The Mighty Quinns: Riley by Kate Hoffmann Read Free Book Online

into the chowder, then groaned. “It’s wonderful. This place is wonderful. It’s exactly how I’d imagined an Irish pub to be,” she said.
    â€œNow, I know you have pubs in America,” he said.
    â€œI don’t spend a lot of time in them,” she said. Nan pointed to a pair of socks hanging from a rafter. “I’m sure there’s a good story behind those.”
    â€œThere’s a hundred years of stories in this pub,” he said. “The Speckled Hound has been around since the turn of the nineteenth century. I don’t know them all. But I do know one.” He grabbed her hand and drew her along to a dark corner. “There was this pretty American girl who came to Ballykirk and she walked into the Speckled Hound and the bloke behind the bar was so besotted that he had to kiss her.”
    â€œBesotted?” Nan asked.
    â€œYeah, besotted.” He bent close and captured her mouth, his hands spanning her narrow waist. He dragged her off the stool and trapped her against the bar, his hands braced on either side of her. A current of desire raced through his body as her fingers furrowed through the hair at the nape of his neck. This wasn’t just some one-sided infatuation, Riley thought to himself. She was kissing him back, her tongue tangling with his, her hands wandering over his body.
    The taste of her was like a drug, so incredibly addictive that all he could think about was more. He ran hispalms along her waist and then slipped them beneath her shirt, searching for warm, smooth flesh.
    Riley couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt the need to completely possess a woman. Most of the women he’d been with the past few years had been nothing more than physical attractions, driven by a hot body and raw need. The truth was, he hadn’t wanted anything more than that.
    But this was different. He wanted to know everything about her—what she loved, how she lived, all the tiny details that made her the fascinating woman she was. Still, he wondered if the attraction was intensified because the clock was ticking. She’d leave in ten days and he’d never see her again. Was that the source of his desire?
    â€œI’ve never kissed an American before,” he murmured, his lips barely touching hers. “I don’t think I realized what I was missing.”
    She smiled, then pulled him into another kiss. “This is not what I expected when I told the immigration officer I was here for pleasure.”
    â€œOh, that I can provide.” He nuzzled his face into the curve of her neck. She smelled so good. He’d almost forgotten how nice it was to have a woman to focus on, even if it was only temporary. “Why don’t you finish your lunch and then we’ll go out for a drive. I have a place I’d like to show you.”
    He wrapped his hands around her waist and set her back on the stool. She picked up her spoon. “This is really good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
    Riley watched her eat. Unlike some of the girls he’dknown, she seemed to enjoy her food. He hated to see a woman pick at her food like a bird. “So, I think we should go out tonight. Find some fun.”
    â€œAre you asking me on a date?”
    â€œYeah. Why not? It’s your first night in Ireland. I think I should try to make it memorable.”
    â€œAll right. It’s a date,” she said.
    Riley grinned. Now all he had to do was convince Danny to work at the pub tonight—and if things went well, for the next ten days.
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    â€œN OW, LET THE CLUTCH out very slowly and at the same time, give it a bit of…I think you’d call it gas.”
    Nan focused on Riley’s instructions. She’d been behind the wheel for nearly a half hour and managed to drive no more than five or ten yards at best, and that was on a completely flat road. “All right. Slowly. Slowly,” she said. The car stopped with