12
Moira
After a sleepless nightdreaming about a future with a certain tempting Irishman, who had stolen her heart, Moira was tired, but in a good mood. She looked forward to going home and meeting Aidan again. She admitted to herself he had become a welcomed fixture in her life. Her kids adored him. She likedhim.
Okay, she more than liked him, but she wasn’t ready to use the dreaded L word yet. She settled for the F wordinstead.
She was fond ofAidan.
Throwing the sponge in the sink, she scoffed.Who am Ikidding?
She would (L)ove to (F)uck his brainsout.
There. She had used both the L and the real F word in the same sentence and hadn’t burst into flames. They still didn’t describe everything she felt for Aidan, but that was as far as she wouldgo.
Fornow.
Glancing at the clock on the opposite wall, she frowned, but resisted the urge to panic. She still had plenty of time. If Tristan got to Chez Nous in the next thirty minutes, she would have plenty oftime.
Officially, he wasn’tlate.
Right?
Moira stared at Ana’s scribble for the fifth time. She had no idea what her friend had written on the order slip. When Ana approached the counter, Moira showed her the paper. “What did table seventeen order? I can’t make out yourhandwriting.”
“Yeah, right.” Ana dismissedher.
“What the heck? I’m not joking. What did you writehere?”
Ana knitted her eyebrows. “Shit. You’re serious. You didn’t recognizeCaipirinha? Let’s pretend the bartender doesn’t know Brazil’s internationally famous drink,right?”
“I’ll never hear the end of itnow.”
“You won’t. Your head must be in the clouds, worse than I thought, for you to make that mistake.Spill.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She pretended to get ingredients from the fridge behind her to hide her face fromAna.
It didn’twork.
“I see! Your head isn’t in the clouds, after all. But your mind is in the gutter. Oh, I like that.” Ana swept her eyes around her, then leaned over the counter to whisper. “Horny Moira is a welcomed change. Good for you,lovely.”
“Would you drop it?” She shoved the pestle against the wedges of lime, crushing them and clicking the metal tool against the glass walls of thecarafe.
“Ordinarily, I would not. I don’t want you shattering this thing and cutting yourself, so I will dropit.”
“Thank you,” shegrowled.
“Fornow.
As she rolled her eyes, the clock came into view, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Tristan was almostlate.
“Can we talk about it now?” Ana asked, when Moira finished crushing the lime and added sugar to themix.
“You will not let go of it, so I might as well talk. Lately, it’s been hard keeping things platonic withAidan.”
Ana’s jaw dropped. It would be cute if it were not comical. “You mean to say you kept things platonic up to now?Wow!”
Moira had the perfect retort to get Ana off her case. “Not much different from you and a certain NoahCartwright.”
