Luke and Kristen belong together, do you? That’s just crazy.”
“Good grief, no. That’s what makes it so perfect. The family would be freaking out about it, and we’d be off the hot seat. We could figure things out without all that well-meaning interference.”
An oddly hopeful expression crossed her face. “Maybe then I could go to Ireland and wouldn’t feel as if we were under a microscope every second,” she said, then winced. “Sorry. Forget I said that. I can’t possibly go to Ireland. It would send entirely the wrong message.”
Despite her quick retraction, Matthew’s heart took an unexpected lurch at the mention of the family trip. He had no idea what had really brought her over here tonight, but he couldn’t blow this tiny opening with some careless remark.
“Why not? You’re as much a part of this family as anyone. Everyone would love for you to be there. Frankly, I’ve been taking a lot of heat because you decided against going. You’d be doing me a favor, not that you owe me anything,” he added quickly.
“Hardly,” she said, regarding him with amusement.
“I’m just saying you should go.” He hesitated, then admitted, “I already have your ticket, as a matter of fact.”
Her mouth gaped. “You bought a ticket for me?”
“Months ago,” he confirmed. “No refund, so it’ll just go to waste if you don’t change your mind. I know how much you hate throwing money away. It’s practically your obligation to go.”
“I could just pay you for the ticket, then use it some other time,” she countered, though there was an undeniable spark of excitement in her eyes.
“And pay all those charges for changing it? Not very frugal,” he chided.
“What about a hotel room? Did you think about that? I’m sure everything’s booked by now.”
“I booked a room for us, but I can bunk in with Luke, if you’d prefer that. It’s not a problem.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
“I told you I’m not just after your body. I’m willing to make a few sacrifices to prove that to you.”
She actually looked a little disappointed by that news. “You do still want me, though, right?”
Matthew couldn’t help it. He laughed. “You are a very contradictory woman.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I could prove how much I still want you in half a second, Laila, but I’m not going to,” he said, his tone a whole lot more noble than the desire thrumming through him. “If we start over, and I’m sensing that might be a possibility here, then we’re going about it the right way this time. No more extremely hot, middle-of-the-night trysts.”
“You mean no sex?” She seemed a little shaken by that.
“No sex,” he confirmed, barely able to choke out the words.
“What’ll we do?” she asked, sounding bewildered.
“Now, that’s just downright insulting,” he said indignantly. “We’ve been known to have intellectually challenging conversations.”
“Sure, in bed,” she replied, then grinned. “But maybe we could compromise.”
He was fascinated by the suggestion. “Compromise how?” “We could talk first.”
Though Matthew laughed at her notion of compromise, he refused to back down. “Nope, I think we’ll do this my way. You’ll come to Ireland. I’ll share my brother’s room. And I’ll court you like the fascinating lady you are in full view of my family.”
“I’m not all that enamored with being a lady,” she complained. “That’s why being with you was such a refreshing change. You saw me in a completely different light, as an unpredictable woman who was impossible to resist. I liked that.”
“Oh, if you must know, you’re still plenty tough to resist, but I’m going to pull it off.” He looked her over with just enough heat in his gaze to make his point. “Those are the terms. Are you in or out?”
“Your grandmother says there’s no place quite like Ireland at Christmas,” she said wistfully.
“Is that a yes?”
She took a deep breath, met his gaze, held it for what felt like an eternity, then finally nodded. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
Matthew resisted the desire to get up and do a little jig. There’d be plenty of opportunities for that once they got to Dublin.
Laila gave him a wry look. “You do know we just got manipulated by a master, don’t you?”
He regarded her blankly. “Who? How?”
“Your grandmother, of course. I didn’t see it at the time, but every word she said to me at Sally’s tonight was calculated to get me to race over here and confront you.” She shook her head. “I thought I was smarter than that.”
Matthew gave her a consoling look. “Don’t feel bad. We’ve all been taken in by Gram a time or two.”
This time, though, he was going to owe his grandmother big-time for accomplishing what no one else had been able to. She’d broken the impasse between him and Laila. Now it was up to him to make sure the détente turned into something that would last.
3
Laila arrived in Dublin with the first wave of O’Briens. The rest—Thomas and Connie, Jake and Bree, Connor and Heather, Kevin and Shanna—weren’t arriving for a few more days. There were so many of them that Mick had chartered a bus to take them to the hotel after the overnight flight.
Somehow Laila had ended up seated next to Matthew, who turned out to be a surprisingly adept tour guide. He pointed out all the sights and offered one amusing anecdote after another as they rode toward St. Stephen’s Green and their hotel in the heart of downtown Dublin.
When she managed to tear her gaze away from the ornate, colorful doorways decorated with lush holly wreaths and the window boxes overflowing with ivy, evergreens and bright flowers, she turned to find him regarding her with amusement.
“What?” she demanded.
“You’re as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.”
“You’ve been here before. I haven’t. It’s everything I imagined it would be.”
He smiled at that. “Glad you came?”
She ignored the last of her reservations about being here in such close proximity to him. “Very glad,” she said, unable to tear her gaze away from his.
He attempted a frown. “Now, don’t be looking
