Luck of The Irish (Getting Lucky)

“This isn’t what I was expecting,” I said as I glided my fingers along with the white countertops.

“You thought I lived in a brothel, didn’t you,” Aiden asked, a cocky smile forming on his lips.

“If you hadn’t already told me about your mother, I would have assumed you lived with her.”

“Well, trust me, my mum was far from the cooking and cleaning type. I lived off the dregs of her Black pudding for three years of my life.”

My heart broke for Aiden. I hated that he also had a mother who neglected him and ignored him. Maybe that was what drew us to each other, two souls that never had a chance to flourish under the protective wing of motherly love. We both yearned for that connection, that bond of unconditional love.

“I get that. I taught myself how to cook at ten. It was either learn to use the stove safely or starve to death.”

He cracked open a bottle of water for himself and handed one to me. He took a sip, his eyes never leaving me as he drank. I watched his Adams apple bob up and down as he swallowed and I imagined him, young and powerful, giving his all in the ring. Aiden was a sight to behold even now and I felt privileged to be in his presence. I wanted to know what he was thinking as his eyes burned into me, branding my skin. He didn’t say a word as he put the bottle down, just pulled me in for a quiet deep kiss. When we parted, he opened the fridge and took out a platter of beautifully arranged, sliced fruit from the shelf.

“Wow,” I said, looking at the platter of berries, pineapple, and sliced peaches. “You prepared. What would you have done with all this if I’d said no?”

“I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Aiden said, flashing that cocky grin at me.

“You weren’t so sure when you were about to leave my flat,” I teased.

“Maybe it was all an act,” Aiden said. He crossed his arms inadvertently pulling tight on his already fitted t-shirt. My eyes widened at the outline of all his bulging muscles. Aiden McCarthy was an athlete, a superhero to lost kids, and the most exquisite eye candy I’d ever seen. It was impossible to separate the incredible man he was from his dashing good looks. If God made a blueprint of what a perfect man would look like, it’d be Aiden through and through. He also happened to be the one man in my life, I’d allowed myself to get close to, and that single fact, scared the living shit out of me. I plopped a strawberry into my mouth to distract my mind, my eyes automatically closed as the sweetness exploded on my tongue.

“Well, this is a first, Ms. Walsh. You managed to make a man of my size envy a small bite of fruit,” Aiden said, pulling me back to reality.

I savored the berry as the sweet and tart flavors mixed on my palate. When I swallowed and opened my eyes, Aiden was transfixed on my lips.

He pushed off the counter and stepped closer to me, his arms forming a welcomed cage around me. He moved one hand up my arm, taking another strawberry and feeding it to me, followed by a tender closed kiss. “You’re so sweet,” he whispered against my lips.

“The moment I saw you, I knew I had to have you, A Chara. There was this immediate connection I felt the moment I laid eyes on you.”

I blushed the color of the strawberry I’d just relished when he touched me. His hands felt like heaven on my skin and the brush of his stubble on my shoulder sent my whole body into a field of gooseflesh.

“Come upstairs with me?” he whispered into my ear.

I took his hand and let him pull me wherever he wanted to take me.

Aiden took my hand and gently tugged me towards the stairs. I couldn't help noticing all of the framed photographed on the walls, portraits in black and white, very similar to the aesthetic at the gym. These ones however, were mostly of younger kids with possibly their parents or guardians standing by them, everyone beaming at the camera in pure joy.

"What are these?" I asked, stopping in front of a particular photograph. It appeared to be a young Sean and Aiden with their arms around each other, both looking happy and smiling at the camera.

"That's Sean and me ten years ago, now. He's come a long way from the kid I found beaten, bloody, and broken in an alley. He graduated medical school, works at the hospital now." Aiden took the photo off the wall, smiling, "I'm so proud of him. He’s a class act, that lad."