Straight Up by Deirdre Martin

Author:Deirdre Martin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: American Light Romantic Fiction, Fiction - Romance, Romance: Modern, Contemporary, General, Romance, Romance - Contemporary, Fiction, Love stories
ISBN: 9780425234662
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Published: 2010-05-04T02:31:00.441000+00:00

Straight Up

Chapter Twenty

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Aislinn drove home from the pub slower than usual, trying to appreciate the beautiful stars standing out in the inky sky, but it didn't work. The whole world had been stripped of its beauty, thanks to that New York arsehole.

God, the gall of him, asking her for another chance, as if she'd ever trust the likes of him again! Who the hell did he think he was? As for her fellow Ballycraigers, well, this time she had every right in the world to rebuff them if they came round trying to make amends. In some ways, their being in on the bet hurt even more than Liam's duplicity. She'd known these people all her life, or thought she had. Now she felt herself surrounded by strangers.

The light in Padraig's cottage was still on. Aislinn resisted the urge to check on him. She was in no mood for idle chat: plus. she was afraid that when she told him about the bet, he'd get all worked up and threaten to go into town and blacken Liam's eye, as if he were still a twenty-year-old with a mean left hook. It had happened when Connor had betrayed her: Padraig (and her father, too, come to think of it) had gone mental, threatening to break his bones if he dared ever show his face in Ballycraig again. She decided she'd let Padraig hear about what happened through the grapevine: she had enough on her plate right now without worrying about him fancying himself Barry McGuigan.

She'd forgotten to leave the light on in the mudroom, and so she entered a completely dark house, the perfect match for her mood. It felt asthough the house's silence was mocking her. Did you really think things would ever work out for you? it jeered. You're a loner, just like your da. Always have been. always will be. Just accept your damn fate and get on with it.

“Cut the self-pity,” she chided herself brusquely, slipping out of her boots and jacket. “It doesn't suit you.”

She went upstairs, stopping off in the loo to brush her teeth and wash her face. She studied her face in the mirror, remembering Liam telling her she was beautiful. She couldn't bear it. He hadn't meant a word of it. Not a word.

She padded into her room, not wanting to wake Deenie, who was fast asleep on her bed. The steady rhythm of the old dog's breathing was a comfort. She slipped into the oversized T-shirt she'd bought years ago at the Galway Festival and climbed into bed. When Connor had wrecked her life, she'd thought she'd never recover from the pain. But the pain she was in now, all-encompassing and pressing down on her like a boulder, felt ten times worse. She turned on her side and curled up in a fetal position, drawing her covers tightly around her. When she was little, she sometimes used to think, Nothing can upset me when I'm in the big bed, with its warmth and safety and promise of sleep.

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