Kate Hoffmann - Danny

“What is it?” she asked, sinking down into the hot water. “I want to know.”

He cursed softly. “This is supposed to be relaxing and now you’re all tense,” he said. “It’s really nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, than you can ask me now. Do you need a day off? Is that it?”

He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and handed her an envelope. “It’s an invitation to my gallery opening on Saturday night. I’m showing a couple of pieces and I thought you might like to come with me. As my date.”

Jordan stared at the invitation, warmed by his offer. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, I’d love to go as your date.”

He seemed pleased with her answer, dropping a quick kiss on her shoulder. “It’s in Dublin. I thought we could go and spend the night. Maybe see a bit of the city on Sunday. Make a weekend out of it.”

Though Jordan had never spent more than a day away from Castle Cnoc, she realized that time with Danny was running out. There were so many things she wanted to experience with him, but every day that passed was one less she’d have with him. By her estimate, they had less than a month left. And yet, any time spent in Danny’s company was better than her solitary life in New York.

Was he really what she’d been waiting for? This wasn’t supposed to be how it happened. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with an Irish blacksmith with thick, dark hair and bottomless blue eyes.

She opened her eyes and glanced at him. Danny wasn’t pretty, he was sheer masculine perfection. He wore his looks the way he wore his clothes, casually, as if he weren’t aware of the effect they had on her. She was so accustomed to neatly tailored men that he seemed exotic and forbidden.

“In Manhattan, gallery openings are pretty fancy affairs. Are they that way in Dublin?”

He chuckled. “You’re going to see me in a proper jacket,” he said. “No tie, but I’m going to look very sexy. The women will be all over me.”

“I didn’t ask so you could tell me about your wardrobe choice. I’ll need to decide on a dress.”

“I could take you shopping,” he said.

“I have the perfect dress at home. I’ll have it sent from New York this afternoon.”

“Then it’s all settled. On Saturday, we’re going to Dublin.” He was watching her through hooded eyes. “Now, tell me about your day.”

“Chandelier for the upper hallway, monogrammed towels for the bathrooms, still looking for decent sheets. May have to do mail order from Frette. Unless I take a weekend and go to Italy for linens. Or Paris.”

“Is that even a possibility?”

“Yes,” Jordan said. “If that’s what’s needed, that’s what I’ll do. I’d prefer to stick with Irish linens though. Maybe if we left tonight, I could shop tomorrow in Dublin.” She groaned softly and leaned back in the bath. “God, I’m so sick of shopping.” She glanced over at him. “Enough about me. What did you do all day long?”

“Thought about you in the bed,” he said. “Made some hinges. Thought about you in the bathtub. Worked on the garden gate. Thought about you in the swimming pool, designed a front gate for the drive.”

“Really?” She laughed. “So, you had a productive day.”

“Yes,” he said. “So, boss, give me a job to do. I could rub your feet. Or wash your back. Or massage your shoulders.”

“All of those would be nice,” she murmured.

“I’ll start with the shoulders.” He sat down behind her and began to knead the knotted muscles. She tipped her head to the side and he pressed his lips to a spot at the base of her neck. “Do you ever wonder what you’d be doing if you hadn’t come here to Castle Cnoc?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Our lives seem so intertwined here. What if you were alone? What would you be doing right now?”

“I’d probably be sitting at the pub, having a beer with my brothers. Maybe tending the bar, drawing Guinness. Then a game of darts or billiards.” He chuckled. “Jaysus, I had a boring life before I met you.”

“Me, too,” she said. “I spent my free time searching the internet for fabric and furniture and fixtures. The highlight of my evening would be my decision whether to have a ham sandwich or a grilled cheese. Dinner would be followed by whatever bestseller I was reading.”

“I’d say we were damn lucky to meet each other.”

“You’ve ruined me for other men, you know.”

“How is that?”

“The sex. It’s too good.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “How can the sex be too good?”

“I never really thought sex was important,” Jordan admitted. “My parents aren’t very loving with each other. Our family shows affection by insulting each other. We just weren’t…physical. But with you, we always seem to be touching.”

“I like that,” Danny said.

“Me, too. And I never thought I would. I’d sit in the subway or at the park and watch couples hanging all over each other and wonder why they couldn’t contain themselves. Now I understand.” She turned and kissed his cheek. “Just the tiniest thing can bring the biggest thrill.”

He smoothed his palms over her shoulders and chest, then cupped her breasts. “You do have a very touchable body, boss.”

Jordan moaned softly as his thumbs rubbed across her nipples. She’d grown accustomed to this power that she held over him. When he touched her, she didn’t feel like a boss or Andrew Kennally’s daughter or the Kennally brothers’ younger sister or Kencor’s “decorator.” She was just a woman.

Her heart slammed in her chest and she arched to meet his caress. Danny circled the tub and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her naked body as his lips captured hers.

Jordan was always amazed at how powerful his kiss was. He was able to take her breath away, to make her body ache, to send her heart racing, by simply covering her mouth with his. He had a way of possessing her that made her feel weak and powerful all at once.

The kiss spun out in one long, delicious encounter, growing deeper and more passionate with every breath they shared. Danny’s hands smoothed over her damp skin but Jordan’s touch was hampered by his clothes.

A frustrated moan slipped from her throat as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. She needed him naked, needed his skin touching hers. “Stop.” Pressing her hands to his chest she pushed him back. “Take off your clothes.”

“No,” he said.

Jordan frowned, shaking her head. “No?”

“No,” Danny said. “If I take off my clothes, then I’m not going to be able to stop myself. I think we should just take our time. We have the whole evening.”

“Am I the boss or are you?”

“You’re the boss,” he said.

“Then you’re supposed to follow my orders?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Take off your clothes, Danny Quinn. And make it snappy.”

With a reluctant smile, he slowly stripped. When his boxers were around his feet, he braced his hands on his hips. “Now what? Would you like me to fix that squeaky hinge or change the oil in your car?”

“Get in the tub,” Jordan ordered.

He did as he was told, sliding down into the warm water. Then Jordan climbed in and straddled his waist, his hard shaft pressing against the crease between her legs. She grabbed a sponge and lathered it up then ran it over his chest.

“Isn’t this considered sexual harassment?”

“Yes,” she said. “And I could get fired for this.”

“Really?”

Jordan nodded. “Really. But you’re not going to say anything, are you?”

“Never,” he said. “As long as you promise to keep harassing me, I’ll keep quiet.”

She leaned over and kissed him and when she moved back, Jordan shifted on top of him, slowly taking him inside her. A gasp slipped from her lips and she smiled. “I think we’re going to be getting into a little overtime tonight.”

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

DANNY AND JORDAN ARRIVED in Dublin by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Danny insisted on driving Jordan’s Volvo, making it from County Cork to Dublin in record time. As they raced over the curving highways, he felt as if they were setting off on a grand adventure, even though it was only a night in the city.

They weren’t boss and employee now. They were a couple having a little holiday together. She was his lover, his girlfriend, his date. And it felt good to be like everyone else in the world. Just two people falling in love.

They did some shopping for linens, then checked into a room at a nice hotel. Though Jordan tried to insist on paying for it, expensing it along with the sheets, Danny refused. He wanted the weekend to be his treat and Jordan reluctantly accepted. In truth, he had all sorts of things he wanted to show her.

They got dressed for the opening, then went out for a stroll before dinner. O’Connell Street was famous for its shops, but Danny had decided to take Jordan on a sculpture tour. They began with the statue of James Joyce and then moved on to Daniel O’Connell. James Larkin was next. The last sculpture was inside an imposing building.

“I used to come here all the time when I was at university,” Danny said, holding the door open for her. “It’s a pretty special place in my family history.”

“What is this, a museum?”

“No,” Danny said. “It’s the post office.”

“You spent time at the post office?”

Danny nodded. “I know. It’s a bit strange, but I’ll explain.” They stood in the center of the lobby, Danny holding tight to her hand. “This is where the rebellion began. This is where my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side made his stand against the British soldiers. The Easter Uprising was kind of like your revolution.” He pointed to the statue. “That’s Cuchulainn.”

“Did he fight in the rebellion?” Jordan asked.

Danny shook his head. “No, he’s one of our mythological heroes. His big victory was the cattle raid of Cooley.”

“He stole cows?”

“No, he protected the bull of Ulster from Queen Maeve’s soldiers.”

“He protected a cow-”

“A bull. The bull.”

“And he gets a statue.”

“I guess he’s a martyr to cattle protection. Queen Maeve set her sorcerers on him and killed him after he saved the bull. The statue is in memory of the fourteen rebels that were executed after the Easter Uprising.”

“That makes much more sense,” Jordan said.

They stared up at the statue for a long time before Jordan slipped her arms around Danny’s waist and gave him a hug. “I like it. I think it’s the nicest one we’ve seen tonight. Except for yours, of course.”

“You are not required to like my work,” Danny said. “The sculptures you’re going to see tonight are pretty abstract.”

“I’m going to love your work,” she said. “I know I will.”

They strolled out onto the street. There was a chill in the air and Danny slipped out of his jacket and draped it around Jordan’s shoulders. “Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?” he asked.

“Yes. Lots of times. At least twenty since I put it on at the hotel.”

“Well, then this is twenty-one. You do look incredible. You’re going to be the most beautiful woman in the room tonight.”

“And you’re required to say that,” she teased.

“No,” Danny replied, shaking his head. “That’s the thing about you. You don’t have any idea how pretty you are. I think you’ve spent so much time trying to be one of the guys that you don’t have any sense of who you are as a woman.”

“I did feel that way,” Jordan said, stunned that he’d sensed it. “You make me feel…feminine.” She held up the sleeve of his jacket. “Like this. My brothers would never think to offer me a jacket if I was cold. They’d just yell at me for forgetting to bring my own along. And they’d never tell me I was pretty. They’d just make some stupid comment about my pigeon-toes or my knobby knees. Or they’d start in on my chest.”

“They make fun of your chest?”

“It’s often the topic around the Thanksgiving table. They think that teasing me is great family fun. I take a lot of abuse for being the only girl. Especially when my father encourages it.”

Danny frowned. “Next time you have a family dinner, you call me. I’ll come and stand up for you. I’m pretty good with my fists and I’m the master of the verbal put-down. Your brothers wouldn’t pick on you again. Truth told, my two brothers and I could best your four brothers in a good scrap.”

“That’s not the worst of it. My mother tells me if I’d just get married and bring a husband home, my brothers would show me more respect.” Jordan paused. “Not that I’d expect you to marry me. It-it’s just what my mother said.”

“Do you ever think about getting married?”

“Sure. I think every woman does. But it’s not something that I’m focused on. What about you?” It was the truth. Since meeting Danny she had thought about it more than she had before; but it still didn’t mean that she wanted to marry him. That would require a complete shift in her priorities.