Ronan turned his head lazily, arms stilllocking Payson in place against the wall, and growled at hisbrother. “I thought you were out on the prowl.”
Payson ducked under his arm and out of thecage with an eye-roll, winked at Aiden, and started across thestreet to the antique store. “I’ll let you two boys compare dicksizes while I do some shopping.” Ronan watched as her hips swayedwith each step, her hair swaying in rhythm with her seductivestrides.
Aiden caught his brother dreamily watchingher walk away and cleared his throat, “Man, you got it bad.”
Sighing deeply, Ronan had to agree, “Yeah,you may be right.”
Aiden had a look of deep sympathy on his facewhen Ronan looked back at his brother. “You sure that’s a goodidea? You were in a pretty low place not 24 hours ago.”
Introspective, Ronan ran his hand through hisshort hair, still surprised when there wasn’t much hair to muss. Hefelt so much more comfortable with the new do, but it was a bitweird to feel so weightless. “I was. Still am, even if I’m dressingbetter. It’s been letting up a bit the last few weeks. Gettingeasier.”
The brothers stood side by side, lookingacross the street at the building Payson had since disappearedinto. Ronan continued, wanting his brother to understand, “I’ve gotsome shitty memories, but some good ones too. The last nine yearswere actually pretty awesome; I did exactly what I wanted to dowith my life. Saved a lot of lives, hell, saved the world. Morethan a few times. I’m trying to turn my focus to what went rightduring those years, rather than the shit that didn’t.”
“Saved the world huh? Any exciting stories?”Aiden was all ears, captivated.
Ronan looked around. No one in sight. Nevercould be too careful. “A few,” he motioned his brother to followhim across the street. “Remember that ‘false alarm’ incomingmissile threat to Hawaii a few years back? Or, better yet, want toknow how they finally found Bin Laden?” Aiden shook his head, eyessuspicious. Ronan gave a wink and an innocent shrug, anddisappeared into the antique shop, leaving his brother in thedust.
~
Payson had enjoyed shopping in the quaintvillage. Tourist-shop bounties were now safely stored in her room;she’d purchased a beautiful locally made woven basket and anartfully crafted coffee mug. Feeling inspired to help him fill uphis new wardrobe, she picked up a knit watchman’s cap for Ronan.She’d also made fast friends with the owner of the antique shop.They’d traded business cards and agreed to refer antique-lovingtourists to each other’s shops.
Finally, Laura and Maddy both surfaced,cheeks glowing from restful… or not-so-restful… afternoons withtheir significant others. Normally, Payson would have feltoverwhelmed by a healthy dose of jealousy, but she had the promiseof tonight to hold her over.
She normally waited until at least a sixth oreven tenth date before considering sex. Not prudish, she justwanted to make sure they were compatible. She’d been with Clivenearly six months before they’d had sex for the first time.
Things were completely different with Ronan.They’d spent weeks working side by side, arguing constantly. Thefire had been there from the moment they met at the art gallery,despite the bickering, and she’d grown to enjoy the challenge. Asshe got to know his quirks, she became more intrigued by him.
Then last night… well, moreso the night atthe tavern, she’d thrown outPayson’sBook of Dating toFind Your Soulmateand jumped him. Yes, it had taken a largequantity of beer to initially lower her walls. But, she had yet toregret it.
Maddy walked arm in arm with her on the wayto the restaurant. The boys had separated the last hour, checkingout the fishing and boating-focused shop at the end of the maindrag. The island ran a successful fishing tour, and, as Chase andFrank hoped to open one of their own in the spring, they’d scopedout the operation.
Maddy hadn’t hesitated to drill her aboutRonan. “So, you and Ronan, huh? That might explain why you’re nevergoing out with Gregory again.” She teased. Laura had walked a fewfeet behind, pretending that she wasn’t listening.
Payson blushed, unsure how to answer.
Maddy continued. “What changed things? At thegallery opening, you two looked like you were about to spear eachother. Although, that night at Winter’s… that was some naughtydancing. I wasn’t sure if it was just drunk Payson or somethingmore. With Ronan being Ronan, not at all the type to fool around, Ishould have suspected more.”
With a sigh, Payson finally answered, “Icouldn’t even tell you what changed. I just… I like him. A lot.He’s different from any man I’ve been out with, and you know howI’ve racked them up while looking for the right one.”
“Different, huh? You’ve been going for theuptight narcissists, so, yeah, he is definitely not that. Not thathe doesn’t have an enormous ego, but he’s both honest andself-effacing about it.”
“Hey, I haven’t picked that terrible ofdates.” Payson frowned.
Too impatient to wait behind and risk missingany of the good stuff, Laura dashed up and linked up to her otherarm, “It was watching him work with his hands, wasn’t it? Frank isat his sexiest when he’s working with his hands, flexing thosemuscles.” Laura grinned at the girls.
Shaking her head in wonder, Payson quizzed,“Laura, you sly thing. You set us up? Admit it.”
Nodding, Laura fessed up, “Of course I did. Iadore you and want you for my own daughter. I had initially thoughtof Aiden, but it’s lucky you two just don’t fit. He’s a bit toomuch of a rogue. You needed someone a little more… enigmatic.”
Maddy eyed her mother suspiciously, “Mom,you’ve got to cut back on the romance novels. You enjoy playingmatchmaker a bit too much, don’t you? Wait a sec, Dad’s truckwasn’t broken that day he told me to ask Chase to drive me toPortland - it was just fine, wasn’t it?”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Oh honey, of courseit was fine. It needed upgrading, and he’d been planning to buy anew one soon anyway, so we jumped on the opportunity to give youthat extra push. You and Chase had been obviously in love foryears, you two just hadn’t figured it out yet.”
Payson laughed, “Aiden’s a bit dense, though.Laura, did Maddy tell you his initial reaction?”
Maddy shook her head, “Mom doesn’t want tohear about that.”
Laura giggled and nudged Payson, “If Maddywon’t tell me, you’ve got to. Aiden was a bit overly protective ofhis sister, and he can be a bit dense when it comes to girls.”
