Free Wild Irish Heart (The Mystic Cove Series Book 1) by Tricia O'Malley Page A

that waited to settle and poured a whiskey neat.
    "How are you settling in?" Cait asked.
    "I'm doing good. It's really been a whirlwind. I'm learning a lot. Like way too much." The cider was catching up with her a bit and Keelin bit down on her lip before she said something revealing.
    "Well, I've earned myself a break. Let's have a sip of whiskey to commemorate your arrival and you can tell me what you were talking with Shane about. He seems to like you."
    Keelin caught a hint of bitterness there.
    "No, no. He's just a nice guy talking to me about the town."
    "Mmm." Cait made a noncommittal noise and eased herself under the pass-through. Nudging a few guys out of the way, she cleared a spot for Keelin and her to sit at a high table in the back.
    "Do you have a boyfriend?" Cait asked her as she raised her glass to Keelin in a toast.
    "No, I'm single. I have been for a while to be honest. Boston guys just want quick one-night stands and I'm just not into that." Keelin couldn't bring herself to say that they didn’t want one-night stands with her – the bigger girl who had a hint of something off about her. She just never seemed to manage herself well in normal relationships. 
    "Well, men are nothing but trouble anyway and I've sworn myself off them. For a while at least." Cait laughed at her but Keelin saw her watch Shane as she said that.
    "Trouble they are." Keelin glanced quickly to the front booth, but Flynn was gone. Shrugging, she returned to the conversation.
    "So, you found out about Colin and Aislinn, I'm assuming?" Being a bartender had taught Cait to cut to the quick of things.
    "Whoa. Yes, holy shit. I mean, how do I just go through twenty-eight years of not knowing that I have a sister and a brother?" Keelin slammed her hand flat on the table. "I mean, come on!"
    "No kidding. Someone should have told you. They knew about you. It's only fair." Holding up her whiskey in commiseration, Cait clinked her glass to Keelin's.
    Keelin couldn't believe it. She sputtered against the heat of the whiskey.
    "They knew about me! Why didn't they try to contact me?" She took down the rest of her whiskey in one gulp and coughed as it burned her throat. Cait pumped her on the back and laughed.
    "Slow down. It's meant for sipping."
    Tears pricked Keelin's eyes as she struggled to breathe. She took a tentative sip of her cider to cool her throat.
    "I don't know why they didn't get hold of you. It was all so long ago and we all knew that Margaret would never come back. It just didn't seem real until you showed up," Cait said.
    Keelin nodded. She supposed it made sense. But that wasn't going to stop her from having some choice words with her mother.
    "My break's over. Next set is starting soon. Come see me for lunch this week. I'd love to have a girl's night soon." Cait smiled and cleared the table as she shouted to the bartenders to get moving.
    Keelin nodded and stood up to go, catching her foot on the stool and tipping a bit as she stumbled forward directly into a rock-hard chest. Lifting her eyes up, she blew hair out of her eyes as she stared at a dreamy mouth a few inches from hers. Blue eyes looked into hers.
    "Steady as you go there. Perhaps you should slow down on the liquor," Flynn said as he gripped her arms.
    "Perhaps you should not tell me what to do," Keelin said, and pushed his hands off of her arms. She stomped past him back to her table, cursing herself for the flush that crept up her face and how close she had been to leaning in and taking a little nip of his lip. Just a small tug of that deep bottom lip. A long, liquid pull tugged low in her stomach. Keelin groaned. She did need to lay off the liquor or she'd be throwing herself at Flynn in no time.
    Shane quickly joined her at the table and nudged a glass of water towards her.
    "I saw Cait shoving whiskey at you," Shane said. He sliced an accusatory glance at the bar.
    "No, she wasn't shoving. We were toasting. The new additions to my family, apparently." Keelin