Sultry Nights. Annie West
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introduced them. The woman’s name was Esmerelda, and Kate greeted her warmly in Spanish. She could sense Tiarnan looking at her and turned.
‘I forgot that you speak Spanish.’
Kate shrugged and coloured slightly. ‘Enough to get by.’
She had spent a lot of time working in Spain some years previously, and had kept up Spanish classes when she’d returned to the US.
He regarded her for another long moment, and then gestured with an arm for her to precede him. ‘We have some time before lunch is served—let me show you around.’
Kate duly followed Tiarnan through the house, her awe mounting as he revealed a sumptuously formal reception area that led into a dining room which could seat up to twenty people. But just when she was starting to feel too intimidated he drew them away, towards the other side of the house and a much more relaxed area: a comfortable sitting room, complete with overstuffed couches and shelves heaving with books, a widescreen TV, videos and DVDs on the shelves alongside it.
Something in Kate’s chest clenched. This was truly a home. Warm and inviting, with colourful rugs on the exposed stone floor.
At the back of the house Tiarnan revealed an idyllic garden with sunlight glinting off an aquamarine pool set among the bushes. A slice of paradise right in the middle of one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
‘You have a beautiful home, Tiarnan.’
Kate said the words but they felt ineffectual, stilted. How many women had stood here and told him that?
Tiarnan was looking around them. ‘Yes,’ he said, almost absently.
Kate shot him a look but he was already moving, walking back towards the house. With a last lingering look at the stunning peaceful garden, Kate followed.
Tiarnan heard Kate’s soft footfall behind him. Something forceful and inarticulate was rising in his chest. He’d stood outside and showed her his idyllic paradise, and yet for the first time since he’d bought it he was aware of something inherently empty about it. The image of Rosie appearing at the front door came into his mind’s eye. There had been something so lonely about that image too …
He didn’t know what it was that was suddenly making him so introspective. He had Kate here. He had no grand plan where she was concerned, apart from getting her into his bed. When it came to women he found it easy to detach. But right now he was feeling anything but detached. He assured himself that it was just because he knew Kate already—they had a connection. And that was why she was here. He was going to use whatever means necessary to show her that he wanted her, to get her to admit to her own desire …
Lunch was in a smaller, less formal dining room just off the huge kitchen. Esmerelda was bustling back and forth with delicious food and warm smiles, but that didn’t help dissipate the slight tension in the atmosphere. Despite the fact that Tiarnan was being utterly charming and mesmeric in a way that made Kate feel extremely flustered.
Being the focus of his attention, albeit with Rosie there too, was nothing short of overwhelming. The coiled energy in his taut muscular body connected with hers and she felt jumpy. It was a monumental struggle just to try and keep up with the easy enough conversation.
Rosie was largely silent and monosyllabic when Kate tried to talk to her. Kate had realised that the faint underlying tension was between father and daughter, and she guessed it went deeper than Tiarnan had let on. Rosie was picking at her food, and when she asked in a small, ever so polite voice if she could leave the table, Tiarnan said tightly, ‘You’ve barely said two words to Kate.’
Kate directed a quick smile at Rosie and said, ‘I don’t mind. She can go if she wants. I remember how boring it can be, listening to adults.’
Rosie immediately jumped up and ran out, her chair scraping on the ground as she did so, making Kate flinch slightly. Tiarnan made as if to go after her, but Kate caught his arm, jerking her hand away again when she felt the muscles bunch under the thin material of his shirt. ‘Really, it’s fine, Tiarnan. I don’t mind.’
He sat down again and sighed heavily. ‘When we moved here from the outskirts of Madrid I changed her school. It’s not been the easiest of transitions, and I’m currently public enemy number one.’
Kate thought of Stella again—Tiarnan’s ex-wife. She’d never really known why the marriage had ended, and Sorcha had never talked about it either, but then Tiarnan’s marriage break-up and subsequent fatherhood had coincided with a hard time in Sorcha’s life … Kate’s attention had naturally been taken up with her friend. In all honesty she’d used every and any excuse to avoid talking or thinking about Tiarnan. And the fact that she was thinking about his marriage now irritated her intensely.
Just as that thought was highlighting the juxtaposition between how she’d always so carefully protected herself around this man and how much he’d already reeled her in, the door opened and a woman came in—someone Kate hadn’t yet met. She was middle-aged, and her face was white and tense. She looked as if she’d been crying.
Tiarnan stood up. ‘Paloma, this is Kate—an old friend.’
Kate stood and extended her hand. As the woman came in it was extremely obvious that she’d been crying. She shook Kate’s hand and managed a distracted watery smile.
Tiarnan was looking from her to Kate. ‘This is Paloma—Rosie’s nanny.’ Belatedly noticing Paloma’s distress, he said, ‘What is it? Something with Rosie?’
Kate could feel the tension spike, and guessed in an instant that Rosie had probably been giving Paloma a hard time too.
The woman shook her head and fresh tears welled,
‘No, it’s not Rosie, it’s my son. He’s been involved in an accident and he’s been taken to hospital. I’m sorry, Mr Quinn, but I have to go there immediately.’
Kate put her arm around the woman’s shoulders instinctively as Tiarnan quickly reassured her. ‘I’ll have Juan take you. Don’t worry, Paloma, you’ll be taken care of.’
‘Thank you, Mr Quinn. I’m so sorry.’
He waved aside her apology, and with a look to Kate strode out of the room to make arrangements. Kate did her best to help out. They went to Paloma’s room and Kate helped her pack.
A short while later, as they stood on the steps and watched Tiarnan’s chauffeur-driven Mercedes pull away with Paloma in the back, he turned and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I’m sorry, Kate. I invited you for a quiet lunch and it’s been nothing but drama. I didn’t intend for it to be like this.’
Kate looked up into those glittering blue eyes and felt out of her depth. Tiarnan had taken control of the situation and despatched Paloma with an assurance that she must have as much time off as she needed. She’d heard him make a call to the hospital where Paloma’s son was to make sure that he was getting the best of treatment, arranging for him to be moved to a private room. Kate knew that he would personally oversee any payment. His innate goodness and generosity made her feel vulnerable.
She shrugged a slim shoulder. ‘That’s OK. It couldn’t be helped.’
A shadow passed over Tiarnan’s face and he swore softly under his breath. He looked out past her to where the car had disappeared.
‘What is it?’
He looked back to her. ‘I’m due in Dublin this evening, for the AGM of the board of Sorcha’s outreach programme. I promised Sorcha and Romain I’d do it for them while the baby is so small.’
‘Oh …’ Kate would instinctively have asked what she could do to help, but she was due on her flight back to New York herself. She knew how important Sorcha’s outreach youth centre was to her. And while she’d no doubt Romain would jump on a plane to Dublin for an important meeting like this for his wife, she knew Tiarnan wouldn’t want to let them down.
‘Can’t Esmerelda help out?’