Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9(5)

“Bonnie lass, isn’t she?” Liam commented, following his gaze.

“Who is she?” Jack asked without looking away. It was hard to tell from that distance, but he could have sworn he saw a pink tint blossoming on that perfect white skin. Though he willed her to look his way once again, she didn’t.

“Kathleen O’Leary. Her father, Conlan, is a friend of mine. Owns the diner across the river in Birch Falls.”

Birch Falls. That explained why he hadn’t seen her around. He definitely would have remembered her.

“Why don’t you go over and introduce yourself? The lass has been eyeing you all night.”

Had she? Jack was doubtful, since he’d been sneaking glances at her throughout the evening and other than that brief visual lock a minute ago, she’d hadn’t given any indication that she’d noticed him at all. But the mere possibility was enough to make something unexpected and powerful swell in his chest.

Jack wasn’t the smoothest operator when it came to females, but he was no choir boy, either. Most of his previous encounters hadn’t required much thought, but now he found himself at a loss. Should he hang on the fringes, hoping she would see it as an opportunity to make her way over to him? Or go over there and try to strike up a conversation? The idea had him more nervous than his enlistment.

Don’t start anything you can’t finish, a little voice warned in the back of his head. You’re leaving soon. Chances are, they’re going ship your arse off to Vietnam sooner rather than later.

All the more reason to make the most of the now, countered another.

“There can be no courage without fear, lad,” his father said softly. “That applies to war as well as women.”

Had his father read his mind? Jack tipped back the bottle and let the smooth, cold brew glide down his throat. It warmed his belly and bolstered his nerve.

“And who knows? Maybe the lass will give you yet another reason to come home.” Jack turned to look at his father and blinked. In that moment, he realized that as scared as he was about the future, his father was even more so. He’d never admit that, but his eyes spoke volumes. With the Vietnam conflict intensifying, too many young men left Pine Ridge and came back with flags draped over their coffins.

Jack nodded in silent acknowledgement, resolve pushing away the doubt. He wasn’t going to be one of them.

“Don’t let your mother catch you with that,” Liam reminded him, “or it will be both our arses she’ll be having.”

With a heavy-handed pat on his shoulder, his father moved away. Jack’s eyes once again slid over to where he’d last seen the girl, but she was no longer there. He stood up straighter and began to scan the area, looking for a flash of black in the twilight. She was a little thing, so she would be harder to spot among the crowd. He was up on his toes when the hair on the back of his neck prickled, and an unusual heat warmed his groin.

He turned around and looked down to find the clearest, most beautiful emerald eyes he’d ever seen staring up at him. The noise of the crowd faded away, and his world was suddenly reduced to only her.

In that moment, time stopped, right along with his heart and lungs.

“Kathleen,” he whispered.

Those pretty eyes widened in surprise. “You know my name?”

Get it together, Jack. “How could I not know the name of the prettiest girl here?” he said, curling up one half of his mouth in a lopsided grin that girls seemed to like. Thankfully, Kathleen O’Leary seemed to like it, too.

She smiled and blushed, adding color to that lovely, perfectly smooth skin. This close, he could see a smattering of freckles trailed over her nose, in contrast to her pale skin and thick, dark hair and lashes.

“Oh, a charmer, are you then?” she teased, her voice holding a touch of Irish brogue. “My Da warned me about men like you.”

Jack’s smile grew. Not only was she lovely to look at, but her voice was music to his soul. Soft and lilting, he wanted to hear it again and again.

“Men like me? What kind of man would that be, then?” He allowed his own brogue to color the words. It felt natural; growing up as he had with two Irish-born parents, it was more of an effort to speak without it than with it.

“Tall, dark, handsome men with sweet-talking tongues. I’ll tell you right now, Jack Callaghan, that it will get you nowhere with me.”

His confidence grew. Maybe his old man was right. “You know my name, as well.”

That pink tint darkened and she shuttered her eyes, embarrassed. Then she seemed to gather her courage. Her chin lifted and she looked him right in the eye again, commanding his full and undivided attention.

“Aye, I do.”

Good thing she did, because damn it, when she looked at him like that, he was hard pressed to remember his own name. It would have made introducing himself awkward.

“Then perhaps, Kathleen, you will see fit to tell me what will get me somewhere with you.”

Her lips quirked. “You are a bold one, aren’t you?”

“Not typically, but I’m a bit short on time to do things right.”

She nodded, looking him up and down; he fought the urge to preen. “That you are. Guess we’d better get to it, then.”

Jack tilted his head and raised a dark eyebrow. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Come with me and find out,” she dared, her eyes now twinkling with mischief.