Chapter 6
Late the next morning when Caitlyn woke up, her body felt wonderfully used. Still laying draped across Nolan, his arms holding her pressed to him, she looked up ever so slowly, careful not to wake him. With his face smoothed out in sleep he looked peaceful. In the short time she had known him that wasn't a word she would have chosen to describe him. Charming, up for a laugh, sexy, or intense worked better. Sometime last night she stopped seeing him as younger, and just saw him simply as a man now. It surprised her that it had faded from her consciousness so quickly. Taking stock, she found no morning after guilt. He was still here in the light of day, which undoubtedly helped. But Caitlyn admitted to herself that even if he had fled after she dropped off to sleep it wouldn't have made her regret him. Being with him last night had been absolutely electric. He made her feel things nobody else ever had before.
Stretching she pulled gently away from him. He rolled onto his side, but didn't wake up. Needing a little time to herself she climbed quietly off the opposite side of the bed. Caitlyn walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Looking at her face in the mirror she realized she had completely forgotten to take off the previous days makeup, which rarely, if ever happened. Thanking her lucky stars she had only worn a little bit and didn't look like a deranged raccoon, she pulled out a makeup wipe and cleaned up her face. There were occasional red areas on her sensitive skin, from his scruff rubbing against her most likely. There was also a hickey on her thigh, and remembering exactly how it got there had a shameless grin breaking across her face. Walking away from her contemplation in the mirror she turned on the shower. Most mornings she needed the hot water to ease the stiffness left over from sleep, this morning everything already felt loose and limber.
Caitlyn took the time to shave carefully, thinking she didn't want to wrap stubbly legs around Nolan's waist later. In that moment she knew that she was going to spend the rest of her time in Ireland gobbling up as much time with him as she could. Her son hadn't been too far off the mark about a steamy affair with a younger man. Picturing Nolan as a pool boy in the tropics had her laughing so hard she had to stop running the razor over her legs for fear of cutting herself. After the chuckling died down she finished the rest of her shower. Going through her typical morning routine, frizz cream in her hair, daily moisturizer with SPF for her face, brushing her teeth she went an indulgent step further and smoothed on the body lotion that smelled like her perfume.
Slipping the robe on she walked out of the bathroom. Expecting to see Nolan still asleep in the bed she was surprised he was sitting on the couch his clothes already on. For a moment the sight had a flicker of panic rising up inside of her. But the cheeky satisfied smile on his face smoothed the doubt away before it had a real chance to take hold.
"Good morning." She said walking over and kissing him softly on the lips. "I tried not to wake you."
"Its good now." He said his lips lingering on hers. "Would've been better if I'd brought more than two condoms, then I woulda been disappointed if you didn't wake me."
"Obtaining more is definitely high up on the list of today's priorities." Caitlyn laughed and sat down next to him. "I was going to order some breakfast, what sounds good to you?" She asked.
"Actually I was thinking that I could run and grab me clothes, and condoms," He added with a wink. "Since yer only here for a short time I plan on being up yer arse the rest of your holiday. Give me an hour and then order us both something, would ye love?" He said his hand playing with the ties of the robe tempting them both.
"You want to stay with me here for the rest of the time?" She asked him.
"Beats the hell outta running back and forth for clothes." He replied, still toying with her robe.
"What about your place? I had planned on 5 nights in Dublin, then I was going to roam about the rest of the country. Last night was night 3 here." Two more nights with him wasn't going to be long enough. Suddenly seeing castle ruins, and quaint fishing villages lost a little of its sparkle for her.
"Caitlyn, I said I was yers for as long as ye'd have me. I meant it. My place for the next week and a half is with ye. Dublin, Galway, Cork, Kerry, even Mullingar if yer heading there. I've got a car, and i can drive on the left side better than ye can I'm wagering." He was stroking his thumb along her jaw, holding her face now.
"I'd like that Nolan." She said softly.
"I'll see ye in an hour, then its off to see the famed Guinness storehouse, alright love?" He stood pulling her up with him.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"I'm probably the least picky eater in the whole of the world, if its edible I like it. Surprise me." He leaned in and kissed her so thoroughly only remembering the lack of protection stopped her from climbing up his body. He looked down at her gave her a wink, but she heard the shaky breath he took when his lips left hers.
Nolan walked out of the hotel room and she sat back down with a thud, shaking the haze away for a few minutes. Once her lips stopped buzzing from his kiss she stood up and grabbed some clothes. The sky today looked promising, sun shining brightly. So she pulled on her cropped skinny jeans, and a deep purple shirt with fun crisscross detailing at the neckline. Adding a pair of earrings that dangled with little glass faceted jet beads. Walking back into the bathroom she decided she looked good, but not like she was trying too hard. She didn't want to be the fool wandering around town all done up to impress her new man, and uncomfortable as hell all day long. Besides, Nolan had made it pretty obvious he already liked her, and so far she had been pretty damn casual with her outfits.
Sitting down at the desk after putting on the same makeup as the day before, thinking that if it's not broke don't fix it, she booted up her computer. She transferred her pictures from her phone to the laptop, and logged into her email. The boys response to yesterday's email was much as she expected. They were having a good time with their dad, and said her pictures were pretty cool. But teenage boys weren't ones to go on for days and days with details. She laughed at the brevity of their email. Clicking reply she told Wyatt and Mason everything about the food tour, and the really cool shopping mall. She mentioned going into a fun pub close by her hotel two nights in a row, how welcoming the owners were, the atmosphere and regulars, but left meeting Nolan out. What else could she do? Ending the letter with how much she missed them, and all her love she hit send.
Glancing at the time on her computer she pulled the room service menu out of the desk drawer. Her stomach was rumbling, starving from all of the amazing sex probably. Deciding it was only right that she try out the world famous full Irish breakfast she ordered two of them. They would get here just after Nolan was due back, so they wouldn't get cold waiting. Making a call down to the front desk she notified them a friend would be staying with her for the remainder of her time with them, and that she would also like to extend her stay to encompass the rest of the two weeks. Driving around with Nolan sounded like fun, but keeping this as their base seemed like the right thing to do. Caitlyn was a woman who followed her instincts, and this time was no different. They informed her of the new cost, and said she could pick up the additional room key card at the front desk at her earliest convenience.
She answered the knock on the door just after hanging up the phone and saw Nolan standing there grinning with a large beat up brown leather bag grasped in his hand, and black backpack slung comfortably over one shoulder. "Hey love, miss me yet?"
"I was just about to start." She laughingly said reaching up to kiss him. The affectionate greeting came easily to her, like everything else between them. He walked in and set his bags down. "Our food should be here in a few minutes." His hair was still damp from a shower, and he had on a olive green short sleeved henley. The top two buttons were undone, and she could see his chest hair. His casual masculinity was sexy as all hell. She was betting he didn't even think about it, he just put on the clothes he liked. The green in the shirt drew out the green in his eyes, muting the blue. He smelled so delicious she knew she could spend hours pressed up against him and not even start to get sick of it. She was still staring happily up at him when a knock sounded for the second time this morning on her door.
"Room service." Came from out in the hallway. Caitlyn pulled away from Nolan and walked to the door. She held it wide so the man could push the food cart inside the room. Caitlyn pointed out where she wanted him to set up the food, and tipped him.
Nolan took a big sniff, "smells like ye really did it up."
"I've always wanted to try the full deal. Everyone who visits Ireland always talks about it." She said with a shrug of one shoulder. "Besides, I need something in me to be able to drink at the store house." She said sitting down in front of her plate. Nolan settled beside her on the couch, his own food on the table next to hers. Making her way through the rashers of bacon, plump sausage, egg, mushrooms, and tomatoes she pushed the beans around the plate with her fork, feeling full. She made herself take a bite of the black pudding, it wasn't as bad as she expected of a sausage made from pork blood, but it couldn't be described as particularity good either.
Nolan noticed the look on her face as she chewed, and laughed until tears shimmered in the depths of his eyes. "Good show love, ye don't have to finish it. I was raised on it, and its only just alright." He said pointing out his own half eaten black pudding. He had cleared most of the rest of his plate though. "Other than that what did ye think?"
"Its an awful lot of food, next time I get it I'll be asking for a half portion." She smiled and drank her orange juice.
"Yeah, but it will carry ye through a full days work as was intended. Or a long day wandering this fine city of ours." He nudged her with his shoulder and picked up his strong black tea. "Just juice for you?"
"Yeah, I'm not a huge tea drinker, and wasn't in the mood for coffee." She leaned back into the couch cushions.
"I alternate between coffee and tea meself. Ye look absolutely lovely today. I was going to mention it earlier but ye kissed me, and well I forgot me own name momentarily." He said leaning back and draping his arm along the back of the couch.
"I like hearing that. The part about you forgetting your own name." She paused, scrunching her face up as something occurred to her. "Nolan, we don't even know each others last names."
"Hayes. My surname is Hayes. Ye already know I'm 25, Irish born and bred. I'm not a picky eater, and I like scary movies. And this is the happiest I've ever been." He said laying his other hand on his chest with complete sincerity.
"Caitlyn Reed, from Michigan. My sons are Wyatt and Mason. I'm really happy right now too. I am a big wimp when it comes to scary movies. But I would rather read than watch movies most of the time anyway. Unless it involved some cuddling or making out." She added with a laugh, careful not to mention what she did for a living. It sometimes freaked people out knowing she wrote love stories, and she didn't want to break the spell they were under.
"Ye cuddling into me during the scary bits would be the best part to be sure." He said pulling her in and tickling her neck with his scruff. "Are you ready to go conquer the day now love?" At her giggling nod he continued, "its a little over 2 kilometers there from here. Would ye like to walk there, or shall I drive us?"
"After that breakfast I'm thinking I need the walk. Besides, I like wandering about. I get to see more of the city that way, and its not raining out right now." She said as he stood up and reached a hand down to help her up. They loaded the plates back on to the cart and pushed it out of the room as they exited it. Leaving it in the hall for pick up later they walked to the elevator. Nolan settled a flat tweed newsboy cap on his head as the doors closed behind them. It made him look all the more Irish, it it was even possible to do so. It was a good look on him, and without thinking she dug her phone out of her pocket and snapped his picture. Checking the screen she saw he had a smile in his eyes, that hadn't quite made it down to the rest of his face yet. It was a perfect moment captured forever.
"What did ye do that fer?" He asked her, the smile now fully formed on his face.
"Because I always want to remember you looking just like that." She said reaching her hand up behind his neck and kissing him with a quick smack.
"Then its only fair I get to take photos of ye as well." He winked.
"OK, just don't put them online please." She without thinking. She had quite a few followers thanks to her books, and she was always careful about what she posted on her social media accounts.
"Ye've my word they will be just for me." He said with a strange look on his face. Before she could ask what he was thinking the elevator doors whooshed open and they walked out into the lobby.
They took their time making their way across the city. Caitlyn kept stopping to take a picture of this, or posing with Nolan in front of that. It was at least an hour before they made it to tour the Guinness Storehouse. They signed up for the tasting tour, and Nolan insisted on paying for it. They spent the next two hours exploring the expansive place. The history of the place fascinated Caitlyn. Their guide was an older gentleman who explained all about how the stout was made, from beginning to end. The indoor waterfall had her laughing with complete abandon. The neon glow heading into the tasting rooms bathed them both in an warm red glow. The complete blank whiteness of the tasting room itself was quite a shock after all of the blazing color leading in. After that they wandered around the exhibit of the ships that used to carry Guinness overseas. They took pictures next to the famous Guinness harp, smiling like the happiest of fools. The view from the Gravity Bar up on the top floor was nearly magical. Looking out across the whole of Dublin made her say a silent thanks again for being here in Ireland.
Caitlyn looked over to see Nolan watching her as she experienced the view. "Look at this Nolan, isn't it just amazing?" She asked.
"Beyond beautiful." He said his eyes never leaving her face, and wrapped his arm around her pulling her in tight to his body. They stood there exactly like that for a few minutes until he led them back down to the street. They wandered around the city without any specific destinations after that. Walking with her hand tucked in his she was falling in love with him, and didn't even know it yet. Nolan nodded at a lot of people in passing, and Caitlyn figured he must know half of Dublin from the looks of it. Nobody stopped to talk to him, though she was sure his friends would have plenty of questions for him later about her.
They popped into a small restaurant they happened to be passing at dinner time, and ate their meal nestled close together in the corner oblivious to everyone else in the room but each other. The food was good, but the tenor of her vacation had changed. It was no longer just about stacking up experiences in Ireland. It was about making memories with Nolan. The long list of things she thought she absolutely had to see or the trip was a bust shrunk smaller and smaller with every slide of his eyes towards hers, every laugh, every touch. This was what she came here for, to live in full vibrancy. Feeling things with reckless enjoyment. She just hadn't known it yet when she stepped off the airplane.