Kate Hoffmann: Danny

But it wasn’t just architectural items that she found. Along one wall were a series of small animals, hedgehogs and rabbits and squirrels, clever little creatures made of cast iron. She wandered over to a crooked shelf tacked to a crossbeam and examined a collection of small carved objects.

“You did these?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“When I was a kid. The cast-iron animals are for the tourists. They’re small enough to fit in a suitcase and make a nice remembrance. You wouldn’t believe how many good jobs I get because of those bloody hedgehogs.”

Jordan smiled. “They are cute.”

He reached down and grabbed one and handed it to her. “Then take one with you. They make a proper doorstop or a decent paperweight. But they’re pure hell if your toe runs across one in the dark.”

“Thank you,” Jordan said.

He stared at her for a long moment. “You have a lovely smile,” Danny said.

Jordan quickly turned away, crossing the dirt floor to the forge. The massive stone fireplace, set at waist level, was located against the far wall, banked with coal, red embers glowing inside. Soot stained the stone above the hearth. Tools lined the walls surrounding the forge and a battered anvil sat in the center of it all.

“This is amazing,” she murmured. She walked to a spot where an iron gate was propped against a post. The decorative ironwork was so intricate, so artistic that Jordan immediately knew she wasn’t in the presence of a craftsman but an artist. She pointed to a huge rosette sitting beside it. “What is this for?”

“That’s just a try,” he said. “The two I finished were set into the stone wall of a formal garden, kind of like a window.”

“I want you,” she blurted out, spinning around to face him. “I don’t care what it takes, but I want you.”

A slow smile curved his lips. “That’s always nice to hear.”

Jordan groaned inwardly. Never in her life had she been so befuddled by a man. Yes, she found him wildly attractive. What woman wouldn’t, him standing there with his shirt unbuttoned to the waist and his gorgeous body tempting her?

But there was something else at work here. He was incredibly talented and impossibly charming and nothing like the men she was usually attracted to. Yet the attraction was undeniable. If he agreed to work for her, she’d have to keep that attraction in check.

Maybe she ought to just walk away. Having him in close proximity was a disaster waiting to happen. What she really needed was a blacksmith who was old and wrinkled and didn’t have all his teeth. That kind of man would be so much easier to resist. Danny Quinn was the human equivalent of catnip.

“How much do you want me?” Danny asked.

“What I meant was that I want you to do this job. I can see your talent and I think we can work out a way that your needs-” She cleared her throat. “Your artistic needs can be met.” Jordan drew a deep breath. “As far as compensation, I’m willing to be generous if you’re willing to put all your time and effort into the project until it’s finished. Ten-hour days, six days a week if necessary.”

“And what kind of compensation are we talking about?”

“Well, it depends on how long you take to finish the job. But I can promise you that it will be very generous. Well worth your while.”

“You’ll have to include living expenses. I can’t work from here.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to spend my time making the drive back and forth every time I need to fit something, dragging iron from here to there. We can set up a forge on-site. It will be more efficient. I’ll need a place to sleep.”

“You don’t want to sleep at home?”

“I have to tend the fire and I sometimes work late into the night. I don’t need anything posh, just a bed and a shower.”

“All right. There’s a cottage that you can use.”

“And I’m bringing my dogs, too. And I eat three meals a day.”

“You expect me to cook for you?” Jordan asked.

“I expect you to feed me,” he replied.

The thought of having a man as sexy as Danny around 24/7 was a bit disconcerting. But she was a very capable woman with finely honed self-control. And this was business. Nothing would happen if she didn’t want it to happen. “That can all be arranged,” she said. “We don’t have a cook at the house, but I’ll open up an account for you at the market in the village.”

“I can live with that.” He smiled and a shiver skittered down her spine. “Well, I suppose I ought to see the place, make a few notes and figure out if this is really a job I want to do.”

“The sooner the better. I’d like you to start as soon as possible.” She paused. “And I should warn you, I’m a very hands-on-” Jordan swallowed hard. In such a highly charged atmosphere, her admission could probably be misconstrued-again. “I meant to say, I’m very concerned with details, so I will be involved in all important decisions.”

He cocked his eyebrow, then shrugged. “I have some things to finish up here. Why don’t I drive over this evening and you can show me around?”

“That would be fine.”

They stood facing each other, an uneasy silence growing between them. Now that their business was completed, Jordan realized she should leave, or risk looking as though she was interested in something more than his blacksmith skills. She held out her hand again. “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Mr.-Danny.”

He took her fingers in his, his touch so gentle that it was more a caress than a polite gesture. “You have no idea what a pleasure it was for me, Jordan,” he murmured.

For a long moment, she wasn’t sure what to do. His touch felt so good she didn’t want to pull away. Neither one of them took a breath or even blinked, and when he took a step closer, Jordan was certain he was about to kiss her. She yanked her hand back and clutched at the purse slung over her shoulder.

“Later,” he said with a crooked smile.

She wasn’t sure whether he was referring to their meeting at the castle or his intention to kiss her. “I look forward to it,” she stated curtly. “And please don’t blow me off this time.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said in a low voice.

Jordan gave him a nod, then strode out of the barn. As soon as she had put a reasonable distance between them, she cursed softly. Had it really been necessary to add that last part? It made her sound like a complete bitch. But from the moment she’d set eyes on Danny Quinn she’d found it impossible to separate pleasure from the business she meant to do with him. She’d have to toughen up if she was going to deal with him-and with the unbidden attraction she felt.

“He’s not that cute,” she said to herself in a feeble attempt to mitigate her feelings. “All right, maybe he is really cute. But he’s probably just like all gorgeous men-full of himself. And I’ve always hated men with big egos.”

Hopefully, by the time she got back to Castle Cnoc, she’d have convinced herself that Danny was just like all the other workmen wandering about the place-ordinary guys, there to do a job and nothing more.

But as she pulled away from the bakery, she realized it would take a whole lot more than the drive to make that happen.

Maybe a ride to Dublin and back would do it.

DANNY TWISTED THE rearview mirror around to check his appearance. After he’d finished work for the day, he’d grabbed a quick shower and a shave and put on a decent shirt, then set off for Castle Cnoc. He’d thought about walking. Along the coast the castle was not more than an hour’s hike. But he didn’t want to arrive all sweaty and knackered. For any other girl in County Cork, he wouldn’t have bothered to worry. But Jordan Kennally was not just any girl.