His Love (2 page)

Gavin laughed and put his glasses back on.

“What, my accent’s not as sexy?” Anna joked.

“Sure it is, darling,” Wren said. “But you’re not my type.” She quirked a thin brow at Gavin and said, “Between that face, that accent, and you’re a doctor? Holy hell, you’ll have girls jumping into your lap by sundown. Careful, baby.”

Anna snorted out a laugh, but Gavin merely shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Leave him be,” Anna said. “Gavin’s kinda reserved. Take it easy on him.”

“I’m fine, Anna.” Gavin scrubbed his hand over his already stubble-coated chin. “Well, Wren. I can already see you and Anna together are probably a world of trouble. I’ll buckle up.”

Both women laughed wickedly, only confirming his suspicion.

Fifteen minutes later, Gavin and Anna were sitting in a booth by the window of the restaurant, sharing a plate of mozzarella sticks. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the food had come; he’d eaten three in about a minute. And he’d sucked down a whole glass of water before ordering a beer so he wouldn’t get dehydrated. The last thing he needed was to pass out in a bar on his first day there, but damn he was tired. “Wren’s interesting.”

“She’s a fireball. But with a heart of gold,” Anna said. “We met at FIT, my first semester. Then we both left the program at the same time last year.” She dipped another stick of fried cheese into a little cup of marinara sauce, practically drowning the thing, then flicked a glance at the clock on the wall. “Toni and Joe should get here soon. They’re both lovely. After they get home from work, they’ll come down here. And we’ll all have some fun tonight, officially welcoming you to New York.”

Gavin knew that Toni and Joe, along with Anna and Wren, would be his housemates for the next four weeks. When he’d told Anna back in January that he was thinking of taking part of his summer holiday on a beach somewhere, she’d launched into a campaign for his coming to Long Island and staying with her. By March, Anna found out their friend Gary wasn’t coming back this summer, leaving them with an empty room. Once he did the math, it made sense for him to take her up on the idea.

For his month-long stay, he’d have that room in the house and pay thousands less than if he’d stayed at a hotel. And be able to go into New York City whenever he wanted, only a short train ride away. Sean was in the city, Anna would be around, her house was practically sitting on the beach… but his brother and sister would both be working, so he’d also have space and time to himself. His small apartment in Blanchardstown, his job in Dublin, his bad memories of his ex, and everything else he’d left behind seemed light years away now.

Not a bad way to spend a long holiday. Not at all.

“Gavvy!” Anna squealed suddenly. With a little bounce in her seat, she grasped her brother’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m so glad you’re here! I really am.” She kissed his cheek, then bit into her mozzarella stick with gusto.

“I’m glad I’m here, too.” He smiled back. “It’s goin’ to be a good month.”

*

Toni Westmore sighed
with relief as she entered the living room and dropped her leather messenger bag beside the long couch. It’d been a brutally long day at work, she was hot, she was hungry, her feet hurt from her stupid stilettos, and she desperately wanted a shower. The group text from Anna, around five, said her brother made it in and was with her at the bar; at six came a text from Joe, saying he’d gotten off work early and would head over there with a few of his friends. Well, she’d had to stay at work longer than she’d planned. Paloma and Sven, the haughty owners of the art gallery she worked in, hadn’t been happy that she was taking off a few days around the holiday weekend, and had burdened her with tedium to take care of before she left. Between their higher-than-thou attitudes, the obnoxious patrons, and the monotony of her actual duties, she hated her job a little more with each passing week. When she’d graduated from Georgetown with her degree in art history, this wasn’t how she’d thought she’d spend her days. She huffed out a sigh of exhaustion. At least, for the next five days, she wouldn’t have to make the trek all the way down to SoHo to be little more than a glorified errand girl.

The clock on her phone showed it was almost eight o’clock already. “Damn,” she muttered. At this rate, she wouldn’t make it down to the Nest until about nine, and she’d hoped to be there already. Like, an hour ago. Rummaging through the fridge, she found the container of egg salad she’d bought the day before. She scooped some onto a whole wheat wrap, got a glass of ice water, and sank into a chair at the kitchen table with a grateful sigh. It felt good to sit down, and to have quiet. She wished she had time for a nap, but if she did, she’d likely sleep right through and miss the whole night.

Her mind wandered as she ate, going over some of the more frustrating scenes from work that day, and remembering the terse guilt trip of a phone call from her mother after lunch. “We expect to see you at
some
point this weekend, Toni. We’re having a family barbecue on Sunday. Come over then. No, that’s not a command, it’s a request. What, you can’t squeeze in some time with your family? Your social calendar is that booked up?”

Toni was twenty-eight, and her mother still tried to rule her life. The more autonomy Toni exerted, the more her mother tried to pull her back under her thumb. It was exhausting.

“Fun,” Toni announced to the empty room. “This weekend—this summer—I’m going to have some fun, dammit. I am
way
overdue.” She raised her glass in a toast to herself and drank down some water.

The front door opened and closed, and she felt a twinge. No one was supposed to be home now; they were all down at the bar. “Hello?” she called out, a bit nervous.

“Hello,” an unfamiliar voice called back, deep and male.

A chill skittered over her skin. She grabbed the steak knife she’d used to cut the wrap in half, held it behind her back, and edged forward with caution. When a tall man appeared before her in the arch between the kitchen and living room, she gasped and tightened her grip on the knife.

He smiled amiably and said, “Are you Toni? I’m Gavin, Anna’s brother.”

His Irish accent and bright blue eyes, so similar to Anna’s, convinced her of that in a heartbeat. Knowing he was arriving today, Toni exhaled in relief. “Oh, thank God.” She lowered her hand from behind her back and put the knife on the nearby counter. “Don’t need this, then.”

Gavin’s eyes widened. “Ehm… a knife? What were ya goin’ to do with that?”

“I didn’t know who was in the house!” she exclaimed. “No one’s supposed to be here, and I didn’t recognize your voice.”

“Ah, hell. I’m so sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya.” He held up his hands in surrender and smiled again, a disarmingly sweet smile that made Toni’s heart do a little fluttery thing. “I mean no harm, I swear.”

“That’s what they all say,” she joked darkly. She took a deep, cleansing breath and held out a hand. “Do over. Hi, Gavin, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Toni Westmore.”

His smile grew wider as he shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Toni. Gavin McKinnon, your guest for the next four weeks.”

“You’re not a guest, you’re a housemate. Everything here is yours, too.” Now that she had a good look at him, it hit her how attractive he was. Whoa. Seriously attractive. Tall, lean, with short, dark blond hair, a killer smile, and unbelievably blue eyes behind those glasses. The glasses made him look like a stereotypical hot college professor. She blinked, willing herself to stop zoning out on him like a fool. “I just wolfed down some dinner,” she said, gesturing towards the table. “I only got home from work a little while ago.” She glanced down at herself; the fitted dress looked nice but wasn’t very comfortable. “I haven’t even changed out of my work clothes yet. As you can see.”

He only nodded, his eyes traveling over her in quick appraisal.

“I know I’m supposed to meet everyone down at the Nest,” she continued, “but the truth is, I’m wiped. I just don’t feel like going. The couch is calling me.”

“I hear ya,” Gavin said. “I’ve been down there the past few hours. Had dinner with Anna before she started her shift, met Wren and Joe. It was good. But I think I’m a bit jetlagged, because I’m just wrung out. So I begged off, left, and came back here.”

“Well, Ireland’s what, five hours ahead?” Only then did she notice how tired his eyes looked. She’d been too distracted by the whole package of handsome.

“Aye. There’s that too. It’s really…” He glanced at his watch. “One AM for me.”

“Well, I’m going to text your sister and tell her I’m staying home, then,” Toni said. “In fact… I’m going to take a quick shower, then park my ass on the couch, have a drink or two, and veg out with a movie. Would you like to join me?”

“Sounds great,” he said. He tried to suppress a yawn and failed. “Of course, I might fall asleep on ya midway through. Bloody hell, I’m tired.”

“Then you take the couch, and I’ll take the loveseat,” Toni grinned.

*

Gavin watched her
cross to the fridge, then bend over to look inside. Her muffled voice floated over her back as she asked him, “Want a beer, soda, what? Name it.”

His gaze was glued to her shapely arse, but he managed to say, “Just cold water would be good, thanks.”

She straightened, a bottle of Corona in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, which she handed to him. Like when he’d shaken her hand, when his fingers brushed hers, he felt a jolt. She turned away to look for the bottle opener, totally unaware of how his body was reacting to her.

Something buzzed through him as his eyes roamed over her deliciously curvy figure, clad in an elegant pale green dress. It was fitted, sleeveless, with what he thought was called a halter neck, and the color brought out the green in her hazel eyes. His ex-girlfriend had been short, skinny, with no soft curves for him to get lost in. Not like Toni had. In comparison, Toni was downright luscious. She had big, full breasts, God bless her, and he couldn’t deny his eyes were drawn right to them, wondering what they’d feel like. Her hair was long, dark, and curly, unlike the straight, fine blonde hair his ex had… physically, this woman was the exact opposite of Siobhan.

Maybe that was why he was having such an immediate, visceral reaction to her? Or maybe he was just exhausted, and she was striking, and he’d been alone for almost a year? All he knew was, just looking at her had his brain kind of fuzzy and urgent heat unfurling in his belly, making him feel like no woman had in a long time.

And she’d be his housemate for the next month. And was a friend of his sister’s. Great, just bloody great. He chugged back a hard swallow of water, welcoming the cold slide of it down his throat. Toni was saying something as he followed her into the living room, but his heartbeat was roaring in his ears. In something of a daze, he sank down onto the couch.

“Here.” Toni handed him the remote control. “I’m going to take a fast shower. When I come down, we’ll find something to watch that we both like. Okay?”

He nodded and shot her a grin. She grinned back before turning to walk up the stairs to her room.

Bloody hell. Now he had images of her in the shower flooding his brain. That sweetly feminine body, naked, wet… his shorts felt too tight; he shifted uncomfortably and drank more water.

The gods were cruel. He hadn’t been this immediately, insanely attracted to a woman in how long? And she may as well have been wearing a neon sign that flashed:
OFF LIMITS
.

‡