Kate Hoffmann - Danny

Danny pulled her into a hug, raining kisses over her face. “Tell me you really mean that,” he murmured. “Just tell me so I can put aside this sick feeling in my gut. I don’t want to lose you, Jordan. I’m not ready to let you go.”

Jordan didn’t speak, but stood up beside the bed and began to take her clothes off. When she was completely undressed, she helped Danny out of his clothes then pulled him down on the bed. She didn’t want to think about all of her choices right now. She wanted to lose herself in the feel of his body against hers, in the taste of his mouth.

Making love to him was the only thing that made sense right now. He made her happy, happier than she’d ever been in her life. Home was no longer in New York. Home was wrapped in Danny’s arms.

DANNY WOKE UP LONG BEFORE DAWN, listening to the sounds of Ballykirk as the village slowly came to life. At first, it was just the fishing boats heading out of the harbor and then a lorry or two passing by.

Tossing the covers aside and swinging his feet off the bed, he stood and stretched. As soon as the dogs heard him, they scampered into the bedroom, anxious for their breakfast. “Hi, boys,” he whispered, giving them each a pet.

Jordan’s plane was due to leave at ten. Danny had insisted on taking her to the airport, but she’d decided to drive herself and leave her car in the car park. She’d promised she’d be back in a few days, after she’d settled everything with her parents.

In truth, Danny still wasn’t sure he wanted her to leave. Even though he believed she was going to settle her affairs and come right back to him, there was a niggling doubt that her father might talk her into staying.

He couldn’t imagine a future with Jordan in New York and him in Ireland. Though the two places were only a six-hour plane ride apart, there was still an ocean between them. They’d be living completely different lives. But it wasn’t just their lives, it was their ideas of what constituted happiness. For Jordan, it was professional success and for him, it had become all about love in the past month.

Here in Ireland, she could be in control of her own destiny. With Kellan’s help, she could build a business to be proud of. There were possibilities in the U.K., in Europe. So many interesting things to do.

But Jordan had spent her life trying to please her father and to prove her worth in her family. It was a strangely dysfunctional relationship, but one that she couldn’t seem to resist.

Danny wandered out to the fireplace and threw some peat on the fire, anxious to take the chill out of the air. Her bag was open on the sofa near the fireplace, packed with a change of clothes. He sat down and picked through it, pulling out a T-shirt and inhaling the scent.

Was this all he’d be left with, Danny wondered. Just faint memories of a woman he’d once loved and then lost. He tucked the T-shirt under his arm. She wasn’t going to stay long, he told himself. There was nothing to worry over.

Danny walked back to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. He pressed a gentle kiss to Jordan’s forehead, then drew a deep breath, committing the scent of her hair to memory. They’d spent nearly every minute together since his first day at Castle Cnoc and now, they’d be apart.

His time with Jordan had brought him a love deeper than anything he’d ever expected. Danny felt as if they had already spent a lifetime together. He’d never known a woman so intimately nor had he allowed any woman to know him in that way. Jordan had become a part of him, the part that made him feel alive and aware.

He pulled back the covers and crawled back into bed, snuggling up to her naked body. She stirred then opened her eyes. “It can’t be morning already,” she murmured.

“It is,” Danny replied. “Although it’s only been about four hours since you fell asleep.”

Jordan groaned, then stretched her arms above her head. “How am I going to do without you in my bed? I’ll have to just get reacquainted with my vibrator.”

“You have one of those?” Danny chuckled. “Make sure you bring that back with you.”

He kissed the curve of her neck. Her skin was so soft and he could feel her pulse beating beneath his lips. God, it was strange something as insignificant as a kiss would seem so important to him. Everything was important-the sound of her voice, the feel of her hand in his, the way she said his name…

The first light of dawn illuminated the room and Jordan glanced again at the clock. “I have to get up.” She raked her hands through her tousled hair as she sat up beside him.

Danny watched as she silently got dressed. When she was finished, she sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her fingers over his temple, brushing aside a strand of hair. Danny looked up at her. “You could still change your mind,” he murmured. “You could take off all your clothes and crawl into bed with me and go to New York some other day.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Jordan said. “But I have to. I won’t be gone long, I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“What if you decide to stay?” He raised up, bracing his arm beside him and leaning closer to her. This was no time to keep his feelings to himself. He was going to say it all right now, just so she knew exactly how much he needed her. “You have everything waiting for you back there. All you have here is me.”

“And that’s everything,” she said. “To me.”

“Me, too,” he said softly.

Her eyes flooded with tears and Danny groaned, pulling her into a hug. He wanted to say the words. They’d been on his lips for days now, yet he was scared that Jordan wasn’t ready to return the sentiment. He loved her, but did she love him?

Danny reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm. “Promise that you’ll come back to me,” he whispered. “Promise you won’t let your family talk you into staying.”

She drew a ragged breath. “I promise.”

“I’ll miss you, Jordan. I don’t think you realize how much.”

Jordan smiled, then bent close and dropped a kiss on his lips. “I’ll miss you, too, Danny.”

He fell back onto the pillow and laughed, throwing his arm over his head. “I sure hope to hell you aren’t leanan sidhe or I’m going to drop dead the moment you walk out the door.”

She grabbed his face and kissed him again, a kiss filled with longing and sorrow and silent promises. “I’m not a fairy. And you’re not going to die when I leave you. I-I have to go.”

“Let me get dressed and I’ll-”

“No, I want to leave you right here, in this cottage, all curled up in bed with Finny and Mogue asleep in front of the door. This is how I want to remember you, all rumpled from sleep and naked beneath the sheets. And when I come back, I want you to be here just like this.”

“I’m actually contemplating staying in bed until you come back. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do anything else, I’ll be so consumed with loneliness and despair.” He tried for a lighthearted tone.

“Get up and get some work done.” She gave him another quick kiss and then walked to the door. Jordan picked up her bag and gave him one last look. “I’ll talk to you soon,” she murmured.

“Call me when you get in?”

She nodded. “I’ll do that.” She crossed the room and kissed him again. “Let’s just say goodbye like it’s any other day,” she murmured. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

As she walked out of the bedroom, Danny wondered what it would be like the next time they saw each other. Would the attraction still be so intense or would it have cooled? Would they pick up where they’d left off or would they need to get to know each other again? These were all questions that worried him. Danny knew they’d have to figure out a way to get through the confusion and back to where they belonged.

He jumped out of bed and hurried to the front door, standing naked in the damp morning air. She saw him and waved from inside the car, then turned on the ignition. “Come back,” he murmured to himself.

If she came back, this would become home. His family would become her family. They said absence made the heart grow fonder. Danny was counting on that to get him through the next few days.

He drew a deep breath of the morning air and then cursed loudly.

“Oh, to hell with this.”

JORDAN STOOD AT the elevator and watched as the lighted numbers above the door moved downward. She’d been back in Manhattan for exactly one day, just enough time to sleep, sort through her mail and do laundry before grabbing a cab to the office.

The flight back had been uneventful, except for one thing. Whether it was the regret at leaving Ireland or the doubts she had about leaving Danny, she’d decided that it was time for her to have a serious talk with her father.

The elevator opened in front of her and she stepped inside, smoothing her hands over the designer suit she wore. She’d assumed that once she was back in her own bed, wearing her regular wardrobe she’d start to feel more like herself. But New York seemed like a foreign country now and she felt oddly out of place in the midst of all the noise and chaos.

When she stepped out of the elevator on the seventeenth floor, a familiar face greeted her. “Miss Kennally! Welcome back. You look…fabulous.”

Jordan frowned at Isabelle, their receptionist. “Fabulous?”

“There’s something different about you. You look…sunny.”

“Well, I feel sunny,” Jordan said with a smile. “Is my father in? I need to talk to him right away.”

“He’s in. You’ll have to check with Anne Marie to see if he’s available.”

“Great,” Jordan said. “Well, wish me luck.”

“Luck,” Isabelle replied. “Miss Kennally?”

Jordan turned back to her. “Yes?”

“I do hope you plan to stay. Rumor around the office was that you quit. That’s not true, is it?”

Jordan smiled. “I think it is.”

When she reached her office, just three doors down from her father’s, Jordan dropped off her coat and briefcase. The sooner she got this over with the better. It wouldn’t do to delay and lose her nerve.

Jordan glanced down at her hands, her fingers twisted together so tightly that they were losing circulation. Conversations with her father had always been very cold and businesslike. But today, she hoped to appeal to his emotions. She wanted, no, she needed his blessing.

In truth, she expected it would be much worse. He’d throw her out on her ear, maybe even refuse to pay her for the Castle Cnoc project. He’d disown her, forbid her to come to family functions. Andrew Kennally hadn’t gotten to where he was today by being a nice guy.

Drawing a deep breath, she headed toward his office. His assistant was sitting at her desk and Jordan pointed at the door. “He’s in?”

“Yes. But I think he’s on the phone. Can I make an appointment for you?”

“No,” Jordan said. “I need to talk to him right now.”

“But, Miss Kennally, I don’t think he wants to be disturbed.”

“I’m his daughter. I’m allowed to disturb him.” Before the assistant could stop her, Jordan opened the door and stepped inside. Her father was sitting at his desk, his back to her, his feet kicked up on the credenza. She listened to his conversation and it was obvious he was discussing the closing on the hotel project.

Jordan sat and waited patiently, silently going over all she planned to say. She was putting her future on the line, but it had to be done.

The entire way home, she’d thought about what she was giving up by moving to Ireland. She loved her family, but she loved Danny more. He was the one who believed in her, who supported all her dreams. Her future was with him.

Her father hung up the phone, then slowly turned around to face her. Andrew Kennally was a handsome man of nearly sixty. His graying hair was set off by a deeply tanned face. He wore custom-made suits and hand-stitched shirts and Italian shoes that cost more than the rent on a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. And all of that made him very intimidating.

“Hello, Daddy.”

“You’re back,” he said, nodding at her. “It seems like you just left.”

“I’ve been gone for almost eighteen months,” Jordan reminded him.

“Right,” he said. “Well, welcome back. I’m sure you want to jump right back into work so…run along.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” Jordan said. “If you’ll remember, we had a discussion on the phone not too long ago about the hotel project.”

“Yes. I remember. It’s still yours, if you want it.”

“Why?” she asked. “I know you didn’t want to give it to me. Why did you change your mind?”

“Your mother can be very persuasive.”

“So, it’s not because you trust my work. In fact, you don’t think I deserve it, do you?”