Seamus narrowed his eyes at her, unsure. Then, he pointed at the bag with his chin. “What’s in it?”
Bonnie let one of her radiant smiles shine on him, dimples and all. “Oh, just a scone from the Blackrock Bakery.”
“Butter and jam?” he asked, his expression still betraying nothing.
“Of course,” Bonnie said, stepping closer.
He held out his hand to stop her, though. Then he turned it, waving his fingers towards himself as he said, “Let’s hear it.”
Confusion played across her face for only a moment before her lips pressed in a tight line. She closed her eyes, concentrating on sounding contrite. “I’m sorry for my behavior the other night. I was drunk and jetlagged, and I should not have tried to pour cider on your head.”
There was a moment when both girls held their breath, his expression too hard to read. Bonnie’s arm holding the scone began to lower.
“Oh, all right,” he relented, his lips cracking into a smile. “Hand over the scone. I forgive you.”
Quickly taking the last couple of steps up to the bar, Bonnie handed over the bag and took a seat, motioning for Penny to join her.
His eyes narrowed again.
“Two coffees, please,” she ordered quickly, reassuring him. “Whenever you get a chance. No rush.”
“All right then.”
Finally feeling comfortable enough with the situation, Penny pulled out a stool for herself—all the while watching the sculpted bartender as he moved about his job. She’d forgotten just how lovely his biceps were. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt that did little to conceal every rippled muscle beneath it. She practically jumped when he turned with their coffees, his blue eyes twinkling as they caught her ogling him.
“Thank you,” Bonnie said sweetly.
Seamus unwrapped the scone, placing it on a saucer, and he smiled down at it. “Worth it,” he said without looking up.
“So, Penny,” Bonnie said, louder than necessary. “We need to decide how best to keep you busy. There are some places I really want to show you. And, you know, just basic hanging out, but I’m sure there are some other great things to do and see. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to get some work done soon.”
“I think just exploring the city could take me a while,” Penny answered in a more subdued voice.
Which prompted a grunt of a laugh from Seamus.
Bonnie zeroed in on him. “Do you have thoughts on that?”
“It’s smaller than you think. It just twists and turns enough to make you think there’s more of it than there is.”
“It’s not that small,” Bonnie said, with only a smidge of huffiness. It still earned her a warning look from Penny. “Andthere’s plenty of nearby places to see, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Cobh. And we could do some overnight trips too.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Penny said optimistically. She’d promised herself she’d be open to things.
Seamus stepped closer, bringing his scone with him. “I could show you around if you’d like.”
Penny blinked, taking in the too gorgeous to be true man making the offer, but unable to make words come out of her mouth to answer. She had fallen for gorgeous before. She wasn’t sure it could be trusted. On the other hand, didn’t it disprove everything Carson had said about her, every horrible thought he’d made her think about herself, to have this, let’s not lie, even better-looking man, possibly asking her out? Realizing she was getting caught up in her thoughts, while Seamus stood there waiting, she tried to pull herself together.
“I’m off tomorrow. I don’t do early mornings, and I’ll have to go to the gym first, but I could show you around after that.”
Still, Penny sat blinking. In her head, the repeated mantra, be open to new things, be open to new things, sang out.
Until Bonnie not-so-subtly elbowed her into an actual answer.
“Uh, sure. That would be… lovely.”
“Grand. Meet me here tomorrow around, let’s say, three.”
“Okay,” Penny’s head bobbed up and down. “Sounds good.”
