Reclaimed

She had no errands to run, nowhere she needed to be.

One thing remained certain, however: she was going to the McGuiness’s Tavern for every meal necessary. Hell, she’d even sleep there next to Zeke. Desperation to see if her dream became reality, or if she was going insane, ruled her.

And yet, she feared the answer.

***

Upon arriving at the tavern, Sabrina discovered, much to her disappointment, they didn’t open until lunchtime. Even Zeke, ever present, hadn’t shown up yet. His empty jar still sat there, but he was nowhere in sight. Lunchtime wouldn’t arrive for two more hours, so she hovered outside the door. She could go shopping until lunch, or go home and come back later. Or she could, more sensibly, return home and forget this whole idea. The very suggestion a man in a dream could tell her she would meet him in the reality of daylight rang of ludicrousness, so why had she even come?

She cursed and decided to head home.

Absorbed in contemplating her stupidity, she spun and crashed into a rock-solid wall. She broke free from her thoughts and raised her gaze to see she hadn’t run into a wall at all. She’d collided with a man. A very tall man, considering the fact her nose throbbed from slamming into his chest. She stumbled backward and embarrassed herself further when she tripped over her own feet. Arms reached out to steady her, and she blushed in mortification.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I—” She broke off. Finally finding her feet steady on the ground, she lifted her gaze to his face.

Mistake.

Huge freaking mistake.

It was him. She stared, stunned into speechlessness. He’d come. He’d actually showed up. And, perhaps even more shocking, he looked even more attractive when she rested in his arms. A small tingle raced up her spine, and her heart quickened.

“It’s okay. Please, don’t worry.” He cocked his head to the side with a small smile and inquired, “Do you come here often? I think I’ve seen you here before. Oh, that sounded like a horrible pick-up line, didn’t it?”

She laughed—with a hysterical undertone, to be honest—and mentally flinched at the forced quality that rang through it. “No, I do come here quite a bit. I’m new to the area, and this has become a common place for me. Um, my name is Sabrina. Sabrina Hodges, nice to meet you.” She stepped back to offer him her hand. A covert glance at her outstretched fingers revealed they weren’t shaking like the rest of her body. But it went to hell when his fingers closed over hers. Pure electric energy shot up her arm, settling into unadulterated lust.

Dear God.

“I’m Isaac Sterling. Nice to, uh, run into you, Sabrina.” He smiled fully and her eyes widened. It was not fair to unleash such a devastating creature upon women. It became obvious to her, here and now: God was a man.

Unfair.

“If you were looking for breakfast, it isn’t open yet, but I might be able to take care of you. My friend Connor is the cook here, and we had a meeting planned inside. Why don’t you come in? He’ll make you an omelet you’ll never forget.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t. I just wa

nted to grab a bite to eat. It’s nothing that can’t wait.” She protested and shook her head. “Really, I’ll be fine.”

“Ach, now, you wouldn’t be turning me down, would you? Talk about breaking a man’s heart on the first meeting….” He held his left hand dramatically over his heart.

She couldn’t help but return his smile. She watched his eyes widen and then darken, and she beamed even wider at seeing the evidence of her effect on him. “Well, I’d hate to break such a kind man’s heart.” She leaned in and whispered, “You did forgive me for running you over.”

“Indeed. I saved you from falling, too,” he said. He chuckled and gave her an exaggerated wink.

“A gentleman wouldn’t have reminded me, you know.”

“Who told you I’m a gentleman?” he teased. His crooked grin caused her heart to do odd little flip-flops in her chest.

“I just can’t interfere in your meeting, though. It wouldn’t feel right.”

“Okay, I’ve got a solution, if you’re sure I can’t convince you to join me. Why don’t you give me your number, and maybe you can make your recklessness up to me at dinner? We’d be able to call it even, I’d say.”

“Hmmm…maybe.” She glanced up at him through her eyelashes and hoped her cheeks weren’t blushing from the excited racing of her heart. “Do you have paper to write it down on, or a phone to put it in?”

He smiled and pulled his cell phone out while responding, “How about I give you my number now, and you can call me on your phone—presuming you have one—and we’ll have one another’s phone numbers right away?”

She agreed and called the number he gave her. His ringer went off, and she couldn’t help but notice he had chosen an old-fashioned phone ringing noise for his ringtone. No fancy ringtones for this hunk of a man.

“Ah, the pleasures of the twenty-first century, huh? Now I don’t have to worry you brushed me off by giving me a fake number,” he said.