No.

No no no no no no no no no…

Shit.

It’s him.

Jackson.

When everyone whips around, gawking at me, I look to Ronan and secretly apologize in my head. Sorry, bae, I do love you so. “Oh! I thought he was about to puke on me!”

Amberlyn gets up, rushing to me with a wipey. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, made me a wee bit uneasy,” I laugh nervously as I hold him to me, and when I look back up, Jackson’s eyes trap mine once more. Oh, good Jaysus. I don’t remember him being that feckin’ hot. I mean, that shirt should be illegal at best. It’s tight, hugs his shoulders, and stretches over his chest. His jeans are tight too, molding to his thighs, and he has a rag over his shoulder, all bartender-sexy.

Ah, fuck, I’m dripping for him.

Shite! Did he tell everyone he slept with me?

Looking to Amberlyn, I hand Ronan off since I feel dirty. “Yeah, sorry, I don’t do puke,” I say quickly as Declan stands, holding his hand out to Jackson. Jackson takes it, his gaze leaving mine to meet my brother’s as they greet each other. All I can do is try to breathe. He’s here. Jackson is here. The guy who called me a hoor is here.

“I haven’t even fed him yet,” Amberlyn says, and I nod quickly.

“Yeah, I don’t know. Makes me nervous.”

She sends me a grin. “You’re so silly.”

I throw my hands up. “Yup, me silly!” When I start to laugh, even Declan looks back at me with his brow up, confusion swimming in his features before he glances back at Jackson.

And again, my eyes fall to his shoulders. I held those shoulders as he fucked me as hard as I wanted. I kissed that mouth; I felt him on me. Oh my. He’s in my town. Shite, that stupid paper came out. What has he heard? I was rumored to be one hell of a hoor, coming home with all sorts of STDs. I bet he got an earful, especially with that old bat, Mrs. K, here. She and Mrs. Maclaster are always running at the mouth.

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to come here. I was going to go to Scotland, but I met this really gorgeous girl in, um, England, and she told me I’d never find another place like Mayo.”

“Well, she was right,” Mrs. K gushes, but I’m still caught on what he said.

A really gorgeous girl.

He thinks I’m gorgeous?

“Who is she?” Fiona asks. “We all know everyone. Who do we know that was in England last?”

I don’t miss the way Declan looks back at me as Jackson blurts out, “Oh, I don’t know her name. It was just in passing. She wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”

“What? You? You’s handsome,” Mrs. K says, and everyone chuckles softly, but I’m watching how Jackson’s face warms with color.

Good Jaysus, he’s stunning.

I’m breathing heavily, a hot coil of heat gathering in my gut as I watch him. I don’t know what this magnetic pull is he has on me, but feckin’ hell, he’s got me. His gaze falls on me a few times, but he’s mostly looking at Declan and then Amberlyn as she asks about Rome and Paris.

“We’ve been there, but only for short trips. He’s busy, and so am I. I run the library down the road.”

“Oh, yeah, I went there the other day. I needed a book to get me through these cold nights.”

He reads. Swoon.

“Well, it’s great to meet ya,” Declan says, and Jackson nods.

“Yeah, you guys too.” With that, he turns on his heel, heading behind the bar. All I can do is drink in every single muscle that gathers in his back as he picks up the ice bucket to dump it in. Licking my lips, I can’t tear my gaze from him. He moves with ease, and I don’t know how I didn’t notice that the day I saw him in the pub in London. Maybe because when I got there, he didn’t move. He stayed right in front of me, his gaze locked on mine and mine with his.

“Lena, ya gonna eat?”

I look over to Declan and shake away all the dirty thoughts I have in my head before I reach for my fork. “Yeah, shite.”

“Lassie! That mouth,” Mrs. K complains, and I roll my eyes.

“Ah, who cares? I’m a grown woman, and Fiona curses more than everyone at this table.”

“I do,” Fiona says simply.

“You’s a lady, though!”

“So?” I ask and Declan glares.

“Lena?”

“What?”

But before either of us can say anything more, Fiona balks, “What the hell? I’m a lady!”

Thankful to get the attention off me, I glance at the bar where Jackson is cleaning out a mug, his eyes trained on me. Heat runs down my body as I watch him, and when a slow grin pulls at those naughty lips of his, I fight for my next breath. Slowly his tongue comes out, wetting his lips as his eyes darken even more. I squeeze my thighs together, inhaling shakily as his lips move slowly.

Sorry.

Closing my eyes, I look down at my plate. Is he apologizing for what happened in London? I think he is. Shaking my head, I know there is only one thing to do. Throwing my napkin to the table, I stand up as I say, “Excuse me, I need to go to the loo. Fiona, can I use the back loo?”

She waves me off since she is still arguing with Mrs. K, and when I glance to Declan, he is holding Ronan, kissing his sweet little face. Knowing I can get away easily, I start around the table and through the pub, my eyes meeting Jackson’s in a fiery stare. He breathes forcefully as he watches me. I cock my head toward the back, and he nods once as I go through the door. Heading around the kitchen area, I ignore the stares of the kitchen staff and head out by the loo, which is right next to the back door. When I see him coming down the hall toward the loo, I go out the door. He joins me, shutting the door behind us. I look around, making sure no one is out here, but it’s the back, and usually no one comes out here unless they need to throw out trash.

Glancing back to Jackson, I say, “Well.”

“Yeah, wow.” He chuckles nervously, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I hadn’t thought I’d see you again.”

I shrug. “I thought the same.”

“It’s good to see you, though,” he says softly, and I don’t miss the blush along his cheeks. He hasn’t shaved, hair growing along his jaw and above his lip. He looks rugged, and it’s messing with me.

“Yeah, you too,” I somehow get out. He slowly nods, and I do the same. “I went back to the bar.”

“You did?” he asks, his brow rising a bit. “Why?”

“I wanted to see ya. Apologize for calling ya a bag of dicks.”

He laughs. “But that was my favorite part.” We share a small smile. “I deserved it. I’m really, really sorry for what I assumed and what I said.”

I shrug. “There may have been a bit of truth to your words. I wasn’t the best version of meself in London.”

As soon as the words leave me mouth, he is shaking his head, taking a step toward me. “Don’t even say that. It isn’t true. I was wrong.”

“I went to bed with ya maybe twenty minutes after I met ya.”

“It was more like thirty, and that’s because it was right.”

“It was right?”

“Yeah, it felt right. Us. I, um, I felt it.”

His words knock the air out of me. I love how unsure but simultaneously confident his gaze is. When I look up at him, my heart is knocking the shite out of my ribs, and I’m itching to touch him. Jaysus, I want to touch him. So feckin’ bad. Breathlessly, I whisper, “I thought I was cracked.”

“That’s crazy, right? Fiona says that a lot.”

I nod, smiling wide at him. “Yeah.”

“Oh, well, you weren’t,” he said, stepping toward me. “I felt it too, and it was all good until I got stupid.”

I giggle a bit as I nod. “Yeah, true. You’s a feckin’ eejit.”

He smiles, but when he captures his lip between his teeth, my pussy clenches. “Either way, e-ejit, did I say that right?”

I’m full-on smiling at this point. “Eejit, it flows fast.”

He shakes his head, but he’s still grinning. “Yeah, um, eejit—”

“Better.”

His eyes darken as he holds my gaze, and it feels like he’s getting closer to me. “Me being an eejit and all, it was real.”

I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking, or even what the hell I’m doing, but I can’t help the sensation. This overwhelming need for him…I’ve never experienced anything like it. Never.

I don’t care. I just want him. “Was?”

His eyes widen a bit as he gazes down at me, his whole body only inches from mine as he nods. “I thought I ruined my chances.”

“Ya didn’t.”

“I didn’t?”

He moves toward me, but I hold my hand up. “No, but I’m no hoor.”

He fights back a smile, pushing his chest into my hand, sending heat straight up my arm. “Please say that again.”

“What? I’m not!”

“I know. Say that again, though.”

“Why, ya freak?”

He doesn’t answer me, but his eyes burn into mine, and when he reaches out, taking my face in his hands, I hold my breath. “Because even though it’s a really shitty word and no woman should be called it, when it comes from your sweet lips, it’s the hottest fucking word I’ve ever heard in my life.”

I gulp. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he says before he drops his mouth to mine, capturing it zealously with undeniable need. He pushes me into the side of the pub, and my fingers grasp his hair as he holds me in his hands, our mouths crashing together passionately. I gasp against his mouth when I feel how hard he is when he presses into me. Everything inside me burns molten hot, and I can’t believe I went without him for so long. I was obviously craving him. Needing him. My hands lower between us, and I undo his pants. He tears his mouth away from me, his gaze meeting mine as he whispers, “I don’t have a condom, and we don’t have your Costco supply drawer.”

My brows rise while I unleash his cock, gathering it in my hands. He hisses out a breath as I ask, “What is Costco?”

“Warehouse store. Fuck, you drive me wild.”

Moving my hand down his silky cock, I whisper, “Do they have a lot of stuff there? Load of condoms and such?”

“Everything is in bulk,” he bites out, leaning his head into mine. “You can get it stupid cheap too. My mom loves it.”

“Talking about yer ma when yer cock is in my hand in a bit tacky, yeah?”

He closes his eyes as he chuckles, his lashes kissing his cheeks before his mouth parts delectably. He is absolutely beautiful. “Some would say so.”

I grin as I take his jaw in my hand, guiding his mouth back to mine. “But not me.”

He opens his eyes slowly, meeting mine. “Not you.”

“No, ’cause I don’t judge.”

“Neither do I.”

“Fuck me, Jacks.”

“Yes, madam,” he says almost on a moan before we are tearing at my jeans and pushing them down. Lifting me up, he presses me into the wall as he enters me in one hard thrust. Our groans mingle, our mouths meeting sloppily as we kiss desperately. Pulling out to the tip, he slams back into me over and over again. His mouth moves away from mine, nibbling at my jaw, my neck, as he pushes into me, holding me tightly against him.

Pulling back, he looks at me as he stills inside of me. His eyes are so beautiful and dark as he moves his nose along mine, pressing his lips ever so softly against my top lip. I’ve never seen eyes like his and never felt like this under a man’s gaze. I’ve been told I was gorgeous, mesmerizing, and every other compliment in the book, but I never felt it. Under Jackson’s gaze, though, I feel it.

And that’s fucking terrifying.

Tightening his arms around me, he arches back a little, and soon he is jackhammering inside of me. He is so big and he is going so deep that soon my release is imminent. Clenching around him with my thighs, I cry out as he slams hard into me. With a loud grunt that I feel in my soul, he jerks once, twice, then a third time before he leans into me, crushing me with his massive body.

But I love it.

I feel safe.

He trails kisses along my forehead, and I close my eyes as I kiss his neck and his jaw before our mouths meet once more. Drawing the sweetest kisses from him, I squeeze my arms around his neck as he squeezes my waist.

But when a crash comes from behind me, I jump and he holds me tighter.

“It’s fine. It was just the kitchen.”

I look around, making sure as his thumb moves soothingly along the small of my back. I take a deep breath. “We should probably get back.”

“Yeah,” he says, but he doesn’t put me down yet. I look up at him, my fingers tracing his lips before he kisses each of my fingertips. Kissing my palm next, he smiles before pressing his lips to mine. “I don’t want to.”

I quirk my lips as I nod. “They’ll start to suspect at any moment.”

“Yeah,” he said, pulling out of me and setting me to my feet. I don’t want to let him go, but I do as he steps back, watching me with a grin on his face.

“What are you grinning at?”

“You. All of you.”

I blush a bit as I reach for my pants and panties. I almost have them on when I hear my name.

“Have you seen my sister? Lena?”

“Fuck,” I gasp, fastening my pants, and when I look at Jackson, his eyes are wild not with fear, but uneasiness.

When the door opens, Declan looks at me, and I look back at him, confused. “Hey.”

He glances around, and when I do the same, I don’t see Jackson. “What are you doing?”

I roll my eyes. “I’m tired of Mrs. K. She’s an old bat that gets on my last nerve.”

“She is. But come on.” He holds the door open for me, and I step inside, taking one last look behind me, but I don’t see Jackson. What the hell? “We’ll get through this together.”

I smile sweetly as I nod. “Thanks.”

“But, really, Lena, ya gotta be a lady out here. You gotta watch yer tongue. You know how Ma does it. In the house, no cares. But outside of the estate, we have to put on our best faces.”

I roll my eyes. “I hear ya.”

“Just please be the lady you were raised to be. You don’t have to dress the part, but act it, please.”

I do hear him.

But I’m pretty sure a lady wouldn’t have come running down the inside of her thighs.

So, am I really a lady?

Too bad I don’t care.