“But you have the picture. And probably more at home.”
“Some, but when I look at a picture, she seems like a stranger.”
“What do you remember?”
“Wee bits and pieces. Sleepy eyes. A scrap of a lullaby. Pulling on her hair. Not much. I had a toy train made of wood. It’s still up in Granny’s attic. That train makes me think of her. We must have played with it together.”
“Why didn’t she bring you to America?”
“She wanted to. Granny put her foot down.”
“If she had, we could have been adopted together.”
“Maybe.” Or he might not have made it that far. No point in saying so. “Anyway, let’s contact your mum. It’s time.”
“Fair warning, once we leave this room, the floodgates will open. This family is huge and getting bigger every day. It could be overwhelming.”
“I’ve always envied the ones with big families. Seemed like the craic was always better when you had more relations around.”
“Crack?” Lucky’s eyes widened. “Drugs?”
“Craic.” He spelled it out. “It’s our word for fun.”
“Whew, that’s a relief. I wouldn’t throw that word around unless you have a chance to explain it. Folks will think it’s something completely different.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“So you’re okay with getting inundated with relatives?”
“That I am. It’ll be savage.” As long as he had Sara by his side, he’d be fine. As he crossed the room, she turned, her gaze meeting his. The welcome shining in her green eyes lifted hisheart and made his stomach flutter. He wanted to touch her, hold her, but he had no excuse, unless….
Until this moment, the music on the sound system had provided a comforting touch of home but he hadn’t paid much attention to any of the tunes after commenting onThe Rocky Road to Dublin.
But it just so happened the one playing now was a favorite. He’d danced to it many a time on the worn floor of the neighborhood pub. When he reached Sara, he held out his hand. “Dance with me?”
She laughed. “Sure, why not?”
He spun her into his arms and held on tight. It was the only way she’d be able to follow the crazy mashup of waltz and Irish jig footwork he and his mates had created as young bucks.
She stumbled at first but then she caught his rhythm. And they were off, whirling around the room and stomping their feet while their audience of three clapped along and Sam pranced on the outskirts, tail wagging.
“What’s this song?”
“Galway Girl.” He relished the feel of her body making constant contact with his. Her warmth called to him, making him long for soft sheets and silky skin. His hidden fire smoldered, the embers heating, fanned to life by the music and the woman in his arms.
The fella in the song surrendered to his fiery need for a girl he’d just met and the poor soul lost his heart along the way. A high price, yeah, but when he looked into Sara’s green eyes, he was more than willing to pay it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The sexual energy Kieran brought to the dance left Sara flushed and breathless. If he brought this much passion to a simple dance, then what was she waiting for?
She gulped for air as the song ended. Whatever Rance had in mind, she was ready to hear it. Too bad she hadn’t come to that conclusion earlier, but it had taken this dance to put her over the top.
As their audience whooped and hollered their approval of the fancy footwork, Kieran let her go with obvious reluctance. “Thanks for putting up with that. Probably not your usual style.”
“It was fun.” She almost addedand it turned me on, but honesty wasn’t the best policy while three very interested people were in the room waiting to see what happened next.
For sure it wouldn’t be what she longed for. Lucky and Oksana exchanged a look of amusement as she walked back to the bar. Rance lifted a hand to his ear, pinky finger and thumb extended in thecall megesture.
