Hard Irish by Jennifer Saints Read Free Book Online Page A

easier.”
    She exhaled.  “He was worried about something before his stroke.  Did he say anything to you?”
    Mack shook his head.  “Rory and I mostly talked about the jobs.  He did ask me if I thought you were happy a few months back and I told him that ditching Collin’s shadow had done you a world of good.”
    “Do the words Unforgivable, stop, and pray in reference to my mother mean anything to you?”
    “No.  Why?”
    “Because Da said them to me today.”
    Mack grabbed her shoulders.  “Really!  Was he able to do anything else?”
    “No.  He spoke and then lapsed back into a blank vacuum.”
    “Still.  It’s a good sign, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    Gravel crunching beneath a boot made Rocky shiver.  It was too dark to see far and the thought of someone purposely lurking in the shadows made her skin crawl.  She forced a smile at Mack, glad to have his support.  He was somewhere in his forties and looked as if he’d weathered of few of life’s storms and hadn’t always come out on top.
    Mack looked around.  “Let’s get you home before they bring the fight outside.  I’ll be right behind you, okay?”  
    Rocky nodded and climbed into her truck.  As she drove home, the feeling that her life had spun around and was careening blindly into the unknown overshadowed her.  Implausible events had happened.  Collin’s rage had reared an ugly head after staying on the sidelines long enough for her to almost forget him.  Her parents’ had death secrets that remained beyond her grasp.  And she’d been in the arms of a stranger whose kiss she didn’t want to forget—ever.
     
     
    Jared knew to his core that only a fool, a dead fool, took his eyes off his opponent in a fight.  No matter what.  Still, when he heard the woman cry out, he glanced her way and it cost him.  If it hadn’t been for the mirror over the bar and James’s warning shout from the crowd, the woman’s bruiser of an ex would have nailed Jared at the base of his skull with a bar stool.  Instead, Jared took the brunt of the blow on his shoulder and ended up getting a bloody nose, before knocking his opponent out.
    It was a good ten minutes before Jared reached James on the sidelines.
    Two well-endowed blondes clung to him for protection.  He looked like the perfect knight in shining armor.  “I told Chloe and Ginger we’d walk them to their car.”
    Jared nodded and headed for the front door.  Just maybe they’d get out before the cops arrived.  He’d yet to be able to let go of his nose and seriously wondered if he hadn’t broken the damn thing.  That’s what he got for sticking it into someone else’s mess.  He didn’t know the woman’s name, much less her number.
    And while the kiss had been out of this world hot, the more he thought about it, the more wretched he became.  She was obviously a woman in a very bad situation and part of him felt as if he’d taken advantage of her.  He could have just as well busted her ex’s chops without having coerced her into an all-out public kiss-fest on a barroom floor.   Some class.  Some style.  Some hero.   It didn’t help that he hadn’t meant to carry the kiss that far.  The fact is he did.
    He needed to find her and apologize and hope beyond hope that she’d want to see him again.  Because for the first time in a long damn time, maybe even ever, he really, really wanted to see her again. 
    James pocketed both Chloe and Ginger’s number before seeing the blondes off—in a green mini-van.  Jared didn’t have to ask to know James would not be calling.  Mini-van meant kids and James had a rule that he didn’t date a woman with baggage.  Kids were complications he wanted to add on his timetable and not one already pre-set.
    “You okay to drive?” James asked.
    Jared tossed James the keys and headed for the passenger’s seat.  “Better safe than sorry.”
    “You’re damn lucky not to be leaving in an ambulance.  That guy was bent on