3

Chapter Three

Caitlin woke up to a slight headache and sore thigh and groin muscles. Stretching experimentally, she bumped into the hard wall of warm, naked man and smiled.

Eamon.

It was then she realized what had roused her from slumber after a night where he’d woken her up twice more to make love.

She nudged him gently. “Eamon, wake up.”

“We’re out of condoms, darlin’. I can run out and grab us some if you let me sleep just a wee bit longer,” he mumbled, making her laugh.

“I’m not sure my muscles are up to another romp with you just now. Your pants are ringing.”

He opened his eyes and groaned. “Shite.” Rolling out of bed, he scrambled to his pants and fished out his phone, answering it quickly.

Not wanting to intrude on his call, she eased out of the warmth of the blankets and headed to the kitchen. Once she’d turned on the coffeepot, she headed to the bathroom and turned the hot water on for a desperately needed shower.

It wasn’t but about ten minutes later before he tapped on the door and stuck his head in as she was drying off.

“You have no idea how much seeing you that way makes this even harder.” He groaned. “I have to go. The PR guy from the record label needs to reschedule one of the bands to today. I need to get back to my hotel and change and grab some supplies before heading over to Bellevue where they’re all waiting.”

She frowned, disappointed. Still, she understood the demands of a career. “Oh, okay. I understand, believe me. Work comes first. It was lovely to see you.” She grabbed her robe. “Let me give you my cell phone number. Give me a call if you have the time while you’re still in town.”

Rustling through her utility drawer in the kitchen, she found some paper and a pen and wrote the number down along with her home number and handed them to him. “You want some coffee to take with you? I’ve got a million travel mugs you can take.”

He looked damned good as he cocked his head and gave her a sexy smile. “That would be fantastic. Thank you. Aren’t you going home for the holidays then?”

She avoided his eyes as she grabbed a mug and poured the hot coffee into it. Hell no, she wasn’t going back to Boston to be harassed about her choices by her family. “Sugar and milk there if you like.” She indicated their spot on the counter. “And no. I’ll be here. My mentor and her family will have me over for Christmas. Anh is a cross between a mom and a big sister. Her kids will run me ragged all day and I’ll eat too much. Her husband is a sous chef so there’ll be plenty on their table.”

“Well, good then. I’m sure your family will miss you though.” He looked at his watch before securing the lid on the mug and sighed. “I really have to get moving. I’ll call you soon. We didn’t do much talking last night. Not that I’m complaining. Still, I want to know what you’ve been up to.”

“Call me and I’ll tell you. I’ll even make you dinner if you like.” She cocked her head and smiled. How could he resist such an invitation?

“Sounds like a very fine offer.” He kissed her quickly before rushing out and she sighed, tossing herself onto her bed, loving the way the pillows still carried his scent.

***

After hanging out with a bunch of cranky, hung-over twenty-year-olds for a good part of his day, Eamon had had it with people. Fecking boys thought they were rock stars. They weren’t even men! They were boys with too much eyeliner, their hair in their eyes and more money and opportunities than they knew what to do with. All the talent in the world couldn’t make up for bad manners. His mother would have boxed their ears for all the ugly talking they did.

Agitated and feeling old, he headed back to his hotel, took a shower and then a nap, not waking up until nearly seven. He wondered if she should call Cat. He wouldn’t have hesitated before, wanting to grab as much time with her to have sex and visit as he could. But there was something different between them and it threw him off balance.

And it was already seven, she was probably out for the evening anyway. He had a free day the next day, perhaps she’d like to show him the sights. That would be a casual thing, wouldn’t it?

Frowning, he began to pace. He felt like a teenage boy all the sudden. With a growl of annoyance, he grabbed his phone and called her before he changed his mind.

She answered on the third ring. He heard noise in the background, apparently she was out already. “Cat?”

“Hey, Eamon, how was your shoot?”

He smiled at the sound of her voice. “Annoying. Made me feel a hundred years old. I wanted to tell them all to pull up their damned pants.”

“Well, did you tell them to stop playing ball in your yard? Because if so, you are a hundred years old.”

A glimmer of the Cat he’d been with four years ago surfaced and he laughed, relaxing. “Funny. Easy for you to say, you’re still young.”

“I am, aren’t I? You can live through me, Pops.”

“Oh you’ll pay for that!”

Her voice lowered, the tone intimate, sexy, and it shot straight to his cock. “Promise?”

“Indeed. Are you free tomorrow? I haven’t had much of a chance to see the city. You want to be my tour guide? I’ll even let you make me dinner afterward or we can eat out, your choice. Oh and I’ll bring the condoms. A lot more than three.” He’d need to grab a big box.

“My. With an offer like that, how can I refuse?”

They made arrangements for him to meet her at her apartment at ten and he rang off. Admittedly, he’d wanted her to ask him over that evening but he stifled any disappointment over it.

So he’d order in some food, catch a movie and get a good night’s sleep. Then he’d be ready for her in the morning.

“Who was that?” Anh Mancuso, Caitlin’s boss, mentor and good friend asked.

“That was Eamon Blake.”

The table full of lawyers, interns and significant others continued to chatter loudly as Caitlin took a sip of her wine.

“Tell me. There’s clearly a very salacious story here.” Anh winked.

“Right after I graduated Harvard, I went to Ireland on a work abroad visa. You know, a summer of fun working in some shit job for no pay but you get your living expenses and learn the culture yadda yadda.

“Anyway, I was assigned to a pub in Dublin. Having Irish roots and all, I thought it would be fun to go. I walked through those double doors and this ridiculously sexy, very braw Irishman stood behind the bar. He sent me a very wicked grin and that pretty much started everything. Eamon was my boss and then my friend, and then my lover. It was a really fun summer. We had lots of sex. He drove me all over Ireland taking me on sightseeing trips. I learned more about my heritage from a near stranger than I ever had from my parents. But, I also learned how to pull a perfect pint from Eamon’s dad, heard a lot of great stories and live music and I came home. I haven’t seen him since then until I bumped into him last night at Club Twenty-One where I was with Amy to celebrate finals.”

“And I assume he’s still hot?” Anh waggled her brows.

“Like the sun.”

“Oh and the accent? Like Gerard Butler?”

Caitlin laughed. Anh had great taste. Her husband, Vittorio, was one of the most gorgeous men Caitlin had ever met in person.

“Yes he has an accent. It’s spectacularly hot. It gets nearly unintelligible when he’s um, worked up. But Gerry is Scottish so their accents aren’t quite the same. Still, I have to say, Eamon is just an all around fantasy on legs. He’s got this very wicked smile, big white teeth, just absolutely sexy.”

“Worked up? Was there any working up last night?”

Caitlin nodded enthusiastically. “He spent the night. Used all the condoms I had in my apartment even. Which given the dry spell I’ve been having for the last few years, I was surprised they didn’t have cobwebs! I had to use Epsom salts, we worked so hard.”

Anh did a golf clap as she grinned. “Whee! Good for you. So what’s he like now? I mean, is he here for business?”

“He’s a photographer here for work. He’s a lot like he was before, a bit more serious. His father died, I think that changed him and well, it should.” If you had parents who cared.

“I imagine you’re more serious than you were four years ago too. After the mindfuck you went through with Adam, you’re bound to be more focused than you were at twenty-two.”

“Yeah. I appreciate good sex more than I did then. I didn’t know how good he was in bed. Or well, I knew but I didn’t have a lot to compare with back then. And I’d never experienced a long dry spell before.” Caitlin laughed.

“So he’s just a nice fling? A carnal present for finishing up finals?” Anh asked looking unconvinced.

“Sure.” Caitlin shrugged. “Don’t have time for anything else. He lives in LA and I’m building a life here. I gave up my life for a man once and it set me off track for years. Anyway, he’s not looking for a wife, and I’m not looking for a husband. It’s just a bit of fun with an old friend. It’s really perfect.”

“While I get that and I agree you need to finish school and not let your universe disappear into a man’s again.” Anh paused a moment as she sipped her drink. “I think it’s bull for women to say anything with a man they admire and like is just a bit of fun. You’re a woman who values people and their connection to you. You’re not the just a bit of fun type, Caitlin. There’s nothing casual about you at all.”

“I am now. I am because I have stuff to do. I can have a fling and still value him! Anyway, he lives twelve hundred miles away. So it’s not like I can do anything but have hot sex and some lovely memories.” She held her hand up to keep Anh silent. “No. Look, I did just have a nice bit of fun and it totally worked. He and I had three months of no-strings sex and we were friends. I left and you know, I haven’t wept for him for four years. I’ve remembered him here and there fondly. But I left that pub four years ago and came back to the States and I didn’t long for him. I can do this now because I did it before.”

It sounded a lot better than she felt saying it. It was true, she knew. But she was different. So much had happened to her, had changed her.

As usual, she was overthinking. Of course she could have a fun fling with Eamon. If he came back to town she could be open to seeing him again but just casually. It was perfect.

“Caitlin, right now you’re in school, yes. But what about after? Fun is fun, but you are a forever kind of woman. I’m just saying that you should be careful here. If you get attached to him, what then?”

“I’m attached to him as a friend. It was only one night! You’re printing out wedding invitations already. Sheesh. It’s a bit of fun and that’s all there is to it. Now I want dessert.” She closed the door firmly on the discussion and eyed the menu for something chocolate.