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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.


Tags: Nicole Fox Kovalyov Bratva Erotic