Keelin slipped her sandals off but kept her dress on. They wouldn't go far. She opened the door and let an ecstatic Ronan race out into the darkness.
"Hey, come back here. Shit." Keelin scrambled for the flashlight by the door and walked out into the fields. As she moved away from the house, the darkness felt overpowering. The house glowed against the hills, and the half moon offered a little light. She could barely see Ronan as he bounded through the fields away from the house.
"Hey, Ronan! Get back here." She half-laughed as she chased him over the ridge and stopped short.
Ronan ran in circles around Flynn's dog. She patiently licked the puppy's face as he jumped on her.
Flynn stood behind his dog, a lantern in his hand. The flames shot warm light across his face, but his eyes were in darkness. She swore they stared into her soul. Liquid heat slipped low in her belly. He didn't even have to touch her to get a response, Keelin thought, as she remembered how Shane's kiss evoked no response in her.
"Have a nice dinner, Keelin?" Flynn's words were like silk against her skin.
"Um, yes. I just learned that the restaurant we ate at is yours. Dinner was lovely." Keelin wanted to ask him why he hadn't told her that he owned restaurants. Probably because half of the time they weren't talking, she reminded herself.
Flynn walked towards her, bent down, and put the lantern on the ground. It cast a low circle of light around them. Keelin's breath slowed. Flynn moved forward until he was inches away from her. An arc of energy zipped between them and Keelin's skin felt sensitized. Her breaths came out in shallow puffs as she looked up at him.
"Do you like Shane? Do you like another man's lips on yours? Is this what you do in Boston?" Flynn said tersely.
He was angry. Keelin could feel it radiating off him. She gulped and looked at his chest and then dragged her eyes upwards, over his heavenly mouth, and into those devastatingly blue eyes. Her lips suddenly dry, she licked them before answering.
"I, no. I don't. I'm not like that. I told Shane it was just as friends."
"Do you let all your friends kiss you like that, Keelin?" Flynn's voice was accusatory.
Keelin lost it. She smacked him lightly in the chest and he stumbled back a foot, surprised.
"Hey, it's not like you are showing up at my door and asking me to dinner. I have every right to do what I want. So stop with this, whatever this is," she fumed at him.
"Damn, you are the most infuriating woman." Flynn grabbed her and crushed his lips to hers. She kicked him in the shin and he swore, backing up a step.
"Hands off." Keelin's words mocked her body, which screamed "Hands on!" She wanted to run her tongue all over him and have him make her scream. Focus, she thought. Focus. Shane had taught her one thing tonight. This was a small town and gossips were everywhere. If she let Flynn kiss her all over the hills, somehow someone would see and her reputation in town would be ruined. She hadn't even had time to make friends yet, and she was far from wanting to be labeled as the easy girl in town who let two different men kiss her in a night.
"Listen up, buddy, I'm not that kind of girl. You think you can just get everything you want for free? Well you can't."
Her mind screamed at her, "Liar, liar, pants on fire." She wanted to rip her sundress off and dance naked in the moonlight with him. There was something so pagan about the lantern light, the moon, and the waves crashing. Oh yeah, she could all but feel it.
Flynn ran his hands through his hair and then cocked them on his hips, staring her down.
"I can see your nipples through your dress. You want me."
"Stop it. Don't talk to me like that. If you want to be with me then you can take me on a date," Keelin fumed at him.
"So it's a date you want, Miss Keelin? Then it's a date you'll get, but I'll be getting a down payment on that first."
Flynn reached out and wound his hand through her hair. He gently tugged until she stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Her breasts brushed his muscled chest, and Keelin caught her breath. Flynn tugged her hair down until she was forced to look up at him. Flynn leaned down and laid a whisper of a kiss on her lips. Once, twice, a third time, gently kissing her, his hand holding her hair, not touching her elsewhere. Her hands hung suspended at her sides, her body locked to his, as he softly teased her with his mouth. She moaned. He smiled and stepped back. Keelin stumbled a bit.
Flynn steadied her and said, "Clear your evening this Saturday. It's a full moon. I'll take you on my boat." He whistled for his dog and, picking up his lantern, walked into the night.
Keelin shouted after him, "Oh, sure. Yes, I'd love to. Thanks for asking so nicely!" She could hear his chuckle float over the dark air.
Cursing him, and her clearly wanton ways, she picked the whimpering Ronan up and headed back to the cottage.
CHAPTER 14
The phone startled Keelin and she shot up in bed. The gray light of dawn touched the windows. Keelin reached for her cell phone before she realized it was the house phone. She jerked up and whipped the covers off of the bed, and rushed out into the main room. Fiona was nowhere to be seen. Keelin fumbled with the receiver as Ronan ran excitedly after her, nipping at her heels.
"Ronan, stop! Hello?" Keelin tucked her hair behind her ear and blinked the fuzzies out of her eyes after another angsty night of x-rated dreams featuring Flynn, with a surprise appearance by Shane. She was turning into a wanton. Or something. This town was making her nuts.
"Keelin, it's Fiona."
