near the far end of the yard. It had been ages, but she remembered how sweet they tasted right off the bush.

“LEXI!” Kieran’s roar was so loud and so unexpected she yelped in surprise and stumbled, her shirt catching on the thorns. Within seconds she felt herself being hauled backward forcibly out into the open while Kieran frantically disentangled her from the brambles.

“Are you crazy?” Kieran hissed, searching her arms and legs for cuts.

The others were moving quickly, brought forth by Kieran’s yell. Not surprisingly, Ian was the first to reach them. Lexi saw the question burning in his intense blue eyes and felt her cheeks grow scarlet in embarrassment.

“Let me go,” she demanded, slapping at Kieran’s arms until he released her. Feeling more humiliated than ever, she shot Kieran a look fierce enough to make him take a step back, then stormed away.

“What was that all about?” she heard Ian ask behind her. Please don’t tell him, Lexi silently begged.

“Nothing that concerns you,” Kieran barked in response. “Just stay away from her, Ian.”

Thank God for Taryn. After witnessing the end of the little drama, she stepped up and offered to take Lexi back to the Pub for a little girl time.

Lexi liked Taryn; she really did. She felt an instant kinship with Jake’s new bride, and that in itself was an unexpected bonus. Lexi rarely felt connected to anyone, but the few she did were a small group, and almost exclusively male. To find a woman she genuinely liked and felt semi-comfortable around was beyond rare. As a matter of fact, she would be hard-pressed to come up with another example. The fact that Taryn had rescued her without asking any questions only reinforced her initial opinion.

The afternoon took a definite upturn as they picked up some groceries and went back to the Pub kitchens. Taryn was bold and wickedly funny, her irreverence for the world around her refreshingly pleasant.

“You and Jake,” Lexi commented, as she sliced the veggies, her hands moving fast and accurately, cutting the ingredients into perfect, consistent pieces. “You guys are the real thing.”

Taryn pounded the steak into paper-thin strips like Lexi had shown her. “What do you mean?”

“Soul mates,” Lexi said, scooping the veggies into a frying pan, splashing it with extra virgin olive oil before turning to the piles of fresh herbs. She did so effortlessly, her hands working independently of everything else, without having to think about it. “I mean, the way you look at each other. It’s like the stuff they write about, you know? When Jake looks at you, it’s like you’re the center of his whole world.”

“You mean like how Ian looks at you?”

The knife hit the cutting board hard, the sound discordant with the perfect rhythm she’d had going. Lexi cursed, immediately wrapping a towel around her hand.

“Oh, Jesus, I’m sorry,” Taryn exclaimed, her eyes going wide.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lexi said, keeping her voice calm. “Got any super glue around here?”

Taryn looked confused. “Super glue?” She glanced down at Lexi’s hand, where blood was already soaking through the towel at an alarming rate. “Oh, shit ... yeah, hang on.”