Irish Kisses

By Helen Scott Taylor

On Fiona Flannigan’s sixteenth birthday Aaron O’Malley kissed her by the wishing fountain at Ballyglass Castle. He said he loved her, then he left and broke her heart. Ten long years later he’s finally back, but his work as an undercover cop has left him fighting inner demons. She wants to help him recover, but dare she let him into her heart again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helen Scott Taylor
• Release date: Jun 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310079962

Helen Scott Taylor

Helen Scott Taylor's first novel, The Magic Knot, won the American Title contest in 2008, was a Golden Heart® finalist, and was chosen as one of Booklist's top ten romances of 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas, and short stories in both the UK and USA. Her published works have been finalists in a number of contests including the Holt Medallion, the Lories, the Prism Contest, the Write Touch Award and the Maggies. Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful long-suffering husband, she shares her home with a Westie and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded-silver-burmilla cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. She believes that deep within everyone there's a little magic. www.helenscotttaylor.com

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Irish Kisses

by

Helen Scott Taylor

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Copyright © 2015 Helen Taylor

Cover design © Helen Taylor

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The right of Helen Taylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act, 1988.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner.

Chapter One

Regret was a persistent thing that gnawed at Aaron O'Malley's gut. Mixed with grief, it created a poisonous combination that he wasn't sure he'd ever shake off. He'd missed his grandfather's funeral four years ago and would never forgive himself for that. Yet knowing the old man had died thinking Aaron didn't care about him was worse.

His jaw clenched, he unlocked the door to the cabin on the banks of Lough Glass in County Cork that he'd inherited from his grandfather. The musty, damp smell from inside hit him with an accusation of neglect.

A fallen tree branch had smashed the roof, dead branches reaching into the room like skeletal arms. Discolored curtains hung from the windows, and rotting paper and scraps of cloth lay among the dead leaves littering the wood plank floor.

This was a far cry from the safe, homey place he remembered from when he was young. It had been paradise during the summer when he escaped from Dublin to spend the school vacation here, helping his granddad with his boat rental business.

In his darkest moments during the past six years while he worked undercover investigating Dublin's notorious drug lords, Aaron had fantasized about this place, remembering it as a haven where he didn't need to worry if the next person he met was going to kill him.

Finally the police operation was over. Last night his boss had ordered him out of Dublin until they finished making arrests. Aaron had stuffed a few things in a bag, jumped in his car and driven, instinct bringing him here. Like a wounded animal, he returned to a place he felt safe—but the safe place he remembered was gone.

Ignoring the scuttling rodents, Aaron wandered inside the run-down cabin. He brushed aside cobwebs and peered out the dirty window to the wooden dock that used to be lined with the boats his grandfather rented out. The boats were long gone, as was anything else of value his granddad had left him.

The stained floorboards creaked under his feet as he peered up at the blue summer sky through the holes in the roof. It would take a lot of work to patch up the cabin, but that was the least he could do to honor the old man.

He lifted a picture frame down from the wall and wiped mildew off the glass with a corner of the curtains. It showed his granddad standing outside the cabin, his pipe clamped between his teeth, his face a smiling mass of wrinkles beneath a wild mop of gray hair. The sign O'Malley's Boat Rentals hung on the wall behind him. A ten-year-old Aaron stood on one side of the old man while Aaron's best friend, Jamie Flannigan, was on the other.

In front of them, Ewan Flannigan stood holding his guitar, and little Fiona Flannigan crouched with her head cocked to one side, aiming a cheeky grin at the camera. His granddad always said she'd grow up to be a heartbreaker, and he hadn't been wrong. Even when she was a kid, she'd had a way about her that enchanted people.

Unclipping the back of the frame, Aaron extracted the photo and tucked it in the pocket of his jeans. Then he wandered outside and grabbed a breath of clean air as the breeze scattered ripples across the surface of the lough and set the reeds dancing.

He strolled along the wooden dock, carefully testing the boards for strength, imagining the ghosts of the boats that had once been moored here. Now a solitary fisherman's rowing boat was tied at the end. Aaron crouched and rested a hand on the edge of the boat, feeling it rock gently on the ripples, the movement bringing back so many memories.

He stood, tucked his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans, and swept his gaze across the familiar vista of Lough Glass and the surrounding countryside. Before him were tiny inlets with small beaches, rocky outcrops, verdant green fields, patches of woodland, and the cluster of houses that marked the village of Foxbridge across the other side of the water. Swallows swooped and dipped, sipping from the water's surface while gulls soared high, calling to each other against the clear blue sky.

How he loved this place, and how he'd missed it. Why had he let his father talk him out of taking over the boat rental business? If only he could go back in time and change his decision, his life would be different.

His mobile phone vibrated in his pocket, and he sighed at the sight of his boss's name on the screen. He put the phone to his ear and rubbed his neck as he answered a string of questions about the undercover operation.

Keep your phone on you all the time. We're likely to have lots of things we need to check with you, his boss said.

Yeah, I know the drill. Aaron cut the call and pushed his phone back in his pocket with a sick feeling in his gut. After sacrificing six years of his life to the investigation, he wanted the scum off the streets, but he'd be at risk of reprisals when he returned to Dublin to testify.

With a sigh, he pushed the thought away. There would be plenty of time to worry about that when it happened. Right now he needed to find somewhere to stay. Swinging around, he gazed up the hill, over the bushy treetops to the crenellated battlements of Ballyglass Castle where the Flannigans lived.

It would be great to see Jamie again