I turn to Norah and gesture towards the door.
“Shall we?” I pause, taking in the nervous expression on her face. “Er, are you alright, lass?”
She blinks rapidly. “Uh, yeah. I just—um…well, if I’m being honest, it’s that I don’t really know you, and I don’t make it a habit to accept rides from someone I don’t know.”
Nodding in understanding, I offer, “Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you the keys to my car, and you can drive yourself home, and I’ll walk. Easy as that.”
“No!” she practically yells. “I couldn’t possibly do that. It’s really not that far. Just a fifteen-minute walk through the park. I can manage.”
“I admire your bravery, Norah, but I won’t be letting you walk through the dark alone. What kind of man would I be if I sent a pretty lass like yourself off on her own at night?” Honestly, my Mam would have my ballsfor that.
“I—” she starts, but I cut her off.
“No. I won’t hear of it. I respect your decision completely to not ride in a car with someone you don’t know, and I won’t press that, but you will be driving my car home. You can bring it back to Paddy’s tomorrow. I’ll give you my number so you can let me know when it’s here.”
I hold my keys out in the palm of my hand. She cautiously takes them and meets my eyes. “Thank you, Eamon.”
God, I love the sound of my name coming from her mouth. I glance at her perfect lips and am suddenly imagining what it would be like to place a soft kiss on them. She clears her throat, breaking the spell I’m under.
“Sorry, what?” I quickly ask, dragging my gaze back to her eyes.
“I asked which car is yours,” she replies, an eyebrow cocked in question.
“Ah, I’ll show you.”
We exit through the back door, setting the alarm as Pat requested, and walk around the north side of the building to the parking lot out front. The pub is on the corner of an outdoor shopping center. There are parking spaces in front of the building, all the way down the street, and a small parking lot around the back. Most people show up early or pay for parking in the city lot a couple of blocks away. Thankfully, I had the good sense to show up early tonight. Why, I don’t know. Maybe I was hoping to talk Paddy out of doing the dishes. I point to my black SUV sitting a few spaces down from the entrance to the pub. It’s the only vehicle on the block.
“Sorry, there aren’t heated seats or remote start,” I say, grinning at her.
“Not a problem at all. At least you have a car! I sold mine once I got here. I figured I’d just walk everywhere or use public transportation,” she explains.
“I’m sure you fit right in when you were in Ireland, then. That’s all I did growing up.”
“It just seems so simple. But I felt safer there than I do here.” Norah shrugs.
I grimace. Being alone on the Luas at night can be a pretty scary place.
“I hope you never took public transportation at this time of night there.It’s not always the safest either”.
“No. When I stayed in Dublin, my room was right in Temple Bar, so I just walked everywhere. There were always people around.”
I can picture her there—walking around Temple Bar, neck craning to take in all of the sights. I can see her sitting in a pub like Auld Dubliner, drinking a Guinness—or three—and laughing at the cheeky Irish ditties. The thought makes me wish we were there right now.
“Do you miss it there at all?” she asks quietly as we approach my car.
“Sometimes,” I tell her. “I miss Temple Bar. There’s nothing quite like it. I miss the way you can look up at the sky in the country and see the stars. You can’t find that kind of solitude in Wilmington.”
“That’s true. In my hometown, you could easily find a field outside of city limits that would let you stargaze. There would always be a group of us that would get together on the weekends, and…” she stops and shivers.
“Here, get in. You’re getting cold, and it’s late,” I order her.
She obeys and slides into the driver’s seat, inhaling deeply.
“Sorry, about the smell,” I apologize. “We football players aren’t known for our lack of sweat.” I wish I would have cleaned my car out before letting her get in.
Laughing, she shakes her head and glances up at me. “It doesn’t stink. I promise.”
“Is it okay if I give you my number so you can let me know when you’ve dropped the car off?”
