Forever Dublin (Forever #2) Page 8

  “Conor here.” A flicker of a smile passed across his face as he neared me. Although I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to call him a kid. He looked like he was nearly out of high school, maybe the oldest here? “Could you teach us to ride?”

  “Um, okay,” I responded, not sure if I would really be able to make that happen.

  Adam poked me in the ribs with his elbow. “You really are full of surprises,” he said in a low voice as the kids began chatting in small groups. His blue eyes shifted to mine.

  “Funny. I could say the same about you.”

  “A man of mystery,” he joked, placing a hand over his heart. He winked at me and turned away to grab a basketball from the ground. He tossed it at Conor. “You ready to play?” he asked the group.

  I approached some of the girls who were still crowded around. “What would ya’ll like to do?”

  “We’d love to hear more about you,” the girl, I believe Adam had said her name was Chloe, spoke up.

  There wasn’t much more to tell about me, but I’d do my best.

  After a few hours and a couple of slices of pizza, the kids and the volunteers had all gone home. Adam and I were alone in the building.

  “That was fun.” I came up next to Adam who was standing near the doors.

  He shifted to face me. “The rain has stopped.”

  “Good. I’d hate to get drenched again.”

  “I’ll take you home.”

  “On your bike?” My brows popped up.

  “No. Although the way you look . . . I almost wish I had it right now. A little wind in your hair might do you some good.”

  “What are you trying to say, that I need loosening up or something?”

  He cleared his throat as his eyes found mine, glimmering with amusement. With his dirty mind I was going to have to learn to watch my mouth.

  “I have my car. Unlike you, I check the forecast before I go out.”

  “I had an umbrella,” I defended. “But . . . ugh, never mind.” He pushed open the door and held his hand out, motioning for me to exit. Sure, like I’d give him another chance to verify my text. “You first.”

  “Ah.” He allowed the door to close and touched his chest. “I’m a gentleman. A woman always goes first.”

  “I should walk, anyway. I don’t want anyone seeing us together near the hotel.”

  He rolled his eyes at me. A straight up eye roll! I wanted to smack his chest. Okay, so maybe I’d use any excuse I could get to touch my fingers to the hard planes of his body.

  “I’ll drop you off around the block from the hotel,” he said, laughing a little.

  “Hey!” I stood in front of him, ready to go after him. “This is no joke. I’m taking this internship seriously.”

  He lowered his head but kept his eyes on me. “Good. I’d hate to see you wasting the company’s time.”

  “And why is it that the only three international interns you have working for you are also the only three female interns? What, were you trying to meet some quota? Kill two birds with one stone?” I folded my arms and fumbled back a step as he took in a large breath, his chest rising. I had to stop myself from reaching out for him. What was wrong with me?

  “First of all, there’s no quota. Second of all, I didn’t choose the interns, John did.” He propped his hand up on the wall by the door. My eyes drifted to his sleeved arm and the bit of black ink peeping out.

  Why was I bringing this up? Maybe I needed to distract the pull of annoying desire that tugged at me.

  “Are you ready to go now?”

  “Yes,” I hissed, realizing I was really just angry at myself for how nuts I was acting. I ducked under his arm and pushed open the door. “Where’s your car?” I spun around fast, whipping my bag of wet clothes and boots around with me.

  Adam quickly dodged my bag, taking a side step and eying me like I was crazy. And apparently, I was. “It’s the only one on the street.” He smirked.

  The black metal gleamed, even beneath the dim street lighting. I walked over to it and spotted the red, gold, and black symbol with the horse in the middle. A Porsche, of course. What did I expect—a Toyota? “This tops out near two hundred miles per hour,” I said, rubbing my hand over the front hood. “Zero to sixty in, what, four and half seconds, give or take?”

  Adam’s mouth parted as he stared at me. “You know cars?”

  I opened the heavy door, and then realized I was on the wrong side of the car. The wheel was on the right in Ireland. I blushed as I moved past him, ignoring the smirk he wore.

  “I know engines.” I tried to maintain my confidence as I moved around the sports car. “My father has two passions: horses and horsepower. He taught me all about them both. Not that he could ever afford a car like this, but he worked on luxury car engines as a side business. More of a hobby.” I didn’t want to see his response, so I slipped inside, sliding over red leather. “You sure like your toys, though, huh?” I fastened the seatbelt and pulled the heavy bag onto my lap.

  When he got in he had a grin on his face. “You keep surprising me, Anna.” He pressed a button on the dashboard and a few moments later my body warmed. Ah. Heated seats. “Better?”

  “Beats riding a bike.”

  He pulled onto the main road, and my eyes wandered to the veins on the top of his hand as he gripped the clutch and shifted.

  “I like to go fast.”

  “Most guys do, don’t they?” I forced myself to look out the window, ignoring the pool of heat between my legs as the image of riding him snuck into my thoughts. Hell, I’d never even been in that position in my life! What right did I have to think about it?

  In the reflection of the glass, I spotted him glancing at me. “Slow is good, too,” he said as the car rolled to a stop at a red light.

  I ignored the possible innuendo of his words and kept my eyes glued outside. A few guys were singing a song at one of the tables outside a cute little painted red pub. I was pretty sure I’d seen that pub listed as one of the “places to visit while in Dublin” during my last minute research before I flew over. I wasn’t much of a drinker, though. My tolerance to alcohol was somewhere between zero and negative ten. Besides, I didn’t have the most positive memories associated with the stuff.

  I shut my eyes as a cold spell of the past whispered across my skin. Chills followed as goose bumps covered my arms.

  No. Don’t think about that.

  “Adam?”

  “Yeah?”

  The car started to move, and I opened my eyes. “Are you seeing anyone?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious, I guess.”

  A soft hum came from his lips. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’ll answer it if you—”

  His laughter had me snapping my attention to him. “What makes you think I want to know?” He paused for a moment. “And the answer better be that you’re single.”

  What? “And why is that?”

  He shook his head. “Because I pegged you as innocent. And if you were my girl, and you went around texting another bloke about your arse, I’d lose my shite.”

  “Oh really? What makes you think I’m so innocent?”

  He halted at another red light and scratched his brow as his lips pulled at the edges. “You radiate light. Like some sort of angel.”

  My lips spread open in surprise. “I—what?”

  “And I’m not good for someone like you,” he said in a throaty voice before shifting his blue eyes away.

  There it was again, that whole bad boy routine. What could be so bad about him? Then the two thugs who knew him came to mind. Still, I needed to kill the awkwardness that hung heavy between us as he tore down the street. “No worries, love,” I mimicked him, “you’re far from my type, anyway.”

  His hand tightened on the steering wheel as he shifted gears with the other. When he didn’t respond, I looked out the window once again, feeling a little bad about my comment now.

  A few minutes later, Adam pulled
up in front of my hotel. “I thought you were going to drop me off a block away.” I unbuckled my belt and sat up straight.

  “I’ll stay in the car—no one will see us. Relax.” He shifted in his seat to face me.

  “You know why I’m worried.”

  “It’s my company—who the feck cares what anyone thinks? I’ll tell them to go to hell for ya if anyone gives you shit.”

  “I just don’t want people to think I didn’t earn the job . . . if I get it, that is.”

  “I don’t make that decision, so it shouldn’t matter.” He shrugged.

  Sure, it was no big deal to him, but I’d only been at the company two days, and the last thing I wanted was to establish a reputation as—well, someone less than innocent.

  “Goodnight, Adam.”

  He opened his door, and I assumed he was planning on something chivalrous, yet again. I beat him to it and pushed my door open before he could walk around and open it for me. I stepped out of the car, which was too low to the ground. Why were expensive cars so hard to get out of?

  He stood outside of the car and placed his arms on top of it, his eyes on me. “Why do I feel like we just had a fight, and I’m in trouble?” He perked a brow and a smile teased his lips.

  I couldn’t be mad at him if I wanted to. Damn him. I copied his eye rolling move from earlier and shook my head. “Goodnight, Adam,” I dragged out the two words, clutching my bag. When I turned away, the heat of his stare was on my back as I moved.

  Ten

  Adam

  “Ma?” My palms were sweaty at my sides as I entered the house. It was near noon so she would be in the sunroom reading.

  Ma was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in one hand and book the size of a brick in her other hand. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of me, and she dropped the book on the couch and jumped to her feet, her lips spreading into a smile. She set her cup down and flung her arms around my neck as if she hadn’t just seen me last week.

  She released her hold on me, and I caught sight of what she’d been reading—the Russian novel Anna Karenina. Anna. Would the woman never escape my thoughts? She had green eyes that I worried would be able to see the blackest part of my ugly soul. Ma joked that she’d named me after Adam. You know, the original Adam. The one who screwed humanity by eating the forbidden fruit? Yup, that’s me. Well, close enough.

  “Adam, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

  I sank onto the couch and picked up the book. “How many times you gonna read this?” I cracked a smile at her as she sat next to me and patted my knee.

  She grabbed the book from me and set it on the end table next to her. “Stop stalling. Why are ya here?”

  She knew me too well. Her dark lashes blinked a few times as she focused her light blue eyes on me, squinting like she could read my mind. I almost wondered if she could. “You’re killing me, boy. What’s going on?”

  I didn’t think I could stay seated for what I had to say. I pushed up off my jeaned thighs and stood.

  “Adam?” Her voice was a warning to my ears, and I took notice.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, tilted my head back, and shut my eyes. “I have to break a promise to you. I have to do something I promised you I’d never do again.”

  She was behind me almost immediately. Her hand was on my arm, and she was tugging at me. “No, Adam.” Her voice was like a ghost of a whisper, as if she knew in her heart she wouldn’t be able to change my mind.

  I slowly turned toward her, my eyes flashing open, my hands coming down over her arms. “I don’t have a choice. I need you to—”

  Her eyes opened wider. “Give you permission?” She balked. “No.” An emphatic shake of the head followed. “No. No. No.” She looked away from me, rubbing her arms as if a chill rocked through her body, even though it was hotter than hell in the room.

  “I have to do this with or without your blessing, but I’d prefer that you be okay with it.”

  “Why, Adam? Why are you going to fight again?” Ma’s brows pinched together, and she pressed her fingers over her eyes as if it was too painful for her to look at me. I didn’t blame her.

  “Les is in trouble.”

  She dropped her hands to her sides. Her face was paler now, her lips drawn in a straight line.

  “To help him, I have to fight again.”

  “There has to be another way.”

  My own pain, fear, and sadness were a reflection in her eyes.

  “Money and threats can’t get me out of this.”

  I walked over to the expansive window that looked out onto the rolling green hills behind the home.

  “You can’t go down that path again. I almost lost you before—I can’t lose you again.” Her voice rattled with emotion.

  “You won’t lose me—I’ll be okay. It’ll be over in November.”

  “Once Donovan gets his grip on you, it won’t end. Not this time. We may not be able to save you again.”

  “You don’t trust me?” I faced her.

  “I don’t trust what fighting does to you.”

  I didn’t want her to be right. Not this time. “Two months, Ma. In two months, I’ll put my fists down and never raise them again. You have my word.”

  “Until the next time?” She crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, Adam. If you do this, you don’t have my support. I can’t give it to you. I can’t be a part of it. I can’t watch you destroy yourself.”

  With that, she left the room. All I could do was stare, fixated, at the book on the table until the word Anna became a blur before my eyes.

  ***

  I hadn’t been to the office until now. I’d been dodging calls from my family and Les. I wasn’t prepared to tell Les about the deal I’d made with Donovan.

  I’d been training at my gym around the clock for the first few days, and then I hit up a few of the boxing gyms in the city and sparred with some of the guys. A few of them recognized me. Some of them had already heard I’d be fighting Saturday.

  I had released some of my frustration on my sparring partners without going overboard. It was therapeutic. At the same time, it was strange to feel my fists once again connect with hard flesh. Not strange—frightening. I liked it too much.

  By Friday afternoon, however, I had done all I could do. And I still had a job to do. I had a meeting I couldn’t back out of and so now I was sitting behind my desk, staring at my bruised knuckles. I hadn’t worn gloves to protect my hands when I’d all but torn up my speed bag with my fists last night.

  Stupid.

  “Hey, stranger,” Ethan said.

  I hadn’t even heard my door open. Next time, I would lock it. “What’s up?” I leaned back in my chair and shifted my hands to my lap. Both my brothers were now standing in front of my desk.

  Ethan was one of my younger siblings, and he rarely made an appearance at the office. He was still finishing up his MBA at Trinity College. If he was here, it meant one thing. Ma had talked.

  Sean slumped in the chair in front of my desk and scratched his chin. “Is it true?”

  Why was he even asking? “Obviously, or you wouldn’t be here.”

  “Don’t do it, man. Don’t walk down that road again.”

  Ethan, the notorious party boy, was giving me advice?

  “Did Ma tell you my side of the story? Or did she just send you here to try and talk me down?”

  Ethan came around next to me. He pressed a palm to the desk and narrowed his green eyes at me. “Les got himself into the mess—you don’t need to be the one to get him out.”

  Sean blew out a breath. “You can’t do this,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure whom to focus on—Sean or Ethan? They were hitting me from both directions, but it wouldn’t work. Les was almost as much of a brother to me as they were, and I’d go in the ring for them. Why couldn’t they understand I needed to do it for Les?

  Of course, if they knew about Anna, they’d probably want me to go to the police. They didn’t grasp how
dangerous that was.

  “I’m not having this conversation. I have a meeting in ten minutes if you don’t mind.” I shifted upright and reached for some papers on my desk.

  “You’re going to get yourself hurt or worse.” Ethan turned his back to me. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time you were in that ring?”

  I pushed away from the desk, dropping the papers to the floor as my jaw clenched. I grabbed Ethan by the arm, spinning him to face me. My blood was heated, the anger spiraling through me. “Do you think there is one Goddamn day I don’t think about it? That I don’t feckin’ remember?” Breathing hard, I followed Ethan’s stare down to where my hand was gripping the material of his sleeve. I hadn’t even realized what I’d done. Bloody hell. I released my grip and raked my hands down my face, ready to claw at my skin.

  “You’re already your old self again, aren’t you? Sure as hell didn’t take long.” My hands fell back to my sides at Sean’s words, hearing the disgust in his voice. Was he right? Was I him again?

  Ethan lowered his head, shaking it a little at me, which made me feel like the scum on the bottom of some damn shoe. They didn’t bother to say anything else. They didn’t fight like I would have. No, they left me alone to sink back into my seat, to press my hands back over my face.

  My mind tackled memories as they scratched their way up, but I shoved them in some dark corner of my mind, suppressing them. I couldn’t think about my past if I was going to step into that ring tomorrow. I had a fight to win.

  A knock at my door had me jerking my head up.

  Like a breath of fresh air she was. Anna peeked through the glass, and I waved her in. She was just what I needed to squash the pain.

  She slowly crossed the room and stood in front of me. Her red skirt hugged her hips, and her tight black turtleneck showed off her narrow waist and full breasts. “Hi.” Her soft voice was like a gentle breeze on my hot skin.

  I smiled at her. I couldn’t help it. It didn’t matter how angry or upset I was, all I had to do was look at her, and I grinned like an idiot.

  Her eyes settled on my hands. “What happened?” she asked.