The Ryan she had known for half her life. The Ryan who, along with her soulmate Kieran, had managed to alternately torture, humour and protect her most of the way through her late teens. They’d been the three musketeers back then—almost invincible. She had thought she knew Ryan better than anyone else on the planet. It should have felt like kissing a brother. Somehow it didn’t.
It felt—well, it felt nowhere near as awful as it could have been. In fact, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. In fact…
This just couldn’t be right.
Ryan couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing. He was actually kissing Molly! Hello—earth calling Ryan. What was he doing? Then he forgot for a moment as he felt her mouth soften against his. Good Lord, he was kissing Molly. And, hell, but it felt good. Too good. He moved his mouth over hers, felt her small sigh against his lips. She was so warm, and sweet-tasting, and soft, and—
‘Oops, sorry Mr Callaghan.’ There was a childish giggle. ‘We didn’t see you there.’
They pulled away from each other, both staring at the two Collins children who had materialised by their side. Ryan found his voice first. Well, he assumed it was his voice. The sound certainly seemed to come out of his mouth, so it pretty much had to be his. ‘That’s okay, kids. Don’t worry about it.’
The children looked backwards and forwards at the two adults, giggling again. The fair-haired girl waved at Molly before turning back into the darkness with her brother.
‘See.’ Her voice was the loudest of stage whispers. ‘Mammy said they were goin’ together. Let’s go tell her she’s right.’
Her brother’s voice got louder as they moved further away. ‘I’m telling her first!’
The echo of running footsteps bounced across the still water of the lough. ‘No, you’re not! I am!’
Ryan stared into the darkness as if he could still see them while Molly stared at his broad back. ‘Callaghan—’
‘Well, I guess that takes care of the kissing bit. They seemed fairly convinced.’ He turned to look at her. ‘Don’t you think?’
‘Oh, you—you’ll just do anything to prove a point, won’t you?’ The burst of laughter sounded false, even to her own ears. For the first time in a very long time she felt awkward in his company. Unable to look him in the eye. ‘But surely you can see this is a really dumb-ass idea?’
With only a moment’s hesitation he reached down to frame her face with his large hands, forcing her to look at him. ‘Protest noted. But, hey, come on, O’Brien.’ He smiled a lop-sided smile at her, the one women always seemed to find endearing. ‘It’ll be hilarious. And we’ve already started the jungle telegraph talking. Since when have you ever chickened out of one of our bets?’ He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Unless you’re prepared to admit I’m right about Scallon.’
They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, suddenly afraid that he might try to convince her some more, Molly moved back, out of his hold. She had never turned down one of Ryan’s bets. Never allowed him the upper hand in their long relationship. And she wasn’t about to start now.
She liked Nick Scallon, for crying out loud. He was the most attractive man she’d met in a good while. And she could think of nothing more rewarding than proving Ryan wrong about him. So if that meant she’d have to play charades for a few weeks then she could manage that. Really, she could. Piece of cake. And Ryan’s forfeit would be hell…
Raising her chin to look at him, she smiled calmly. ‘Okay, Callaghan, you’re on. Let’s just hope—’ she moved close to him to brush an imaginary speck of dirt from his shirt ‘—you can take the heat.’
Ryan stared at her, his throat suddenly dry. What had he started? From past history he just knew that his payback would be a nightmare. Molly would make sure of that.
He grinned. Bring it on.
CHAPTER TWO
End of summer—fifteen years ago
‘FRIENDS don’t kiss.’
‘Ever?’
Molly thought for a moment, her long legs tucked beneath her on the large sofa. It was the last night of the summer holidays and in the morning their two families would part again for another year. To celebrate the last evening they had had a huge barbecue by the lough before returning to Ryan’s family’s summerhouse. While the adults had drunk wine, chatting on the porch, the two kids had sat themselves in front of a video in the family room.
‘Never.’
Ryan studied her profile carefully. ‘What about when they say goodbye or wish each other a happy birthday?’
‘That’s different. Those are friendly kisses.’
‘And the difference would be…?’ She had piqued his interest and he wondered just what the extent of her knowledge could be at her age.
Molly avoided looking directly at him. Instead she kept her gaze focused on the television screen as she watched the source of their debate. They had been watching When Harry met Sally.
Out of the corner of his eye he had seen Molly blush a crimson-red during the café scene when Meg Ryan had demonstrated her talent for faking it. He had impressed himself by not laughing at her reaction. After all, it wasn’t that he was that much more experienced than she was. A few fumblings in the darkness of a cinema or the back seat of a friend’s car on a Saturday evening hardly made for a sex-life to brag about.
‘You know.’ She blushed again.
‘Yes, I do know.’ He smiled teasingly. ‘I’m just curious to see if you do.’
Molly knew she should never have allowed this particular debate to begin. They didn’t talk about stuff like this, and she was so embarrassed she wanted to have the sofa open up and swallow her.
‘Well, let’s just say I know the difference.’
‘So, go on, then.’
‘Fine.’ By the time she spun to face him he’d already realised that he’d sparked her temper. It was her best defence in times of difficulty. And, boy, did she have a temper. ‘You want to ruin our last night by being dumb and teasing me, then that’s just fine. I don’t really know, and you know I don’t really know. I’ve never been kissed by a boy before. Not that way. Satisfied now? But I know there should be a difference.’
Ryan reached out and touched her arm. ‘I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just wondering what you’d say.’
‘Well, now you know.’ She pulled her arm away from him and leaned back, her mouth pouting slightly. ‘And how am I ever supposed to find out when I look like this? Boys don’t kiss girls who look like me. They kiss pretty girls.’
‘I thought you said boys were stupid?’
A frown creased her forehead. ‘They are. But I guess it would be nice to have one even slightly interested in kissing me.’
Ryan smiled his lop-sided smile as she glanced
