Catch Me a Catch Read online

  An engine gunned. Jack pulled back, breathing hard, as a small red car rushed past.

  What on earth was the matter with him? He’d never been so out of control that he’d wanted to strip a woman bare and make love with her on the side of the road before.

  “We ought to get home,” Annie muttered, her mouth looking swollen from his kisses.

  “Yes.” He dropped his hands into his lap. Struggled to get his aroused body back under his control. “This isn’t the place for kissing.”

  “Right.” Annie stared out of the window. Every molecule of her body was rigid. She must be feeling raw and exposed after revealing her past to him. What sort of a man was this fiancé, to leave a woman he had to have loved at some stage alone at the altar? Annie might be prepared to cut her ex some slack, but he wasn’t. Despite her charitable words, anger flared.

  No man deserved to get away so lightly with hurting a woman. Especially not a woman with an open and giving heart like Annie.

  He started up the engine. Annie should be angry, not forgiving. He hadn’t forgiven Sharon for her betrayal. He’d given Sharon a key to his apartment, never dreaming she’d bring a man there. The day Jack walked into his bedroom and found her writhing on top of a naked stranger had been the day trust died. He’d instantly ordered her out, coldly unmoved by her crying and pleading for another chance. When she’d gone he’d stripped the sheets from the bed and thrown them away, and had replaced the bed the next day. He’d learned his lesson five years ago.

  Annie wasn’t anything like Sharon. She bore no resemblance to the blonde army either. She was like a locked box he didn’t have a key to. Her willingness to forgive was perplexing. He didn’t even try to understand. Women were a different species, and whatever he said at this point was bound to be wrong. He pulled out onto the road again, swerving to avoid wheel-breaking potholes. Maybe if he’d grown up differently, with a caring adult to talk to he’d be better at comforting, but he hadn’t. Silence stretched between them, like a rubber band forced to the breaking point. With relief, he pulled up outside the house.

  Maeve was waiting for them in the kitchen, arms akimbo on rounded hips. “Ah. Here you are Venus Anne Devine. Have you anything to tell me?” Her eagle-eyed glance flicked from Annie to Jack questioningly. God. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire.

  “Venus Anne?” he murmured.

  “Venus Anne,” she confirmed, through pinched lips.

  “What would I have to tell you, Mum?”

  “Well, to start with, you could tell me when you and Jack became an item. The phone’s rung off the hook all afternoon.”

  “Who phoned?” Annie asked wearily.

  A headache started to thud in his temples. Annie was right. Kissing someone in the pub was obviously a huge deal in this close-knit community.

  “Who hasn’t?” The ringing of the phone diverted Maeve’s attention for a moment. “You. Don’t move!” Maeve pinned Jack and Annie with a glare and answered it. “Hi, Miley…Yes. They’re here now. Oh,” her eyebrows shot scalpward. “In the car? Right. Well they seem to have sorted out any car trouble they were having…Sure they’re here now.”

  Maeve hung up. “That was Miley. He saw you a couple of minutes ago.”

  The red car that sped past while they were kissing. Thank God Jack hadn’t gone with his body’s urgings and slipped his hand under her tee-shirt to stroke her breast. Or skimmed the smooth legs that invited his attentions. They’d probably have the fire engine here to meet them if that was the case. Maybe even the gardai to take him away for lewd behavior.

  Annie stood silent beside him. She was probably wondering what to tell her mother. They couldn’t really claim it was a sham. Not after Miley’s phone call. The situation was beyond ridiculous. She was a grown woman, not a naughty teenager. Jack reached over and squeezed her hand gently. He would handle it.

  “I couldn’t wait to kiss her until we got here.” He moved closer. “We wanted to tell you together.” A tentative smile teased the corners of her mouth, and the worry faded from her eyes.

  “Annie and I have decided to go on a couple of dates, starting tonight.” He smiled back. She wasn’t in this, at least, on her own.

  Her mother’s mouth opened then closed. Her words remaining blissfully unspoken.

  ****

  As Annie reported on the day’s matchmaking, Jack climbed the stairs to the bedroom and powered up his computer. The email was waiting in his in-box: a small collection of words, so ordinary and inconsequential, but monumental nonetheless. Mrs Mary Byrne, Ivy Nursing Home, 4 King Street, Greystones. Nothing more, nothing less. The private eye he’d hired before leaving New York had done his job well.

  He checked the details again. No telephone number. Anger swelled in his breast, as it had more than once in the years since his parents’ death. He pulled out the letter he’d demanded from the agency when he turned eighteen. Pain stabbed at his chest again. Rather than being alone in the world as he always thought, he had a living relative who could have claimed him after the car crash so cruelly took both his young parents’ lives.

  Mary Byrne is unable to offer her grandson a home. Reading the words hurt as much as it did the first time. Now, years later, he’d found the woman who could have given him a completely different life. He’d endured the foster homes for years, longing for someone to come and claim him. Eventually his innocent optimism had eroded. No one ever would. The only person in the world he could rely on was the one person he spent all his time with, himself.

  He closed the laptop breathing heavily in the quiet darkness.

  ****

  “He’s the one,” Bull declared, elbows on the honey pine table’s surface. “I approve. So does your mother.”

  “Ah, Dad. We’ve only just met.”

  “Yes, you’ve only just met, but there’s something strong between you, there’s no point denying it. I’ve years of experience.” He slurped his coffee, swallowing his final antibiotic for the day with it. “I’m feeling better. I’ll have the pills finished in a couple of days.”

  Annie eyed him critically. His color was better; the sparkle, which had dimmed his eyes over the past week, was back.

  “Well, I like him.” The words rang with truth. Jack was amusing and interesting. She certainly found him attractive. A forest fire raced through her every time their eyes met. He was also amazingly skilled at dealing with her parents. He’d answered some of Maeve’s questions, and deflected others. All without causing offence, or finding himself pinned on the spot. It was a skill she’d yet to master. Her parent’s beady-eyed regard always immobilized her like a butterfly pinned to a velvet board.

  “He had a real rapport with Noel McDonagh.” She showed him the page full of details. “They just sat and chatted for ages.”

  “Where were you?”

  “I sat it out in the back of the pub.”

  Bull nodded his approval. “Some men are so shy they’re better talking to other men. That’s just the way of it. Maybe if Jack’s around for the next couple of days he might help out again?”

  “I’m sure he might. We want to organize a date for Noel tonight. Who do you think?”

  She successfully diverted her father from his new favorite topic, Jack Miller. Soon they had drawn up a brief list of potential dates.

  “Why don’t you ask Jack for his opinion?” Bull asked. “After all, he spent all the time with Noel.”

  “Right.” She climbed the stairs to the bedroom and tapped lightly on the door, wondering at the lack of light seeping from underneath. He couldn’t have gone out, could he?

  The door jerked open.

  “Annie.” The soft rumble of his voice turned her knees to jelly. He hauled her in, backing her up against the wall and kissing her hungrily. Her heart thundered in her chest at the assault of his lips on hers. His hands ran up and down her arms. It was too fast, unexpected. She pushed against his chest, forcing him back.

  “What are you doing?”

&nb
sp; Jack stepped back, running a hand through his hair.

  “You kissed me in the car, I thought…”

  “You thought what?”

  Blood heated her face. She’d told him all her secrets. Had exposed her core. The balance had shifted between them after her confession. Did he pity her? Was that what this was about, a mercy roll in the hay?

  “Did you think I was coming in here to tumble into bed with you?” A potent mix of anger and vulnerability rippled through her. She yearned to feel the heat of his body against hers again, but her mind rioted at the thought. She couldn’t resist Jack. The knowledge scared her silly. There was no way in hell she was going down this road again. She’d been there, done that. Never again would she fall for a man who would walk away, leaving her behind.

  “Yes.” Stormy indigo eyes clashed and blazed. “There’s something between us. I feel it, and so do you.”

  “An attraction.” She bit her lip, admitting it. “I know. I shouldn’t have let you kiss me in the car. I’m not in the market for a relationship, and neither are you. We barely know each other.”

  “What’s to stop us getting to know each other better?” His arms fell to his sides.

  “Good sense, for one thing.” She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “We will pretend to be falling in love, but I’m not fooling myself. Anything between us would be temporary, and then you’d be headed home again. It will be easier to face the pitying glances if I’m not really dumped.”

  “So what did you really come up here for?” His jaw clenched tightly in the light spilling into the room from the open door.

  “Dad asked me to get you. To look at the list of dates we’ve chosen for Noel.”

  He strode to the window and stared out, tension evident in the set of his shoulders. “Tell him I’ll be down in a moment.”

  “Jack.”

  He turned to her. “I’m in no fit state to go downstairs, Annie. I need some time alone. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  He walked to her and grasped her arm. Words froze in her throat as he propelled her to the door and nudged her through it.

  ****

  The door clicked closed behind her and Jack escaped to the window again, staring out into the darkened garden with sightless eyes.

  Dammit, she had him tied up in knots. He’d never been so attracted. He was so out of control around her it was like being a teenager again. When he’d seen her standing in the doorway he hadn’t been able to stop reaching for her. Kissing her. He breathed out heavily. He’d behaved like a Neanderthal. He pushed his fingers through his hair. His rioting body remembering the feel of her, and her taste. Pretending to be her lover would be hell. A summer fling in Ireland might be exactly what he needed, but Venus Anne Devine didn’t do casual. Her response just now had proved that. Casual was all he could offer; he sure wasn’t in the market for a relationship, no matter how attractive the package.

  He clumped noisily down the stairs to the kitchen. Pushing open the door, he bit back a savage grin at the three faces turned his direction. If he hadn’t known better, he would have sworn they were talking about him.

  “Jack, we’ve a couple of ideas of a match for Noel. Come and let us know what you think.”

  He pulled up a chair, and swiveled the book around to face him. “Tell me about them. Noel was pretty definite about the sort of woman that interested him, let’s see if any of these meet the bill.”

  It was surprisingly easy to decide on a candidate. A pretty girl who had recently moved to the area, and was beset with acute shyness.

  “I’ll call them and set it up.” Annie picked the phone off the wall.

  “I’ll talk to Noel,” Jack suggested. “I told him I’d call.”

  “Right.” She dialed the number and passed the phone over. Her brow creased in concentration, and she listened to their easy banter with rapt attention.

  “Right, you call Annabel now.” He passed Annie the phone. “So she’ll be expecting Noel’s call.”

  There was a touch of pink high in her cheeks when she talked to Noel’s intended. Her long slender fingers fiddled with a pen. Her leg jiggled with unspent energy.

  She’s nervous, she finds talking to people difficult. He struggled with the idea, but giving it headspace, realized it was true. All the markers were there in their earlier encounters, but since they’d spent their time either disagreeing or kissing, he hadn’t picked up on how uncomfortable she was talking to people. She had been as caught up as he was upstairs, but for some reason denied it.

  The conversation over, she replaced the phone in its cradle on the wall, and returned to the table. “She’s ready.” Annie’s excitement was infectious. “I think it’s going to work. They seem a good match.”

  “Well done, Annie.” Bull patted her arm. “Now, what have you two got planned for the evening?”

  “I’m taking Jack to check out the village nightlife. I just need to change first.” No more tempting legs then. The thought was oddly depressing. She turned her chocolate gaze to him. “I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”

  ****

  She parked in a tree-lined square up the hill from the restaurant they’d lunched in. People were everywhere. They sat on benches under the leafy chestnut trees and at tables outside bars and cafes. Music swelled from open doorways, drifting on the warm evening breeze. It all made for a cosmopolitan scene. Not one he’d imagined finding on Ireland’s west coast.

  “We have thousands of visitors during the festival. It’s the biggest event of the year.” Annie strolled toward a café. “The food’s good here.”

  He nodded, and she bagged the last available table and sank onto a chair.

  “How long has the festival been running?”

  “About forty years. In the early days it was all about the matchmaking, now it’s the perfect excuse for everyone to get together and have a good time.” She brushed her hair back from her animated face. “A ceili is organized by the community council.” She laughed at his confused expression. “That’s a dance, Jack. Everyone goes.”

  He nodded, enjoying the flirtatious note in her voice.

  “There is a film festival in the cinema, and all the bars and restaurants offer festival specials. It’s a great place to be for a couple of weeks.”

  “I fell on my feet then, arriving when I did.”

  “Well, you won’t find a better time in any town in Ireland. Not this week anyway.” She grinned, gazing out at the couples, who strolled with arms around each other in the square.

  A waiter approached with two menus. Jack ordered a bottle of Chianti to start the evening off, and glanced at the food on offer.

  “The risotto is to die for.”

  “Two.” Jack ordered. Her eyes glowed in reflected lights strung along the café’s awning. Warm, inviting.

  “So, tell me about your work.”

  “I work in advertising. I have a potential client I’m giving a presentation to in Dublin on Monday. I have a few other small things to take care of while I’m here.” Small things. What an understatement. Finding the woman who’d rejected him was one of the biggest things he’d ever done.

  “An airplane would be faster,” she teased, leaning closer. She’d changed into jeans and a sparkly top, which revealed acres of creamy cleavage. His gaze dipped, until he dragged it up to her mouth.

  “Yes, it would. But the client I’m meeting has a special interest in sailing, so it made more sense to sail.” He grinned. “And I love the sea, so…any excuse.”

  “You need to follow your passions.” It was one of those loaded comments. His current passion was Annie, he’d made that only too clear. He picked up the wineglass and drank. If she wanted him, she’d have to be clearer. He wasn’t putting himself on the line for rejection again.

  The waiter arrived with flat dishes of creamy risotto topped with slivers of parmesan. He picked up a fork and started eating.

  “Tell me about your people, Jack. Where are your parents from?”


  Jack swallowed. Even after so many years, he couldn’t talk about his past without pain piercing his chest like a dagger. “My parents are both dead,” he answered flatly. “But they were Irish.”

  “I’m sorry.” Annie’s eyes were full of compassion. “That must be hard for you.”

  “It was a long time ago.” She was silent, waiting for more. There wasn’t any. Talking about his childhood would be a complete downer.

  “I’ve moved on.”

  “This must all seem alien after New York.” She forked a mouthful of risotto into her mouth and chewed.

  “Yeah, it’s different all right. A lot quieter.” Her small pink tongue darted out to swipe a morsel of rice from her top lip. His core blazed with awareness at the tiny movement.

  He covered her hand with his, and her pupils expanded at the touch of his flesh on hers. She stilled, staring at him. A passing girl who’d had too much to drink, bumped against the table, jolting it. The interruption broke the mood stretched tight like the fairy lights above.

  “I have an apartment in Manhattan, and an office downtown.” Cold, empty and sterile. He walked past thousands of people everyday. Thousands of strangers.

  Not so here. Passing people smiled. Some said hello, some didn’t. The vast majority acknowledged Annie in some way. It was a potent reminder of the connection he was missing. The one he’d come half way across the world to discover.

  “I’d love to see New York.” There was a wistful note in her voice. “I haven’t traveled at all, apart from a brief holiday in France with a couple of friends. Steve and I were going to go to Australia on our honeymoon.” She eased her hand away, and picked up her glass. “He took Elaine instead. I think that’s the bit that hurt most!”