Jake caught up with her in two long strides. “I don’t want you going out alone.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Jake muttered something beneath his breath. “Damn you, Maggie, you’ve got a knack for getting your way.”
“Do I?”
“Leave your door unlocked. And get out of those clothes. I’ll be up in five minutes.”
“But Jake...“ Her eyes widened, all innocence.
“Don’t push your luck,” he said gruffly, but there was amusement in his expression and when his gaze swept down her body, she couldn’t mistake the warmth.
“I love you, Jake,” she said softly, and then she was gone.
Ellie spent her days in Dublin working with Rose and Jubilee, sightseeing with Flex, or shopping for woolens and crystal with Prissy or Maggie. Shep took her to see the Radio Telefis Eirean Symphony Orchestra in the National Concert Hall. He was still a little battered, his face still bruised and slightly swollen, but his attitude was back to normal.
He grinned as he looked up at the old women on stage of the Concert Hall. “How can such wrinkled faces make such beautiful music? Those old girls look like they’re already half dead and the other half is leaving right after the show.”
Ellie laughed. “Not all of them are that old. Look at the boy playing the cello. He can’t be more than nineteen.”
Shep’s gaze scanned the singers. “Ah, yes, delicious. You’re right, my dear, if one looks hard enough, one can always find a light in the darkness.”
Along with Flex, Prissy, Gerry, and several other grooms, she made a trip to the singing pub, the Brazen Head on Bridge St. The lovely Irish ballads turned her a little melancholy, but overall, it was a memorable evening.
As the week slid past, Ellie kept her days and nights so full she had little time to think of Clay. Still, she wondered what he was doing withhisdays and nights. She hated him, she told herself for the ten thousandth time. He was a bastard. It was easier to think of him with anger than the love she had once believed she’d felt for him.
It was just infatuation, she told herself.
Friday night, they all went out to dinner. There’d been no more incidents with the team, and her worry was beginning to fade. Then, just as the meal was ending, Clay walked in. Ellie saw him striding through the door and suddenly couldn’t swallow another bite of food.
“Hello, everyone,” he said, his tone even.
“Hello, Clay.” Prissy cast him a warm smile.
“I don’t want to interrupt your dinner. Gerry Winslow told me where to find you. I just dropped by to extend an invitation. My father has taken a place in the country for the weekend. He’s having a few friends over, and he’d like to invite you all to come. The house is quite large, so there’s plenty of room.” He glanced at Jake and then at Prissy. Both of them smiled at him.
Shep fairly beamed. “Personally, I could do with a little bit of hobnobbing. You haven’t lived until you’ve been a guest of Avery Whitfield.”
Flex looked uncertain. Ellie knew he was battling his conscience, trying to decide whether, for the sake of the team, to end his feud with Clay.
“I’d like that,” he finally said, and Clay looked relieved.
“How about the rest of you?” Clay asked.
“I think it would be good for all of us,” Jake said.
Ellie could see he was determined to pull the team together before the competitions in Seoul.I’m not about to join your little party,she thought, lifting her chin.
“I’d love to see the Irish countryside,” Prissy said.
“So would I,” Maggie agreed.
“Ellie?” Jake asked with a pointed glance that warned her to say yes.
She looked at Clay. His expression had tightened. He seemed to be looking at a spot somewhere above her head.Bastard,she thought.I won’t let you win. “I’d like nothing better,” she said.
Clay just nodded. “The limousines will be here tomorrow at noon. They’ll bring you back Monday morning.”
