“Well, of course you did, Faith dear,” Elsa said, pleased, before turning to Kieran. “She’s had the attention of quite a few young bucks, I daresay,” she said, obviously for Kieran’s benefit. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. Elsa Campbell was enjoying herself immensely.
“Did she now?” he murmured. The look in his eyes still held a hint of amusement, but there was something else there, too. Something dark and carnal that made Faith go all liquidy inside.
“Everyone has been very nice,” she said demurely. His look darkened further, sending delicious little shivers up and down the base of her spine. Surely Kieran wasn’t jealous? That thought – as pleasing as it was – was crazy. What could he ever have to be jealous of? The man was masculine perfection personified. And a hell of a good guy to be using his Saturday afternoon to come all the way out here to rescue her. Best she play along, lest she blow the chance he was giving her.
“But I’m afraid we did have other plans for this evening, Mrs. Campbell. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, my dear, not at all.” Elsa was nearly giddy with excitement. Kieran flashed her a devastating grin and winked, making the older woman blush like a school girl.
“Let’s grab Matt and we can be on our way.” Kieran placed his hand possessively on the small of Faith’s back (it was a nice touch, she thought), and led her over to where the younger crowd had congregated. Fifteen minutes later, they were back at Faith’s cottage.
“I can’t thank you enough,” Faith said, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
“Well, actually, maybe you can,” Kieran hedged, looking adorably boyish yet again.
Faith raised her eyebrow in a silent question. No doubt she owed him big time for the save, but how could she possibly help him? Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long to find out.
“There are supposed to be some meteor showers tonight,” he said slowly. “I was hoping to take the boat out on the lake to watch, but it’s a lot easier with two people, easy as sin with three, and everyone else is busy...”
––––––––
It had been spectacular. There was no other way to describe it. The “boat” was actually a 60-foot custom built houseboat privately docked at the lake in nearby Birch Falls, complete with an open-sky deck for viewing. Kieran maneuvered the craft expertly, anchoring at a secluded area far on the uninhabited side of the lake.
At twilight, they sat in the windowed cabin and ate a sumptuous meal out of the fully-stocked picnic baskets Kieran had provided (and filled by Lexi with Celtic Goddess fare). When it got dark, they laid upon the deck and watched the meteor showers.
It was then that Faith first realized that despite her best efforts, she was desperately, hopelessly in love with Kieran Callaghan.
“When you rescue someone, you really go all out,” she observed quietly, as she and Kieran sat on her front porch later. Over the course of the evening, it began to dawn on her exactly what he had done. He had gone to great lengths to make it look as though they were together. “Why did you do it?”
Instead of answering, he posed a question of his own. “Does it bother you?”
Did it? No. Except maybe to the extent that she wished it were true. “No,” she answered honestly. “But it doesn’t seem fair to you.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
She looked at her hands folded neatly in her lap. Words didn’t come easy to her, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t come up with any that would accurately convey her thoughts without making it sound as though she had a tremendous inferiority complex.
Faith O’Connell was a realist, however, and any way she looked at it, Kieran was well beyond her reach as anything but a friend. While she could see how a perceived romantic relationship between them would elevate her in the eyes of others and keep unwanted male attention at bay, she couldn’t see how it benefitted Kieran, beyond the fact that it might have kept some unwanted female attention away from him. It certainly hadn’t won any brownie points with his family; the night at the fair had driven that point home rather painfully.
With nothing to say, she simply shrugged.
*
Kieran cursed softly under his breath. She still didn’t get it. How could he explain it to her without scaring her away?
“I like being with you, Faith,” he told her finally. “I don’t feel like I have to be anything more than myself when I’m around you.” And you are the other half of my soul.
She sighed, a soft, almost sad sound. A sound that had Kieran clenching his hands at his sides so he wouldn’t scoop her into his arms and show her exactly what she meant to him.
“I like being with you, too,” she said quietly. “And for the record, I think you’re a pretty great guy when you’re just being you.”
Kieran was slightly appeased. At least she’d admitted that much. It was a start.
“Thank you. For rescuing me and taking us out on the lake.”