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

to tell him the truth about why she hadn’t returned his calls. As much as she wanted to bury it in the past, he’d have to know before they could move forward.
    His eyes were clouded with emotion. “I can live a reasonably contented life without you in it, Jayme, but something’s always missing. It’s like a big gaping wound that never heals.”
    She was shaking with nerves, breathless with anticipation. She leaned into him, smelled the detergent from his shirt. “I was barely going through the motions in New York. I want you back in my life. I don’t know how we’ll swing it, but I want to try.”
    He cupped her chin in his palm. “I booked us a hotel nearby. I didn’t say it before because I didn’t want to put you under any pressure. At the very least, they have a great restaurant if we want to have dinner there.”
    Her breathing labored, she pulled his head toward her and nibbled his earlobe. “The only dinner I’ll be interested in will come via room service.”

Chapter Eight
    THE HOTEL RUAIRÍ had booked was perfect. It reminded Jayme of a manor house in one her favorite Masterpiece Theater series, complete with a four-poster bed.
    But while she would normally be enraptured by the hotel’s architecture and decor, all she was interested in right now was getting Ruairí naked.
    “It’s been so long,” she murmured, burying her face into his chest and inhaling his clean, male scent. “I’ve probably forgotten how to do it.”
    “I doubt that. I haven’t slept with anyone since you, and my body definitely hasn’t forgotten what to do.” He ran his fingers through her hair, then trailed kisses down her neck, making her gasp in anticipation.
    She steeled herself to ask the question that had been nagging her since her arrival in Ballybeg. “Marcella mentioned you were seeing someone named Laura.”
    “We hadn’t gotten as far as our first date, never mind sex.” His lips continued their torturous trail. “When you showed up, I canceled. You’re the woman I want.”
    The coil of tension in her stomach eased. Had he dated someone in the past year, she couldn’t have held it against him, but it was a relief to know he hadn’t. His fingers roamed over her arms. She gasped at his touch, her skin turning electric. He’d always had the power to turn her on, even after the most colossal row. Their sexual connection had been a major part in their relationship. How important hadn’t become clear until the night he’d left and she’d realized how little she knew about the man she’d married.
    He undid the buttons of her shirt and shoved the material off her shoulders to reveal bare skin. When he toyed with her bra strap and teased the skin underneath with his fingertips, her nipples pebbled.
    “Ruairí.” She’d have to tell him before he saw her naked. “There’s something—”
    “Shh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Not a word.”
    In one fluid movement, he undid the clasp of her bra and it fell to the floor.
    Taking a deep breath, she eased her panties down her hips and past the pale pink slash across her abdomen.
    He registered the scar immediately. “What’s this?” His fingers hovered above the start of the neat scar, still tender even after all these months.
    “That’s what I was trying to tell you.” The words tumbled out in a breathless rush.
    “What happened to you?” His eyes searched hers. “This can’t be an appendix scar. It’s on your left side.”
    “No, it wasn’t my appendix.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I had to have a fallopian tube removed.”
    Shock turned his face rigid. “My god.” His hands steadied on her shoulders. “Why?”
    Now for the fun bit, the part she’d been avoiding. “I had an ectopic pregnancy.”
    His face underwent a series of contortions. “You were pregnant?”
    She nodded. She could see the wheels in his mind at work, calculating dates. “When did this happen?”
    “A few weeks after you flew to Ireland. I