Текст книги "Breaking a Legend"
Автор книги: Sarah Robinson
сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
“What are you doing?” She sounded out of breath as her big green eyes stared up at him with a mixture of what he thought might be some fear, but definitely arousal.
“You think I’m a stranger?” He felt his voice rumble in his chest as it lowered when he leaned in to her. His lips were inches from hers, but he wasn’t going to give her the release he could see she wanted.
“Tell me, Clare.”
“Tell you what?” She seemed as if he had just snapped her out of a daydream as she blinked quickly and cleared her throat, trying to straighten herself.
His looming presence over her made that impossible, especially when he pushed his body even closer against hers, keeping her locked against the wall. He could feel her chest heaving against his, causing a low rumble to travel through his body in response.
“Do you trust me?” he said, clarifying the real point of his question.
He watched her eyes dart down to his lips and then back up as she nibbled on the corner of her lip. It was taking all the self-control he had not to join her in tasting those lips.
“Yes,” she whispered, barely audible.
“Say it again, Clare,” he commanded, pushing one hand behind her back and arching her against him.
“I trust you,” she repeated, slightly louder this time and in a breathy voice. He searched her eyes as she spoke and was pleased to see that she was telling the truth. She really did trust him.
He wasn’t a stranger.
He knew that it was odd that this meant so much to him, but he felt like he had shown more of himself to this woman than he had shown to his family lately. He trusted her implicitly, though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. So, when he realized she might not feel the same way, the thought drove him crazy and he had to find out. Seeing how her body responded to him, and the honesty in her eyes, he was sure now that she was feeling the exact same things that he was.
Thank God.
Releasing her, he stepped backward and motioned for Ace to join him as he grabbed Clare’s hand and pulled her along with them. “You’ve got to stop doing that to me.” She breathed loudly, trying to collect herself by smoothing the hair off her face. “That’s two nights in a row.”
“Doing what?”
“You know what.” And he did, but he wasn’t going to let her have that so easily.
“You’re going to have to spell it out for me, mhuirnín.”
“I find it hard to believe that your little stunt of trapping me between a rock and a hard place, literally, is accidental. You clearly know what it does to me,” she huffed, blushing.
“Am I the rock? Or the hard place?”
“Hell if I know,” she said with a smirk, her anger subsiding as he teased her.
They were quiet for a few blocks, holding hands and feeling the cold air on their skin. It was silent, but it wasn’t awkward. It was just comfortable, as if they both had suddenly reached a level of familiarity with each other that hadn’t been there minutes before.
“So where are you taking me?” Clare was the first to break the silence.
“My favorite place for late-night dessert. It’s right around this next block,” he indicated.
“Rory, it’s the middle of the night. Everything around here is closed.”
“That’s the only time that Wheaten is open. Their hours are from eleven at night until four in the morning,” he told her as they turned the next corner.
“What? Why? That’s so weird—how do they stay in business that way?” Questions tumbled out of her, but he didn’t answer because as they turned the corner, she would definitely see how and why.
The local storefront was just a counter opened up to patrons on the sidewalk. There were several lamps set up out front and a few iron chairs and small tables surrounding the counter. Despite the late hour and the quiet surroundings, the store had attracted a large crowd of people, all either waiting in line to order or sitting and enjoying their food with friends.
“Wow. I’ve walked past this several times and never would have guessed.”
“It’s a Woodlawn hidden gem. The majority of the neighborhood is Irish; this is one of our favorite dishes.”
“What is it?”
“Soda bread. Wheaten has tons of different flavors and types, some traditional and some not. My favorite is the cinnamon raisin,” he told her, pointing to a glass display case that held the assortment.
Clare stepped around Ace to see the display better while Rory got in line. He didn’t need to see the display or even read the menu to know what he wanted, since he had come here so often over the years and tried it all.
“I think I’m going to go for the chocolate.” She nodded her head decisively as she turned back to him. He smiled at the excitement in her eyes and ordered for both of them when they got to the front.
A few minutes later, they took their servings over to an empty table a few feet away from one of the lamps on the outskirts of the crowd. He waited for Clare to try her soda bread before he started, enjoying watching her face light up at the sweet new experience.
“This is really good.” She nodded at him. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“It’s about time you got to know your neighborhood a bit better.”
“I didn’t see you at Legends this morning. Are you still training?” Clare asked as she crossed one leg over her knee and leaned against the table, taking another bite of her treat.
“I was there for a bit, left kind of early.” The fight with his father and brother didn’t bear mentioning.
“There’s something in that story that you’re not telling me.”
“How do you know that?” He was curious, but determined to keep the truth at bay.
“Easy. You reek of booze.”
“Damn, why don’t you tell me how you really feel? I just showered, you know,” he quipped, polishing off the last of his soda bread.
“Showering only helps if you spill a drink on yourself, not if your body is ninety percent alcohol.”
“Someone thinks they know everything.” He felt annoyed, but mostly embarrassed, trying to detour the topic as best he could.
“Why do you do it?” she asked softly, after a minute of silence passed between them.
“Why do I drink?”
She nodded. He paused, thinking about it for a moment and clearing his throat.
“I don’t know. It helps me. I have a lot of pain in my leg from my last fight.” Flashes of the fight ran through his mind as he saw his knee being broken, snapping with a resounding crack as it bent in the wrong direction under his opponent’s force.
“The championship fight against Santiago?”
“Yeah, seems like everyone knows about the biggest failure of my life. Took most of a year of physical therapy to be able to walk normally, but the pain is still there.” He didn’t enjoy the topic and was just glad that she didn’t know about the prescription pills he currently held in his pocket.
Clare reached one hand across the table and slipped her fingers through his, giving him a small squeeze. He hugged his fingers tighter around hers, not letting her pull away, loving the feeling of touching her. Rory honestly couldn’t think of another time that he had ever held a girl’s hand before tonight. In fact, he recalled making fun of some of his friends who were in relationships for doing just that.
Was that what this was now? Two nights in a row with the same woman was almost a record for him. Was he in a relationship?
He wouldn’t mind it if he was.
He gazed up from their hands and saw a relaxed, yet sympathetic, smile on her face. Her green eyes shimmered in the moonlight and her pale skin was even lighter against the dark backdrop of the night. She was mesmerizing, and he couldn’t stop himself from letting her infiltrate the walls he had carefully built up around himself to keep everyone away.
“I dropped out of college; that’s my biggest failure,” she said, breaking the moment with her admission.
“Really? That’s not that big a deal—plenty of people do it.”
“It’s a big deal to me. I really wanted to be a veterinarian. I spent my entire life around animals and worked as a technician for a while, but being a vet was always the end goal.”
He squeezed her hand a bit tighter.
“You can go back—you’re still young. How old are you?”
“Twenty-four. I know I can; it just is a big thing to have to start over. I’m already barely managing starting over in a new state and a new life here,” she confessed.
“Where were you before?” He pried a little.
“California. I have a friend who owns my apartment here,” she explained. “She’s letting me rent it from her while she’s living in Manhattan and finishing up at New York University.”
“That’s where I got my master’s in business,” he commented absently. She paused, surprise and confusion on her face.
“You have a graduate degree?” She seemed stunned.
“Don’t look so surprised. I’m not some meathead jock, you know.”
“Sorry, I guess that was rude. I’m impressed.”
He just nodded, never knowing how to take a compliment.
“Of course now that just makes me feel worse about only having a high school diploma, you jerk.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“That’s not what I was trying to do.”
“I know, I know. I will go back to school soon. I just need to save up some before I can—sort some stuff out, you know?” Her explanation was vague, and it made him wonder if there was more there that he didn’t know about.
“How did you pay for school before?” he asked.
“I had fewer expenses; all of my income went straight to school.”
“You lived with your parents?”
“No, my parents died in a car crash when I was seventeen. They were actually on their way home from my soccer game—I used to love to play. After that, I lived with a boyfriend…”
Her voice trailed off as Rory stood up and pulled her chair over to him, closing the space between them. His one hand was still interlocked with hers. He slipped his free hand around her waist and pressed her hand against his chest. The rest of her body was flush against him, almost sitting in his lap, warming his skin where she made contact. He saw her chest rising and falling faster than before as he let a moment pass between them without saying anything, ignoring the crowd surrounding them, just staring into her big eyes.
“Clare, I’m so sorry.” His words were soft and slow, laced with concern and sincerity.
He saw tears building over her lower eyelashes, but she batted them back quickly before pulling away.
“Don’t worry about me.” She stood up and he followed suit, as they picked up their empty plates and trashed them.
“Don’t do that, Clare,” he said after they stepped away from the crowd, heading back down the street the way they had come, Ace by their side.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re shutting me out. I saw you. You stopped yourself from crying in front of me—you don’t need to do that.”
Clare gave him a small smile. Her eyes shone under the moonlight as she and Rory meandered through the neighborhood. He was barely able to concentrate on where he was stepping, because all he wanted to do was admire her beautiful eyes.
“It’s not about not letting you in, Rory. It’s about being afraid to let myself out. I’ve lived behind certain walls my whole life; I’m safe there. Something about you is trying to change that, and I don’t know why I’m letting it.” He loved her honesty and the way she admitted her fears to him, causing him to grab her hand in his again. She didn’t pull away this time, and he was glad because he wouldn’t have let her.
“You said you trusted me,” he reminded her.
“I do.” She stopped as they reached a corner underneath a streetlamp and he pulled her to him.
“Then let me behind your walls. Let me be your walls. You’re safe with me.”
He knew he couldn’t wait another day; he had tried his best to resist the urge to steal every part of her body and make it his. Gazing at her glistening green eyes, perfect small nose, and pouty rose lips, he knew he couldn’t contain himself a minute longer.
Leaning down while keeping hold of her focus, he let his lips graze hers for a moment. Just a soft pass, as if asking her for permission to continue. The moan that escaped her at the contact was all the approval he needed.
Snaking one hand behind her waist and pulling her toward him, he slid his other hand behind her head. Dipping down, his lips found hers and the two moved together as if they had kissed a thousand times before.
They seemed to understand each other’s movements and wants immediately, as if they had been molded just for each other and once they found each other, no one else would ever fit again.
It might have been only seconds long, or maybe hours. Rory couldn’t tell. He was completely lost in what felt like the first kiss of his entire life, which it certainly wasn’t. He felt renewed, like something had changed in him at a core level. As if he was becoming something new. Or maybe he was finally letting free the man he had always been, but had kept hidden from the world.
Either way, he loved it, and when he finally pulled away from her, it was too soon. A small whine left her lips from the loss of contact, telling him she felt the same way.
“Come on, let’s get you home before I really lose control.” He grabbed her hand and started across the street.
“Yes, sir.” She giggled, trying to keep up with his fast pace.
He moaned at the sound. “Clare…” Everything about her calling him sir was really pushing his limits. “That is not helping.”
She just laughed in response and he was sure he could feel it sweep through every part of himself. Her laughter had its own beat, its own music that strummed through his veins. Rory tried to clear his head as they rounded the corner, approaching her apartment building.
“Thanks for walking me home again. I really appreciate it.” She paused. “I had to scrap my car today. Mechanics said it was cheaper just to buy a new one, so I sold the piece of crap for parts.” Her voice went back to normal, pretending that they hadn’t just had a very intimate moment together.
“That officially makes you a New Yorker. No one around here drives.”
“I kind of like the sound of that.”
She seemed to be a million miles away in her head and he wished she would take him with her. He wanted to explore every part of her and learn everything that made her the woman before him. He could see that whatever the problem was, she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. He figured he had pried enough for the night.
“This is me.” They reached the front of her apartment building a few moments later and she pulled her keys out of her jacket pocket.
Rory grabbed the keys out of her hand and opened the door for her, holding it in place by leaning against it. She stepped through, then turned around as he handed her back her keys. She paused, seeming unsure of what she wanted to say, or if she wanted to say it, so he stayed quiet and waited.
“Rory?” Her voice was soft and her expression had a sadness to it while she fiddled with her keys.
“Yes, mhuirnín?” He smiled at her, still leaning against the open door.
“Losing to Santiago wasn’t a failure. Losing yourself to alcohol is.” She spoke softly as she took a step toward him and pushed up on the tip of her toes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.
He was surprised at her words as the door closed between them. He stepped back onto the sidewalk where Ace was waiting for him, then headed home, repeating her words in his head the entire way. His expression was troubled, as she made him feel emotions he had spent many years locking away. He sighed, knowing that Clare was probably right.
What bothered him the most was the disappointment he had seen in her eyes. It was a look that he had seen dozens of times from friends and family, but something about seeing it on Clare hurt more. She was different and made him feel different.
Something was changing in him. Clare was changing him, and yet it felt familiar. It felt safe, like he had known her all his life. He knew almost nothing about her, but with every conversation it was as if he was remembering something he had long ago forgotten. He found himself wanting to remember who he was, and he had a feeling that he could do that only through her eyes.
Chapter 6
Clare’s hand shot out from under the covers as she fumbled around for her phone on her nightstand. The alarm was blaring, begging to be silenced. Whining when she couldn’t find the right button, she pushed herself up into a seated position and finally shut off the hellish device.
“What the hell happened last night?” Clare said out loud to nobody as she dropped her phone into her lap.
Closing her eyes, she realized that she couldn’t wipe the giant, goofy smile off her face. She had gone to bed smiling last night after Rory dropped her off, and she was still smiling hours later. Leaning back against the headboard, she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them.
She was happy, and it terrified her.
This isn’t what she had moved to New York for. She hadn’t wanted a relationship. She hadn’t wanted to meet a man who made her heart beat out of her chest every time he showed up in the same room as her. Rory Kavanagh was not part of her plans, yet now he was part of her life.
And he had kissed her.
That kiss.
She exhaled loudly, feeling heat surge through her just at the memory. She couldn’t deny it, she had let him in further than anyone else had been in years, maybe ever. He intrigued her and made her feel special, as if she was worth something. Travis Creighton, her ex-boyfriend, had done the exact opposite. She hugged her knees harder at the thought and checked the clock on her wall.
Seeing the time, she tossed the covers off and scooted out of bed, hurrying to get ready for her early-morning class with Casey at Legends. She moved about her small, nearly empty apartment quickly, munching down a quick piece of toast before brushing her teeth and pulling her hair up into a long ponytail. After throwing on a pair of black lounge pants and a long-sleeve pink shirt, she was ready to leave.
Despite the last two nights when she had taken long walks home with Rory, her commute to work was very short. With Legends being roughly halfway between the two points, she made it to the gym only five minutes after exiting her front door. She scurried right to the locker room to put away her things, not surprised that the gym was already packed at the early-morning hour.
Checking her face one last time in the mirror before leaving the locker room, Clare took a deep breath. Butterflies were dancing around her stomach in anticipation of running into Rory today. She didn’t know if he would be there or not, although it seemed pretty likely that he would be, and just the idea that he might was enough to make her nervous.
Frustrated at her own juvenile anxiety over a man who was way too easily breaking her resolve to stay single, Clare pushed the thoughts away and headed out of the locker room toward the main gym floor. She needed to focus on what was important right now, and that was learning to protect and take care of herself.
She knew it would be hard for Travis to find her, and she hoped the day never came, but she would do everything she could to make sure she was ready. That was where her mind needed to be right now, on herself. Not Rory Kavanagh. Clare sighed in frustration as she headed to Casey’s self-defense class. It was in one of the smaller classrooms at the back of the gym, but she had to travel through the open floor space of the main gym to get there.
Weaving around fighting rings, Clare moved quickly across the floor. She surreptitiously looked around, hoping to catch sight of Rory. Her eyes caught a flash of red in the ring in the far corner, and she smiled as she recognized the large build of the man she had kissed last night. Rory was sparring with his brother, and appeared menacing in only dark red gym shorts.
Clare caught her breath when she saw him without a shirt, his abs glistening with sweat as he moved with stealth and agility across the ring. She had trouble pulling her eyes off of him, which she realized was a mistake, but only after she had already tripped over a misplaced weight and gone sprawling across the floor.
Well, that’s sexy.
“You okay?” An older man approached her as she stared up at the ceiling, mentally scolding herself for being so clumsy and trying to find the breath that had been knocked out of her.
She nodded slowly and accepted the hand he offered her.
“Thank you. I’m such a klutz.” Clare blushed with embarrassment as he helped her to her feet.
“It happens.” He shrugged. “You’re probably going to have quite the knot on the back of your head from the looks of that fall, which is kind of impressive since you fell forward.”
She laughed at his comment before grimacing when she touched the back of her head, quickly realizing that he was right.
“Well, if you’ve got to go down, do it in style, right?” she joked, rubbing her head as he smiled back at her, chuckling.
“Clare? Are you okay?” Rory’s voice approached her from behind, and Clare’s cheeks turned redder by the second. She really hoped he hadn’t seen her less-than-stellar performance.
“I’m okay, just clumsy.” She tried a simple smile, thinking it might let her off the hook.
Rory frowned and touched her head where she had just been holding it, feeling the large bump that was already beginning to form.
“You’re not fine,” Rory said, grimacing. “Dad, can you get me an ice pack?”
Clare considered the older man who had helped her up and had been chatting with her, realizing that Rory had just referred to him as his father. Now that she thought about it, she could see a lot of similarities between the men. While his father was slightly thinner and sported all-silver hair, they had the same rough facial features and prominent jaw.
“Yeah, bring her to the office so she sits down,” the man instructed.
“I’m fine, really. This isn’t necessary,” Clare assured Rory, putting her hand against his chest. At first it had been an attempt to push him away, but when her fingers felt his firm and dewy skin, she couldn’t help but linger a moment longer.
“Clare…” He didn’t sound convinced.
“I am fine, promise. I’ve got to get to Casey’s class or I’ll be late.” She quickly pulled her hand away, still blushing.
“Not a chance. I’m not letting you do anything right now except put some ice on that bump.” He grabbed her upper arm in his hand, pulling her with him toward the office.
“You’re not letting me?” she said in surprise, taking in what he had just said as he not-so-delicately escorted her across the gym floor. She frowned at herself when she realized that she was actually liking the possessiveness and the protective vibe from him.
“Do you have a problem with that?”
I should, she thought, before she realized that the truth was she didn’t.
She liked that he was taking charge and caring for her. Travis had ordered her around with every breath, but nothing about it had ever been protective or kind. Rory had a way of doing the same thing, yet not making her fearful of him because of it. Her ex had been controlling, but Rory was commanding.
His end goal wasn’t always about himself, like she’d been used to in her past relationship. Rory’s end goal was her; he could somehow do almost the exact same thing as Travis and yet for entirely different reasons. There was a subtle difference between the two acts, she saw now.
She had worried at first that maybe Rory was like Travis. Maybe she was getting involved with someone who would only hurt her in all the same ways she had been hurt before. But looking at Rory now, it was clear that the two couldn’t be further apart. Stop comparing him to your ex, she scolded herself as they entered the office.
“Clare? Are you okay?” Casey asked, concern on her face as she looked up from a desk.
“She fell and hit her head. Dad’s getting her some ice,” Rory told her before pulling a chair out for Clare.
“What happened?” An older woman stood up from where she had been sitting behind another desk off to one side.
“Nothing, I’m fine, really,” Clare said, trying to reassure everyone.
“The hell she is. Took a wrong step and went sailing up in the air like a rag doll. Thing must weigh ninety pounds sopping wet.” The older man who had helped her up came into the room with an ice pack.
“Oh, honey, that’s awful. I’m Dee,” the older woman said as she scurried over and grabbed the ice pack from her husband. “Let me help you.”
“You should definitely skip class today,” Casey told Clare.
“She is.” Rory answered for her, and Clare shot him an annoyed look.
“All right—well, I hope you feel better. I have to start teaching.” Casey frowned, looking unsure if she should go or not, before finally offering a small wave and leaving the office.
“Me, too. Nice to meet you though, Clare. I’m Seamus, by the way. Sorry my son apparently has no manners and forgot to introduce us.” Seamus shook her hand.
“Are you friends with Rory?” Excitement obvious on Dee’s face.
“Mom—” Rory was trying to sound intimidating, but his parents were clearly running the show right now.
“Yes, we’re friends.” Clare blushed, admiring the interaction between the family, enjoying being around such a boisterous and friendly group of people.
“An bhfuil tú ag fáil ar deireadh dom iníon?” Dee grinned eagerly, speaking to Rory. Have you finally found me a daughter?
Clare knit her brows, wondering what Dee was saying to her son.
“Mom,” Rory said again, giving his mother a warning look, which only made Dee happier as she clapped her hands excitedly before returning her attention to the ice pack.
–
“Next time, you have to come. The concert was amazing, I’m absolutely a die-hard Logan Clay groupie,” Casey exclaimed as she finished telling Clare all about the rock concert she’d gone to in Manhattan the night before.
“I wish I had been there, but I had to work. Cian wouldn’t give me the night off.”
“I would literally castrate him if I ever had to work for him again. I don’t know how you do it, Clare.” Casey shuddered theatrically.
Clare joined in laughing from where she sat, across the small round table just outside the front door. The two women were spending some time at a nearby coffee shop after finishing their morning class at the gym. A week or so after Clare’s fall, the bump on her head was still there, but didn’t throb anymore and was slowly disappearing.
“Cian isn’t that bad. Just kind of full of himself.” Clare defended him, even though she could think of a hundred different reasons why she should hate him, just from working at the bar.
“You’re always trying to find the best in people, Clare. Come on, admit it. Cian is a bane to work for. You know you want to say it!” Casey teased, leaning forward onto the table.
“All right, he is a total ass, and if I wasn’t flat broke, and in dire need of the job, I would quit immediately.”
“Was that so hard?” Casey rallied as Clare rolled her eyes at her. “One of these days I’ll make a bad girl out of you, Clare. You’ll see.”
“Who says I’m not already?”
“Uh, ’cause if you were you wouldn’t be working for Woodlawn’s biggest asshole, or spending so much time with my cousin.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clare looked at her friend pointedly.
“It means exactly what I said: Cian is an asshole and Rory is your next project. You’re the sweet little lamb who wants to fix the big, bad, broken wolf.”
“He is not my project. I don’t do projects. Plus we’re not officially dating or anything like that. My last boyfriend was a project, believe me. I will never go down that road again.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.
“I call them like I see them, girly. Are you coming tonight to watch him at the sparring meet?” Casey asked.
“I saw a flyer for it at the gym, but didn’t know what it was.”
“Just a bunch of meatheads swinging at each other for fun. It’s pretty much just like a practice session for bigger tournaments and stuff. Rory hasn’t done one in a while because of his injury, so I’m betting he’ll have lots of takers to go against him tonight,” Casey explained.
“Maybe.” Clare tried not to sound as excited as she actually was about the prospect of seeing Rory. He had continued to walk her home from work every night, and while she was doing her best to keep things at bay between them, it was becoming harder and harder.
Those kisses. Her face flamed at the memory.
“Yeah, you’re coming. You’ve got it bad.”
“Why is it that every time we get coffee, we just sit and talk about boys?” Clare took another sip of her latte.
“Because we are both single and jaded by all the assholes in the world. Well, I’m single. I don’t know what you are.”
“I’m single, too!” Clare flashed Casey an indignant look.
“I’m just kidding, Clare. Lighten up.”
“I’m glad I’m single. It’s so nice to be free to do what I want, when I want. To feel like my own person again. I came here to get my life back on track, and I don’t need anyone getting in the way of that.” Even as Clare said it, she wasn’t sure she believed it. She was hoping that maybe if she kept saying it out loud, it might be the case.
“I guess I can understand that, but isn’t a good relationship supposed to let you be your own person?” Casey asked, more wondering out loud then really posing the question.
“That’s not how my last one was at all.” A hint of sadness passed through Clare’s tone. That was exactly why she had no desire to jump into a new one, either.
“I actually have never been in one long enough for it to suck. Or to be good. Or for it to be anything except for sex. I prefer the love-’em-and-leave-’em approach.” Casey tried to lighten the mood, but a heaviness had descended anyway. “All right, that’s enough moping around for me for one day. Casey Kavanagh is not a Debbie Downer.”
“Agreed, let’s change topics.”
“I think we should talk about how you completely killed it at my self-defense class today. I thought Linda was going to actually pass out when you slammed her down to the ground!”
“She is never going to agree to be my partner again.” After two weeks of classes, not only was her skill level improving, but so was her confidence. She sometimes forgot that it was just a class, though, and she accidentally found herself picturing Travis Creighton’s face as that of her attacker.
Poor Linda.
“That’s true. She already requested a new partner after class.”
