Doctor Lucky Charms: A Holiday Romance (Kilts and Kisses) Read online

  She smiled, but the happy expression didn’t last on her face for two long. She seemed preoccupied, as if something stressful were on her mind.

  “What’s going on, gorgeous?” I asked, giving her a gentle nudge.

  “Oh, it’s nothing all that big. I was just wondering about someone I saw in town.”

  “Yeah? Who? Sandy Cove’s a small place, as I’m sure you’re finding out. Everyone’s got an opinion on everyone.”

  “Someone named Connor Murphy. You know who that is?”

  I had to rack my brain a bit for that one, but then it hit me.

  “Oh, I know the bloke. Guy in his late twenties, a bit of a rough look to him?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know much about him – just a face and a name and the fact that he runs with the sort of crowd that’s in and out of jail as often as can be. Mostly for petty crimes and such. Why do you ask?”

  “Well, it’s because-”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish. A bright light cut through the air across the side of the house, followed by the opening and shutting of several car doors.

  “What the hell is that?” she asked, sitting up straight and turning her head. I looked too, just as curious as she was.

  We didn’t need to wait long for our answers. A team of people rushed around the side of the house, none other than Sidney at their lead. He was all smiles as he gestured to his crew.

  “Look at this! Romance at the women’s shelter! Get that damn camera over here! I want this all on film!”

  Chapter 34

  JOANN

  Everything happened in a wild blur. Lights and noise and bustling people swirled all around me. All I could do was set down my drink and try to get a sense of what was happening.

  “This is so. Freaking. Good!” the man who looked like the guy in charge, a dude in his forties wearing expensive-looking clothes and a shit eating grin on his face, tried to corral a few of the other people to come over.

  The crowd with him, a dozen or so people all wearing jeans and T-shirts, lanyards around their necks, rigged up the cameras they’d brought and pointed the lights in our direction.

  “OK,” the man said. “Here’s what I’m thinking – we do a little romantic scene here with the owner of the house and ol’ Doc Lucky Charms, and then we get a little B-roll of the house while we’re at it.”

  I didn’t know what to make of the chaos unfolding all around me, and it didn’t help that I was tipsy from the tequila.

  Thankfully, Ronan stood up. “What the bleeding hell is all this?” he bellowed, his deep, commanding voice getting the crew to stop in their tracks, and all look in his direction with wide eyes. Then they turned their attention to the man in charge, waiting for him to give an order.

  “Back to it, everyone!” he shouted, clapping his hands. “You listen to me, not the talent!”

  The crew dutifully obeyed the man’s orders, returning to their work of setting up the cameras and lights.

  “I’ll ask again,” Ronan growled. “What the bleeding hell is going on here?”

  The man pursed his lips and gave the question a moment of thought before speaking.

  “Ro, we were going over the footage from earlier today and…well, it’s fine. There’s stuff there to work with. But I’m going to be honest with you – you come off a little…cold.”

  “What happened to fixing it in editing, Sidney?”

  Sidney, I thought. That’s who this guy is. Must be the producer of the show.

  “I can do that, don’t get me wrong. But when I left the office today, I spotted your car in the driveway at the house, and I got to thinking – what’s going on with Doc Lucky Charms and the girl across the street? Not only that, but the girl who owns the house he’s thinking of turning into the shelter?”

  “Wait,” Ronan asked. “How the hell did you find that out?”

  “Overheard it from your brothers, big man. Anyway, you can’t tell me this isn’t good stuff! So, I figured I’d come across the way and get a little surprise footage.”

  “And you figured I’d be OK with it?”

  Sidney shrugged. “Hey, I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. You OK me using the footage, then awesome. You tell me no, then oh well, you know?”

  I was mad. I couldn’t even begin to put into words how mad I was. That house was more than just a home to me – it was a refuge, a place where I could go to get away from the rest of the world, a place where I could remember my grandma and my childhood.

  On top of that, Ronan and I had just had sex in the kitchen near all those open windows. Who they hell could say what they’d already seen?

  As I watched the crew jam their tripods into the ground, tearing up the dirt and stomping over the flowers in their big, heavy work boots, I felt something snap in me. I was easily the shortest person in the backyard – even the female crewmembers were big and tall. So, I climbed on to the bench and spoke.

  “Everyone!” I yelled. “Get the fuck off my property right fucking now!”

  That got everyone’s attention. The crew stopped what they were doing. Everyone, including Ronan and Sidney, turned in my direction.

  “You all have two minutes to pack up your shit and get the hell out of here. And if you don’t, I’ll call the police! Or the guarda, or whatever it is you call them here! Now, move!”

  Sidney came over to me. I could tell by the smug look on his face that he was ready to try to talk some sense into me, to convince me to go along with what he wanted.

  “Don’t even say a word, you asshole. Take your people and scram or I’ll sue your sleazy ass all the way back to Hollywood.”

  He stopped in his tracks, raising his palms as if to say, “easy, easy.” Then he turned to his crew with a defeated look on his face.

  “Alright, everyone – pack it up. You heard the lady.”

  The crew didn’t waste a moment before getting their gear put away. As they did, Ronan approached, but the sight of him only angered me too.

  “Listen,” he said. “I’m sorry about this and-”

  “You too,” I said as I climbed off the bench. “I want you all gone.”

  He cocked his head to the side, confused.

  “But Jo-”

  “Leave. Now.”

  I didn’t wait to hear another word. I marched inside and slammed the door shut, listening as the crew made their way off the property. Their cars drove off, and among them I recognized the engine of Ronan’s.

  When I was certain I was alone, I hurried over to the place where Ronan and I had sex only a short time ago. There, I looked around to see if anyone could’ve looked in through the windows to watch, or record, us. Relief washed over me as I realized that there was no way any of them could’ve seen inside. They’d come from in front of the house, so unless they’d hidden in the woods watching with telescopic lenses only to circle around, I was safe.

  That only presented the question of Ronan. It’s seemed like he hadn’t known what was going on, that it was all Sidney’s doing. It seemed like a bad omen, however, as if getting involved with him would only make my life more complicated than it already was.

  I had no idea what to do. Either way, it was becoming clearer and clearer that the longer I stayed in Ireland, the more complicated my life would become.

  And that was assuming I wasn’t planning on staying forever.

  Chapter 35

  RONAN

  Collin’s jeep was in the driveway of Aiden’s place, a tinge of relief coming over me at the sight of it.

  Good. Maybe with Collin here cooler heads will prevail.

  If there were to be a cooler head, it most certainly wasn’t going to be mine. I was still bleeding furious from what had gone down at Joann’s place. While most of the blame rested on Sidney’s shoulders, Aiden was at fault, too. After all, he was the one who’d blabbed to Sidney about Joann.

  I pulled to a stop behind C
ollin’s car and climbed out, my blood still pounding in my veins from the incident. With my hands in fists, I strode toward the front door of Aiden’s house and knocked as hard as I could without banging.

  I didn’t need to wait long before it opened. Collin was there, a bottle of Murphey’s in his hand. Some sports game was playing the in background, and Aiden was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where is he?” I asked, my voice lined with anger. “Where’s my fecking idjit of a brother?”

  “You alright, Ro?” he asked. “You look like you want to pound him something fierce.”

  “I just might,” I said.

  Suddenly, Aiden popped his head from around the corner.

  “Ah, there you are!” he said, a big smile on his face. “Just had to take a leak and-”

  I blew past Collin, my brother just stepping out of the way before I bowled him over.

  “What the hell were you thinking, you jackass?” I said, storming toward Aiden, whose smile vanished the closer I drew.

  “Wait a damn minute,” Aiden said as I came a stop in front of him. “Why on God’s green earth are you storming into my house and looking like you want to stomp my arse into the ground?”

  “I was just over at Joann’s place, having a nice, quiet evening with her. That is, it was quiet until Sidney and the rest of his fecking crew stormed onto the property and started trying to film us!”

  Aiden still seemed confused. “And what the hell does that have to do with me?”

  “Sidney told me that he knew about me and Jo because you were running your mouth, as usual, at work. So, he figured that it’d be no big deal at all for him to show up with all his people and start filming. Said he’d give it a try and if I were to say no, he’d leave.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Aiden asked. Then he flashed a smile. “Wait, unless you were already between the sheets with the girl and he poked his big head through the window and asked if he could film a wee bit.”

  I let out a noise of annoyance and frustration, part of me wanting to slug him on the spot.

  “What?” Aiden shrugged. “If he didn’t end up filming, then what’s the big deal?”

  “See, that’s your problem,” I said, raising a finger at him. “Nothing’s ever a big deal. You’re always screwing around, running your mouth and acting like what you say and do has no fecking consequences.”

  “And you’re always taking shit too seriously!” he shot back. “Nothing bad happened, yet here you are coming over and acting like you’re going to punch me in the damn mouth!”

  “Both of you shut up!” Collin shouted, raising his voice in such an uncharacteristic way that it snapped Aiden and me out of our spells.

  We turned, both of our eyes wide with surprise.

  “I swear, if you don’t both shut you bleeding mouths I’m going to get Ma over here to shut them for you. And you know she’ll do it, yeah?”

  I lowered my voice and took a deep breath before speaking again.

  “The problem, Aiden, is that you may have just blown the whole deal for the shelter, not to mention my chances with Joann. She kicked us all off the property, me included.”

  At least Aiden had the decency to look sheepish at that.

  “Well, shite. I didn’t mean for that to happen Ro, you gotta know that,” he said. “ And I’m sure you’ll be able to work things out with the lass. Just give her some time to cool off.”

  I shook my head and scrubbed a hand over my face. I hoped he was right.

  “Let me get you a beer, brother,” Aiden said, slapping me on the back as he made his way to the kitchen.

  “Have a seat,” Collin directed. “We were just throwing back a few, watching some replays on YouTube.”

  We went over to the big sectional couch in front of the huge, flatscreen TV and sat down. Moments later, Aiden was in with a fresh round of beers for all of us.

  “Now,” Aiden said as he passed the beers around to the group. “Tell us what the hell happened.”

  I took a sip of the beer, the booze hitting me just right. Then I breathed in slowly and began.

  When I finished, Aiden cocked his head to the side. “Well, that was a shite move on their part.”

  “Right,” Collin agreed. “Sidney’s a right arse for coming around and doing what he did. But you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “But Joann doesn’t know that,” I said. “As far as she can tell, I’m just as bad as those LA pricks who showed up and tromped around her grandmother’s backyard.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Collin said, cool and calm as ever. “I completely understand why she was upset. Give her some time and she’ll cool off and realize you were as much of a victim as she was in this whole business.”

  “Exactly,” Aiden added. “She’s mad, sure, but I’m sure she’ll come around. Because from what we’ve heard of her, she’s bleeding crazy about you, Ro. And no doubt in my mind you’re just as crazy about her.”

  I ran my hand through my hair, letting it all sink in.

  “Christ,” I said. “Is it that obvious I’m mad about her?”

  My brothers regarded one another with a long look before breaking out into laughter.

  “Are you kidding?” Aiden asked. “Brother, when you talk about her your face lights up like a bleeding Christmas tree. It’s a bit gross, now that I mention it.”

  “Eh, feck off,” I said, reaching over and giving him a playful shove.

  “But seriously,” Collin said. “It’s clear as day that there’s something serious going on between the two of you.”

  “That’s what’s daft about it,” I said. “We barely know one another.”

  “So?” Aiden asked. “We’re Irish – and so is she! Passion doesn’t need much time at all. What, do you think you need to be like a damn uptight Brit, dating a girl for half a year before it’s the right time to accept how you feel about one another? Nonsense. We Irish fall in love hard and fast – life’s too short to do it any other way.”

  “We’re sorry things got all fucked up with Sidney,” Collin said. “But it’s more than fixable with Joann.”

  They were both making sense, but I still needed time to process it all.

  In the meantime, there was something else on my mind.

  “Something I want to ask you two.”

  “What is it?” Collin replied.

  “You both know someone by the name of Connor Murphy?”

  They both sat back, thoughtful expressions on their faces.

  “Ah, shite!” Aiden exclaimed. “Connor! That scam artist arsehole.”

  “You both know about him?”

  “I do. Heard he got busted for some nonsense he was pulling down in Dublin, seducing older women and fleecing them out of money.”

  “Right, right,” I said. “He got caught, but nothing he did was technically illegal, so they had to let him go.”

  “That’s about all I know,” Collin said. “Why?”

  “Just been hearing talk about the guy. Anyway, let’s watch the game. I need to let me mind settle.”

  We turned our attention to the big TV, Aiden flicking the volume back on. I sure as shite didn’t want Joann mixed up with a guy like Connor, whatever was going on between them. However, I had no choice but to put it on the backburner.

  Chapter 36

  JOANN

  It was a couple days after the incident with Ronan and the camera crew, and I was seated on the roof at the Marleybone picking at what had to be the best French fries I’d ever had in my life. It was the afternoon, and the place was a bit on the slow side. A few other tables were taken up and I watched the ocean as I ate my chips and drank my beer, my mind too preoccupied to read the true crime book I’d brought with me.

  My mind was on Ronan, of course. I kept thinking about how everything had gone down, how I’d been such an asshole to him for something that was only partially his fault. At the same time, I’d had my reasons. Things had gotten serious between us far too quickly, and the price I’d
paid had been getting wrapped up in his world of reality TV and Hollywood producers too soon.

  I was finding myself in an indecisive spot, part of me wishing he’d be the one to text, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that I was the one in the wrong, the one who needed to reach out and try to mend fences.

  That’s what was on my mind when my phone buzzed with a text from a strange, local number. I picked my phone up from the table and swiped it open.

  I read the text, my jaw dropping as I did.

  Guuuuueeeess who?

  What came next was a photo of none other than Jolene standing outside Dublin airport. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

  What the hell? Are you in the country?

  She hearted my text, then typed.

  Got a little time off at the Medical Examiner’s office; they’re doing some remodeling. Sawyer and I decided that now would be a perfect chance for me to come to visit and for him to get some QT in with the kids. So, here I am!

  I was so excited I could hardly type.

  I love it! What’s your plan right now?

  Going to rent a car and then drive to grandmas. Guessing I should be there in a couple of hours?

  Perfect! I’m having a little afternoon snack and I’ll be back in time to greet you.

  See you then!

  I set my phone on the table, a huge smile on my face. I wasn’t normally one for surprises, but after all the crazy stuff that had gone down over the last few days, a little sister time sounded like just the thing. Who knew? Maybe she’d had some amazing advice for what to do about Ronan.

  I popped another chip into my mouth and washed it down with some cold beer. I looked around, a little surprised that Ronan’s cousins hadn’t come by to hit on me. When I turned my attention back to the ocean, a voice spoke from behind me.

  “Ah, so this is the wean who got her hooks in me nephew.”