Kate Hoffmann - Liam

“But our older brothers got past that. Conor, Dylan and Brendan. They all fell in love. So it’s possible.”

“Maybe,” Brian conceded.

Liam silently contemplated the notion of love while Brian finished his dinner. Was he in love with Ellie Thorpe? From the moment he’d first seen her through the lens of his camera, he’d been drawn to her. And then after they’d met, it had been almost impossible to put her out of his mind.

Time and time again he’d tried to rationalize his feelings. Why was she any different than all the other women who had walked in and out of his life? How had she managed to find a place in his heart when the others hadn’t? His brothers might say that it was the Quinn family curse. That if he didn’t want to love her then he shouldn’t have saved her from the burglar.

But Liam knew better. Something had shifted inside him. Gone was his instinct to run, to avoid commitment at any cost. For the first time in his life he actually wanted a relationship to last longer than a few months.

“Maybe you should give it a chance,” Brian said.

“You think?”

He nodded. “The way I see it, we’ve got one shot at it. And if we don’t recognize it when it comes along, then we spend our lives looking. Look at Da. After all those years he’s still in love with Ma. She walks out on him and he’s thrilled to have her walk back in the door twenty-five years later.”

“Not everyone has been happy to see her,” Liam said.

“What is it with Sean?”

Liam shrugged, then nodded toward the door. “Why don’t you ask him?”

They both watched as Sean strolled through the bar. He gave Dylan a wave and sat at the far end before noticing his brothers at the opposite end. He picked up his beer and started toward them. Liam fought the impulse to leave.

“What are you doing here?” Sean demanded, setting his beer down on the bar.

Liam groaned softly. He was in no mood. “Lay off, Sean.”

“You’re supposed to be watching Ellie Thorpe.”

“I’m done. I don’t need your money and I don’t want the job. If you want her watched, then you do it yourself.”

“Pettibone is still in town. We’re this close. You can’t quit.”

“I can and I do. Besides, she knows we’re watching her. If she embezzled that money, she’s probably long gone by now.”

Sean cursed softly. “She knows?”

“Yeah. After I left this morning, I went to her apartment and waited for her. I told her everything.”

“Why?”

“She thought I was some kind of stalker so I had to set her straight.”

Sean let out a tightly held breath. “She’s gone.”

“Maybe not,” Liam said. “You’re under the assumption that she’s in on this with Ronald. I don’t think she is.”

“He’s in love with her,” Brian said, his mouth full of corned beef.

Sean glanced between the two of them. “Aw, hell. I should have know this was going to happen.”

“I’m not in love with her,” Liam said. “Not at all. I’m just not interested in doing your dirty work. If you want to watch her, then go ahead. If you want to chase Ronald Pettibone around Boston, feel free. I’m just saying that I’m done with it.” Liam pushed away from the bar. “I’m going to play some pool. I’m sure there’s some beautiful young thing who needs a partner.”

He left his brothers to discuss the vagaries of love while he wandered to the back of the pub. Two girls in tight shirts and body-hugging jeans had commandeered the pool table, giggling and flirting with the men who had gathered to watch. Liam set a quarter on the corner of the table. “I’ll play the winner,” he said.

They both turned to him and graced him with dazzling smiles. He’d assumed that charming a new woman would take his mind off the previous woman. But as he watched them finish their game, Liam found himself comparing the pair to Ellie Thorpe-and they were suffering in the comparison.

He hadn’t known Ellie for long-not nearly long enough to be sure that he loved her. But he knew the important things: she was honest and kind and stubborn and determined. She was passionate and naive and spontaneous and optimistic. And she had a natural beauty that didn’t fade over time. In truth, Liam could go on and on, listing all the qualities about her that he admired.

He strolled over to the rack and picked out a cue. Maybe that was it. He didn’t just need Ellie or want her, it wasn’t just about attraction. He admired her. She’d walked away from her life in New York and come to Boston to start fresh. Though her history with men had been a series of disasters, she still believed in romance and passion. She wasn’t jaded or cynical or bitter, she was just…Ellie.

“So, are you one of the famous Quinn brothers?”

Liam turned around, startled out of his silent contemplation of pool cues. “What?”

“Which Quinn are you?”

“Liam,” he said. “Liam Quinn.”

“I’m Danielle,” she said.

“And who’s your friend?” Liam asked, nodding toward the redhead.

“She’s not my friend. And you don’t need to know her name. She’s going to lose this game.” The blonde reached out and touched his arm, initiating a flirtation that Liam knew by heart. First, she’d touch him innocently. Then he was supposed to touch her. And then gradually the touching would become more regular and more intimate. And then, after a few hours, he’d kiss her, just a casual kiss at first and then- Liam groaned inwardly. Hell, it suddenly sounded so trite and silly. How many Saturday nights had he wasted charming women just like these two? And where had it gotten him?

Danielle sauntered up to the table and took a shot, banking the cue ball off the rail and sinking the nine in a side pocket. Then she wandered back to Liam, brushing against his body. “So are all the tales true?” she asked.

“Tales?”

“About the Quinn boys. Women do talk, you know.”

“And what do they say about the Quinn boys?”

Danielle tossed her hair over her shoulder and sent him a sexy smile. “They say they’re the best.”

Liam groaned inwardly. He was just too tired to play the game tonight. Or maybe too bored. Or too preoccupied. But the best way to forget about one woman was to spend a little time with another. Liam grabbed the chalk from the edge of the table and ground it onto the end of the cue. “Well, we are pretty good pool players. As for the rest, most rumors are just that-rumors.”

He watched as Danielle’s friend knocked the eight ball into the wrong pocket. Then he grabbed his quarter from the end of the table and shoved it in the slot. The balls tumbled down and Liam reached for the rack.

One game of pool. And if he didn’t find it…interesting, then he’d leave. Liam stepped back from the table and hung the rack on a hook on the wall. And if he managed to go fifteen minutes without thinking about Ellie, then he’d have to consider that a victory.

ELLIE STOOD OUTSIDE Quinn’s Pub, staring at the neon beer signs that glowed from the windows. A damp breeze blew off the ocean, tingeing the air with the smell of the sea. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her body and took a deep breath.

She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, but she knew she had to speak to Liam. She’d watched the attic across the street from her apartment and noticed no movement at the windows. Then she’d stopped at his apartment in Southie and he’d been out. Quinn’s Pub was the next place to look.

Why was she really here? Was it for explanations? Or apologies? Or did she just need to reassure herself that things were completely over with Liam Quinn?

After their confrontation in the attic she’d been so hurt and angry that she hadn’t had a chance to think. Her only impulse had been to lash out at him. But after she’d returned to her apartment and begun to clean up the mess, she realized that whatever Liam believed or did not believe didn’t really make a difference. The management at Intertel Bank was under the impression that she’d stolen a quarter-million dollars.