Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9 (12 page)

A pang of guilt ran through him. He still hadn’t told her about their change in plans, but in his defense, there really hadn’t been a good time. Pulling off a Catholic wedding in under two months was a daunting task, and Kathleen had had enough on her mind over the last two weeks. And last night... well, there had been far more important things to
discuss
last night.

“No.”

“What about our reservations at Paradise Haven?”

The sheet was tucked just beneath her arm, revealing the swell of a full, creamy breast. It was impossible to remain on the other side of the room when she looked so damn sexy. Her dark hair was a tussled mess, her sleepy green eyes replete with passion. No wonder he hadn’t been able to stop making love to her throughout the night.

“What if we just stayed here?” he asked, slipping back under the sheets. The warmth of her body wrapped around him. The scent of the fragrant candles hung in the air, mixing with aroma of wood smoke and the lingering earthy musk of their lovemaking. He nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply. This, this was his Paradise Haven.

“Why would we do that?”

He pulled her on top of him, resting his hands on the curve of her luscious ass. Just that quickly, his cock was readying for another round. “It’s over an hour away. I don’t think I can be outside of you for that long.”

She laughed and kissed him. “It will be difficult, I agree. But once we get there, we won’t have to get out of bed for days.” She nipped his bottom lip, then soothed the sting with a swipe of her tongue. It tasted slightly of peppermint, suggesting that at some point during the night, she had slipped into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. “Except, of course, to soak in the in-room hot tub. And since it’s all-inclusive, we can order room service to keep our strength up without ever even having to get dressed.”

Damn, that sounded good. But impossible.

“We can do the same here, minus the hot tub, of course. But we do have a spacious shower. And we can order take-out and have it delivered.”

“You’re insatiable, Jack Callaghan.”

“Around you, yes,” he agreed without apology. “Besides, why pay all that money if we’re never going to step outside the room anyway?”

“Because it’s our
honeymoon
,” she informed him. “We deserve a bit of pampering after everything we’ve gone through to get here.” As if he needed reminding, she rubbed her slick sex against his stiff cock.

“Exactly my point.” Jack fitted his large hands around her hips and thrust upward. After a night of orgasmic pleasure, he slid in easily, groaning at the sheer bliss of it. For the next several minutes, neither one of them spoke, communicating only through moans, soft grunts, and graphically expressive body language.

Draped over his chest afterward, she poked him in the ribs. “Come on, now. We’d best be going while we’re sated and before the need grips us again.”

“Clearly I am not doing right by you if you have enough energy to suggest such a thing.”

She propped herself up on his chest and regarded him, realization in her eyes. “We’re not going to Paradise Haven, are we?”

He sighed. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I cancelled our reservations.”

“Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

“I hadn’t planned on it, but something came up. I needed the money for something else.”

Her brows furrowed in concern. “What?”

“I bought this place. I sold my parent’s house, but the money didn’t come through fast enough, and the back taxes were due.”

Kathleen sat up abruptly, straddling him. “Let me get this straight. You decided to buy old man Finnegan’s dilapidated pub, and you sold your parent’s house to do so? Without telling me?”

It was difficult to concentrate on her words when her perky breasts were on such magnificent display, but her tone of voice set off warning bells in his head. He forced his hands beneath his head, interlocking his fingers to keep them there.

“I thought this was your clever way of ensuring our wedding night would remain undisturbed,” she said, waving her hand around the room. “Not our new home.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh, it is that,” she assured him. In the next second she was pushing hard off of his chest and climbing off the bed (and him). He reached for her, but she twisted out of his grasp. A decided chill marked her absence. She bent over, re-igniting the fire in his groin when an expanse of glistening pink flesh flashed at him. Snatching up his dress shirt from the floor, she slipped it over her head and turned back to glare at him with fire in her eyes. Oh hell, she was pissed.

“What the hell were you thinking, Jack?”

“I was thinking that I was planning for our future.” He sat up and kicked off the sheets. For a moment, her gaze dropped to his lap, but any hopes of derailing her anger with a bit of flashing were quickly dashed.

“By what, buying a
bar
?” She practically spat the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“Not just a bar. A hotel. An historical landmark. With a bit of work, we can - ”

“A
bit
of work? Are you insane? Have you looked at this place?”

He stood up and set his shoulders. This time her gaze never wavered from his face. Not a good sign. “Aye, I have. And you didn’t seem to mind it so much last night.”

“Last night was wonderful,” she admitted. “But it was wonderful because I was with you, Jack, not because it was
here
.” Kathleen exhaled heavily and waved her hand around the room. “What you did with the candles and the flowers, it was really romantic. And I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, but we are married now. Do you understand what that means?”

His eyes raked up and down her body. She was a beautiful woman, but when she was riled, she was magnificent. A flush colored her pale skin, her eyes shone, and the way she squared her shoulders back like that showcased her lovely breasts. “Aye,” he said huskily.

That only seemed to rile her further. She crossed her arms over her chest and covered those tempting nipples, the ones reaching for him through the fabric of his shirt. The move forced his focus back to her face. Or, more accurately, her I’m-not-happy-with-you face. It tempered his lust, but only a little.

“It
means
, Jack, that we are partners. That we discuss huge, life-altering decisions like selling a house or throwing money away on a failing business. Where are we supposed to live?”

“Here.”

“You
are
insane.”

“Clearly you are not seeing the potential.”

“Clearly you need to get your head out of your arse.”

“Enough!” he bellowed. “What’s done is done. Like it or not, I did what I thought was best for us and for our future. This is our home, and we will make it work.”

Jack mimicked her angry stance, crossing his arms over his chest and pinning her with a no-nonsense glare. At least until he saw the moisture pooling in her eyes and her bottom lip begin to tremble. Immediately the swell of anger receded. Her next words replaced it with an icy chill.

“Then perhaps we have both made a grave error in judgment.”

Stunned, he said nothing as she stormed into the bathroom. She didn’t mean that. She couldn’t mean that. The slamming door, followed by the heavy snick of the lock engaging, was loud in the near silence. As were her muffled sobs.

His heart grew heavy; his stomach twisted in knots. Physical pain was preferable to the sound of Kathleen crying; it clawed at him, taking the air from his lungs as well. He crossed the room in two long strides and struck the door with the side of his fist. “Kathleen, open the door.”

“No. Go away, Jack.”

“Please. Come out here and talk to me, Kathleen.”

No amount of coaxing changed her mind; she refused to even answer him after a while. Jack sank back down onto the bed and placed his head in his hands. How had things gone from so good to so bad so quickly?

One of the perks of buying the Pub was the inventory the old man had included as part of the deal. Jack poured himself another shot of whiskey and stared at his reflection in the dirty mirrored wall tiles behind the bar.

He’d been married for less than twenty-four hours and he’d already managed to make a mess of things. Now that he’d calmed down a bit, he could understand why she was upset. In retrospect, he should have discussed the idea with her first.

He could continue to rationalize, saying he hadn’t brought it up because she had enough to worry about with the wedding. Or claim that he’d envisioned it as a wedding present of sorts -—a home and a business that would be solely
theirs
. Both would be true.

If he was completely honest with himself, he would also have to admit that he knew it might have been a bit of a sell, at least at first. And that had factored in to his decision to keep it under wraps.

So yeah, he’d cocked up. He’d sprung something big on her, and she was pissed. He got that.

But locking herself in the bathroom and refusing to talk to him? That was taking things a bit far.

This irrational behavior was a side of Kathleen he hadn’t seen before. Yes, he’d known she was a passionate, stubborn woman. Her fire and inner strength had drawn him to her in the first place. The long, rambling letters she’d written him all those years, had painted a thorough picture of the woman. Revealed all the things he would have discovered in person had he not been shipped out so soon after they’d met. With each one, he’d fallen more in love with her. His
croie
had a loving heart, an intelligent mind and a giving spirit, perfect complements to her core of steel. And, until this morning, she’d always been reasonable.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Kathleen
was
an intelligent woman. Surely, after she’d had time to cool off and think it through, she would be able to see that he had their best interests at heart.

Right?

Hell. He was doing his best. A lot of things had changed, him most of all, but a man still took care of his family, didn’t he? It was how he was raised. His parents had a wonderful marriage; a true loving partnership. His father made most of the big decisions, and they never doubted that he had done so for the good of the family. Though, now that he thought about it, his father had never done so without discussing it with his wife first. Clearly, Liam Callaghan had been a smarter man than he. 

A noise from the back drew his attention. He listened carefully as the sound grew louder, finally recognizing Kathleen’s footfalls as she made her way down the wooden steps. Was she coming to accept his apology? Or perhaps to say that after further thought, she could see the potential and the opportunity of this place?

The door to the kitchen creaked loudly, signaling her arrival on the first floor. Jack sat up straighter and waited patiently. She appeared in the doorway, looking both ridiculous and adorable in a pair of his jeans and an old flannel shirt that had seen better days. Only then did he realize he’d forgotten to grab her luggage from their car before fleeing the reception. He’d been so anxious to get her upstairs last night, and so busy defending his decision this morning, it hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Her face was paler than it had been, her eyes puffy and red-rimmed from crying. Jack forgot all about who was right and who was wrong; he cared only to see her smile again. He went to her, wanting to crush her into his chest and make everything better, but she wrapped her arms around her body and took a step back in a clear message.

She hadn’t completely forgiven him. His hands fell downward; he tucked them into his pockets. “I’m sorry, Kathleen.”

“I’m sorry, too, Jack.” Still hugging herself, she took a few tentative steps past him into the bar room and stopped, looking around. Her lips pressed together, turning slightly downward at the corners, her expression grim. He knew what she saw—– the same shite condition of the place that he’d seen when Danny Finnegan first proposed the idea. Except it looked even worse now in the stark light of day.

“Maybe you can get the money back,” she suggested quietly. “Tell him you changed your mind.”

“But I haven’t changed my mind, Kathleen. I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but it will.”

She shook her head, the sadness in her eyes like a knife to his chest. “I don’t want this, Jack.”

Jack flinched as if slapped. With only a few words, she had managed to completely destroy the little bit of hope he’d been clinging on to. “What do you want, Kathleen?” he snapped. “Do you want to be married to a bartender for the rest of your life? No, wait. I wouldn’t even have that, because this place was going to be closed down.”

Her eyes widened, but she refused to back down. “You could do something else.”

“Like what? Work in the mill? The hardware store? Or maybe your father would be willing to hire me as a dishwasher?”

Kathleen winced. “There must be something you can do. Didn’t they give you some kind of job training in the service?”

Jack barked out a laugh. “Yeah, they sure did. They trained me to
kill
, Kathleen. A thousand different ways to end another man’s life. And I learned to do it well. Most of them never even saw it coming. How’s that for a marketable job skill?”

Her lip was trembling again. “Stop it, Jack.”

He exhaled heavily, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s the truth, Kathleen. Not speaking of it doesn’t make it go away, no matter how much I wish otherwise.”

His words hung heavily in the air. Was she only just realizing what she had bound herself to? Or did she still hold to some ridiculous romanticized ideal of a war hero? There was no honor in the war he’d fought, except in the hearts of the men who believed they were doing the right thing.

“What about starting a family?” she said finally, her hand reflexively moving down to span her belly. “Do you really think this is the place to raise children?”

“It could be,” he said, his gaze following the movement. A family, yes. He wanted a big family. Lots of kids filling their lives with joy and laughter. Braw, strapping lads and beautiful lasses that had their mother’s hair and emerald eyes. With any luck, they’d planted the seeds of that dream last night.