Текст книги "Irish Sex Fairy"

Автор книги: Kelly Jamieson

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Chapter Four

“Keara!”

Oh for– It was Shane. She pressed a hand to her racing heart, the adrenaline rush making her legs go mushy. With the lights on, she had to be clearly visible in there, so ducking out wasn’t an option.

She cautiously moved to the door and glared at him, putting a hand on the door frame to steady herself. In the wake of the adrenaline rush, weakness slid through her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, and she could hear him through the glass as well as read his lips. “Let me in.”

She shook her head. “No.”

He scowled. “Are you all right?”

“No! You scared the crap out of me!” Now she slumped fully against the wall. She sucked in a long breath.

“Keara, let me in!”

“I’m not letting a strange man in here in the middle of the night.”

“Keara. I’m hardy a stranger.”

So he did remember. Her body tightened. Her eyes met his through the glass.

“I’m also a cop, for Chrissake. I’m just trying to make sure everything’s all right.”

“I don’t care if you’re Jesus himself,” she replied. “I don’t really know you.”

He rolled his eyes.

With a sigh, she punched in the numbers to disable the alarm system Maeve had showed her how to use so she could come and go as she pleased. She unlocked the door and Shane stepped into the store, closed the door behind him and flicked the lock again.

“What the hell are you doing down here in the middle of the night?” he demanded.

“I couldn’t sleep. I decided to come down and look around.”

He stared at her and she realized he had a smear of something on his jaw. She gazed at it. “Uh…you have something…” She lifted her hand point at it and realized what it was. Lipstick. “You have lipstick on your face,” she said. “Guess the date went well tonight, huh? Make use of all those condoms?”

Shane blinked at her, lifted a hand to his cheek.

“Other side,” she said. He scrubbed at his stubbly jaw.

Date? Condoms? Oh yeah. Considering he’d only rolled out of Laila’s bed an hour ago, he’d forgotten her pretty damn quickly. Maeve’s niece had knocked him off balance.

She seemed a lot different than the passionate, vibrant girl he remembered. The girl who’d driven him wild with lust. Now she was pale, with dark shadows under those sparkling emerald green eyes that had bewitched him. Now, she could freeze whiskey with a glance of those witchy eyes.

“The date was fine,” he said. “And yeah…” He eyed her and gave a deliberate smirk. “The sex was safe.”

“I’m so glad for you,” she snapped, taking a step back. Which was when he realized she was barely dressed. A thin, ribbed white cotton tank top clearly outlined her small breasts, shadowy nipples prominent, and the little shorts, white with pink hearts, revealed her long, sleek legs. Oh man. He’d touched those breasts. He’d had those legs wrapped around him. His dick hardened.

She held a glass in one hand and gave the other hand a shake, drops flying off it. She muttered something he couldn’t hear.

“Spill your drink?” he asked. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“What the hell else do you think my reaction would be? I wasn’t exactly expecting company. And anyway, what are you doing here?” Her eyes swept over him. Please don’t let her notice my hard-on. “You’re not wearing your uniform, so it’s not like you were out patrolling or something.”

“As deputy police chief, I rarely patrol anymore,” he replied, a smile curling his lips. “I was just on my way home.” He lifted a brow.

“Oh.” She rolled her lips in. Pretty lips, except she seemed to perpetually hold them in a tight line. “So it was a late night.”

“Or early morning.” He shrugged, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Whatever.”

She took a sip of what little remained in the glass. It looked like whiskey. Did she share Maeve’s enthusiasm for a wee dram of the Jameson’s?

“Well, if you’re okay and the place isn’t being robbed…”

She flinched, a flash of something like fear in her eyes, her mouth tightening even more. The whiskey again threatened to leap out of the glass. “That’s why I stopped,” he explained, watching her carefully. “I thought maybe someone had broken in…”

Her eyes shifted, went glassy, and she rubbed her fingers over one eyebrow. “No,” she rasped. “No one broke in.”

And then he remembered. It had been all over the news and Maeve had been distraught with worry about her great-niece. “Fuck,” he muttered, straightening. “I’m sorry. I forgot…”

Her eyes blinked rapidly. “You know about the robbery.”

“Yeah. Are you okay?”

She laughed. Kind of a weird reaction. “Of course I’m okay! It happened six weeks ago. I’m fine.”

The fingers lifting the glass to her lips trembled now and he realized he had indeed scared the shit out of her. Damn. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “Are you sure you’re all right? Come on, I’ll make sure you get upstairs all right.”

“That is not necessary,” she replied, her tone frosty. “I’m fine. You can go. Thanks for checking, though, I know my aunt would appreciate you keeping an eye on the store.”

Her cool politeness was only slightly less annoying than it had been earlier. The fact that she’d ignored her old aunt for years still pissed him off, but the glimpse of vulnerability beneath the icy façade appealed to his need to protect. Dammit. After what she’d been through, no wonder he’d scared her. What an idiot he was.

“Are you sure?” He didn’t want to leave her, now he remembered what had happened to her.

“Yes I’m sure!” She scowled at him, a pretty scowl, but it carried a clear message.

“Fine,” he said. “Sorry to bother you.” He turned and opened the door, then paused. “Make sure you lock this and rearm the alarm.”

“I’m not stupid.”

He stepped out onto the sidewalk, and even though he knew she was far from stupid, he waited until he heard the locks click. Then the lights inside the shop went out and he could no longer see her.

Well. In the cool, damp night air, he sauntered back to his car parked at the curb. Fucking weird, because he’d just had several rounds of vigorous sex, but all he could think about was kissing Keara’s tight mouth into a soft pout, like he had all those years ago. Why had she shown up here after all these years? And why was his head full of her instead of the sexy blonde he’d just had hot sex with?

* * *

Keara woke when Maeve pushed open the door of her bedroom and said softly, “You going to sleep all day, muirnín?”

“What time is it?” Keara shoved her hair out of her face and tried to focus blurry eyes on of the alarm clock beside the bed. “Eleven o’clock! Dear God!”

“I thought you needed the sleep.” Maeve smiled as she withdrew from the bedroom.

Keara sat up and stared fuzzily across the room. Yeah. She’d needed the sleep. Losing a few hours in the middle of the night did that to you. Her sleep patterns had been so messed up lately, with nightmares and insomnia and…gorgeous, annoying cops.

She remembered the embarrassing encounter with Shane in the middle of the night. Him on his way home from a hot date where he’d apparently used a whole box of condoms. Her—edgy, sleepless, grouchy…and alone. She sighed and flopped back down on the bed, arms out at her sides.

What was the point of getting out of bed? She had nothing to do. Nobody cared.

Oh brother. Want some cheese with that whine? There was nothing wrong with her. She just needed a little diversion. Coming here had been the right thing to do. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

She showered. Dressed. Found coffee in the kitchen and drank it while she poked in Maeve’s cupboards for breakfast. Maeve must have gone back down to the store.

She pulled out some bagels and bread. Carbs. Ugh. She’d given up carbs years ago. Cottage cheese and egg whites apparently weren’t part of Maeve’s diet. And yet she was so slim and trim. Not fair.

Keara probably didn’t need to worry about carbs right now either. She’d lost at least ten pounds, and she didn’t have ten pounds to lose. But once again, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

In fact, she wasn’t really hungry, so why she was looking for breakfast she had no idea. Coffee was perfect.

She carried her mug down the stairs to the store to find her great-aunt.

Maeve handed a package to a customer with a smile and thanks, and the customer turned to leave. Maeve eyed Keara. “You’re up, sleepyhead,” she remarked, but her smile and gentle tone softened the words. “You must have been needing sleep.”

“I was up for a while in the night,” Keara told her. “I couldn’t sleep. I happens to me sometimes.” It had happened even before the hostage taking. That was just the way she was.

“Oh, muirnín.” Maeve’s smile faded. “Have you been having nightmares?”

“I had the odd one.” She forced a smile and waved a hand. “But it’s nothing serious. They’re just dreams. The sleep thing kind of has me messed up.”

“Well. I say, don’t worry about it. While you’re here, sleep when you feel like sleeping. You don’t need to be on a schedule. After a while your body will just figure out what it’s supposed to do.”

“I suppose.”

Maeve regarded her, head tilted. “If you need sleep, go sleep. Even if it’s the middle of the day.”

“Good sleep hygiene is sticking to a schedule.”

“That’s a load of ballsch.” Maeve frowned. “I’ve never liked schedules. It pains me to have to open and close the store at the times I’ve said, but customers get annoyed if they come here and I’m closed when they expect me to be open.”

Keara laughed. “Yeah. That’s kinda the way the world works.”

“Just relax, muirnín. A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures. Well, that and sex. It will all come in time. The day of the big wind is no time to be doing the thatching.”

Keara stared at her, coffee mug clutched in two hands, struggling to keep up with her aunt, the mention of sex a little disconcerting. “Uh…what? Thatching?”

Maeve laughed. “There’s a time for everything,” she said. “Just relax while you’re here and let nature take its course.”

It sounded like good advice to her, so Keara nodded.

“Seriously, though.” Maeve tapped her chin. “Sex is most likely what you need. There’s nothing like several good orgasms to relax you.”

Keara’s mouth fell open and thankfully several customers entered the store and began wandering around. Maeve strolled over to offer help, but they all just wanted to look.

“Probably too embarrassed to ask for what they’re looking for,” Maeve whispered to Keara when she returned to the counter. They exchanged a smile, and let the customers browse.

“I have to phone this supplier,” Maeve said with a frown. She picked up some papers. “I ordered these cock rings months ago and they’re still not here. Every time I call they tell me they’ve already been shipped. Can you keep an eye on things for a few minutes?”

Keara nodded, struck dumb by mention of cock rings—if the customers had any questions she sure wasn’t going to be able to answer them. She perched on a stool behind the counter and sipped her coffee, wondering if she needed to worry about shoplifting.

The young couple—were they even old enough to have sex?—were looking at condoms. At least they’d be having safe sex. That was good. An older man explored some toys, and two women were investigating the uh…whips and chains in the BDSM corner. Keara kept her face neutral, found a catalogue under the counter to flip through while she sat there.

Maeve returned moments later with a frown, and rapped the cordless phone down on the counter.

“They still say they sent them?”

“Yes. And…they say I signed for it. February twenty-first. That’s crazy. I don’t have the stuff.”

“Oh.” Keara lifted a shoulder, not sure what to say. “Where could it be?”

“I’ve no idea. Fecking eejits, the lot of them.”

Keara swallowed her smile. “Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could try to trace it through the USPS or…was it FedEx? Some other delivery service.”

“Just a moment. I’ll find the papers. Maybe you can help.”

The young couple approached the counter with their purchases, and Maeve stopped. “I’ll just ring this up first.”

When they’d left, Keara said, “Maybe you could show me how to run the till, and I could help out with customers too.”

Maeve’s emerald eyes fastened on her. “Are you sure, muirnín? You don’t have to work while you’re here.”

Keara shook her head. “I like to be busy.” She couldn’t do nothing. It just wasn’t in her. She’d inherited the workaholic gene from her parents, and she was proud of it.

“I thought this was a vacation?” Shrewd green eyes studied her.

“You know I take after Mom and Dad,” Keara said with a laugh. “They never stopped working.”

“True.” Maeve sighed. “Okay. Let’s do that first. Then I’ll let you try to track down that missing shipment for me.”

Keara got a quick lesson on how to use the till and got to practice as more customers came and went. The Irish Sex Fairy Shop was a busy little place in downtown Kilkenny. Too bad about that sex superstore opening up. Hopefully it wouldn’t take much business away from Maeve.

It was an hour before they had a break in business and then Maeve suggested they stop for lunch. She went upstairs to make sandwiches while Keara manned the store on her own.

“What do you do when you’re alone?” Keara asked as they ate ham and cheese sandwiches while sitting behind the counter.

“Just this,” Maeve said. “I grab something and eat it when there’s a break. Sometimes I just don’t get time to eat lunch.”

“That’s no good, Maeve.” Keara frowned. “You should have someone so you can take breaks.”

“I do have Jayla. She can’t work as much as I’d like, but it’s a help. I have had other helpers from time to time. But they never stick around very long, and it’s such a pain in the arse to advertise, hire someone, and then train them. And then two months later they’re gone.”

A delivery man arrived with two large cartons which Maeve signed for. Keara eyed the big boxes sitting on the floor. “What do you do with stuff like that when you’re alone?” she asked. “Those are too big and heavy for you to move.”

“I just unpack them here.” Maeve reached for a box cutter under the counter. “And put the merchandise out. Or sometimes Shane comes around and helps me if I need to move heavy things.”

“Oh.” Shane. “I forgot to tell you. He stopped by last night.”

Maeve paused, her hand above the cardboard box, and frowned. “Last night? When last night?”

“About three o’clock.”

Maeve’s auburn brows flew up toward her hairline. “In the middle of the night? He came to see you?”

“No, no. I was up. Insomnia. I was wandering around down here uh…looking around, and he saw the light on. So he came and knocked on the door and scared the hell out of me.”

Maeve laughed. “Oh dear. I’m sorry.”

Keara shrugged and wiped crumbs from her fingers with a paper serviette. “Let me open that box. You finish your lunch.”

So Shane helped out her aunt. What a guy. That must be considered above and beyond for the deputy police chief. But then, Shane’s mom and Maeve were good friends. Shane was as much like a nephew to Maeve as Keara was a niece. In fact—shame slid through her—probably more.

“He’s so thoughtful that way.” Maeve picked up her sandwich. “He helps look after his parents too.”

“Good of him,” Keara muttered, slashing the box open. She folded back the sides and reached in, began pulling out boxes containing massage oils and…er…lotions. She read the label—Love Licker. Strawberry melon flavor. Whoa.

Maeve watched her and told her where the items should be displayed, then helped her arrange them.

“There.” Maeve dusted her hands together. “That’s wonderful. Thank you for your help, muirnín.”

“I have to do something while I’m here. Now, what about that missing shipment?”

“What missing shipment?”

Keara smiled. “The one you phoned about this morning. The one they said you signed for in February.”

Maeve’s confused frown made Keara pause.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Maeve said. She put a hand to her head. “We talked about that this morning?”

Keara nodded slowly. “Yes. Don’t you remember?” Worry slid through her, thick and heavy.

“Oh yes, of course!” Maeve rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, muirnín. I’ll take care of it.”

“Are you sure?” Keara wasn’t convinced Maeve did in fact remember what they were talking about. And she’d said earlier Keara could help with it. It didn’t make sense.

But she didn’t push it, and picked up the plates they’d eaten lunch off to take them upstairs.

In Maeve’s kitchen she loaded them into the dishwasher along with coffee mugs and a few other things sitting in the sink, then leaned against the counter after she’d closed the door of the dishwasher. How could Maeve forget something they’d talked about only a few hours ago? And she’d been so annoyed after her telephone conversation with the supplier. Weird.

She went back down to the shop.

“Can I use your computer, Maeve?” she asked. “I’d like to email my friends and let them know I’m away for a while.”

“Of course. In my office. Feel free to use it whenever you like.”

Keara had been impressed to see Maeve using a computer, keeping her business records, emailing and even using “that Internet thing” as Maeve called it. She sat down at Maeve’s computer and logged into her own email, and sent a quick message off to Monica, Paige and Essie to let them know where she was. They’d been so worried about her—for no reason, because she was fine—she wanted them to know she’d just gone on a little holiday. She smiled wryly as she tapped at the keys. No more middle of the night phone calls.

Chapter Five

Shane strolled into The Irish Sex Fairy. To his surprise, Keara stood behind the counter ringing up a purchase. Huh. Maeve had her working.

Still pale and thin, dressed in skinny black jeans and a floaty yellow top, her golden red hair swung around her shoulders. The shadows in her eyes seemed to have diminished but smudges below the eyes said she still hadn’t been sleeping well.

Something tugged at his conscience with a twinge. She looked like she’d been through hell.

She lifted her head and saw him walking in, and a faint frown flickered across her face. What? Had he pissed her off that much by scaring the bejesus out of her in the middle of the night?

“Hello,” she said. “What can I do for you today?”

He opened his mouth to say “nothing”, and then closed it. Did he want to tell her he was there checking up not only on Maeve, but her? Somehow, no, he didn’t. So he grabbed a box of condoms and slapped them on the counter. “I’ll take these.”

Her pretty mouth pinched and she rang up the purchase without a word, slipping the box into the red plastic bag.

“Shane!” Maeve had finished with her customers and spotted him, and zipped across the store. “How are you? How was your date last weekend?”

“Must’ve been good,” Keara muttered handing him the bag of condoms. His cheeks heated but he smiled at Maeve.

“It was fine,” he said. “Great.”

“That’s so good! You need more fun in your life. You must bring your new girlfriend around to meet me sometime.”

Shane didn’t want to tell her that he wasn’t going to be seeing Laila again. Gorgeous girl, and she’d been as horny as he had last weekend, making for a great night of hot, no-strings sex, but she hadn’t really sparked his interest on any other level. But how else to explain the jumbo box of condoms he now held in his hands? He tried to hold them unobtrusively at his side.

“Sometime,” he prevaricated. “How are things here? Need anything moved? Nails hammered? Screws tightened?”

Maeve swatted his shoulder with a trill of laughter. “Don’t be silly, a rún. I can hammer a nail and I can screw…well, let’s not go there.”

“Let’s not,” he agreed with a return smile.

“There are some boxes in the back I wouldn’t mind moved,” she told him, biting her bottom lip. “If you have a minute. I just want to store them on a higher shelf.”

“Sure. I’ll do it right now.” He glanced at Keara as he followed Maeve, felt her eyes on him as they walked through the Staff Only door. He strode into a storeroom where Maeve kept extra stock and supplies.

“These two boxes.” She indicated a couple of large cartons on the floor. “They’ve been sitting there for weeks just getting in the way. I’d like them up on that top shelf.”

He eyed the shelf. “Gonna be hard to get them down. What’s in them? Stuff you won’t need any time soon?”

Keara’s face appeared in the door. “Maeve? A customer is asking for you.”

“Oh. All right. I’ll be right back.” She fluttered out of the room, leaving Keara and Shane alone.

“Know what’s in those boxes?” Shane asked, waving a hand.

“Um…no. But let’s look.”

She went to unfold the flaps but realized that packing tape sealed the boxes. “These look like they’ve never been opened.” She frowned. A packing slip inside a plastic pouch was taped to the top of one, and she ripped it off and opened it. Unfolding the papers, she nibbled her bottom lip.

“What is it?” Shane asked, watching her. The lip-nibbling thing was extremely sexy. His body responded.

A frown edged Keara’s brows. “I think this is the…uh…stuff she was looking for the other day. She said it hadn’t arrived.” She scanned the paper and her brows rose. “February. This was shipped in February. This is the shipment.” She lifted her eyes from the page to meet his. “I don’t get it.”

“Get what?” His own gut tightened a little.

“Maeve was all upset because this shipment was missing. She’s been calling the supplier and they said it was shipped. So she got me to call the delivery company and they insisted she signed for it. They’re sending me copies of the delivery slip, but…” She blinked. “This is it. It must have been sitting here for the last month.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” She licked her lips then made a face. “I uh…well, she’ll be happy that we found it.”

Shane cursed inside. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, only one more reason why he checked in on Maeve from time to time. He drew in a breath. “I’m sure she will.”

Keara tipped her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “You don’t seem surprised by this.”

He paused while he debated what to say to Keara.

But Maeve reappeared in the door. “Oh. You haven’t moved them yet.” She divided a look between the two of them and smiled. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No.” Shane smiled back at her. “But Maeve, let’s look in these boxes before we move them up on that shelf.”

He cut the box open and Keara helped Maeve open it and pull items out. When Maeve saw what was in it, her face drew into confused lines. Keara held out the packing slip. “Is this the missing order?” she asked quietly.

Maeve took it and glanced it over. “Yes. Yes it is.” She frowned. “But…when did this arrive? I’ve been waiting for this for over a month.”

Shane met Keara’s eyes and he read the concern there. “Well, good thing I didn’t put it away,” he said easily, stepping forward. “I’ll take these out front and you can unpack them.”

“Thank you, Shane.”

He hated the look of uncertain confusion on Maeve’s face as he hefted the box and strode out with it. Damn, he hated it. He was going to have to talk to Keara.

* * *

Keara trailed along behind Shane, the muscles in his arms bulging beneath the short sleeves of his navy T-shirt as he carried the heavy box out to the store. Despite her confusion and concern, her gaze drifted down his muscled back to his tight butt in faded jeans.

She tucked her top lip under her teeth, and forced her eyes not to stare at his buff body. Maeve. She was worried about Maeve.

He lowered the box to the floor, glanced at her then went back for the other one. “Let me help,” Keara murmured to Maeve. “I think I know where these things go now.”

She unpacked the cock rings and erection aids and Maeve went to look after another customer. Shane returned with the second box and without saying a word, opened it and started helping.

She flicked a glance at him. “You don’t need to help,” she said.

He scowled. “I’m helping. And when we’re done you and I are going across the street to the Shamrock for coffee.”

She blinked at him, hands pausing in the box. “We are?”

“We are.” His straight mouth and lowered brows disinclined her to argue with him, so she said nothing and they worked together to place the stock on the shelves.

“Over here,” she indicated at one point, and he moved the items to the other end of the shelf. When they were done, he closed the boxes up with fast, sure movements. She watched his hands, long fingers dusted with dark hair, strong wrists and sinewy forearms. Sexy.

“I’ll take these out back for recycling,” he said. “Wait here.”

Keara’s tummy flipped and she moved beside Maeve at the counter. “Um…Shane and I are going out for coffee. Is that okay?”

Maeve’s head whipped around and she gaped at Keara. Then, with a glance at the customer across the counter from her, she smiled brilliantly. “Of course it’s okay! You two go on, I’m fine here.”

Keara smiled, but groaned inwardly. What was Maeve thinking in that foxy head of hers?

Shane returned and unsmilingly jerked his head toward the door.

“I’m coming,” she muttered. If Maeve thought they were becoming friends again, she was so wrong.

The Shamrock Cafe was across the street from the Irish Sex Fairy Shop. They paused at the curb to let a few cars pass, then dashed across the four lanes in a break in the traffic.

“You just jaywalked,” Keara pointed out. “An officer of the law just committed a crime.”

He slanted her a grin, blue eyes sparkling. “Arrest me.”

She tried to repress her own smile unsuccessfully. He held the door to the restaurant open for her and she preceded him in.

They sat at a small table in the window, the bright sun stippling the black tabletop with light and shadow through the Irish lace curtains.

“Just coffee,” Shane said to the waitress and Keara nodded her agreement.

Shane was staring at her, studying her.

“Why are we here?” she asked, shifting in her chair.

“To talk about your aunt.”

She nodded. “I’m concerned about her.”

“So am I.”

She did not want to hear that. “This isn’t the first thing she’s forgotten.” She told him about the other incidents. The waitress appeared and set their cups of coffee in front of them. They both drank it black.

“I’ve noticed it, too,” he said quietly. “It seems to be happening more and more often.”

“Everyone has lapses.”

“True. Hell, just yesterday I went all the way from my office to the supply room, and couldn’t remember why. For a few minutes. The other day I couldn’t find my insurance renewal form. I’d set it aside to pay at the end of the week, but couldn’t for the life of me remember where. It happens to everyone.” Then he scowled. “You know, you’re the only family she has.”

“She has family in Ireland.”

He snorted. “That’s not much help to her. But then…neither are you.”

“What do you mean?” She stared at him across the table, hurt slicing through her. Her cheeks grew hot.

“Just what I said. You may live closer than Ireland, but you never visit her. You haven’t been here in years. She talks about you all the time, you know…how proud she is of you, and how you were promoted to manager, how beautiful you are, and the ‘sex in the city’ life you lead in Los Angeles.”

Keara choked on her sip of coffee. “Sex in the city?”

“That’s what she calls it. I gather you do nothing but shop and party with your friends and have sex with men named Mr. Big.”

Despite the seriousness of their conversation, she laughed. “Mr. Big? I wish!”

Then her smile faded. “I guess my life is kind of like that, but…” She shook her head. “It’s not a TV show. I work hard. I love my career. And my friends are important to me, but we do more than just shop and party.”

“Really.” His skepticism heated her cheeks even more. “What else do you do?”

“Well I…go to yoga class.” That didn’t sound much better. “The bank supports a number of charities and I’ve been involved with Wishes for Kids.”

“Through your work.”

“Yes. But…”

“Never mind.” He slashed a hand through the hair. “We didn’t come here to talk about your wonderful life. We need to…”

“Just a minute!” She leaned forward. “Just a goddamn minute! Who are you to sneer at my life? Even if all I do is shop and party and have sex…what business is it of yours, and who are you to judge me? The man who goes through a box of condoms a week!”

He opened his mouth, but she kept going. “And my life is not so wonderful right now, in case you didn’t notice.” She closed her eyes against a sharp slice of fear inside her. “Don’t tell me my life is wonderful. You have no idea.”

He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his wide chest.

“Was it that bad?”

She sat back, nonplussed at the change of tone of his voice, from cold steel to warm compassion. She cupped her hands around the coffee mug.

“You mean the robbery?”

“Yeah.”

She studied him while she thought about what to say to that question. Her friends thought she was losing it. She didn’t even want them to know how freaked out she was by it, how kooky she’d become. She wished she hadn’t burst out like that. “It’s fine,” she finally said. “Never mind my screwed-up life. We need to talk about Maeve. What do you think I should do?”

His thick dark brows drew down over blue, blue eyes. The corners of his mouth dipped. “Hell if I know.” He thrust a hand through his short hair. “I’ll talk to my mom. She and Maeve are best friends. They play bridge together every week. Maybe she’s noticed too. Maybe she has an idea.”

Keara nodded. “I guess I could ask Maeve about it. But I don’t know…”

“Yeah. You could. She might be worried about it herself. Maybe she’s already talked to her doctor about it.”

“Maybe.” But Keara didn’t think so, judging from Maeve’s confused reaction the few times she’d been confronted with her forgetfulness. “I’ll see if I can work it into conversation.”

“You need to keep an eye on her,” Shane said. “If she forgets something like leaving the stove on, it could be dangerous.”

“Oh lord.” Keara bit down on her lip. She looked down into the half-drunk cup of black coffee. “Do you think…she has Alzheimer’s?” She almost choked on the word.

She’d heard the sharp edge of pain in Gary’s voice as he’d said, “She doesn’t even know who I am anymore.” The look on his face. The agony in his eyes that had driven him to…oh dear God. She struggled to get air into her lungs and tears stung the corners of her eyes.