“You’ve had some absolute whoppers of ideas in your time, but this one definitely gets the award.”

He folded his arms across his broad chest and waited.

“I mean, you and me—a couple? Who’s gonna believe that?”

He sighed. “Molly—”

“And to suggest that we’d ever be able to fool anyone—I mean, there are days we have difficulty just getting on well enough to still like each other as friends!” She started pacing in front of him.

He sighed again. “If you’d just—”

“We’d have to be able to look at each other without sniggering every two minutes. And as for the kissing thing—” She stopped pacing long enough to waggle a finger at him. “You do realize if we were actually dating we’d be expected to kiss and—well, other stuff like that….”

There was a deadly silence as they stared at each other in shock. Ryan swallowed hard. “I know that—”

Trish Wylie resides in the lakeland border county of Fermanagh in the north of Ireland. She splits her not-long-enough days between five horses, three dogs, writing and her fiancé, in roughly that order. (Though writing only comes third because the first two can’t feed themselves.) She started writing in primary school, about imaginary people who lived on an island sponge in the middle of the bathtub, and has wanted to write for Harlequin® since she read her first romance novel in her early teens. She first tried writing romance when she was about seventeen, but realized that it might be an idea to fall in love and have her heart broken a few times before she attempted writing about it.

Always a little in love with her heroes, Trish prefers that, as in real life, they have a sense of humor. She likes to believe that these men are just around the corner!

Harlequin® is thrilled to bring you Trish Wylie’s first book for Harlequin Romance®. We’re sure you’ll enjoy her lyrical voice and warm, passionate characters. In The Bridal Bet you’ll meet Molly O’Brien and Ryan Callaghan, two friends with a lot of past…and an unexpected future!

The Bridal Bet
Trish Wylie

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For all the old “Lisburn Crowd.”

We turned out okay in the end, didn’t we?

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

‘YES, I am still standing at the bottom of the ladder, and yes, I am looking straight up your dress.’

Ryan grinned and tried valiantly to avert his gaze. It wasn’t easy. Molly O’Brien had great legs; he had never argued with that. In all his years as her nemesis, friend and elder brother figure he had never once been blind to her good points or her bad. The moment he glanced upwards he was awarded an eyeful of two of those good points….

‘Callaghan, the moment I get down from here, you die.’

‘Are you threatening to fall on me? ’Cos I should warn you, your wee body falling on me isn’t likely to kill me outright. Now, if you were to be up a few feet more you might knock me out, but from where you are the best you’re likely to do is bruise me a little.’

Molly laughed out loud, despite her best efforts not to. ‘A good bruising would do you no harm, buster!’

‘That’s right, treat me rough, Moll. I can take it.’ An obliging breeze lifted the edge of her dress and Ryan was forced to swallow hard as his eyes caught a glimpse of white lace. He felt an irritating warm flush cross his cheeks. ‘Haven’t you got that stupid creature yet?’

She stretched her fingers out an extra inch and was rewarded with the touch of soft fur. ‘Good kitty, come to Mammy…ha!’ She pulled him towards her chest. ‘Gotcha. Next time you climb on the porch, Houdini, you can darn well get down on your own, and then I won’t have to have that lump down there look where he shouldn’t—you hear me?’

Ryan held the ladder patiently until she hit terra firma. Then he grinned a lop-sided grin at her. ‘I could hear that, y’know.’

Molly tilted her head to look up at him. ‘Mmm, you were supposed to. How anyone over six foot two can possibly have vertigo stuns me. If you were any sort of a gentleman you would have gone up there to rescue Houdini yourself instead of sending me up there!’

‘I hate heights—you know I hate heights. And I still maintain if you didn’t keep rescuing that stupid beast every time he gets stuck then he would soon learn how to get out of these messes on his own.’

She stuck her tongue out at him, then laughed. ‘You always bring out my mature side. It’s one of your less endearing qualities.’

Ryan bent down until his nose almost touched hers, his breath fanning her face. ‘Molly, all my qualities are endearing. You just haven’t noticed that yet.’

‘You wish!’

After lifting the ladder down he stored it away beneath the porch, before following her inside the house they had been sharing for almost six months. As pretty much his best friend, Molly had been Ryan’s sparring partner for as long as he had known her, and he had to admit it was fun spending time with her again. Almost like being kids again—well, almost.

Turning a pine stool around to sit astride at the breakfast bar, he watched as Molly moved around the kitchen. She was the same Molly he had known for nearly fifteen years, and yet since she’d come home from the States she was different somehow. Lately he’d found himself watching her, trying to see what it was.

With her back to him as she filled the kettle with water, she felt the hair prickling on the back of her neck and smiled softly. ‘You’re staring again, Callaghan.’

‘Who, me?’

‘Yeah, you.’

‘You know, you’ve really got to stop this ego trip. Thinking I have nothing better to do with my time than stand and stare at you.’

Turning the kettle on, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. ‘Sit and stare, you mean.’

She moved to lean her back against the counter top, folding her arms across her chest before awarding him one of her patented ‘don’t kid me’ glares. ‘And it’s not the first time this week. What’s up?’

Ryan plastered his best innocent look across his face and blinked at her with dark eyes. ‘What do you mean, what’s up? There’s nothing up. Am I not allowed to look at you now?’ Green eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched his little act. ‘You are such a bad liar, Callaghan. Come on, spill it….’

‘Spill it? Ah now that would be one of those quaint American sayings of yours, would it? I make that about the twentieth one you’ve used this week.’

‘Don’t change the subject.’

‘I’m not. I’m just saying, that’s all. How long do you think it’ll take to make you Irish again after spending six years going all Yank on us?’

Molly unfolded her arms and slowly moved across the room to face him over the breakfast bar. ‘I have always been Irish and I will always be Irish, you great rat, and you know it!’

He leaned towards her. ‘Now, Molly O’Brien, did you just go calling me a rat again?’ His dark eyebrows raised in question as his eyes shone at her. ‘Because you know that would be the third time today you’ve done that, and that would mean you owe me.’

Her eyes widened and then closed as she shook her head. He had been teasing her about her new accent and her Americanised ways ever since her return. He knew how riled she got at the taunts. ‘I don’t believe you. You tricked me into losing a bet and now you’re going to gloat, aren’t you?’

If her eyes had opened a second sooner she’d have seen him smile affectionately at her. As it was, he looked cool and calm when she looked into his eyes. ‘What’s the payment, rat face?’

‘Ah now, I’ll need to think about that for a while.’ He stood up and replaced the stool before walking towards the doorway. ‘There’s no point in rushing these things—takes all the fun clean out of them. I’ll tell you later at the dance.’

‘We’re gonna have to pre-set these, you know.’

He stopped at the door, grinning over his shoulder. ‘Now, where would be the sense in that? I’ve got to keep you on your toes somehow.’

Molly lifted an available tea towel and threw it in his direction. ‘Go away and do Park Ranger things before I’m forced to do something I’ll regret, Callaghan.’

His deep laughter forced an answering grin from her. ‘There you go, making promises you can’t keep again. One of these days I think I might just stick around and see what that thing you might regret might be…’.

‘That’ll be the day.’

Ryan lived to be outdoors. In all the time Molly had known him he’d been his happiest under an open sky. Being Head Park Ranger and running the daily operations of a large forest park was the ideal job for him and Molly knew it. She smiled at him across the crowd at the summer barbecue and dance held for the residents of the local village of Boyle, wondering how the villagers managed to take him seriously.

At that precise moment two businessmen and their wives—though it had to be said probably more so the wives—stood enthralled as he spoke. He was a well-respected member of the small community, and yet they never seemed to see the clownish side of him that Molly knew so well. She wondered how they’d react if they knew about the wicked sense of humour he possessed, and the rare talent he had for torturing his friends.

Taking a sip of warm red wine, she smiled up at the wide expanse of darkened blue sky. She breathed deeply. It was good to be home again. Nowhere else filled her soul with the same peace she felt in Ireland. Then she turned her attention to the crowd. It was a hobby of hers, people-watching.

The local community had grown considerably since she had been away, and there were more than a few faces she didn’t know in the crowd. A sign of the times, she guessed, with a new bypass making it easier for people to commute to the larger towns for work. But the surroundings hadn’t changed at all since the summers she had spent running wildly through the park’s many acres and swimming in the often chilly waters of its lough.

As she turned to look across the dark waters a voice sounded close beside her.

‘Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met?’

Molly had long since ceased to believe in the tingling sensation described in romance novels when a woman heard a stranger’s voice for the first time. But all of a sudden she understood it now. The man’s voice was deep and undeniably sexy. Intriguing, even.

Turning, she found herself looking up at the brightest of blue eyes. The handsome tanned face was one she didn’t recognise.

She smiled, unconsciously brushing her auburn hair behind her ear. ‘No, I think I’d probably have remembered meeting you.’

The fair-headed man smiled. ‘That’s exactly the reason I knew I hadn’t met you.’ He extended a large hand towards her. ‘I’m Nick—Nick Scallon. I just moved into the house over by Doon Cottages.’

‘Aha, that’d make you the property tycoon guy we’ve all heard so much gossip about for the last few months. You’re running the holiday cottages now, then, I take it?’ She shook his hand and was embarrassed to find he held onto her smaller hand for a moment longer than he needed to. ‘You’re the main topic of conversation in the supermarket, you know.’

‘I’ll just bet I am.’ He looked down at her hand in his. Seeming to remember he needed to let go of it, he allowed it to slip from his hold. ‘And you would be?’

Impressed was nearly her answer, but she managed to replace it with another. ‘Molly O’Brien. I, uh, live over at Ryan Callaghan’s.’

‘Oh.’

She nearly fell over herself to correct his assumption. ‘We’re friends—I mean, I’ve known Ryan all my life—like a brother kind of a thing—I mean, we’re not actually…’

Nick smiled as she blushed. ‘Well, that’s all right, then. He’ll not kill me if I ask you to dance will he?’

Molly realised what an idiot she’d just made of herself and cringed inwardly. ‘No, no. He’ll not mind at all.’

Ryan was walking towards the refreshment table when they first caught his attention. He very nearly broke his neck with the speed of his own double-take. She hadn’t even mentioned she’d met Nick Scallon, let alone knew him well enough to be drooling all over the man’s shoes.

Selecting a bottle of beer from the table, he moved around the makeshift flooring until he found a tree to lean against.

God, could he hold onto her any tighter? How could she breathe? Ryan had seen Molly with other men before—well, maybe not that many men. It had been before she’d gone to the States, and she’d been younger then, so he supposed they had been—well, younger men. But he couldn’t remember ever having been irritated by it. In a gut-wrenching, testosterone-induced kind of a way, anyway. What was with that?

After all she was Molly—just Molly. Molly, who he tortured on a regular basis, even though he should be mature enough to know better. It wasn’t his business to be irritated by who she did or didn’t dance with. It was just that…

He took a long swig of his beer before deciding that it was just that he’d got used to having her to himself again. At least since she’d come home. Yeah, that was it. If she started going out with Nick ‘Mr Smarmy’ Scallon then he wouldn’t see as much of her, and he guessed he’d miss that. But then, he’d be seeing less of her when her house was finished and she moved out, so that was no big deal, right? Maybe it was just that massive sense of protectiveness he’d always felt towards her. That and the sudden dislike he had for Mr Smarmy. A very sudden dislike, in fact.

Nick said something that had Molly laughing and Ryan was slightly more irritated. He swigged down more amber liquid.

‘Why, Ryan, what are you doing, hiding under here?’

He gulped more beer. Hiding from limpet-like women? This was just great—his night was completed now that Maura Connell was by his side. With curiosity he wondered how someone so well spoken could manage to have the same effect on his nerves as fingernails down a blackboard. Somehow he managed to force a smile.

‘Maura, how lovely to see you—and may I say how…’ His eyes glanced down over the expensive trouser suit he thought completely over-the-top for an outdoor barbecue. ‘How very, uh, smart you look.’

Her brown eyes narrowed slightly but she recovered quickly. ‘Why, thank you. You men are just always so flattering with your words. Especially strong, outdoorsy types like yourself. But I guess we women are used to it by now.’

Thanks. ‘That’s very understanding of you.’ He glanced across the dance floor. Were they dancing closer? How’d that happen? Osmosis?

Maura noticed his frown and followed the line of his gaze. She smiled silkily. ‘Well, I see Molly has an eye for the money in town. I didn’t realise she knew Nick.’

Nick. Ryan noted how Maura spoke his name as if she knew him intimately. ‘They’re just dancing. There’s no reason to get jealous.’

‘I’m not the jealous one here, Ryan.’ She linked her arm through his, moving closer to his side. ‘I think we both know where my interests lie, and at least with Molly dancing with Nick the rumour mill can have a rest about you two. And I can take more of a public interest in you myself. I think it’s about time you and I got to know each other better.’

He coughed to clear her strong perfume from the back of his throat, gently removing her arm from his. ‘What little rumour about us two would that be, Maura?’

It was notable how he had managed to evade her proposition. Maura wasn’t best pleased by the snub. ‘Why, half the village thinks you and Molly are sleeping together. Didn’t you know?’

‘What?’

‘Oh, come on, Ryan. It’s a small community, an old-fashioned one at that. What else did you think they were going to say about you two living together?’ She smiled, seeming to forgive him for the recent snub. ‘But we could put paid to that rumour simply enough, you know….’

He couldn’t resist baiting the stupid woman. ‘If it was a rumour we certainly could.’

Maura ran an elegantly manicured hand across her smooth blonde hair, watching Molly and Nick dancing. ‘Well, if it’s not a rumour then Nick will be all the more interested. From what I hear he’s quite the ladies’ man in Dublin, whether they’re spoken for or not. But I’ll understand if you want to pretend you are a couple to engage his interest in your little friend. He’d be quite a catch for her.’

She turned her attention back to Ryan. ‘And once she’s out of the way I’m sure you’ll realise that I’m the most suitable choice for you, Ryan. No one else can advance your placing in this community like I can, and we both know it. We’d make the perfect couple.’ She sighed dramatically. ‘But I won’t wait for ever.’

Ryan watched as she strode away and then raised his eyes heavenwards. ‘I sincerely hope not.’

‘You don’t mind if I steal Molly, do you?’ Ryan tried not to look too pleased as he interrupted the dance.

‘Of course not, Ryan.’

Both men knew he lied, and they each knew that the other knew.

Ryan grinned. ‘Thanks.’

Nick looked at the taller man with chilly eyes which warmed noticeably as he looked back at Molly. ‘I’ll see you later, and maybe we’ll go for that midnight swim.’

She giggled like a schoolgirl. Ryan was forced to look and see where his Molly had gone.

‘I’ll hold you to that, you know.’

Side by side they watched as Nick left the dance floor and was accosted by Maura.

“‘I’ll hold you to that you know.’” Ryan mimicked her in a high-pitched voice before laughing as he swung her into a dance. ‘What was that supposed to be?’

‘You can take a running jump off the nearest pier, Callaghan!’

He thumped one large fist against his broad chest. ‘You wound me deeply, old pal of mine. You’re not honestly going to tell me you like that man?’

‘And why shouldn’t I?’ Green eyes blazed up into familiar dark ones. ‘He’s a charming, handsome, sophisticated, rich man. So naturally I’m going to find him completely gross!’

‘Don’t tell me—that’d be another of those quaint American sayings, wouldn’t it?’

She thumped his shoulder before placing her hand there. ‘You are such an absolute rat. I don’t even know why I like you at all. Can you remind me?’

He leaned down towards her, his voice low and intimate. ‘Because deep down you truly love me and you know it, that’s why.’

Molly shook her head, but her eyes had softened and a smile was teasing the corners of her mouth. ‘Well, if that’s what you want to think, you just keep livin’ the dream.’

They were silent for a moment as the music slowed and hung on the warm evening air. Ryan glanced up at the newly formed curtain of stars above them and sighed. ‘Maura Connell says the man’s a well-known womaniser.’

‘She’s the girl that would know, right enough.’

He smiled down at her. ‘Meow. Seriously, though, wouldn’t you rather know that, one way or another?’

Molly raised one eyebrow and looked him straight in the eye. ‘Maybe he’s changed. Maybe he’s moved to the country to get away from that reputation and meet someone genuine. Has that occurred to you inside that overprotective head of yours?’

If any thought occurred to him it was only the irritating one that recognised that Molly might genuinely have an interest in Mr Smarmy. Another thought swiftly followed. He, Ryan Callaghan, didn’t like that idea one little bit. But then, that was only because—as Molly rightly pointed out—he was her protector. It was his job. Yeah, that was it.

‘There’s one way to find out for sure.’

Green eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, yeah, and what might that be?’

‘Maura reckons he’ll be all the more interested in you if he thinks you’re involved with someone else.’ He couldn’t look her in the eye. ‘And apparently half the town already thinks you’re involved with someone else, so that could be why he approached you in the first place.’

Molly noticed that he couldn’t meet her gaze, and she knew she wasn’t going to like where the conversation was headed. ‘Who do they think I’m involved with?’

Ryan cleared his throat and found his eyes focused on her mouth for some unknown reason. ‘Me.’

She burst out laughing. ‘You’re kidding? That’s utterly ridiculous. You and me? As if!’

‘Well, that’s what comes of sharing a house with one of the town’s most eligible men.’ He raised his chin indignantly, his dark eyes sparking with barely hidden irritation. ‘Not everyone looks at me and sees some elder brother figure, all safe and reliable.’

‘Safe and reliable—oh, yeah, that’s how I see you right enough.’ She was still laughing.

Ryan’s anger rose. ‘Well, maybe if you just took the time to notice you’d see that I’m actually not that damn bad!’

Her eyes widened at the hard edge to his voice. He was, what, angry that she thought the idea of her being attracted to him was ridiculous? No, that just couldn’t be. No way. Not her Ryan. Not her ‘safe and reliable’ Ryan. She blinked at him.

He glared down at her.

Molly smiled, attempting to ease the sudden tension between them. ‘Poor baby.’

Ryan’s eyes softened the smallest amount, so small an amount that someone who didn’t know him as well as Molly did would never have noticed it. But notice it she did, and almost sighed with relief. ‘Look, Callaghan, Nick Scallon seems like a perfectly nice guy. I don’t see what you have against him.’

‘I have plenty against him if he’s chasing after you for some short-lived affair.’

Molly frowned up at him. ‘You don’t know that!’

‘How do you know he’s not?’

She shook her head. ‘You’re being really stupid about this.’

Ryan smiled sarcastically. ‘You wanna bet?’ ‘Ryan, quit it.’

‘No. C’mon Molly.’ He squeezed his arm tighter against her waist, drawing her body closer to his. ‘If you’re so convinced that he’s such a nice guy then you should stand by your convictions.’

She allowed her body to move in time with the music, matching the gentle sway of his hips. ‘And how exactly do I do that, then?’

Ryan’s smile was slow, and a challenge was lighting up in the back of his eyes. ‘By proving me wrong. Go out with me, pretend we’re an item for a few months, and we’ll see just how nice a guy Mr Nick Scallon is. If he continues chasing you then you’ll know exactly what his intentions are.’

The air was forced out of her lungs. ‘You’re off your trolley!’ She glared at Ryan in amazement as he pulled her off the dance floor towards the walkway at the loughside.

He knew the warning signs of an impending O’Brien explosion and decided the further away she was from the general population, the less the fallout would be. ‘It’s not like you to go chicken on me, O’Brien.’

‘Chicken?’

‘Yeah, chicken.’ He stopped and stared down at her. ‘If you don’t think you can handle the fact that I’m right, as usual, then say so.’

Snatching her arm away from him, she marched to the darker end of the walkway. Once there she turned to face him so quickly that he almost crashed into her. ‘You’ve had some absolute whoppers of ideas in your time, but this one definitely gets the award.’

He folded his arms across his broad chest and waited.

‘I mean, you and me—a couple? Who’s gonna believe that?’

He sighed. ‘Molly—’

‘And to suggest that we’d ever be able to fool anyone—I mean, there are days we have difficulty just getting on well enough to still like each other as friends!’ She started pacing in front of him.

He sighed again. ‘If you’d just—’

‘We’d have to be able to look at each other without sniggering every two minutes. And as for the kissing thing—’ She stopped pacing long enough to waggle a finger at him. ‘You do realise if we were actually dating we’d be expected to kiss and—well, other stuff like that….’

There was a deadly silence as they stared at each other in shock. Ryan swallowed hard. ‘I know that—’

She recommenced the pacing. ‘It’s the most ridiculous suggestion you’ve ever made, Callaghan, and you should know that, for crying out loud!’

‘O’Brien—’

She stopped again and looked up into his eyes. ‘I mean, honestly, what makes you think for one second we could fool anyone?’

Ryan frowned at her. ‘Methinks the girl protests too much.’

‘And just what does that mean?’

‘Maybe you’re too frightened to kiss me.’

Her eyes widened, fire glinting in their depths. ‘Me? Frightened, of you? What in hell is there for me to be frightened of?’

He stepped closer, his body almost touching hers. Towering over her smaller frame until any dim light was almost obscured, he leaned down towards her. ‘Maybe you might just like kissing me.’

‘You wanna bet?’

‘Well, actually, yes, I do.’ His gaze was steady. ‘I thought we’d established that fact.’

Her mouth gaped. ‘I don’t believe this. As if I’d like kissing you, of all people! Like as in enjoy? Like as in, participate—’

He did the only reasonable thing he could think of to shut her up. He hauled her body to his and kissed her.

At first Molly couldn’t believe what he was doing. This was Ryan Callaghan. The Ryan she had known for half her life. The Ryan who, along with her soulmate Kieran, had managed to alternately torture, humour and protect her most of the way through her late teens. They’d been the three musketeers back then—almost invincible. She had thought she knew Ryan better than anyone else on the planet. It should have felt like kissing a brother. Somehow it didn’t.

It felt—well, it felt nowhere near as awful as it could have been. In fact, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. In fact…

This just couldn’t be right.

Ryan couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing. He was actually kissing Molly! Hello—earth calling Ryan. What was he doing? Then he forgot for a moment as he felt her mouth soften against his. Good Lord, he was kissing Molly. And, hell, but it felt good. Too good. He moved his mouth over hers, felt her small sigh against his lips. She was so warm, and sweet-tasting, and soft, and—

‘Oops, sorry Mr Callaghan.’ There was a childish giggle. ‘We didn’t see you there.’

They pulled away from each other, both staring at the two Collins children who had materialised by their side. Ryan found his voice first. Well, he assumed it was his voice. The sound certainly seemed to come out of his mouth, so it pretty much had to be his. ‘That’s okay, kids. Don’t worry about it.’

The children looked backwards and forwards at the two adults, giggling again. The fair-haired girl waved at Molly before turning back into the darkness with her brother.

‘See.’ Her voice was the loudest of stage whispers. ‘Mammy said they were goin’ together. Let’s go tell her she’s right.’

Her brother’s voice got louder as they moved further away. ‘I’m telling her first!’

The echo of running footsteps bounced across the still water of the lough. ‘No, you’re not! I am!’

Ryan stared into the darkness as if he could still see them while Molly stared at his broad back. ‘Callaghan—’

‘Well, I guess that takes care of the kissing bit. They seemed fairly convinced.’ He turned to look at her. ‘Don’t you think?’

‘Oh, you—you’ll just do anything to prove a point, won’t you?’ The burst of laughter sounded false, even to her own ears. For the first time in a very long time she felt awkward in his company. Unable to look him in the eye. ‘But surely you can see this is a really dumb-ass idea?’

With only a moment’s hesitation he reached down to frame her face with his large hands, forcing her to look at him. ‘Protest noted. But, hey, come on, O’Brien.’ He smiled a lop-sided smile at her, the one women always seemed to find endearing. ‘It’ll be hilarious. And we’ve already started the jungle telegraph talking. Since when have you ever chickened out of one of our bets?’ He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Unless you’re prepared to admit I’m right about Scallon.’

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, suddenly afraid that he might try to convince her some more, Molly moved back, out of his hold. She had never turned down one of Ryan’s bets. Never allowed him the upper hand in their long relationship. And she wasn’t about to start now.

She liked Nick Scallon, for crying out loud. He was the most attractive man she’d met in a good while. And she could think of nothing more rewarding than proving Ryan wrong about him. So if that meant she’d have to play charades for a few weeks then she could manage that. Really, she could. Piece of cake. And Ryan’s forfeit would be hell…

Raising her chin to look at him, she smiled calmly. ‘Okay, Callaghan, you’re on. Let’s just hope—’ she moved close to him to brush an imaginary speck of dirt from his shirt ‘—you can take the heat.’

Ryan stared at her, his throat suddenly dry. What had he started? From past history he just knew that his payback would be a nightmare. Molly would make sure of that.

He grinned. Bring it on.

CHAPTER TWO

End of summer—fifteen years ago

‘FRIENDS don’t kiss.’

‘Ever?’

Molly thought for a moment, her long legs tucked beneath her on the large sofa. It was the last night of the summer holidays and in the morning their two families would part again for another year. To celebrate the last evening they had had a huge barbecue by the lough before returning to Ryan’s family’s summerhouse. While the adults had drunk wine, chatting on the porch, the two kids had sat themselves in front of a video in the family room.

‘Never.’

Ryan studied her profile carefully. ‘What about when they say goodbye or wish each other a happy birthday?’

‘That’s different. Those are friendly kisses.’

‘And the difference would be…?’ She had piqued his interest and he wondered just what the extent of her knowledge could be at her age.

Molly avoided looking directly at him. Instead she kept her gaze focused on the television screen as she watched the source of their debate. They had been watching When Harry met Sally.

Out of the corner of his eye he had seen Molly blush a crimson-red during the café scene when Meg Ryan had demonstrated her talent for faking it. He had impressed himself by not laughing at her reaction. After all, it wasn’t that he was that much more experienced than she was. A few fumblings in the darkness of a cinema or the back seat of a friend’s car on a Saturday evening hardly made for a sex-life to brag about.

‘You know.’ She blushed again.

‘Yes, I do know.’ He smiled teasingly. ‘I’m just curious to see if you do.’

Molly knew she should never have allowed this particular debate to begin. They didn’t talk about stuff like this, and she was so embarrassed she wanted to have the sofa open up and swallow her.

‘Well, let’s just say I know the difference.’

‘So, go on, then.’

‘Fine.’ By the time she spun to face him he’d already realised that he’d sparked her temper. It was her best defence in times of difficulty. And, boy, did she have a temper. ‘You want to ruin our last night by being dumb and teasing me, then that’s just fine. I don’t really know, and you know I don’t really know. I’ve never been kissed by a boy before. Not that way. Satisfied now? But I know there should be a difference.’

Ryan reached out and touched her arm. ‘I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just wondering what you’d say.’

‘Well, now you know.’ She pulled her arm away from him and leaned back, her mouth pouting slightly. ‘And how am I ever supposed to find out when I look like this? Boys don’t kiss girls who look like me. They kiss pretty girls.’

‘I thought you said boys were stupid?’

A frown creased her forehead. ‘They are. But I guess it would be nice to have one even slightly interested in kissing me.’

Ryan smiled his lop-sided smile as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. ‘O’Brien, I’ll make you a deal.’

Turning her head towards him, she raised an eyebrow. ‘What kind of deal?’

‘Well…’ He leaned towards her, his voice low. ‘If you haven’t found out what it’s like to be kissed by the time you’re eighteen, I’ll kiss you.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You?’

‘Yes, me.’

Molly stared. ‘Kiss me?’

‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘Kiss you. On your eighteenth birthday.’

She continued staring at him, as if suddenly seeing a side of him she’d never noticed before. Then she laughed and laughed, until tears fell from her eyes.

‘Not in this lifetime.’

‘I heard a rumour today in the newsagent’s.’

Molly didn’t lift her head as her friend and neighbour-to-be perched herself against the counter in front of her. Molly had opened the new gift shop in the forest park with Kate not long after coming home. She used one side of the store to display and sell mounted copies of her work, her one true love. Photography.

They had spent the morning selling various mugs, sticks of rock, key chains and guidebooks to two coachloads of tourists, as well as two of Molly’s more expensive photographs of wildlife on the lough. So it was the first opportunity they’d had to talk since the weekend’s barbecue.

Molly knew only too well what rumour Kate was referring to.

‘Did you, now?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Well, they do say the newsagent’s is the place to get news.’ Still she didn’t look up from the counter.

Kate waved her hand underneath Molly’s nose until she looked at her. ‘You know rightly what rumour I’m talking about, and don’t you dare tell me you don’t.’

‘Come on, Kate, we both know how active kids’ imaginations can be.’ She tried her best to look sincere as she smiled at Kate, one of her closest friends. As she looked at Kate’s trusting eyes she also remembered the crush she had had on Ryan when they were teenagers. But Kate was a married woman now, and happily heavy with child.

Her friend smiled smugly. ‘I don’t think I mentioned any kids.’

Molly blushed a fiery red, which she was sure wasn’t matching her hair colour well. ‘Kate, I’d really rather not talk about this.’

‘Oh, no, you don’t. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.’ She made herself comfortable leaning on the counter. ‘Tell Auntie Kate all about it, and don’t you dare skip any details.’

As she looked at her friend Molly knew she couldn’t tell her the truth. Kate had never understood the challenges that she and Ryan had aimed at each other over the years. Kate was a happily—no, blissfully married woman, who adored her husband and wanted the rest of the world to be as in love as they were. How could Molly tell her why they were doing this? It would be easier to tell her the version of the truth that she wanted to hear, and then she and Ryan could just ‘split up’, as they’d planned, in three months’ time. Kate would be none the wiser. Simple.

‘What do you want to know?’

Kate hit her on the shoulder. ‘Aw, come on, Molly. Did Ryan kiss you at the barbecue or not?’

That at least wasn’t a lie. ‘Yes, he did.’ She blushed again.

‘And?’

‘And what?’

Kate sighed dramatically. ‘It’s like getting blood out of a stone. What was it like? Why did he kiss you now, after all this time? What’s going on? ’Cos you know I’ve always wondered what it was with you two.’

Molly’s eyes widened. She stared incredulously at her friend. ‘You have? How come you’ve never said so? I mean, you of all people have always known how I felt about Ryan, so what on earth made you think—?’

‘Molly, it’s Ryan Callaghan we’re talking about, here. I could never understand why you can’t see what’s absolutely plain as day to everyone else with a pulse. The man is gorgeous.’

‘Ryan is? Are you nuts? I’ve called him many things in my time, but gorgeous was never one of them.’ She laughed. ‘He’s just Ryan.’

Kate’s eyebrows raised until they disappeared under her fringe. ‘When was the last time you looked at him?’ She grinned widely. ‘Last Saturday night not included, of course.’

‘That’s not fair. I look at him.’

She felt Kate’s eyes follow her as she moved away from the counter to rearrange the prints on the opposite wall, filling in the recent gaps that had appeared.

‘Really? So you’ll know what colour his eyes are, then.’

‘That’s stupid. I know that—they’re dark.’

‘Dark what?’

Molly’s hands stilled as she thought, and then she smiled into thin air as she gained a mental image. ‘Brown—you know—like that melted chocolate in the ad.’

‘My goodness, Miss O’Brien, I had no idea you cared.’

Molly froze as Ryan’s voice sounded close to her ear. She hadn’t heard him enter the shop. She turned to look at him, finding his eyes glittering in a ‘gotcha’ kind of a way.

She stared as he turned to wink at Kate. ‘Hi, Kate, how are ya?’ Then, looking back into Molly’s eyes, he added, ‘Do go on. I could stand a few more compliments.’

‘You rat. How long have you been in here?’ She set her hands on his chest to push him out of her way. Instead he stood his ground, and placed his hands over hers to hold them against him. She could feel the beat of his heart against his shirt, was far too aware of his warmth, and was desperately tempted to kick him in the shins. ‘Get out of my way!’

‘Not ’til you agree to come swimming this evening. It’s grand and warm outside. I thought we could eat over by the shore at Doon.’

She glared straight into his melted chocolate eyes, following their gaze as they swept back to Kate’s grinning face. ‘Don’t you think she should come swimming, Kate, on a lovely night like this will be?’

Kate positively glowed back at him. ‘Oh, definitely, Ryan.’

‘See?’ He looked back at her and immediately found himself looking at her mouth. A memory hit his mind uninvited and he frowned slightly. ‘Kate agrees.’

Molly studied his frown, noticed where he was looking, and without thinking moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. Dear Lord, but this little game was nearly too easy. ‘Okay, you win. I’ll go.’

Momentarily distracted by what she’d done with her tongue, Ryan had to take a second to focus on what she’d just said. ‘Okay. Uh, I’ll see you later, then.’

Molly smiled at his expression. ‘Okay.’

‘Right.’

Ryan looked at Molly, and Molly looked right back. Kate coughed and the world rocked back into place.

‘Right, then.’ Ryan grinned, released her hands and swung on his heel to leave the shop. ‘Bye, ladies.’

Kate watched him leave and then turned to Molly, fanning her face with one hand. ‘Is it just me, or did it just get real warm in here?’

Having spent the entire morning dodging questions from the ever curious Kate, Molly decided to escape the shop at lunchtime. She got sandwiches and a carton of juice from the cafeteria and then headed out into the warm June sunshine to sit by the main harbour.

Sunglasses on, she took a moment to soak in the atmosphere before tearing open the sandwiches and looking around. With hourly boat tours from the lough’s main harbour, tourists were milling around in an assortment of holiday clothing. It didn’t take long for her to pick Ryan out of the crowd, with him easily one of the tallest men there.

Gorgeous was never a word she would have associated with Ryan. Brad Pitt, yes. But Ryan Callaghan? Nope. Not that she thought he was troll-like. She frowned behind her sunglasses. So, what was he?

In her capacity as an experienced crowd-watcher she glanced around to see if she could find any good-looking men to compare him with. Purely for scientific purposes, of course. She found a fair-haired American who had flirted with her in the shop earlier and then looked at them both.

The American was quite tall—probably six feet—but slim, as was usually typical of taller men. Ryan, on the other hand, was broad across his shoulders and chest. Not fat. Quite definitely not fat. But broad.

The American’s hair was fair, while Ryan’s hair was a rich dark brown—so dark that when the light hit it it shone. Biting into her sandwich, Molly supposed that was fairly attractive.

The American had an open smiling face, with pale eyes that had teased when he’d flirted with Molly. Ryan’s face could be lots of different things, depending on his mood at the time. But most of all, regardless of his straight, even features and strong chin, he had an honest face. Molly had always liked the fact that she could read just about every emotion from Ryan’s face.

A soft smile touched her mouth as she watched him run across the harbour to give a small girl the stuffed bear she had just dropped. The little girl smiled, then giggled as he spoke to her, and Molly didn’t have to see his face to know what it would be like. He’d always had that gentle look in his eyes when he’d teased her the first year they met. Without trying he had a way of drawing a smile out of a person, no matter how old they were.

That was the one thing she would never deny about Ryan. He was a genuinely nice guy. Molly smiled all the more when she thought about how much he would hate being told so, but he was.

Green eyes followed him until he walked out of her sight, his body moving in long strides that spoke of a silent confidence in his own strength. Then, her gaze falling onto the water, Molly finished her lunch.

Kate was right. She had never really thought about it, but Kate was right. Ryan was a gorgeous man. More than that, he was a nice, caring, gorgeous man. Shame, really. He just wasn’t Molly’s usual type. She’d never even been attracted to someone like him in her entire life. Just as well, she surmised, otherwise she might have got hurt in this latest game of theirs.

Molly’s eighteenth birthday

It wasn’t Ryan who kissed Molly on her eighteenth birthday. By then their worlds had changed and so, in many ways, had they. By her eighteenth birthday the two friends had become three, and then two of the three had become a pair. ‘I can’t believe you kept him secret from me for so long,’ Molly challenged him with one elegantly raised eyebrow. ‘Did you do it to torture me, or were you waiting ’til I had straight teeth?’

‘As if I’d want to inflict you on any of my other friends.’

She surprised him then, by leaning forward and planting a warm kiss on his cheek. ‘I love you, you know.’

Ryan wiggled his eyebrows ridiculously. ‘Yeah, yeah—you and half the female population. I know.’

One elegant fingernail tapped on the end of his nose. ‘Well, I was first, and don’t you forget it.’

He reached out to steady her arms as she swayed towards him, smiling indulgently. ‘And you, my red-haired friend, are a little the worse for birthday juice, aren’t you?’

‘Me? Why, Callaghan, I’m shocked you could even think such a thing.’ She wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling up at him from his shoulder. ‘But I am having a really great birthday. How ’bout you?’

Dark eyes shone down into green. ‘It’s not my birthday.’

‘I know that. But are you having a great time?’

‘With you? Always.’ Molly frowned at him with an all too familiar pout on her full lips. ‘You’re teasing me.’

‘Would I?’

‘Yes. But you know what?’

‘Go on, O’Brien, amaze me.’ He smiled again. ‘What?’

‘I forgive you.’

Placing one strong arm around her slender waist, he half carried her towards an empty table. ‘Well, I’m relieved about that. Now, why don’t you just have a wee rest at this little table for a while and I’ll find you some nice birthday coffee?’

Slumping down into the offered chair, Molly looked up at him. She frowned for a moment, looked around, and then patted the chair beside her. ‘Sit down. I want to talk to you.’

‘I’ll just get some of that nice birthday coffee first.’

‘No!’ She grabbed hold of his shirtsleeve. ‘No, now.’

Ryan watched as the wheels slowly turned in her head. Then she smiled at him. Looking at him from beneath long darkened eyelashes, she was positively flirtatious, and for some reason he couldn’t stop himself from noticing it. Damn but she’d grown up. And it wasn’t just the removal of her braces that had got her noticed by Kieran, his university roommate. She just seemed to have blossomed overnight.

Almost in slow motion, he sat down beside her. ‘What’s up?’

‘Do you think I’m pretty?’

The question caught him off guard. Especially considering he’d already begun to notice how she looked. For a split second he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.

Molly giggled musically. ‘Why, Callaghan, I do believe for the first time ever I’ve managed to make you speechless. Happy Birthday me.’

He tried to stand up. ‘I’ll just get that coffee. I’d really like a cup, wouldn’t you?’

She placed her hand on his thigh and pushed him back into the chair. Another dangerous smile. ‘Don’t avoid the subject at hand.’

Ryan was too busy trying to ignore ‘the subject at hand’. The burning sensation on his thigh where her hand rested. Hadn’t anyone told her what happened to twenty-one-year old males whenever good-looking females touched them that close to…?

He carefully removed the hand, placing it into the safety of her own lap. ‘Why would I avoid it? Of course you’re pretty, Moll. That brace thing being off really helps.’

‘Is it just the brace?’ She leaned in close to him, her voice low. ‘Is it just the brace, or have I changed at all—you know, anywhere else?’

If that rabbit didn’t move soon it was going to get squooshed. A blink, then another, and then Ryan’s brain started to work. ‘Uh, what exactly are you fishing for?’

‘Have you noticed anything different about me?’ Her face was dangerously close to his. ‘I mean, since you last saw me?’

Ryan swallowed hard to moisten his dry throat. Wow, but she smelled good—all soapy and slightly perfumey. Like flowers. Hello, Ryan! Get a grip here. Hormone alert.

‘In what way, exactly?’

‘You tell me.’

Molly stood up in front of him and turned full circle before holding her arms out at her sides. ‘How do I look to you?’

Ryan did as he was bid and looked at her. He took a real good, long look at her. She was sensational. Really. He’d never thought of himself as a sexist kind of guy who ogled women’s legs, but—wow. In a split second he decided he was a legs man. Not that he hadn’t known that Molly had legs. Hell, he’d seen them in shorts or swimsuits every summer for the past four years. But not like this. Not encased in the sheerest of black stockings with her feet in the silliest strappy high heels he had ever seen. Not displayed to the world from beneath the teeniest of miniskirts. Had she actually paid money for that scrap of material?

‘Well?’

‘Huh?’

‘Well? What do you see?’

He waved away her protests with one arm. ‘I’m still looking.’

She had the smallest waist he thought he’d ever seen. Was she too skinny? Was that it? Did she have some kind of dumb obsession with her weight? No. His eyes travelled upwards. No, her weight was just fine. She had breasts now—small, full breasts that peeked out at him from the deep vee of her tight top. Maybe he was a breasts man after all. Then he looked back down at her legs. Nope. Still a legs man.

Then he looked up at her face. The freckles had faded down over the years. From somewhere she had got this creamy complexion. Full moist lips that drew into a wide smile over perfectly straight white teeth. Thank you, Mr Orthodontist. Wide green eyes above an elegantly upturned nose…

A hand waved in front of his face. ‘Well—can you see it?’

His voice was sharp. ‘Damn it, O’Brien, see what?’ He’d seen plenty, and it irritated him that he’d noticed as much as he had. ‘You look just fine to me.’

‘Fine? I look just fine?’ She looked annoyed. ‘Well, thanks a bunch, big man.’

‘Oh, hell.’ Ryan ran long fingers through his short hair. ‘What am I supposed to notice?’

With a sigh he could hear above the newly started music, she moved forwards. Placing one slender hand on either side of his face, her eyes smiled into his. ‘Don’t you see it, Ryan? I’m in love. For the first time in my life I’m in love. And it’s with your friend. Thanks to you, I’m going to find out exactly what it’s like to be with that someone who really matters.’

Ryan’s gut twisted. How could he have known? How could he have seen that his two friends would end up this wrapped in each other? He’d met Kieran his first term at university in Dublin and had instantly liked the guy. With his golden good looks and extrovert nature he was popular on campus. And so much more outgoing than Ryan himself. He had an ease about him that people instantly took to.

Captain of the rugby team, top of his class in business studies, rich family in Galway. The guy had everything. All the criteria that overly protective brother figures would look for in a boyfriend for someone they really cared about. So why did he suddenly wish they’d never met?

Much as she hated to admit it, Ryan had been right. Yet again. This time about the evening being perfect for swimming at Doon Shore. Situated on the side of the lough furthest from the main tourist amenities, it tended to be a place that only the locals and a few cruise boat tourists ever knew about. Which also meant that on a sunny summer evening it was normally filled with townsfolk. Most of whom seemed to be smiling more than usual when they greeted them.

Lying on their stomachs, side by side on a large rug, they watched as people watched them. Molly pushed her sunglasses onto her head and turned to look at Ryan, beside her. His eyes had closed, long lashes dark against his tanned skin. ‘I had never realised we were so all-fired interesting, had you?’

He didn’t open his eyes, but with his head turned towards her as it was he didn’t have to raise his voice above a conspirator’s whisper. ‘We’ve always been interesting. We just didn’t notice it so much before.’

‘Doesn’t it bother you now that you know?’

‘You’ve been away. I’ve had this kind of attention and speculation aimed at me ever since I came back here. That’s what comes of being single in a small town. You can’t so much as say hello to a pretty female without the gossips starting. They’ve got nothing else to do.’

The wheels turned slowly in her head.

Ryan smiled a slow, sleepy smile, still with his eyes closed. ‘Okay, I can hear those wheels a-turnin’. What?’

She hated the way he could do that. What was he? Psychic?

‘Haven’t you dated anyone since I’ve been away?’

‘Why?’ The smile transformed to a grin. ‘Jealous?’

‘Ha, ha.’ She nudged him with her elbow. ‘No, I mean, well, you can’t not have dated anyone since you moved up here. So I guess what I mean is—I’m not cramping your style, am I? Living with you, I mean?’

He opened his eyes and squinted up at her, curious as to what her face might tell him. But she turned away before he could see anything, studying the crowd who lined the shore.

‘Moll, if you’re asking me whether or not your living in my house is affecting my sex-life, then I think we’re about to hit uncharted territory here.’

‘Well, we’ve always been up-front with each other, and half the population already seems to believe I am your sex-life. So I was just curious.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I wondered, that’s all.’

Ryan turned onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow to study her closer. He was rewarded for his moment’s patience when she turned to look at him. There was concern in her eyes, and he realised she was genuinely worried about ‘cramping his style’. Without thinking about it he reached out to her, brushing a long lock of damp auburn hair away from her cheek. ‘Even if I was seeing someone, which we both know I’m not—unless, of course, you count you—I wouldn’t be able to make love to them in the house while you were there.’

Molly noted the quiet affection in his voice and smiled down at him. He really was just such a nice guy. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him. ‘What’s wrong? You make too much noise?’

His eyes widened in surprise at the jibe. Recognising the teasing light in her eyes, he knew he had no choice but to reply in kind. ‘Baby…’ he blew onto his fingernails before polishing them on his T-shirt ‘…it wouldn’t be me making the noise.’

Molly erupted into convulsive laughter. ‘You complete great arrogant lump!’

They laughed together for a moment before watching the crowd again in companionable silence. Ryan thought about the conversation. ‘So if you met someone, and the situation was reversed, would I cramp your style?’

‘Make love with someone while you were in the same house?’ She blushed a fiery red and laughed again. ‘No way, José.’

‘You make too much noise, right?’ The question did things to his imagination that it had absolutely no right doing.

She hid her face in the blanket while he watched her shoulders shake with laughter. Her voice was muffled when she eventually spoke, forcing him to lean towards her to hear her words. ‘I don’t think I could concentrate on what I was doing if I thought you could hear anything.’

Jealousy, like a bad cramp, gripped his chest hard, shocking him with its intensity. Thinking of Molly in that way had always been off limits. Now their conversation had opened a doorway he hadn’t intended looking through, and he didn’t much care for his reaction.

Clearing his throat, he sprang to his feet and peeled off his T-shirt. ‘Just as well Molly, ’cos whoever he was I think I’d probably be forced to deck him.’ He frowned as he looked towards the water. ‘I’m going for another swim. See you in a while.’

Molly’s head shot upwards at his sharp announcement. But she only focused her vision in time to see him walk briskly to the end of the nearest pier before diving smoothly into the cool water. Where had that outburst come from? She knew he could be protective, but even so…

Their relationship was changing. She sighed as she realised the simple fact of it. It hadn’t been the same since she’d come home. She’d begun to realise that when she had noticed Ryan staring at her so often of late. It was as if he’d never really looked at her before, or as if he’d noticed something that he hadn’t seen before. She wondered what it was?

And these last few days they had walked onto very new ground; she supposed it was only natural they’d need time to adjust. Time to find and test the new boundaries. But they cared about each other in ways in which she, certainly, had never cared about anyone else. Ryan was her most special of friends, and no matter what adjustments they made she knew they wouldn’t—couldn’t—affect that attachment. They just couldn’t.

‘Someone as lovely as you shouldn’t frown like that.’

Turning onto her back, she looked up into Nick Scallon’s smiling face. Dressed in a pristine white T-shirt and khaki shorts, he resembled a model from the pages of a summer catalogue.

‘I’ll keep that in mind.’ She smiled. ‘It’s nice to see you again. How are you?’

‘I’m just grand.’ His blue eyes moved down over her body and her long legs before returning to her face. ‘You should wear a swimsuit all the time, Molly. Wow.’

She sat upright, unconsciously drawing her knees up as she glanced towards the lough.

‘He’s still in the water.’

‘Who is?’ She blinked at him.

Nick smiled. ‘Your friend the Park Ranger.’

She glanced back towards the water. ‘Oh, you mean Ryan. Yeah, he likes the water. We had swim races here every summer as kids.’

He crouched beside her, taking a deep breath. ‘There’s a lot of history between you two.’

She looked at his face, surprised to find him so close. ‘We’ve known each other a long time. Yeah, we’re close.’

A quick glance over his head caused her to smile at the look of disapproval on Mrs Collins’ face. ‘In fact I think you’ll find your sitting here is setting quite a few tongues wagging.’

He didn’t look too worried. ‘Your Ryan is well liked in this community. How can I possibly compete with that?’

‘From what I hear, a guy like you doesn’t let a little matter of competition get in his way.’ The words were out before she could stop them. But the minute she spoke Nick’s chin dropped, and Molly regretted the innuendo.

‘I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’ve always considered a person innocent until proven guilty. I guess I shouldn’t treat you any differently.’

‘Molly—’ He reached out, touching her arm with one long finger, then running the palm of his hand towards her shoulder as he held her gaze with his. ‘I—’

‘I believe you’re occupying my space!’

CHAPTER THREE

THEIR heads snapped upwards in unison as Ryan’s shadow fell over them. For a moment Molly didn’t recognise him any more quickly than she had recognised the tone of his voice. His face was dark—threatening, almost—and for a split second she was shocked. It was a side to him she didn’t see very often. Her conscious mind had never identified him as an alpha male.

‘Ryan—sorry. I didn’t see you there.’ Nick quickly removed his hand from Molly’s arm and stood up. ‘I was just saying how great Molly looks in a swimsuit.’

Ryan stepped closer to Nick, water running off his body in long silvery rivulets. He ran his hand across his face to remove some of the water and then lowered his voice. ‘So I saw, Scallon. The next time you decide to compliment her with your hands you’ll have me to deal with—do you understand?’

Molly jumped to her feet and stood between them, facing Ryan. ‘Have you gone nuts? Apologise to Nick this minute.’

Nick smiled smoothly, his eyes warming for Molly. ‘It’s okay, Molly, I understand.’ His eyes swept back towards Ryan. ‘Ryan obviously feels the need to stake his claim. I get the message.’

Ryan nodded tersely. ‘Just make sure you do.’

Molly gaped at the two men. ‘Oh, you two can’t be for real.’

Ignoring Nick for a moment, Ryan frowned at Molly. ‘This guy was touching you. Are you telling me that’s okay with you? Because it sure as hell isn’t okay with me!’

Without hesitating she grabbed his hand and tugged him away from Nick, towards the trees at the back of the shoreline. ‘We need to talk, now.’

By the time they reached the trees Ryan was smiling at her. ‘Wow, you can drag me into the trees any time, Moll. Did you see the looks we got?’

‘What the hell were you doing out there?’

She was mad—really, really mad. He could tell. Her green eyes sparked angrily and her face was flushed. He thought she looked amazing.

‘We’re supposed to be a couple, right? Well, I’m not going to stand by while some other man runs his hands all over my girlfriend, now, am I?’

Molly shook her head. ‘Even as my boyfriend, or for that matter as my lover, you wouldn’t go around acting like Neanderthal man without my going crazy about it. Don’t you know that?’ She glared at him. ‘What the heck kind of woman have you been dating over the years?’

He actually had the grace to look apologetic. ‘I’m sorry. I just—well, I guess I didn’t like it much. As a friend or as a boyfriend.’

Realising she still held his hand, he squeezed her fingers. ‘I guess we’ve both got some learning to do if we’re going to pull this off.’

Calmer, she looked up into his eyes and smiled wryly. ‘They’re all standing out there watching these trees, aren’t they?’

‘Yup.’

‘So what’ll we do? Wait for a minute?’

Ryan took a deep breath. ‘They’ll probably expect us to kiss and make up first.’

‘Oh.’

He stepped towards her. ‘And we should probably practise that kissing thing again before we try it out in public, right? After all, they’ll expect you to come out of here looking like you’ve just been thoroughly kissed, and the best way I know to make you look like that is…’

Molly interrupted him, suddenly terribly aware of how little clothing he was wearing. Her mouth was dry. ‘I get the gist, Callaghan. So you’d better just shut up and kiss me, then.’

‘And they say romance is dead.’

This time Molly was ready for his kiss. She even moistened her lips automatically before his head lowered. It’s only Ryan, only Ryan, only Ryan. She echoed it over and over in her head, but after a moment it was hard to concentrate.

When he felt her kiss him back it shocked him. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but he certainly wasn’t ready for how hot she felt, how easily their mouths fitted together. With a kiss there was always that initial moment of hesitation as the two parties felt for the correct ‘fit’ before they deepened the kiss. But not this time. This was right from the first touch.

Moving instinctively, she loosened her hand and wound her arms around his neck, reaching up to pull herself closer to his damp body. Ryan’s arms in turn circled her waist to hold her there. Her curved body fitted along the full length of his, curling in and touching him everywhere.

The minute his tongue touched hers she was lost, and stopped thinking at all. In her entire life she couldn’t remember being kissed so thoroughly—and by Ryan, of all people!

By Ryan. She froze. Oh, no, this couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t possibly be enjoying kissing Ryan. It wasn’t something that was supposed to happen when you kissed a friend.

The moment she went still he knew they’d gone too far. Whatever was happening it was too much. He carefully pulled away and stepped back, taking a moment before he could look at her.

Molly, in turn, was staring at him with large unblinking eyes, as if she’d never seen him before. Her lips were red and swollen, her cheeks flushed. She was beautiful. When had she got so beautiful? All of a sudden he realised that was what was different about her since she’d been home. She’d grown and matured into a very beautiful woman and he hadn’t allowed himself to realise it. Until then.

He smiled softly at her. ‘I think they’ll know what we’ve been doing when we go out there.’

Turning away from him, Molly found her voice. ‘Well, thank goodness someone knows what we’re doing.’

By the following weekend Molly’s nerves were shot to hell and back. The whole town was talking about the wonderful romance between Ryan Callaghan and that ‘pretty wee O’Brien girl’. And Nick Scallon had been to visit her again in the shop.

Things weren’t quite going the way she had expected—not that she’d known what to expect in the first place. And then there was Kate. Kate, whom she saw every day and who quizzed her every moment possible.

Saturday proved to be no different.

‘So, how’s it going, then?’

Molly sighed and shook her head. ‘You ask me this every day, and every day I tell you the same thing—fine.’

Kate sat down beside her and looked her in the face. ‘If it were going fine you wouldn’t look this bad. You look exhausted, Molly, and you can’t keep telling me it’s “fine” and look so unhappy. Aren’t things working out between you and Ryan?’

‘No, it’s not that. It’s just—’ She struggled to find an excuse and couldn’t. Not this time. ‘I’m confused, I guess.’

‘About you and Ryan, or about Nick Scallon?’

Molly laughed tightly. ‘I thought I liked Nick Scallon but I was wrong about that. The more I see of him the more—I don’t know—smarmy I find him.’

‘Mmm. He is a bit too slick, if you ask me.’ Kate smiled sympathetically and rubbed her friend’s arm. ‘And Ryan?’

‘Now, there’s a whole ’nother story.’ Her fingers rubbed her temples. ‘Where should I begin?’

‘He kiss you again?’

Did he ever. ‘Oh, yeah. He did that all right.’

Kate smiled broadly. ‘Good grief. And you just don’t know what to do about that, do you?’

Now, there was an understatement. Even without the whole story, as usual, Kate was close to the mark. ‘We’re not the same any more, and I hate that. I miss the fun we used to have. I just don’t know how to get it back.’

‘On a scale of one to ten?’

Molly looked confused. ‘What?’

‘On a scale of one to ten, how did the kiss rate?’

‘If you’re going to make fun I’m leaving, Kate, I swear.’

Kate shook her head. ‘No, I’m completely serious. I need to know how you rated the kiss. It gives me an idea of the scale of your problem. Anyway, you can’t leave. It’s your shop too.’

Molly blinked at her friend in amazement, then shrugged her shoulders and thought for a moment. On a scale of one to ten. She’d thought about their last kiss far too much over sleepless nights, so it didn’t take long to rate. Her tone was as deadpan as her face when she spoke.

‘About fifteen.’

‘Damn it, I just always thought it would be.’

‘Kate! This isn’t helping.’

‘Sorry.’ She looked more serious. ‘You ever been kissed above an eight before?’

Deadpan again. ‘No.’

‘So now you’ve got the oldest of problems to deal with here. Do you chance losing your friendship for what will probably be the most amazing lovemaking of your life? Or do you hang onto the friendship with it possibly never being the same again because you always wonder whether it would have been the best lovemaking of your life?’

‘Correct me if that’s not a lose/lose situation you just quoted there, Oprah. I thought you were supposed to be helping.’

Kate nodded. ‘I am. I was just thinking out loud. In fact, here’s another. Do you love him?’

‘What did you say?’ Molly couldn’t believe what she’d just been asked. ‘Did you just ask me if I love him? What the hell kind of question is that? It’s Ryan we’re discussing here, not some guy I’ve just been out on a blind date with!’

Kate held her hands up in front of her. ‘Okay, okay, calm down. I know you care about him; I’ve always known that. You were like some loyal terrier when you first found out I had a crush on him. What I mean is do you love him love him. You know—the big one.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. He’s kissed me twice and you expect me to fall head over heels? It’s Ryan. I can’t fall in love with Ryan. It would be like—hell I don’t know—like falling in love with a big brother.’

‘Ryan’s not your brother, Molly.’ Kate walked over and hugged her friend as best she could with eight months’ worth of baby in the way. ‘You want my advice? You go with the flow and let things happen naturally. If you two are meant to be together then there’s nothing you can do to stop that except lie to yourself. He’s a great fella, Molly, and if you’re not meant to be then it’s the biggest test of your friendship you’ll ever have. All friendships have to change and grow, and when you think about it it would change when you marry other partners anyway. So just wait and see, and stop killing yourself over this.’

The words echoed through Molly’s head and she wondered what Kate would think if she knew the whole story. It was a bit difficult to let things happen naturally when everything they were doing was such a lie to begin with.

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