5. Lola

Chapter 5

Lola

The sun shines through my bedroom window, and I smile as I launch out of bed and notice only white puffy clouds and no more rain. I don't waste a minute and put on my clothes for the day. With all the dancing last night, I took a shower before going to bed.

It's early morning, so I don't make too much noise. The pub stays open until eleven, and it sounds like Aoife stayed even later, which means Finn probably did the same. I tried to wait for him last night to ask why he was so adamant about letting me know he's single, but I got tired, and he hadn't returned, so I called it a night and went upstairs. I figured I'd stay awake and wait for him, but the hot shower was even more relaxing, and when I laid down to read, I conked out instead.

It doesn't take me long to get ready, but Finn still hasn't appeared. I head to his door and slightly knock, but there's no answer. I knock louder as my curiosity and interest in him consumes me. I won't lie and say I didn't have juicy dreams about him last night.

The way he held me close as we danced turned me on more than the whole four years I was with my ex. I've never been so alive as I am when Finn touches me. I read my sister's romance books, and the details in which she describes the connection between the hero and heroine never made sense to me before. I get it now because it sounds just like Finn and me, and I want to test the waters and see if it can be more than fictitious dreams.

There's still no answer, so I grab the handle, and it opens easily. I bite my bottom lip and look down the hallway to make sure nobody's coming. I open it ajar, and the light shines in from the window. The bed and the room are meticulously made. Nothing is out of place. I smile as I take in the room. It makes sense that he's such a clean freak.

I can't help but frown, as it looks like Finn didn't sleep in his bed last night. I mean, I don't sleep like the dead. I'm a light sleeper, and I didn't hear him come up the stairs or get ready.

I close the door and lean against it as anger coils in my chest. Finn left with his so-called ex last night. It makes sense that he spent the night with her, mainly because of how he carried her out of there. I mean, isn't the firefighter carry for two things: saving somebody's life and carrying their woman away for wild monkey sex?

Of course, that's what Finn did. I mean, look at him; he's the sexiest beast, and his so-called ex is the epitome of beauty. With the long wavy auburn locks, the cock sucking mouth with puffy lips, and the tiny hourglass-shape. Every man in a hundred-mile radius would be drooling over her, and she wants Finn, so of course they'd spend the night together.

Snapping myself out of the melancholy and the delusion that Finn would want me when he has her, I tell myself that I don't need a man.

"Shoot, Lola. You just got out of a horrible relationship where he cheated on you. The last thing you need to do is march right into another relationship. Especially with somebody from a different country." I slap my forehead as if I can knock some sense into myself.

Get over it, girl. Enjoy Ireland, go back home, and start your life.

I go downstairs with a better head on my shoulders, but the pub is dark and closed up tight. The time is only nine in the morning, and the place opens at eleven thirty, so I grab the key Aoife showed me to use if I ever leave the pub and nobody's here. I lock up after myself. I lift my face to the sky, take in the warm sun, and relish in its warmth. With the rain I've endured from the moment I arrived here, I thought the place would be chilly, but now I can take my cardigan off and enjoy the sun on my skin. The weather is perfect and makes the walking pleasant.

I go opposite the hostels, where the cab driver dropped me off, and take in the sights around me. Little cafés and bakeries are open everywhere, and many novelty shops and clothing stores line the streets. I make it to a little square where people sit at tables eating pastries and drinking tea and coffee, while all the stores are market-style places with a butchery, a cheese shop, a tea shop, and grocery stores. Vendor shops line around the perimeter, and I can't help but smile at everything. It's idyllic, and I love the idea of coming here to do the weekly shopping and meeting up with friends.

I sigh and check out the little novelty shops as Coco comes to mind. I want to find her something; however, I want to call her first. I grab a coffee and a pastry and sit down outside. I call Coco.

"Hi, sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message, and I'll call you back."

"Okay, Coco, this is ridiculous. Call me, I'm really worried. I need to know that you're okay. I love you. Please call me. I don't care, day or night. I need to know you're all right."

I hang up and frown at my phone.

Why hasn't my sister called me back? This is the longest we haven't spoken. A seat gets pulled out across from me, and I jump. Finn sits down and glares at me.

"Ye shouldn't be out on your own. Ye don't know where everythin' is yet."

Huffing, I shake my head at him. I'm annoyed at how he swoops in and gets all growly. It doesn't matter that I need to change my panties.

"Well, it's the only way to learn my way around. Plus, I need to find a hotel, so I want to know about some good locations."

Finn narrows his gaze, and his lips thin into a straight line. "Why the fuck do ye need a hotel?"

My phone buzzes, and a number from the States pops up. One I don't recognize, but I answer it quickly, hoping it's my sister.

"Coco, is that you?"

"Lola, oh, thank God. I've been trying to reach you but kept messing up your phone number. I finally called Dillon at his work. What the hell happened to you? Where are you? What happened with Dillon?"

"Oh, Coco, it was horrible. I'm a mess, I… you're going to be so mad at me. But what happened to you? Why couldn't I get a hold of you?"

"Nu-uh. You first. Dillon said you broke it off and left, and he hasn't been able to find you, and you're not taking his calls."

I'm about to answer when I catch Finn sitting across from me, watching me intently. I mouth at him to go, but he shakes his head. Frustrated, I stand to leave, and he does the same.

"Coke. One second." I pull my phone away from my ear. "Will you excuse me? This is a private call."

"You're excused, but I'm not leavin' ye out of me sight. Take your call, firecracker. Just know I'll follow ye."

I pause when he calls me firecracker. My stomach does a little flip at the nickname, but I remember what he says, and I scowl at him for once. Unfortunately, it amuses him more.

"That's stalking."

"Lo, stalking? Is somebody stalking you? Lo? Lola, answer me. Do I need to call the police?"

"No, Coke, everything's okay. I'm safe. I'm in Ireland."

"You're what?!" Coco screeches into the phone, and I pull my phone from my ear. "What in the world are you doing in Ireland?"

"I had to get away, and I was going to fly to you, but the next flight out was to Ireland, and it's always been a dream of mine to come here, and I was so lost and alone, and I needed something, anything to make me feel spontaneous and alive for once." I choke up, and the tears build in my eyes again. I wipe them away and peek at Finn. His usually present scowl is gone, and he's looking at me with gentle eyes. I turn my head away so I don't have to see him pity me.

"What happened, Lo?"

"Oh, Coke." I sit back down as I don't have the energy to stand for this conversation. "I came home and Dillon was in bed with another woman. I heard them moaning, and when I walked through the door, I got a major slap in the face as Dillon was sleeping with the barista, who works at the coffeehouse just down the street from our apartment." Tears fall as the image of the man I loved was with another woman, but it's taken me a few days to realize I didn't love him. It's more of my pride that's hurt.

"Oh, Lo, sweetie. I'm so sorry—that rat bastard. I can't believe he did this to you. After four years together."

"She's so beautiful, too. She's nothing like me. I can see why he did it." I shrug as I wipe a tear away.

A loud growl comes from across the table, and Finn sits with anger in his eyes. I can see a seething rage beneath his exterior. People at a couple of tables over glance at us a few times, but I didn't notice them too much because Finn's gaze is locked on mine, and I'm captured and can't look away.

"Don't ever say that again. You're gorgeous, smart, funny, and the sweetest person in the world. It's his loss, and don't you worry, I'm putting him in my next book and killing him off as painfully as possible, and for sure, he'll be impotent." Coco seethes as she prattles on about ways to make him suffer.

Finn must also be able to hear her because he lifts his brow, and one corner of his lip lifts, too, as he fights a smile.

I chuckle as Coco continues to explain in great detail, and then there's a mumble from a man on her side of the line. "Jesus."

I frown. "Who's that, Coke? Whose number are you calling me from? What happened to your phone?"

The phone goes deadly silent, and I worry. Coco is my older sister by eighteen months, but she thinks it is more like eighteen years, and she must constantly mother me. "Coke?"

"Now, don't get upset."

My sister never says things like this. I'm the spastic one. She's the calm, even-keeled one.

"So I tried to pick up cooking again."

"Oh, Coco," I groan. "You didn't."

Finn's other brow raises with the first one.

"And I, well, sorta burnt down my townhouse."

" What?!" I scream into the phone. Everyone in the square stops and all eyes are on me. "Are you okay? Oh my God. Are you in the hospital? Is that why I couldn't get a hold of you? Is that where you're calling me from? Oh my God. I'm on the first flight out. Please tell me you're okay. Oh my God, sissy." All the emotions of fear plague me and images of her burnt and laying in a hospital bed alone without me flash through my mind. She's in pain while I'm sitting here blubbering on about a ridiculous boyfriend.

Finn moves to the seat next to me, wraps his arm around my shoulder, and pulls me into his side. I take a couple of deep breaths and take in his musky scent. At this point, it's the only thing that calms me down. I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Lo. I'm okay. I promise. I'm safe. My phone was destroyed in the fire, and you know how I struggle with numbers. All my backups were caught in the blaze, but I'm safe. I'm not in the hospital. I didn't get burned or anything."

"Where are you? I'm coming home."

"No, you are not. You need this. You've always wanted to explore Ireland, but you never went because of me and my issues. You are staying there."

"But that's why I need to be there, Coke. You have to be freaking out. Your home is your sanctuary. You don't leave it."

"I found a nice place to stay. One of the nice firefighters offered me a room at his house until everything could get situated. He's very kind. His sister is a big fan."

"You're staying with a stranger?"

"No, I'm staying with Austin, the firefighter."

"Coco."

"Lola."

I sigh. "I need to come home. You need me now."

"No, Lola. I don't need you now. You need to take care of yourself and stop worrying so much about me. Now enjoy Ireland, and I'll talk to you later. I love you. I'll call again soon, and you can reach me on this number. Bye."

Before I can say anything else, she hangs up, and I stare at the phone.

"Do we need to head to America?" Finn's gruff voice interrupts my worry about my sister. Then it hits me with what he says.

"We?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to let you travel on your own. I mean, your sister's house burned down."

"You heard everything?"

Finn shrugs. "It wasn't the most quiet of conversations. Do I need to get on a plane and kick this Dillon's ass?"

I huff and shake my head. "No."

So much has happened in the past few days that I'm trying to wrap my head around it all. "I should be with my sister, but she doesn't want me there." I sniffle at my sister rejecting me.

"It doesn't sound like she doesn't want you. It sounds like she wants you to live your own life."

I shake my head. "No, you don't understand. My sister is practically agoraphobic. She can't leave her house, and now it's gone. Setting her up in a new place must be hard for her."

Finn studies my face and wipes my tears away with his thumb. "I'll tell you what. We spend the afternoon checking out places so you can get as much of Ireland as you can get in. Then you speak to your sister again tomorrow, and if you feel she really means it for you to stay, then you stay, but if you feel she needs you, then we'll fly back together."

"Together? You don't have to do that."

"I know I don't have to do anything, but I'm not letting you go without me. I'm not letting you go." He kisses my forehead, and I suck in a breath.

"What about Shannon? You didn't come home last night."

When did I start thinking of the pub as home?

He mutters something under his breath. "I dropped her off at home, on the front porch, and then went for a walk. I had things to think about."

"Things?"

"Ye," he says. His gaze scopes over my face as lust comes alive in his eyes.

"Excuse me, can I have your autograph?" A little boy, no older than ten, holds out a marker and a pad to Finn.

Then, the most shocking thing happens: a prominent grin forms on his face, and his voice softens. "Sure, little man. Who should I make it out to?"

The boy's face lights up, and several more people ask for autographs and pictures. I stare, flabbergasted, and I finally ask a woman watching Finn with her daughter to take a picture. My heart melts at how Finn gets down to the kids' level.

"What's going on?"

The woman looks at me, shocked. "You don't know who Finn O'Neill is? He's a rugby God around here. He doesn't play anymore, not since his injury forced him to retire, but people still idolize him."

I watch Finn and how he spends more time with all the kids, laughing and asking them questions. My ovaries are about to burst, and I'm dying to know what realization he had about me on his walk last night because I'm getting more sucked into the enigma known as Finn O'Neill.