Running Back (New York Leopards 2)

I blinked but couldn’t look away. He looked back, his gaze bright and focused, like he saw something unusual and worth studyi

ng. I swallowed. “And of course, you’ve already figured out that I do the same thing.”

“You were shocked when I said no to the dig. I bet people don’t say no to you very often.”

“I don’t put myself in positions where people can say no to me that often.”

He tilted his head. “What does that mean?”

I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d meant, myself, so it was difficult to parse into words. Maybe I just didn’t ask or go after things when there was a chance I’d be turned down. I shrugged helplessly.

“What are you going to do while you’re here? I mean—you don’t know anyone here, do you?”

I shrugged. “My advisor’s in Dublin, but he’ll probably come down in two or three weeks. He was planning to, originally... And tomorrow I’m going to talk to your aunt, actually, and she might introduce me to some people who know about the land.”

He straightened. “You are?”

I nodded “I’d been corresponding with her husband for months. It seemed appropriate.” I paused. “What’s she like?”

He looked uncomfortable. “I haven’t actually met her. We’re having lunch day after tomorrow.” His eyes lit up. “I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

He raised his brows. “I’ve been with my family a solid week. I think I deserve the company of someone I’m not related to.”

I raised mine right back at him. “So you deserve my company?”

His voice was little more than a murmur. “Don’t I?”

I sucked in a quick breath. I was suddenly aware of how late it was, how much I’d enjoyed talking to him this evening, how whenever I was in his presence I was always so, so aware of him... And that he had unflinchingly refused to let me excavate Kilkarten, and just several hours ago I’d had the thought of enlisting his sisters for a coup d’etat. “I should go.”

He shook his head. “Must be our catchphrase.”

I paused halfway to the door. “What?”

“You said something like that when we first met. Then I tried to leave Ryan’s fast. But we never seem to get very far from each other, do we?”

I pulled the door open. “I am going.”

He nodded. “See you in the morning.”

I could feel the intensity of his gaze long after I’d tucked myself into bed and turned off all the lights.

* * *

I woke to birdsong. The sun had already risen, and morning light filtered through my window, lying in panels across my bed and the floor. I stretched and twisted and considered my jogging gear, but the time difference had thrown me off and I didn’t have time for a run if I wanted to meet with Maggie O’Connor in two hours. Still, I headed outside so I could get some fresh air and give my appetite time to wake up before breakfast.

I settled on a white stone bench under a cypress tree with my volume of Yeats, which to be honest I never would have read if I hadn’t been in Ireland. My last poetry had been along the lines of Dr. Seuss, who I held in great esteem, but other than him my attention usually drifted off during the first stanza of a poem.

I’d only been there fifteen minutes when Anna walked toward me, clearly coming in for breakfast from the cottage where she was staying. We both hesitated when we caught sight of each other, and then she angled her path to my bench.

I nodded at her. “Morning.”

She nodded back, and shoved her hands into the pockets of her faux leather jacket. The pockets didn’t look like they were actually built to support hands. “Sorry if I was kinda bitchy yesterday.”

I smiled. “We can blame it on jetlag.”

She grunted. “So. Are you a model or something?”