Fergus turned back at his car and smiled, a knowing look on his face. Olcan rolled his eyes and closed the door, retrieving the phone on his table to call his neighbors. He might not want to barge in on a strange woman, but they knew the score. They knew his family was no one to fuck with and should have known better than to bring some strange girl into the fold without letting him know. The phone went straight to voicemail.
“James, this is Olcan McNally. Who the fuck is crawling around in your front yard?” he growled before ending the call.
He poured himself a drink and sat down in the chair in front of the window. More than an hour and two high balls later, the woman was long gone and he was annoyed that he was still waiting on an answer. He stood up and headed out, marching across the front yard and up to the front door of James and Hannah’s house to ring the bell. He heard a scuffling noise inside, but it didn’t seem to be approaching the door, and so he rang it again, impatient.
The woman opened the door just a crack and peered out at him. He took quick note of the towel on her head and what he could see of her bare shoulders and realized she had just gotten out of the shower. He felt another tug in his groin. Fuck, what was it about this lass that got him going so fast?
“I’m looking for James,” he barked at her.
“He’s not about,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper.
“Where is he?”
“I, uh, who might you be?” she asked, sounding only slightly bolder now.
“I’m Olcan McNally. I live across the street,” he told her.
“Oy. James didn’t mention you’d be popping ‘round,” she replied.
“He didn’t say anything about a strange woman being in his house either,” he countered.
“I’m the dog sitter,” she replied.
“Are you the gardener too?”
“What? Ah. Ya mean earlier. I dropped a ring in the garden whilst tryin’ ta get the dog inside.”
Olcan was quiet for a moment. She had made herself far too visible to be a squatter, so she was probably telling the truth, but why hadn’t James and Hannah told him? Still, he realized that his beef was with them for that and not this lass for just being here. Even in his anger, he’d not missed something else about her, though.
“You’re Irish,” he observed.
“Aye,” she replied.
“From where?” he asked, despite having a good idea from her particular accent.
“Dublin.”
Now he was more than a little curious; what were the odds of an Irish lass from Dublin housesitting for the neighbors right across the street from him. No way was that a coincidence.
“How’d you come to be dog sitting for two yuppies in the suburbs?”
“Ye ask a lot of questions, don’t ya?”
“Aye.”
“Well, Olcan McNally from across the street. In case ya didn’t take notice of it, I’m not decent, and I’ll not be continuing this inquisition of yours until I’m dressed more for the occasion. Ta now.”
Olcan stood staring at the door as it closed in his face. He started to bang on it until she opened it, but he was angry, and something else had come up. He was as hard as a rock, his cock straining against the zipper of his jeans. It took a moment for it to sink in as he walked back across the street to his house, annoyed and more than a little confused. She’d somehow gotten him so out of sorts that he was only just now realizing that he’d not even gotten her name.
“Unfucking believable,” he muttered as he went back inside his house, angry and frustrated.CHAPTER THREENiamh
NIAMH LEANED AGAINST the door, her heart hammering out of her chest. Olcan McNally was not exactly one to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling from the welcome wagon, that was for sure. She’d expected there would be neighbors who wanted to know what she was doing and how she came to be here but having him barge over and demand answers hadn’t been on her bingo card. It had caught her completely off guard and well undressed, as it were.
Still, he was an impressive man, an overwhelming presence. From the moment she had opened the door, she felt a pull toward him like she’d never experienced with a man before, not even her husband. There was the obvious attraction; he was tall and buff. His thick sandy hair matching his closely cropped beard. Penetrating blue eyes that cut right through you finished off what she’d describe as fuckable good looks.
Despite having held her own with him, she’d definitely felt his presence in a way that was unexpected. Then again, this entire move had been full of surprises already. She’d come here thinking she was going to be a nanny and house sitter. Instead, the “baby” she’d found she would be caring for was an English Mastiff who outweighed her and didn’t seem particularly inclined to follow her commands.