Anne Fraser - The Firebrand Who Unlocked His Heart

‘But I am a farmer’s daughter. Anyway Ciaran likes me the way I am.’

‘You’re a beautiful woman, Col; anyone would give their eye teeth to look like you—which is stunning, God help the rest of us—whatever you chose to wear. But when was the last time Ciaran looked at you? I mean, really looked at you?’

Instead of Ciaran’s face, an image of dark green eyes, drilling into hers, flashed into her head. She glanced outside. It was clear Daniel was coming to the end of his call. She had to shut Trish up before he came back inside.

‘I wouldn’t dream of making love on the beach,’ she hissed. ‘Sand would get everywhere and someone might see. But of course, if I wanted to, I could do that with Ciaran. We might yet.’

The door swished open and Daniel was walking towards them. Trish stood up and bent over Colleen.

‘The question is, do you want to?’ she whispered.

Colleen was feeling decidedly unsettled when Daniel sat down in the chair Trish had just vacated. Unwelcome though Trish’s word were, they only echoed what Colleen had been thinking these last few months. Perhaps Trish was right and Daniel’s offer was just what she needed? Time, on her own, to think.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ he said. ‘I didn’t expect the call to take so long.’ He smiled at her and unaccountably her heart thumped against her ribs. ‘Have you had time to come to a decision?’

Damn! Why did the way he looked at her make her feel as if they were the only two people in the room?

Daniel’s green eyes brought back the image of Harry lying on the hospital bed. Colleen’s heart twisted. She knew she couldn’t walk away, not without meeting Harry at the very least. Ciaran always said she was a soft touch.

‘I’ll come to London and meet your son,’ she said, finally. ‘I’ll make my decision then. However, if, for any reason, I don’t think I’m the best person to care for your son, either because he doesn’t react well to me, or because I think he’ll be better off in a rehab unit, then I won’t take the job. Is that understood?’

There was no mistaking the relief on Daniel’s face. ‘In that case,’ he said, signalling for the bill, ‘shall we get going?’

‘GET going? What now? Right this minute?’

‘No time like the present. I need to know whether you’re going to take the job. You’re off duty for the weekend, aren’t you?’

Was there anything he didn’t know about her life?

Daniel was flicking through his wallet, otherwise he would have noticed that Colleen’s jaw had dropped. She closed it quickly.

‘I can’t go right now. ’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I need to pack, make a couple of calls, have a sleep.’ She couldn’t just go to London at the drop of a hat. Trips needed careful planning. ‘Besides don’t you need to make plane reservations?’

Daniel dropped a twenty-pound note on the table and, without waiting for his change, took Colleen’s elbow and steered her towards the door. This elbow-steering thing he had was beginning to get out of hand. She cast a desperate glance at Trish who grinned and held two thumbs up. So no help there then.

‘I have a plane. It’s waiting for us at the airport. I’ll take you home and you can pick up anything you might need. You can sleep on the plane.’

‘But..’ Her voice come out as a squeak.

Daniel held the door open and ushered her out. He stopped and stared down at her with his mesmerising eyes. ‘Look, you agreed to meet Harry. The hospital wants to discharge him on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. If I don’t take him home, they’ll transfer him to the nearest rehab unit and I’m not having that.’ He smiled tightly. ‘I promise you, I’ll have you back home tomorrow at the latest.’

He opened the car door and once again she was bundled inside. But there was no reason she could think of, apart from the ones she had raised and he’d swept aside, not to go with him. Ciaran was going to Wales with her brothers for the weekend to watch some rugby match. It hadn’t even occurred to him to ask her whether she wanted to go, too. Not that she did, but it would have been nice to be asked. Come to think of it, when had she and Ciaran last done something on their own? Something on the spur of the moment, something romantic? Once more, she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

‘Okay, I’ll come, but I have to go home and collect some stuff first.’ At least Trish couldn’t accuse her of not being spontaneous this time. Truth was, it felt good. Exciting. She would text Ciaran and let him know she was going to London. Maybe that would rock him out of his complacency.

‘Good girl,’ Daniel said. ‘Where to?’

Good girl! What was she—a puppy?

Colleen gave him the address and, as the car moved away, she sent Ciaran and her mother a quick text telling them she was going to London and would call them later. Colleen usually went home for her days off, even when Ciaran wasn’t there, but wasn’t Mammy always telling her that she should stay in Dublin and enjoy herself with her friends sometimes? Why was everyone so determined to tell her to enjoy herself? It wasn’t as if she went around with a face like a camel’s behind all the time. Sheesh!

When the car pulled up outside her flat, Colleen jumped out and ran up the step, telling Daniel she’d be half an hour. To her consternation, when she stopped to open the communal door with her key, she realised that Daniel was standing behind her. The faint scent of expensive aftershave drifted up her nose and she could almost feel the energy vibrating from his body.

For some reason her hand was shaking and she struggled to get the key to work. Daniel leaned over her shoulder. ‘Let me,’ he said. The touch of his hand on hers sent that electric shock up her arm and she dropped her hand, letting him take charge of the key. Now she was enclosed by the circle of his arms and she had to concentrate hard to stop her breath coming out in gasps. Anyone would think she’d never been close to a man in her life.

‘I thought we agreed you would stay in the car,’ she said. Annoyingly, despite her efforts, she still sounded breathless.

‘Did we?’ he said, mildly. ‘I don’t remember that.’

Daniel followed her up the three flights of stairs to her flat. This time she managed to open the door first time. She turned to him. She didn’t want him inside her home. She needed some time to compose herself. ‘Thank you. I can cope fine from here.’ She thought she managed the note of sarcasm perfectly.

To her dismay he ignored her and followed her inside her studio apartment. Couldn’t the man take a hint? But she could hardly order him out of her flat without appearing rude, and she was never rude.

Spying a pair of tights lying discarded on the arm of a chair, she hurried across and scooped them up. Then, through the open door of the bathroom, she noticed her panties and a towel on the floor so she hurried over to scoop them up, too, before shoving the whole lot into the washing machine. Her coffee cup from last night and her supper dishes were still in the sink, but she’d been in a rush to get to work after being held up by a fascinating programme on the television on anteaters.

‘Nice place,’ he said drily. He picked up a magazine from the floor. The Bride. His lips twitched. ‘Interesting dress she’s wearing.’

Colleen snatched it from his hands and shoved it on top of the pile she’d still to read. It tottered there for a moment before the whole lot slid to the ground, fanning out on a heap on the floor. Knowing her face was probably beetroot, she took a deep breath. She never, ever got flustered. What the heck had got into her?