She shrugged and sipped her tea. For a moment, she could have sworn his eyes flashed, but it was probably just a trick of the light. Thankfully, he didn’t dwell on the subject.
“Their daughter, Riley, is a spitfire just like her mom, and their son, Rory already has Jake’s scowl,” he grinned. “Then there’s Mick – Michael. He’s a doctor, but his real skill lies in biochemistry. He’s a genius. He’s married to Maggie, and they’ve got the farm that grows all the organic produce for the Goddess. They’ve got one little guy, Ryan, and another on the way.”
Faith nodded. She’d liked Maggie instantly, though she had a harder time recalling which one was Michael. They all looked very much alike, really.
“Ian – you’ve met him, too. He’s the one who offered to hook up a security system for you.”
Faith nodded past the look he gave her, the one that let her know he was still not pleased with her outright refusal to consider home security. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t need one; that was the kind of thing you got when you had something worth stealing. A good old-fashioned baseball bat took care of the rest. She and Matt each had one within reach of their beds.
“He’s married to Lex. Lex was my best friend in high school.”
Ah, yes, she knew Lexi Callaghan, remembering the day that Lexi had called her up to her office. Thankfully, she hadn’t done it since. The other women in Housekeeping Services shot curious glances her way for a week afterward. She hadn’t mentioned that visit to Kieran, and wondered if Lexi had. Somehow she thought not.
“Lexi is the master chef at the Goddess.”
“One and the same.” The pride in his voice unmistakable. “Of course, we knew she was destined for greatness when she started baking us chocolate chip cookies after school.”
“I thought she was from Georgia.”
Kieran shook his head. “No. She moved away in high school, but she grew up right here in Pine Ridge.”
Judging by the clouds that momentarily rolled through his eyes, Faith guessed there was more of a story there somewhere, but Kieran didn’t elaborate. She still had trouble picturing the down-to-earth, blue jean clad woman she’d met as the genius behind the Celtic Goddess cuisine. It was another reminder of how out of his league she was.
“Anyway, they’ve got two little ones - Patrick and baby Kate. Patrick started Kindergarten in the Fall – he’s the oldest of the nieces and nephews and loves having Laci as his teacher. There’s Shane – you know him, of course. And Sean, he and Shane are twins. Sean runs the garage in town. He’s married to Nicki.”
“Matt was quite taken with Nicki,” Faith said, remembering the way her son’s eyes had gone huge at her jet black hair and super-pale eyes. For as beautiful as she was, the woman held a distinctly mysterious, dangerous air.
“Yeah. I imagine most boys are,” he chuckled.
“And you’re the baby.” Faith smiled.
“Guilty. And you already know everything interesting there is to know about me.”
Faith didn’t believe that for a moment. She suspected Kieran Callaghan was a man who could keep her interest indefinitely. Then she shut those thoughts down right away before she started daydreaming the impossible again.
“Your turn,” Kieran said. “I showed you mine, now you show me yours,” he said with a wicked grin.
“If I had what you do, I’d want to show it off too,” she teased, surprised at her own boldness.
“You are beautiful, Faith.” The depth of emotion in his voice stirred something inside, but he didn’t allow her to dwell on it. “Enough stalling. I have ways of making you talk, you know.”
The deep, suggestive tone of his voice made her body grow warm, and it had nothing to do with her lingering low-grade fever. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Not a chance. I want to know you, Faith.”
“You do know me,” she murmured, knowing it was a lie. He only saw what she allowed him to see. With each passing day it became increasingly difficult to convince herself that she could be happy this way, being nothing more than a friend to him. But even then, he deserved to know the truth. It had to come out eventually, and it was better that he find out now, before she lost any more of her heart to him.
Faith blew out a breath. The time had come to be honest with Kieran, at least a little. He had earned that much. He looked at her with so much intensity in those beautiful blue eyes. And each time he did, it made her feel more and more like a fraud.
“What do you want to know?” she asked resignedly.
His eyes widened slightly as if he was expecting more resistance. “Let’s start simply. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yes.”
Kieran waited expectantly for her to expound on that, but she didn’t. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”
Her brows furrowed. It had been so long since she’d spoken of her family to anyone, it took a moment to gather her thoughts. “I have three brothers and two sisters.”