Free It's in His Kiss Holiday Romance Collection by Mary Leo

knitting needles down. To Ronan they looked like nasty metal weapons that could kill someone if you plunged it into the right spot. He only hoped she didn’t start throwing knitting needles at him the next time they had a fight.
    She stood up, grabbed an ornate tea pot and walked past him to the kitchen, her red hair swaying down her beautiful back. As she moved past him he caught the floral scent of her body wash and wished he had shared her shower that morning.
    “Tea?” she asked from the kitchen.
    “No thanks.”
    Ronan followed her back to the kitchen. He needed that coffee and he craved something sweet. Unfortunately, all Cathy could offer him was plain Greek yogurt and frozen berries. “I’ll grab something later,” he told her as he followed her out of the house and they both got into his black SUV. At least he’d been able to find a dusty can of unopened coffee in the pantry, then dug out her old coffee maker from the back of a cupboard, used a paper towel for a filter, and managed to find a travel mug. He’d filled it with coffee, milk and three teaspoons of sugar and took it along. Cathy brought a metal, two-liter bottle filled with distilled water.
    When they were finally on the road, Cathy asked, “Did you hear it last night?”
    Ronan yawned then excused himself. “You heard it, too? Kept me up most of the night. Must have been a baby next door. “
    She turned to him. “‘Twas a Banshee crying over Tommy’s murder.”
    His instinct was to laugh, or at the very least give her the reasons why she was completely wrong. Instead he humored her and said, “So that’s what they sound like.”
    “You’re making fun of me, Ronan Kelly, but I’m here to prove you wrong. You’ll see it my way as soon as you accept what’s as apparent as the beautiful nose on your face.”
    “I’m not making fun of you. Really.”
    “It doesn’t matter if you do or you don’t. We’re on our way to collect the leprechaun’s gold coin. That’s enough for me this morning.”
    He threw her a quick little smirk, and continued up the street. Anything to get her to look at him again like she had that night they’d made love on the table. He’d tell her he believed in the Easter Bunny if that was what it took.
    Finding his childhood friend, Paul Milton, was sure to be a challenge. Ronan had given him the coin as soon as he and his family had returned to the states after the family reunion. That had been almost fifteen years ago. There was no telling where Paul could have relocated after all this time or what might have happened to the coin.
    The last address he had for Paul was his parents’ house in Bucktown, a neighborhood not far from Roscoe Village. The area had always been trendy, with restaurants, bars and boutiques scattered throughout the area with Holstein Park as its anchor.
    His own parents’ house was only two blocks from the park, a real lure for every kid within two miles. Ronan pulled up to the curb, parked and turned off the ignition.
    Two minutes later Cathy stood next to him as he knocked on the wooden door of what was sure to be a dead end. He really hadn’t thought of a plan B yet, but was hoping whoever answered the door might lead them in the right direction.
    No answer.
    “Sometimes it’s best to ring the doorbell,” Cathy said as she pushed on the tiny white button. Ronan could hear the chimes through the door. She laid on if for about a half-minute. “That should get their attention.”
    The door swung open, as if the person doing the opening was angry. Ronan recognized an older Paul right off. “It better be mighty important to ring my bell like that.”
    He gazed over at Cathy, then at Ronan, no recognition on his face.
    “I’ll say it’s important, you son of a bitch. Remember me?”
    Paul’s face immediately lit up. “Well, look at what the cat dragged in.” He looked like the same guy Ronan remembered, thick black hair that was always a tangle of curls, baby blue eyes, and a