Wedding at King’s Convenience Read Free

wind. Across the way, a tumbled ruin of an ancient castle slept as if only waiting for the clang of a sword to wake it. Sheep wandered these hills freely as they hadfor centuries and would, no doubt, for centuries to come. The Irish wind kissed the land and the rain blessed it and those who lived here appreciated every single acre as no outsider ever could.
    The village of Craic was only two kilometers down the long, twisting road and dotted along the way were B and Bs, a few more farmhouses and even one palatial mansion belonging to one Rogan Butler and his wife, Aly, who now spent most of their time in Dublin.
    But here in the middle of her own fields, she and Jefferson might as well have been the only two people on the planet. A latter-day Adam and Eve, without the fig leaves, thanks very much, and surrounded by bleating sheep.
    “Did I tell you,” he said, shattering the quiet between them, “that my great-grandmother was Irish?”
    “You mean Mary Frances Rafferty King who was born in County Sligo and met your great-grandfather when he was taking a tour of Ireland? He saw her in a pub. On a Tuesday, wasn’t it?” Maura smiled. “Aye, you might have mentioned her once or twice.”
    He grinned at her. “Didn’t mean to bore you.”
    “Did I say I was bored?”
    “No.” He stepped closer and she felt the heat of him reaching for her, charging the icy air. “But let me know if you feel yourself nodding off and I’ll try harder to enchant you.”
    “You mean to say you’ve got to try to be appealing?” she quipped, taking a quick step or two back from him. “I’m disappointed. Here I thought you were just a born charmer.”
    “Did you?” he asked, closing the distance betweenthem again with a single, long step. “Now, isn’t that interesting?”
    “I didn’t say your charm was working on me, mind you,” Maura told him, enjoying their sparring far too much. It had been a long time since she’d met a man who appealed to her on so many different levels. A shame, she reminded herself, that he was only here temporarily. Better that she keep that thought in mind before her body and heart became too involved for their own good.
    “You can’t fool me, Maura. I’m wearing you down.”
    “Is that right?”
    “It is,” he said. “You haven’t threatened to throw me off your property in almost—” he checked his watch “—six hours.”
    Still smiling, she said, “I could remedy that right now.”
    “Ah, but you don’t want to.”
    “I don’t?” That smile of his should be considered a lethal weapon, she told herself.
    “No,” he said, “because you actually like having me around, whether you’ll admit to it or not.”
    Well, he was right about that now, wasn’t he, she thought. But then what single woman in her right mind wouldn’t enjoy having a man such as Jefferson King about the house? It wasn’t every day a rich, gorgeous man showed up on her doorstep wanting to rent her farm. Could she really help it if she was enjoying the negotiations so much that she was rather dragging the process out?
    “Admit it,” he said, his voice low enough that it was barely more than a breath. “I dare you.”
    “You’ll find, Jefferson,” she said softly, lifting her eyes to meet his, “that if I want you… around, I’ll have no trouble admitting it. To you or to myself.”

Chapter Two
    I n the village of Craic, Jefferson King was big news and Maura had half the town nagging her to sign his silly papers so they could all “get famous.” Not a moment went by when she didn’t hear someone’s opinion on the subject.
    But she wasn’t going to be hurried into a decision. Not by her friends, not by her sister and not by Jefferson. She’d give him her answer when she was ready and not before.
    She should have thought twice about suggesting to him they go to the village pub for supper. Should have known that her friends and neighbors would pounce on the opportunity to engage Jefferson in