He lets out a laugh. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. Have you seen them?”
He glances down. “There they are.”
“Bless them.” I let my hands drift over each individual muscle. “I was never really an abs girl before. I mean, I could appreciate a flat stomach on a man, but it really wasn’t a big deal. And then you took your shirt off, and I suddenly understood what all the fuss was about.”
I glance up, expecting to see him scoff or laugh, but his face is suddenly serious.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” He kisses my forehead. The water runs down his torso, taking the soap away. He turns off the tap and reaches for a towel, wrapping me up in it. When I’m good and dry, he reaches for another, and I help him mop up the water.
He tosses the towels into a hamper, then takes me into his bedroom. A lamp is on low in the corner of the room, but the space is mostly bathed in shadows. The sun will start to rise in a few hours.
Keegan puts in a lot of hours in the pub. But he’s never too tired to spend quality time with me after a long day of work.
He lays me down on the bed, and joins me, stretched out next to me. His fingers glide over my belly, which is definitely not as defined as his, and then up to my breasts.
“I’ve been with women before you,” he says, at last, breaking the silence of the room. “I’m not innocent. But there was always something missing, something lacking. It made me believe that I wasn’t cut out for a relationship. But then I met you, and I suddenly understood what all the fuss was about.”
My eyes meet his in surprise. “That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
He kisses my cheek, my chin, and then my lips as he links his fingers with mine and urges me onto my back.
“Everything about you is a new discovery. You make me crazy with wanting you. I can’t keep my eyes off of you, Isabella. And it’s going to sound macho, but I don’t give a shit. You’re mine. In every sense of the word, you’re mine.”
I moan and arch my back as he slides into me. This man—and everything he is—is pure decadence. He makes me feel feminine, desired, and loved.
And I should know because I’ve gone without love for a lot of my life.
My hands grip his ass as he moves faster, his strokes long and sure as he takes us both up and over the crest of pure sensation.
And when we’re tangled together, the light extinguished, ready to fall asleep, Keegan kisses my hair, his arms wrapped around me from behind.
“I love you, Isabella.”
I bite my lip and feel my eyes fill with tears. “I love you, too.”
Chapter 13
~Keegan~
“Move in with me.”
Izzy’s eyes are wide over her coffee cup. I sprang the question on her just as she took a sip, and she starts to cough.
We get a few looks from others in the diner, but I don’t care.
She covers her mouth with her napkin. Once she controls the coughing, she stares at me. “I’m sorry, I thought you just said to move in with you.”
“That I did, lass.”
She raises her mug back to her lips and takes a sip without coughing this time. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
I sit back in the booth, completely ignoring my oatmeal. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t what I want. But if it’s not what you want, you only have to say so.”
She shakes her head, and I’m sure I’m about to get shot down. But then she surprises me with, “I never stopped thinking of the apartment as home.”
“If you weren’t comfortable at Maggie’s, you should have said so.”
“I am comfortable there. I love Maggie. But it isn’t home.”
She takes a bite of her pancake, and I want to scoop her up and take her right here. But that would be frowned upon.
“Do you think it’ll hurt Maggie’s feelings if I move out?”
“I don’t care, to be perfectly honest.”
She laughs at me, and the sound makes all the hair stand up on my body. “Yes, you do.”
“I don’t think it’ll hurt her feelings.”
“Well, good. Because I don’t want to do that. I’m grateful to her for letting me stay there. It’s a really cute little house.”
“Does this mean you’re moving in with me, then?”
She blinks up at me. “Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”
“I asked, and then you started thinking and talking about Mary Margaret.”
I now understand what my da meant when he said he’d like to toss Ma into the sea, and yet he can’t live without her.
Izzy laughs and then wipes her mouth with her napkin. “Yes. I’m moving in.”
“Today.”
She continues laughing and then stares at me with a happy smile that lights up the entire diner. It’s no wonder that I’m completely gone for her.
“I can go pack today and have a chat with Maggie.”
“While you do that, I’ll go over to the flat and clear out some space for your things.”
“I’ve bought more things since I was there last.”
“You can have the entire place if that’s what you want.”
“No, I think the purpose is to share the space. That’s what moving in together means.”
The waitress arrives with the check, and I give her my card before she can walk away.
Once I’ve paid, and we’re in my truck, I take Izzy’s hand and kiss her knuckles. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Moving in with me. Have you already forgotten?”
She’s laughing again, and the sound makes my heart happy. “You don’t have to thank me for that. Thank you for sharing your space.”
“Our space.”
She nods, and I pull in behind her little convertible at Maggie’s.
“I’ll be over in an hour or two. I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to pack.”
“Let me know if you need any help.”
She leans over the center console for a quick kiss, and then she’s out of the truck and walking up to the front door. Halfway there, she stops and blows me a kiss.
I’m going to marry her. Have wee babies with her, and build a home with her.
Maybe not in that order.
Now that she’s in my life, I have no intention of ever letting her go.
The drive to the pub only takes five minutes. I hurry in through the back door, but before I climb the stairs to the flat, something tells me to go check on the kitchen.
It’s just a feeling, a niggle at the back of my head, and I learned long ago to listen to feelings like that.
I push through the door of the kitchen and stop cold.
“Ma.” I rush to my mother, who’s doubled over and bracing herself on the counter. “What’s wrong, Ma?”
“My chest,” she groans. “And arm. My jaw. I don’t know what to do.”
I brace her in my arms as I pull my phone out of my pocket and immediately call 911.
“Emergency Services, what is your emergency?”
“I think my mother’s having a heart attack. I need an ambulance straight away.” I rattle off the address of the pub. “We’re back in the kitchen. The front door is locked, but the back door is open.”