Read Online Love and Blarney by Zara Keane - Free Book Online

did.”
Back like the proverbial bad penny.
    “Why didn’t your mother leave him?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t think she knows either. It wasn’t done in her generation, and she had so many kids. By the time Sharon graduated school, Ma was sick.”
    “I don’t ever want to feel I’m living my life for someone else, not even for my children.”
    “Neither do I. But you’re not Ma. You’re well educated and independent. You’re not reliant on anyone.”
    Ruairí drummed the steering wheel. Was that part of their problem? Did he feel she was so self-contained that he was afraid to admit his own insecurities to her, to lay his soul bare, warts and all? Or was he just thinking of piss-poor excuses for not having tracked her down months ago and forced her to listen to him?
    They passed the rest of the journey with small talk and historical vignettes. There was little traffic, and made they good time. Shortly before ten, he pulled into the car park at Blarney Castle.
    Jayme, spying the castle in the distance, was in raptures. “Look at its little turrets. Aren’t they darling?”
    He regarded the castle’s facade critically. “You’ll be glad of those flat shoes by the end of today. If I recall correctly, the castle itself is around a ten-minute walk from the entrance, and it takes a couple of hours to walk around the grounds.”
    She slipped her hand into his. The heat from her small hand sent shock waves of awareness through his veins. He’d missed this. He’d missed her. And unless he got his act together and told her how he felt, he’d be missing her permanently. “Come on,” he said, tugging her forward. “Let’s go exploring.”

    Blarney Castle surpassed Jayme’s expectations. As Ruairí had said, there wasn’t much left of the interior, but the keep and the outer walls were still intact.
    They’d ascended to the top of the castle. To reach the Blarney Stone, one had to lean backwards over the parapet. According to Jayme’s guidebook, many people had died trying to kiss the stone before metal railings were fitted to break any potential falls.
    Ruairí was staring at the stone with an expression of terror written across his face. “I’m not leaning back over that… precipice… and kissing a filthy stone.”
    “Come on, honey,” she teased. “Just one little kiss.”
    “If I do this, it’s because I’m insane or insanely in love,” he muttered underneath his breath.
    Jayme’s heart skipped a beat. “I’m kind of hoping it’s the latter.”
    His warm brown eyes met hers. “You know how I feel about you.”
    “Do I?” Their shared look lingered. She took a deep breath. “We need to talk. About us. About our future.”
    “I know we do. I’ve brought a picnic basket for our lunch, but why don’t we go to a restaurant for dinner? We can enjoy our day, then talk in peace over a meal.”
    “Sounds good.” The moment of tension passed. “But you’re not getting out of kissing that stone.”
    He groaned. “You’re relentless.”
    She grinned at him. “Tell you what. You kiss the stone now, and later, I’ll kiss you. Deal?”
    Sexual awareness flared in his dark eyes. His gaze trailed down her body, then back to her face. The corners of his mouth twitched. “You drive a hard bargain Dr. King.”
    When he leaned back, his shirt inched upward, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of rock hard abs. Her pulse quickened. His lips touched the stone for the briefest second, before he pulled himself back into a sitting position. “Ugh. That was gross.”
    “Chicken,” she said, laughing. “Your lips barely touched it.”
    He shuddered. “The barest contact was sufficient to confirm my suspicion that the stone is disease-ridden.”
    He stood, yanking his shirt back into place. A shame. She’d missed seeing that taut stomach.
    “Want to explore the grounds?” He extended his arm, and she slipped her hand back into his.
    “Sure,” she said. “I want to see that dolmen you