Allison Parr - Running Back

I wrapped my arms around him and leaned up into the kiss. He was warm and bright and untamed, and heat unfurled deep in my belly, spreading like wildfire all through my body. It consumed me, urged me closer to him, striking up a conflagration of desire that would destroy us both.

Which was why I had to draw back. I braced my hands against his chest and looked down. My breath came hard and fast from two sources of adrenaline. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

He lifted my chin and kissed my jawline. His breath sent shivers down my spine. “It’s a great idea.”

It was very hard to think with those warm, large hands slipping under my shirt and caressing my waist. Calloused finger pads dragged over sensitive skin. I sucked in a deep breath as his thumb stroked under my belly button. “ Mike .” A shudder of pleasure shook me, and then I drew back. “I’m just not sure...because of Kilkarten.”

Now he drew away. “Why are we still talking about this?”

I shifted. “I don’t know. What if something changes?”

“What do you mean, ‘something’? Nothing’s changing. You’re not digging there.” His expression shifted to horror. “Wait, you don’t think that if you slept with me I’d let you excavate—”

“No!” I broke in, hot with embarrassment. He kept staring at me like I’d honestly just offered to prostitute myself. “No, I told you. I talked to your sisters, and they seem in favor of the excavation.”

“And I told you , this isn’t a democracy.”

I shrugged. “I just don’t want to make things messy.”

He lifted my chin. “Hey. Do you like me?”

I nodded as much as I could with his hand holding my head up.

“Good. Because I like you. So why can’t we just focus on that?”

“Because things don’t exist in a vacuum.”

“Can’t we say this room does?”

His eyes were so warm, so pleading, and filled with such heart that I had to close my own to shut them out. But deprived of one sense made me all too aware of the others, of his fingers slowly stroking my jaw, of his scent enveloping me. My body wanted to wrap around his. So, I was afraid, did part of my heart.

My brain was another story. “I should—”

“I know.” He withdrew, and the air around me went cold.

And then I left.

I spent the next morning talking with some neighbors that Maggie O’Connor had sent me pointers to, people whose farms bordered Kilkarten. They were lovely, interesting people, with wonderful stories, none of which included finding Iron Age artifacts on their lands—or even hearing any rumors about ancient Ireland.

I’d just wrapped up my last interview when Mike ducked his head into the library, where I’d been holding them. His brow looked tense. “There you are. Up for a run?”

“Now?”

“Now,” he said shortly. “I’ll be warming up outside until you’re ready.”

My brows rose at his curtness, but I headed for my room. It only took a few minutes before I was back downstairs, hair up in a ponytail, my Archaeologists Do It in the Dirt shirt pulled on. That made Mike groan. “Now you’re just taunting me.”

“It’s a very comfortable shirt.” I did one or two hamstring stretches before he kicked off. After a startled second I caught up to him. “Oh, hey. Thanks for waiting for me to warm up.”

“No problem.”

His strides were longer than mine, but he held back enough that I could keep up without dying. I rarely ran with other people, since I usually used the time to work through whatever issue I was dealing with, but I liked running with Mike. I liked the way our legs and breathing aligned, and how I could glance over and see his strong profile and the fine sheen on his skin whenever I wanted. I could’ve looked forever, if I wasn’t afraid of tripping.

We hit the coastal path and turned north. Stone stairs cut into the rising land, which fell away beside us in a sharp drop to the sea. Instead of the fields and long grasses to the south, we hit bushes heavy with yellow and orange flowers. They mixed with the sea air, making the oxygen fresh and bright.

The stairs brought us to a winding path at the edge of a cliff. It was barely wide enough for two abreast, and wound and bumped too much for a flat out run. Prickly yellow bushes crowded us on one side and short trees with wide leaves lined the other. I ducked my head under a low hanging branch.

When we started up a hill, I slowed. He came up beside me as our rate decreased, until we finally topped the crest and stopped by mutual agreement. Yellow flowers spread out on three sides, the blue above us skewing into gray over the water. My breaths came long and deep, and I could taste the wind in the back of my throat. I leaned my head toward the sky, cracking my shoulders as I raised my arm and circled my neck, and then fell into my stretches. “Okay. What’s up?”

He dropped into a lunge. “I’m a professional athlete. Got to stay in shape.”

I shook my head and sat down, curling my right leg as I extended my left, and bending in half at my waist to touch my forehead to the ground. “I’m not buying it.”

When I straightened, I found him watching me with that perfect crooked grin.

I raised my brows at him.

He shrugged unabashedly.

“Hmph.” In that case, he was just asking to be teased. I split my legs open and touched my forehead straight down in front of me.

Mike groaned.

I grinned as blades of grass tickled my nose, twisting my hands around my ankles. I knew starting something with Mike was a bad idea, but I wanted him so much that I didn’t mind making him want me.

I unfolded and smiled at him. He shook his head. “Are you trying to drive me crazy?”

“I shouldn’t, should I? But it’s turning out to be a lot of fun.”

He grinned at the sky. It was such a gorgeous, relaxed expression that I could feel my heart tumbling all over itself, which wasn’t a good sign. “We went to see Maggie and Paul today.”

Ah. So that was what had put him in a mood. “How was it?”

“Mom and Maggie were weird, just like they were yesterday.”

“Do you know what their deal is?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think they’ve even met before this week.”

“So why would they dislike each other? Do you think it’s the same thing that estranged the brothers?”

He tilted his head as he considered it. “Like maybe she’s pissed on Patrick’s behalf? I don’t know... It seems weirdly personal.”

“Aren’t you curious? Old family secrets to uncover...”

He shot me a pointed look. “Not all of us dig just for dirt.”

I raised a brow. “No, some of us dig for the reality buried beneath it.”

He studied me with those steady brown eyes. I wondered if the reason he smiled all the time was to distract people from how much he watched them.

Then the intensity felt too intimate, and I turned away. “So what else happened? Your sisters met Paul?”

He watched me a brief moment more, and then switched gears to an irritated scoff. “Yeah, and fucking Paul made a pass at Lauren.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I told you he was bad news, didn’t I.”

I held in a laugh. “Some people don’t actually mind being flirted with.”

“Anna also said that he was hot.”

The laugh burst out. “Well, she had a point.”

Now I had Mike’s full attention. “ You don’t think Paul’s hot.”

I shrugged mischievously. “Dark good looks... Has that Irish brogue.”

Mike snorted. “You’re all crazy.”

I couldn’t resist needling him a little further, even though I didn’t actually find his cousin’s angry angst that attractive. “Cam—my best friend—and I even came up with an Operation Irish Boyfriend, and I’d say Paul’s a pretty good candidate.”