Breakaway by Deirdre Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

Will you be rejoining us or not? We’re about to head to the cottage.”
    “I’ve got to pass!” he called back. “I’ll be back tomorrow!”
    The brevity of the exchange gave Erin a chance to look him over quickly. He still looked like Becks around the time his hair was buzzed and he did that ad for Calvin Klein. More color in his face, though.
    That’s as far as she got before Rory’s attention was back on her. She waited. If he thought she was going to initiate conversation, he’d taken one too many pucks to the head.
    “Hi,” he said quietly.
    Erin was unsmiling. “Hi.”
    “How are you?”
    “None of your business.” She resumed walking. But he wouldn’t let it be.
    “Erin.” Her heart gave a tiny thump. She knew that tone,the one that carried the mildest touch of entreaty. Once she would have melted. Now she just wanted to get away from him before she went rabid on him, howling out all her pain and grief while she tore him to shreds.
    He repeated her name. Erin’s shoulders drooped in defeat, but she kept on walking. “What do you want?”
    “To talk to you.”
    “And so you have.”
    He was hustling alongside her. “No, I mean properly.”
    “As far as I can tell, this is proper.”
    “Erin, please.” He put a hand out to stop the cart, but she jerked it away.
    “Don’t touch me, Rory.” She quickened her pace, staring straight ahead. Almost there.
    “All I’m asking—”
    “Leave me alone, Rory.”
    “Erin—”
    She glared at him. “Leave me alone, Rory.”
    She didn’t care if she had to walk blocks and blocks past the B and B, repeating this over and over, if that was what it took to get him to leave her be.
    Rory lapsed into silence, but he continued walking beside her.
    “Christ, will you not even make small talk with me?”
    “Leave me alone, Rory.”
    Erin quickened her pace even more. It felt empowering to tell him to leave her alone, but at the same time, she was so unnerved to be walking with him she felt like she might throw up. She’d truly thought she’d never see him again, except maybe when his gran passed and the family came back to Ballycraig for the funeral. Now here he was, trailing her down the street, thinking all he had to do was say her name and she’d fold. The man had a screw loose.
    Erin?
    Oh, Rory! How are you? I’ve been wondering what you’ve
been up to since you messed up my life. Oh, come in, let’s have a cup of tea and catch up. It’s so good to see you again, you egotistical heartless wanker of a prat.
    She was moving at a good clip, getting closer and closer to home, but Rory still trailed her. Erin couldn’t help but wonder if he was so stupid that he was puzzled by her hostility. She couldn’t believe he was going to be around all summer. She’d bet dollars to donuts (another cliché; she was going for the record) he was not going to back off.
    Because Rory Brady never backed off. He kicked, fought, bulldozed; he did whatever he had to do to get what he wanted, whether it was playing for the NHL, or appearing in his hometown like the risen Christ to regain what he thought was rightfully his. Too bad the fool didn’t know that the meek, love-sodden girl he once loved didn’t exist anymore. Erin squared her shoulders and continued on her way.
    *   *   *
    Okay, so that didn’t go exactly as planned, but it was the first time, Rory reminded himself as he turned around and started back toward town. “Piss off.” Those weren’t her exact words, but repeating “leave me alone” could be interpreted as the same thing.
    He’d almost missed her. Standing in the cluster of tourists waiting for the PJ Leary tour to start, he was amazed by the variety of languages swirling around him. The tour guide looked like a nutter, dressed as the leprechaun queen character from the first book, but Rory supposed it helped create the mood. He handed over his euros, waiting as everyone else took their turn to pay. And that’s when he saw