Against my better judgment, I can’t get Lena out of my head.

I can still see her on the back of Belle, riding with no cares in the world. Man, what a beautiful sight. She was magnificent, she was, and it still has my stomach in knots. I wanted so badly to pull her off her horse and lay her in the grass once more. Take her sweet face in my hands and kiss her until I couldn’t anymore, until the need to be inside her took over, and everything else didn’t seem to matter.

God, I wanted her.

But I had to take a step backward.

While my need for her is great, I have to think of her. She’s hurting. Over what, I have no clue, and I refuse to believe anything that comes out of the mouth of anyone in the town. I want to hear from her what is wrong or even what happened. I don’t dare bring it up; I want her to tell me. I don’t want to pry, I don’t want to make her feel like she has to come clean because, honestly, as much as it may help her, she doesn’t have to. It has to be what she wants because it’s her life.

I run my hands across my face as I wait for the plates to come up. No matter what I do, my mind revolves around her, and that’s bad. When I look at her, when she gives me that smile or that little tip of her chin, I feel like I could fall so hard for her. I think I knew that too, going in. When I went up to the hotel with her back in London, I knew she would be absolute and utter trouble on my heart. I knew that the pull between us was dangerous, but I couldn’t resist. I had to have her. Mostly because I thought I’d never see her again, but boy was I wrong.

But falling for Lena O’Callaghan can’t happen.

I am leaving in a little over two months.

I have things to do, places to see, and no matter how amazing and beautiful and smart she is, I know I can’t stay here for her. She can’t leave, not with all the expectations of her. Plus, what do I think? She’d want to be with a bartender slash horse groom slash whatever else I decide to do? She is a damn princess, for fuck’s sake, and we are just having fun. No matter how much that hurts, it’s the reality of this, and I have to remember that, not get lost in her the way I really want to.

“Hey, Jackson, can you grab those plates now and stop the daydreamin’?”

I look over at where Fiona is glaring at me. Glancing back at the pickup window, I notice all the plates are there. She is gonna kill me. “My bad.”

Reaching for them, she yells, “And now ya wonder why I don’t leave ya alone! Yer head’s in the clouds. Do you have the ADD?”

I scoff. “No, Fiona. Though, one tutor said I did when I was younger.”

She throws her hands up. “I agree. Yer always off in yer head, staring out at the window. I’m gonna fire ya!”

It’s the third time this week she’s said that, and truth be told, no one has ever said that to me. But I came here, fell under Lena’s spell, and I may lose my job.

“Don’t listen to her, Jackson. She will not,” Mrs. Maclaster calls to me from the end of the bar. “She’s a liar. She needs ya, even if yer in yer head.”

I smile over at her as I pass the plates to two tables. “I wasn’t too worried.”

Fiona glares. “Ya should be.”

I chuckle as one of the patrons grabs my wrist. “Yer too good, boy, she won’t.”

“I will too!” Fiona yells, and everyone just laughs while Kane bounces Novelly on his hip.

“Ah, hush it, woman. You won’t. You like him too much.”

“When his head ain’t in the clouds!”

I just laugh along with everyone else as I go back to work. She’s right. I am in my head, and it’s no one’s fault but my own. I just can’t shake Lena. I wonder where she is. What she’s doing. I wish I had given her my number, maybe then she’d text me. I know she had some ribbon-cutting thing today, and I’m curious if it went well. But then, how hard is it to cut some ribbon? I still wonder, though. Even if it makes me an idiot.

Or an eejit.

I smile to myself. I love how she talks. I love how she laughs.

I really should just stay away.

Fuck.

Shaking my head, I go to the bar, wiping it down as my little old buddies sit down.

“Where is Mickey?”

“Ah, his lady told him he couldn’t come,” Trip informs me as I put a mug full of ale in front of him.

“Yeah, so he’s gonna be late,” Ribby adds with a grin before reaching for his mug. “She’s gotta fall asleep, then he’ll join us.”

“You guys are troublemakers,” I tease, and they nod.

“Fair play, Jackson,” Ribby laughs, and I just smile as I go to the POS to put their orders in to start a tab. They come in almost every night, holding up the end of the bar, and they always make my night. They’re just three old dudes that have a great time. I hope I’m like that one day. Having someone to drink with every night and shoot the shit with is the best, as they always tell me.

I ignore the fact that I’d love for Lena to be with me when I’m older, and I get back to work. It’s been a long night, and I’m dead on my feet. I wasn’t supposed to go in this morning, but I had to go ride with Lena, which meant I didn’t sleep in like I had planned to. So I was tired for sure.

“Not getting enough sleep?” Ribby calls to me, and I smile back to him.

“I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“I’d say not when the temp drops below freezing!”

I roll my eyes. They’ve been giving me shit for sleeping outside for a while now. “It wasn’t even that cold.”

“Ya know it’s gonna just get colder,” Kane calls to me, and when I glance over at him, Novelly is around his neck, playing in his hair with straws. He’s a damn good dad. As much as Fiona gives him shit for not marrying her, she could never say he doesn’t care for the baby. When he’s here, he has Novelly. “You should probably start staying in the housing. It’s nice. I used to stay there.”

I nod. “I will, maybe by the end of the week.”

He just shakes his head, and I swear someone calls me a phanny, but I don’t care. I love it outside. Is it cold? Oh, yes, yes, it is, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I really wanna take Lena out with me one night. Just her and me. It would be so romantic.

And really hot.

“Yer gonna get sick, Jackson,” Mrs. Maclaster says to me as she whizzes past with two plates in her hands.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take those.”

She shakes her head. “It’s for me and Kane and baby Novelly.”

“Oh,” I say as she heads to where Kane is standing. “I’m honestly fine, everyone. It’s not bad.”

“Yer on the crack for sure,” Fiona calls to me from the back of the pub, and soon everyone is chuckling along. “As long as you don’t get sick and you keep showing up, sleep where ya want.”

“That’s my plan,” I call back to her, and she rolls her eyes as she cleans tables. I head to her, a rag in my hand. “I’ll do this. Go eat with your family.”

She pauses in front of me, patting my chest. “They’re right. I wouldn’t fire ya.”

Her eyes are tender, and I smile. “I know.”

She chuckles a bit as she walks away. “But yer still a big ole phanny.”

Of course, the phanny comment makes everyone in the pub laugh, and I just keep cleaning. I don’t mind being the butt of their jokes. I know they don’t mean it, and everyone here has come to care for me, as I have for them. It’s been nice. It’s like a little family I never knew I had or wanted. Or needed.

As I clean the table, the laughter is in abundance, more jokes flying, but as I head to the bar, the room falls silent. Like, eerily silent. Looking around, I’m confused, until I hear the door shut from the front. I look toward it, and I see Lena standing there in all her elegant beauty.

I’m surprised I stay upright.

She’s wearing a thin cream dress, hanging on her breasts as it dips down in the front, but is loose everywhere else. The dress hugs her ass and her thighs, touching the top of her knees as her nude heels make her seem way taller than she is. Her hair is straight and silky, down her shoulders and her back. The diamonds she wears around her neck and from her ears are so damn big, I’m sure I’ve never seen anything bigger. Even with all the makeup and those diamonds, it’s the sparkle in the blue depths of her eyes that knocks the air clean out of me.

Stunned, I lean into the bar as she looks just at me, a small little grin pulling at her lips. I didn’t even see the man behind her until she looked back, nodding and saying she’d be out soon. Biting her lip, she starts for me, her heels clicking on the hardwood as everyone watches her, their eyes wide and some of their mouths parted.

Lena O’Callaghan wouldn’t be caught in this pub according to some, but here she is, proving everyone wrong.

Moving behind the bar since I’m unsure what she is doing, I wrap the rag around my thumb as I hold her gaze. “Can I get you something?”

Her lips quirk a bit as she sits up on the barstool, her eyes never leaving mine. “Cathmor on the rocks?”

“Right away,” I say, and as I reach for the bottle of Cathmor, I notice everyone is still watching. I look to Fiona for some help, but she’s gawking too.

What in the hell?

After I take a glass and then the bottle to her, I set the highball on a napkin before filling it past the ice. “There you go.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking a small sip, her glossed-up lips tormenting me. I am so mesmerized by her mouth that I don’t even notice Fiona coming toward her. Leaning her hip to the bar, Fiona smiles over at Lena.

“Howya, Lena.”

“Howya,” Lena says simply, putting the glass down. “It’s busy.”

“It is,” Fiona says, her eyes still wide. “And yer here?”

“I am.”

“It’s past six.” Fiona looks at her like this means something, but Lena just shrugs.

“And I wanted a drink.” They share a very long look, and when Lena looks away, taking her glass in her hand for a slow sip of her drink, Fiona looks utterly confused.

Standing erect, Fiona whispers, “This better not come back on me.”

“It won’t.” Lena doesn’t even look at Fiona; she’s looking right at me.

Fiona stares at the side of Lena’s face for a moment longer and then throws her hands up. “Enough, all of ya! Go back to what ya were doing.”

Soon the pub fills back up with chatter, almost like in a movie. I’m unsure what just happened, but I’m completely fascinated by it. I turn to go back to work, but Lena holds up her finger, beckoning to me.

Because I’m an idiot, I go to her.

“Wanna order something?”

She makes a face. “No, I just sat through an awful dinner with my parents and Declan.” She sighs. “It’s nice to just sit here with a glass and some company.”

“Oh. Me?”

“You,” she says with a grin. “How’s yer day going?”

“Busy,” I say as I look around, and of course, everyone is staring. They’re trying to act like they aren’t, but they are. “I’m dead on my feet.”

“Yeah, me too.” She brings all her hair to the side and starts to braid it, but I’m too busy glaring at people to stop staring at me. “If ya ignore them, they’re not really here.” When my gaze snaps back to hers, she’s smiling. “It works.”

I can’t help it, I grin back at her. “Really weird.”

“It’s bullshite for sure,” she agrees, leaning on her elbow.

“What’s all that stuff about it being after six?”

“Ah, a lady O’Callaghan wouldn’t be caught dead in a pub after six o’clock. Only ladies with poor morals would do that.”

I hear the laughter in her voice, and my lips quirk. “Is that right?”

She nods, rolling her eyes. “I think I’ve broken almost every rule. It’s awesome.”

I laugh. “You’re a rebel, eh?”

“Aw, yer getting all Canadian with me.”

That has us both laughing. “It seems to come out around you.”

“I love it, so please don’t stop.”

“All right,” I answer, leaning on the bar too, her eyes capturing me whole. “So, dinner didn’t go well.”

Gone is her grin as her shoulders fall. Her fingers run along the rim of her glass as she looks up at me. “Ya know what’s going on, yeah?”

“Your mom has cancer?” I ask, my voice dropping a bit.

“Well, yeah. Tumor in her brain.”

My heart aches for her. “I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, well, the surgery is set for next week, Wednesday. They don’t know what to expect.”

“Fuck, that sucks.”

She nods sadly. “It does suck.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask, and she smiles.

“No, I don’t even know what to do.”

“Do you wanna go into the field and just scream?”

“Does that work?”

“Not really, but I bet the acoustics would be badass.”

She grins. “We’ll have to try it, then.”

We’ll. Okay. Ignore that and go on.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

That wasn’t ignoring and going on, Jackson.

I want to say more, I want to make her feel better, but before I can, Trip hollers to me, “Heya, Jackson. Mickey is here.”

I look to my buddies to find that Mickey has, in fact, shown up. With a grin, I glance back to Lena, and she smiles. “Go on, then.”

Biting my lip, I go on over to them, refilling their glasses as I tease Mickey. “Your lady is asleep?”

Mickey’s grin is so large, I laugh. “Yeah, dead to the world, I tell ya.”

I hand him the usual, but before I can run off, Ribby grabs my wrist, stopping me.

“The princess, yeah?” He waggles his brows, and I look over at Lena. She’s drinking her drink, ignoring everything around her.

God, she’s beautiful.

“Wait, she’s a princess?”

All three men holler out, and I just laugh as I walk away. I must have been louder than I thought, because Lena’s eyes cut to mine, her expression all kinds of playful. Leaning on the bar, my back to them, I gaze into her eyes. Her lashes are so long, and I can’t help but gawk at her. She is the girl in the painting that is not ten feet from her.

“You look really gorgeous. Regal.”

I know I shouldn’t have said that, but then, when do I control what I’m thinking when I’m around her?

I think I’m zero for a billon.

She shrugs. “That’s the plan, I guess.”

“You don’t like it?”

She smiles over at me. “I used to love it. So much. But waking up and not having to put this stuff on, throwing my hair up, and not giving two shites, is way better.”

We share a laugh. “I happen to like all your looks. The many faces of Lena.” A blush creeps up her neck as she giggles. “As long as you have those eyes, everything else is just a bonus.”

Looking down at her drink, she purses her lips. “I wasn’t sure where we stood.”

She glances back up at me, and I hold my breath. “Oh?”

“Yeah, it seems like sometimes yer into me, and sometimes yer not.”

Don’t say anything, just agree with her.

“Oh, I’m always into you.” Her lips curve, and yup, there goes any sane thought. “I want to be in you too,” I say in a whisper, and she blushes deep red.

You. Are. An. Idiot.

“Yer impossible.”

“Among other things,” I decide, shaking my head. “Plus, you like it.”

“I do,” she answers, her lashes kissing her cheeks. “Do you work tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we ride again?”

Say no.

“Absolutely.”

She beams at me, a little wiggle to her shoulders, and I’m gone for her. Reaching into her pocketbook that I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying, she pulls out a little piece of paper. As she slides it across the bar to me, I take it. “It’s my number.”

I read the numbers over and over again, as if I’m trying to memorize them. Tucking it into my jeans, I look over at her, the gloss of her lips spellbinding. “Can I take you out?”

What in the hell are you doing?

“Take me out?” she gushes, her face lighting up. “Where? A fancy dinner and dancing?”

I shake my head. “Nah, you’ve done that plenty of times.”

She doesn’t stop smiling. “I have.”

“So I want to do something different.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “What should I expect?”

“A great time,” I answer. “Wear whatever you want, but make sure it’s warm.”

That seems to please her. “You don’t want this Lena?”

I shake my head. “I want you. Give me you.”

I can almost see her heart skipping a beat, the way her hand presses to her chest as she gasps. As she looks, I see her grin grow as she shakes her head. “When?”

“I’m off tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow.”

Licking her lips, she bites the bottom one as she reaches into her purse, but I cover her hand. “It’s on me.”

Running her fingers along the back of my hand, she slowly gets off the stool, her eyes burning into mine. “Yer lucky the room’s full.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because a lady never kisses a man in front of a crowd.”

I scoff at that. “Well then, I think that makes me unlucky.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, because I want that sexy mouth on mine.”

I swear every emotion flashes in her sweet eyes. She steps up to me, and I take a quick breath as she goes up on her toes and kisses my jaw ever so tenderly. When we pull back, our eyes meet, and she whispers, “Might as well keep breaking the rules, yeah?”

“Why not?”

“Exactly.”

Squeezing my wrist, she says, “Text me?”

“As soon as I’m off.”

“Grand.”

Turning on her heel, she doesn’t even look around at all the gawking faces. Instead, she lifts that defiant little chin of hers and walks out of the room like she owns it. Meanwhile, I’m gasping for breath, a grin on my face.

As I try to recover, which is pointless since that girl blows me out of the water, Fiona is in my face all of a sudden, her eyes wild with anger. “I won’t be blamed for that either!”

Confused, I hold my hand up. “Blamed for what?”

She moves her hands quickly between me and the door. “You and her! She’s an heiress, yer a bartender—”

“And a horse groom,” I add, and she glares. “I also sleep in a tent. Man, what will her parents say?”

I waggle my brows at her, and she lets out an annoyed yell. “That can’t happen.”

I shrug. “I don’t care.”

“Jackson!” she complains, but I just shake my head.

Reaching for Lena’s glass, wiping up the area in front of where she was sitting, I ask, “What, Fiona?”

“You don’t understand. It can’t happen—”

“I have to disagree, and until she tells me otherwise, I’m thinking it is happening.” What in the world am I saying? I’ve lost my fucking head! “Plus, who are you or anyone else to try to stop it?”

I hold her gaze for a long second before I turn to go to the sink. My heart is jackhammering in my chest, and I can’t catch my breath for shit.

But one thing is for sure. There is no way in hell I can stay away from Lena O’Callaghan.