And when it does, the O’Sullivans will be caught right in the middle of it.
There’s no place for me in his world. And I’m pretty sure he won’t want a place in mine.
Not that I blame him for that.
My world is a horrible place to live.
“I’m fine,” I demur. “I’m okay.”
“You know, it’s okay to admit that you need help sometimes, Saoirse.”
I frown. “I’m not cold.”
“Then why are you shivering?” he asks. That fucking smile… His expression changes as he regards me with exaggerated understanding. “Ohhh. Oh, I get it.”
I wrinkle my nose in confusion. “Get what?”
“You’re shivering because of me,” he explains with an all-knowing nod. “I’m making you weak in the knees. Primal reaction, really. Totally understandable. Seeing a man like me building a fire in the wilderness… You never had a chance of resisting.”
I stare at him for a second before the laughter bubbles to my lips.
The heaviness in my chest opens up and for a moment, I feel better than I have in years. I can’t remember the last time I laughed. About anything.
“Shut up, idiot,” I snap, but he knows I’m smiling too hard to be serious.
He’s still keeping his face carefully solemn. “What can I say? I have this effect on women. It’s a curse, really.”
“Stop,” I say, pushing him gently with my hand.
My hand falls against hard muscle and I almost succumb to an honest-to-goodness swoon right there in front of him. He’s a lot bigger than he used to be.
I glance up and realize that he’s caught me staring directly at his biceps.
“Yeah, I know,” he says knowingly, wagging his eyebrows at me. “And I barely workout.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. You probably live at the gym.”
“Flattered you think so,” he replies. “But not true. I actually built up all this muscle working the land.”
“Excuse me?”
His grins gets wider, but I can sense a certain sentimentality streak past his eyes.
“Long story. True story, but a long one.”
I look around. “It’s just you and me and the squirrels tonight,” I point out. “And I could use a story. I need a distraction from the cold.”
“I fucking knew it.”
I smile as he shrugs out of his jacket and forces it onto my shoulders.
“But now you’ll be cold.”
“Well,” Cillian says slyly, moving a little closer to me, “guess you’ll have to keep me warm then.”
I can’t read him.
I don’t know if he’s being deliberately flirty to try and feel me out, or if he just doesn’t give a shit either way, and he’s simply having fun.