Page 144 of Beneath the Quiet

“You’re different from the woman I met only a few months ago.”

My belly dips. “Is that bad?”

He shakes his head, tenderness settling in his gaze. “Far from it. You’re more confident now. More settled, I think.”

I curl my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. “I feel much better than when I first arrived. More…sure of what I want now, I suppose.”

“Did I have something to do with it?”

I chuckle and shake my head. “Not to break your heart, but no, you didn’t.”

He huffs out a laugh and moves his hand to clutch at his chest. “Fuck, that’s brutal.”

“Sorry, honey, but I finally feel that I’m putting down roots in Cloonmara. That I’m embracing a quieter lifestyle and enjoying slowing down. I love being with you and Katie, and meeting up with Roísin for a coffee and chat. I even enjoy my job even though the days can be achingly slow. I’ve been thinking about something, though…maybe I can help out at the farm a couple of days in the week? It’ll make my days go faster, but I also really want to learn all the things there is to your life, and that includes your legacy, so…”

My voice trails off, lost in the way his eyes coast across mine. There’s a brightness to them that I can’t remember seeing before. He slides his thumb along my jaw down to the hollow of my throat in a caress so gentle and sweet that my knees buckle. If it weren’t for his other arm around my back, holding me tight to his chest, I’d fall to a heap on the floor.

“Say that again,” he whispers.

“What? All of it?”

“Love what you said about my farm, sweetheart, and fucking thrilled you want to share your days with me, but no. You said a word that I desperately want you to say to me again.”

I run back what I’ve just said, stopping at the only word I can think of that would elicit such an intense reaction from him.

“Honey…,” I breathe.

He hums and lowers his head to take my lips, his mouth moving hungrily on mine while he holds me firmly in place. My lips move with his, and I forget we’re in public. I lean into his embrace, letting him take control, and as the tiny flutters in my belly grow to a swarm of butterflies, I become increasingly impatient. His tongue sweeps inside, holding me captive, the warm tug below my belly growing hotter the longer he plunders my mouth. I hold on for my life.

“Hey, slow it down, lovebirds!”

Slowly, the laughter behind me pushes through the haze of lust, and my eyes flicker open again. Aidan kisses me one, two, three times more, and then reluctantly pulls away.

“Fuck it. I wish we were alone right now.”

“Me too.”

“I didn’t even know I needed to hear you say that.”

A thrill runs through me at the sound of that, delighted that he feels that way. “It’s not too much?”

“Nothing you give me will ever be too much, sweetheart.”

That earns another shiver, but I don’t get the chance to comment on it because my phone starts ringing. I sigh and smile in apology as I answer it.

“Maeve. It’s me, Nellie.”

“Nellie? Are you okay?”

“Yes, well, no. Not really.”

I stiffen my spine. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t be alarmed. Nothing’s wrong with me, but Dot told me that Joe phoned her again, asking to know where you live.”

I rub a hand over my head. “Did she tell him anything?”

“She told me she didn’t.”