“I’ve never said that in the bedroom.”

“Not in those exact words,” he said.

“What words did I use?”

“Little words,” Kellan teased. “Like…oh and…yes. And then sometimes you say my name over and over. I may be wrong, but I assumed you were telling me I was a good man.”

Gelsey laughed. “You assumed right. But I think I need to say it out loud more often.” She tipped her face up to the sun. “Kellan Quinn is a very good man,” she shouted.

“He’s a feckin’ gobshite.”

The voice came from the direction of Danny’s smithy and Kellan shrugged. “I guess we have other opinions on the subject.”

“That’s because they’ve never spent a night in bed with you,” Gelsey replied.

“Actually, my brothers and I used to share a bed when we were little.”

“You know what I mean,” Gelsey said.

“I know exactly what you mean.”


THE LATE-AFTERNOON SUN shone through the plate-glass windows of Maeve Dunphrey’s shop, illuminating dust motes with every movement that Gelsey made. She pushed up on her tiptoes to grab a box from the top shelf of the old wooden wall displays, then carefully made her way down the wobbly ladder.

“Some of this stuff has to be forty years old,” she said, setting the box on the counter in front of her. “I suppose we should try to salvage some of these jars. They’re so pretty and, technically, they are vintage.”

Jordan walked over and pulled a jar of lavender-scented lotion from the box. She screwed off the top and gave in a sniff before wrinkling her nose. “Yeah, this is pretty far gone. But the jar is lovely.”

“I can go see if they have an old bucket at the Hound,” Nan offered. “We can dump the stuff in there and then put the jars through the pub’s dishwasher.”

Gelsey nodded, grateful for the help that Nan and Jordan had offered. She’d spent a fair bit of her first week of work just cleaning, going through boxes and crates, discarding old inventory and taking stock of what was available in the store. When Nan and Jordan had stopped by a few days ago, they’d offered to help and had returned every afternoon since, making the job much more pleasant.

Nan stood in the center of the sales floor, her hands hitched on her waist, and surveyed the nearly tidy shop. “It’s actually starting to look good,” she said. “All these old wooden cases look beautiful, once you can see them.”

“Thank you so much for helping out,” Gelsey said. “You girls really didn’t need to do this.”

“You helped paint my house,” Nan said.

“And hopefully, you’ll be around when I have some tedious chore to do,” Jordan added. “Are you really thinking of buying this place?”

Gelsey nodded. “Yes. I think I could make a success of it. There’s a little shop like this on the Rue des Arts in Paris and women flock to it. They send their empty jars from all over the world to get them refilled. I bought night cream from them all the time, even when I was living in Portugal with Antonio.”

Nan and Jordan glanced at each other. “You lived in Portugal?”

Gelsey blinked, surprised that she had been so honest with them. Over the past few days, they’d become good friends and she hadn’t thought to continue the pretense. And now, in a single unguarded moment, she’d given it all away. “That was a lifetime ago.” She laughed softly, shaking her head. “It’s beautiful there. Very…sunny. Much like Spain. I lived there for a time, too.”

Nan glanced at Jordan again, then looked back at Gelsey. “We know about Portugal. And Antonio. We’ve sort of known the truth from early on.”

“You did?”

Jordan walked over to the counter and retrieved her purse then rummaged through it. A few moments later, she pulled out a magazine clipping and handed it to Gelsey. “I came across that while I was waiting to get my hair cut in Glengarriff. It’s from Hello! magazine from a year ago.”

The picture wasn’t one of her best, Gelsey thought as she examined it closely. She was wearing a designer dress that barely covered her ass, an ass that was quite visible in the photo. A champagne bottle dangled from one hand and a cigarette from the other. “I was so drunk, I don’t remember anyone taking this photo,” she murmured, handing it back to Jordan. “It doesn’t even look like me.”

“You’re Gigi Woodson,” Nan said.

“I was Gigi Woodson.”

Jordan crumpled up the clipping and tossed it into a nearby rubbish bin. “Does Kellan know?”

Gelsey winced. “No. But I’m pretty sure he’s about to find out.”

“We’re not going to say a word,” Jordan said. “We promise.”

“If you know about Antonio, then I’m sure you know about the incident with the Italian photographer?”

Nan shook her head. “No. And you don’t have to tell us. We really don’t need to know.”

“Thank you,” Gelsey said. “I suppose I should be glad I managed to get away with it for this long. I assumed someone would recognize me sooner or later.” She raked her hand through her hair, then forced a smile. “I guess I haven’t changed all that much.”

“You look completely different,” Jordan disagreed.

“Completely,” Nan added.

“I felt like I recognized you when we met,” Jordan continued, “but I couldn’t figure out where it had been. And when I saw the photo in Hello!, it just clicked.”

Suddenly, a rush of emotion overwhelmed Gelsey. She fought back tears as she picked up the crumpled clipping. “You can show him,” she murmured, holding it out to Nan. “I-I don’t care. It really shouldn’t make a difference.” Gelsey felt a hand on her back and she found Jordan standing behind her. “I just really wanted to start over.”

“We’re not going to say anything,” Jordan said.

“Not even to Danny and Riley?” Gelsey asked.

Nan laughed. “Are you kidding? Those two are horrible at keeping secrets. But to be honest, I don’t think it’s such a big deal. Kellan loves you. He won’t care.”

“He doesn’t love me,” Gelsey said. “And you’ve only seen one photo. There are hundreds out there. And none of them make me look very good. At least, not to a guy like Kellan.” A tear trickled down her cheek and she brushed it away, embarrassed by her show of emotion. Drawing a ragged breath, she forced a smile. “I think we should call it a day. It’s nearly four and you two have your own things to do.”

Nan patted Gelsey on the shoulder, then thought better of it and gave her a clumsy hug. “It will all work itself out,” she said. “You’ll see.”

Jordan gave her a hug, as well. “Kellan is a good guy. He wouldn’t let something like this change his feelings for you.”

The girls grabbed their jackets and purses and headed out the front door. Gelsey waved to them as they passed by the windows, going toward the pub. She had at least a few more hours of work ahead of her, but it was better to pass that time on her own, rather that be faced with more explanations.

Maybe Nan and Jordan were right. Maybe her past wouldn’t make any difference to Kellan. At least at first. But once everyone else knew, once the press figured out where she was, Gelsey couldn’t guarantee that he’d feel the same way.

She’d fought a five-year battle with the paparazzi and in most of the skirmishes, she’d lost badly. In the end, Gigi Woodson sold papers and that was all that mattered. They’d followed her through two broken engagements, a stint in rehab and a very ill-conceived six-day marriage to an already married Argentinean polo player. The end of her third engagement had sent her running back to Winterhill, out of sight and hopefully out of mind.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of her mobile. Gelsey found it sitting on the counter next to the cash register and glanced at the screen. Her stomach twisted into a knot as she recognized the name of her attorney in Rome. She set the phone down, not ready to deal with whatever he had to tell her. She’d call him back later.

The bell above the door jingled and Gelsey spun around to see Kellan standing at the front of the shop, a surprised expression on his handsome face. “Bloody hell, look at this place. You’ve done wonders.”

Gelsey felt her spirits brighten. “I know. Not alone though. Nan and Jordan have been helping out a lot. We’ve almost got all the old inventory cleared away. Next week, I can start to do a little decorating. Jordan has already given me some great ideas. And Nan thinks we ought to carry some books and CDs, too. Kind of a whole holistic approach.”

“Sounds grand to me.” Kellan walked toward her, then slipped his arms around her waist. “Nan and Jordan are back at the pub. I thought you might like to join us there. The family is getting together for dinner. My sister Shanna and her husband and kids came down from Dublin and they’re staying the night. It’s my niece’s birthday. Lily. She’s five. And my sister Claire will be here with her kids. I’d like you to meet them all.”

“Really?”

Kellan nodded. “Yeah. You’ve met the rest of the family, why not them?”

“I-I really should stay here and get some more done. We have a sale starting and tomorrow the shop will open early. We want to lure in a few Christmas shoppers and-”

“You have to eat dinner,” Kellan said.

“I know.” Sometimes it felt as if they were hurtling toward a cliff, unable to stop themselves from falling completely and utterly in love. It was one thing to spend time with Nan and Jordan and his brothers. But it was a whole other thing to become friendly with his parents and his sisters.

Expectations were difficult enough to meet, never mind the fact that none of the Quinns knew who she really was. They were just a regular family and she didn’t want to do anything to change that. But how long would she have to wait until no one in the world was interested in where she was and who she was sleeping with? Would the press give up after a year? Or would it take longer?

“I’m just all grimy from cleaning up the shop and I’m tired and I don’t think I’d be very good company and-”

Kellan pressed a finger to her lips. “No worries,” he said. “You don’t have to come. I don’t want to pressure you to-”

“No!” Gelsey cried. “It’s not that, it’s just-”

“You’re right,” he said. “There’s no reason for you to spend time with my family.”

Gelsey bit her bottom lip, knowing that whatever she said next wouldn’t come out right. She’d fallen into this relationship so quickly and so easily and never thought about the repercussions. She’d taken advantage of Kellan, used him for a place to escape, and now she’d become a part of his life. “Maybe it’s too soon for all this?”

His fingers tangled in her hair and he gently turned her face up until she looked into his eyes. “I’ll go have dinner and I’ll meet you back at the cottage later.” Kellan brushed his lips against hers. “Maybe we’ll bring in the tub and make you a nice bath. Right in front of the hearth.”

“That would be nice,” Gelsey said.

A frown worried his brow and he studied her shrewdly. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Gelsey said. “Just a bit tired.”

“We should get some sleep tonight,” Kellan murmured. “We have been keeping rather late hours, considering you’re a working woman now. You’ll need your rest if you’re going to get this place in shape.” He bent closer and kissed her again, drawing his tongue along the crease of her lips. And then, as if he couldn’t resist, he pulled her against him and deepened his kiss, his tongue invading her mouth, desperate to taste and possess.

When he was through, Gelsey was left breathless, her mind spinning. It was so easy to get caught up in the desire and the way their bodies melded so perfectly. But she and Kellan had been living in a fantasy that was slowly being unraveled by reality.

Kellan pressed his palms to her temples and smoothed her tangled hair away from her face. Then he kissed each eyelid, the tip of her nose and her mouth. “You do look tired. I’ll eat quick and bring you something from the pub. We’ll have a lazy night at home.”

Home, Gelsey mused. Is that what they had together? Had they made a home? Did he think of her as part of that home or was she still just a visitor? “That sounds nice. I’ll see you in a little while.”

She walked him to the door then gave him a quick kiss before he left. Sighing softly, Gelsey flipped the sign in the front window to Closed and pulled down the shade on the door. This was real life now. She couldn’t hide from it. And either she’d make a mess of it, or she’d carve out a place for herself.

And somewhere along the way, she’d figure out exactly how she felt about Kellan Quinn.


KELLAN STOOD in front of the hearth, staring into the glow of burning peat. With a soft curse, he glanced at his watch for only the fourth or fifth time in the last few minutes. He’d returned from the pub to find the cottage dark and empty. Assuming that Gelsey had been delayed at the shop, he’d hauled the tub in from the pantry next to the kitchen and filled it with a hose from the kitchen sink.