“Uh-huh.” I could hear the smirk in her voice. “Youkeep telling yourself that. But I’ve known you long enough to know when a woman’s gotten under your skin. This red-headed pub owner—she’s something else, isn’t she?”
Amara had been a close friend for over two years now. I knew her husband, Lucas, well enough—we got along fine—but it was Amara and I who had clicked instantly. It just went to show that friendship wasn’t about how long you’d known someone but who they were. I told her the truth—at least when I knew it myself—and sometimes, she was the one who helped me find it.
“She’s absolutely beautiful. Stunning.”
“Go on,” she urged.
“She’s smart and tough as hell. And she’s got this way of looking at you that makes you feel like she’s seeing every damn thing you’re trying to hide.”
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s fuckin’ sexy without even tryin’. All luscious body and big heart. Those curls in her hair…the whole package is just…wow!”
“Jax Caldwell is speechless! I never thought I’d see the day.” She was obviously enjoying this immensely. “It’s not a bad thing, you know, Jax, to fall for someone.”
“We’re very different people, coming from very different worlds,” I warned.
“You and Dani came from the same world, and how did that work out?” she challenged.
“You’re right.” I shifted to get comfortable on the bed. “We haven’t even, you know?—”
“Don’t you use the F word,” she admonished. “How come?”
“She’s not ready,” I told her about her sister, Cillian O’Farrell, and the resort development project.
“She’s carrying a lot on her shoulders,” Amara remarked. “You should help however you can.”
“She’s prickly as hell.”
“So? Lucas says that begging for forgivenesslateris better than asking for permission.”
“And how does that work out for Lucas?”
Amara laughed softly. “I’m married to himandsix months pregnant. How do you think it’s worked out for him?’
The road to true love never did run smooth, and it hadn’t for Lucas and Amara, but they’d gotten there, and there was a lesson in that: easy didn’t mean a successful relationship.
“I’ve fallen for her,” I admitted. “She’s been through so much, and she’s still standing. Still fighting for her family, for her village, for everything she believes in.”
“That sounds like admiration. And maybe a little bit of something else?”
I knew what she was saying without having to say it.
She wondered if I’d fallen in love.
I didn’t know.
Could you fall in love in four weeks? Was that enough time to act on your feelings? Or was this just infatuation, and once we fu…made love, it would fade?
“Maybe.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. “She’s lost almost everyone she’s ever cared about. I just…I don’t know if she’ll let anyone in. If she’ll letmein. I don’t know if we have a chance to even find out what that something else I feel for her is.”
Amara was quiet for a moment, her tone softer when she spoke again. “She sounds like someone worth fighting for. And if anyone can break through those walls of hers, it’s you. You’ve got Southern charm in spades, remember?”
“You think?”
“Absolutely,” Amara replied with confidence.
Before ending the call, we talked about friends we had in common and her pregnancy.
