Wild Chance (Wild Irish Universe)(8)

“A few days.” Aedan replied. “Everything has changed so much. I was glad to know Pat’s was still there. I don’t know how I would have handled it if that place was gone. I spent a lot of my childhood there.”

“Childhood? As in underage?”

“Yes—no drinking though. Pop’s would never have allowed it.”

Mona heard love there. She smiled. “Nowhere ever stays the same. That’s a part of what they’re calling progress.”

Aedan grunted.

The two of them crossed the street to a parkette. Aedan held her hand until she was seated in a park bench. He gripped the handle and lowered himself beside her. He straightened his left leg and she assumed that was the one with the prosthetic.

Instead of commenting, she bravely snuggled into his side and rested her head against his shoulder. There was something about Aedan Callahan that made her comfortable. Perhaps it was the green of his eyes or the strength she saw in him. Whatever it was, Mona knew she had to get a control on it.

But he didn’t move away. He lifted his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. She rested her head against his chest and sighed. Aedan’s cologne drove her mad. It added to the air of warrior she sensed in him.

“Thank you for tonight.”

“But we haven’t done anything yet,” Aedan said.

“Yes, we have. Trust me, Aedan Callahan, this is by far the best date I’ve ever been on.”

“Then the men you’ve been dating have been idiots.”





Chapter Three


Though Aedan hadn’t been scheduled to be at Pat’s the next day, he went in anyway. They wouldn’t be opening for a while yet, but Tristan had been saying one of the beer taps seemed to be stuck. It wasn’t a big deal for him to go take a look at it—it wasn’t like he’d gotten any sleep the night before anyway.

After his date with Mona, she’d dropped him home. Though he’d wanted to invite her up, he knew it was too soon. He wasn’t sure she’d enjoy that, and he wasn’t sure his self-esteem could take rejection yet. So, he settled for a kiss to her cheek then made his way inside.

He then passed the night filled with regret. Kissing Mona would have made his forever—something inside told him that. But, it wasn’t about him. It was about seeing her smile and knowing it was because of him.

The next day, he fought to push the thoughts off. Aedan knew he had to focus if he was to get anything done. After they’d picked up his motorcycle to get the modifications done, he wandered down to Pat’s and found the tool box in the same place they always kept it in. He inspected the tap, all the while trying to keep his mind off the way Mona’s dress hugged her curves. Aedan tried forgetting the gleam of heat in her eyes or the playful way they darkened when he teased her about something. There was something spectacular about the dark-skinned beauty.

Are the swells of her breasts as soft as the back of her hand?

A part of him knew it was a sin to touch her. She was perfection and he would break in irreparable ways if he tainted her. But, when it came to certain things in his life, Aedan Callahan was a selfish son-of a-bitch.

He wanted Mona—yearned to feel her body naked and writhing beneath his. He wanted to taste every curve, feel every pulse of her body as he drove into her, making her scream for him.

“Tristan, I thought I told you to take the morning off.” Killian’s voice broke through Aedan’s fantasies.

Aedan held his breath, then slowly released it as he rose to make his presence known. “I guess he took your advice.”

“It’s you.”

Aedan slammed the wrench he’d been using down on the counter and gripped the edges tightly. “For fuck’s sakes.” Aedan muttered. “You’ve been riding my ass ever since I stepped through the door.”

“Trust me, Aedan, if I was riding your ass, you’d know it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anything you want it to.” Killian growled.

“What the fuck is your issue?”

“My issue is, you still haven’t told us why you left the way you did.” Killian folded his arms across his chest. “And why you’re limping. You disappear for years, Cal, years and then you just waltz right back in. You expect things to go on as if nothing has happened. Where have you been, Aedan? Why did you just walk out on us?”

“Killian…”

“Why did you walk out on me?”

Aedan sighed. Honestly, Killian had been like a brother to him and he really didn’t want to fight. He’d spent so many years fighting insurgents, there was no need for a battle here too.

“I didn’t walk out on you. My leaving had nothing to do with anyone but me.”

Killian didn’t seem convinced. In fact, he folded his arms across his chest.

“Fine.” Aedan motioned to one of the nearby tables. “Sit down for a second, would you?”

Together, they lifted the chairs off, and sat across from each other. Aedan took a moment before leaning back against the chair and meeting Killian’s stare. “I was being abused. It really wasn’t your fault and I didn’t want to leave you but it was the only way I knew of to escape.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”