Irish Sex Fairy: Ellora's Cave by Kelly Jamieson (the lemonade war series TXT) 📕

gut clenched as he imagined the fear she would now be feeling.

But when he got upstairs, he found her calmly and confidently reassuring Maeve. “I’m fine,” she said. He stood there and watched her pour the Jameson’s into two glasses. She looked up at him and the way her face warmed and softened was like a fist grabbing his insides and twisting. Holy shit. He was in deep trouble here. Fighting for composure, he walked over to them in Maeve’s small kitchen.

“Would you like one of these?” Keara lifted the bottle.

He stared to refuse then changed his mind. “Yeah,” he said. “I would.” So she poured a measure of amber liquid into a third glass and handed it to him.

“I was just telling Maeve that it wasn’t that bad. The guy didn’t get upstairs or anything. Nobody got hurt. Nothing got stolen. It’s weird, but it’s all okay. Right?” Her eyes met his steadily. He lifted the glass to his lips and sipped the burning liquor.

“Right.” He paused. “And we’ll find the guy.”

He wasn’t that confident they’d be able to, but maybe some prints would show up and they’d get lucky. Maybe Jayla would remember something significant. It was possible.

He wanted to talk to Keara more about the break-in at her home in LA, but this wasn’t the time. Maeve, for a change, looked more shaken than Keara did and Keara was doing a great job of calming her down. He smiled at her as he sipped his whiskey.

* * * * *

“Are you okay, Keara?” Maeve asked the next day. “I’m sure last night must have shaken you up.”

Keara tipped her head to one side and thought about that. Strangely, she’d slept fine. Probably still sated from all the orgasms Shane had given her. Ha. Doped up on…what was that? Oxytocin? Endorphins? She hadn’t even been nervous. Shane had made sure the building was locked securely and the alarm system working before he’d left. What were the chances the guy would come back? And who knew why he was even there?

Keara had her own theory. She was a little worried that the sex shop might attract some unusual characters. Perhaps someone a bit unbalanced had some strange idea about hiding in the store and then trying things out—maybe someone with a strange fetish. This had never happened before, according to Maeve, but after seeing some of the customers come in, like the guy who was so embarrassed he kept his hood over his head, it wasn’t that farfetched.

And it wasn’t likely to happen again, but Shane had talked to Maeve about having a lock on the Staff Only door, maybe a keypad or a system with a card they could swipe to get access. That way there was no danger of any customer walking back there unnoticed. That satisfied Keara.

“Actually,” she finally said to Maeve, a small smile breaking through, “I’m fine. I like Shane’s idea of getting a security system on that door…” She nodded to the back of the store. “In fact, I plan to call someone today about that.”

“Shane said he would do it.”

Keara sighed. “Shane doesn’t have to do that for us.”

“For me,” Maeve pointed out gently. “He’s doing it for me.”

“Well, I’m here, and I’m perfectly capable of handling that.”

Maeve’s brows lifted and the corners of her mouth quirked up. “Yes, of course you are. Well, I’ll let the two of you fight that one out. I think it’s a good idea too. I wish I’d thought of that before, but of course, I never thought something like this would happen.” She paused. “I’m glad you’re handling it okay. I was afraid that after thinking your condo was almost broken into, this would scare you.”

Keara shook her head, bemused. “No. They’re completely unrelated, of course.”

“It’s the sex.”

Keara gaped at her aunt. “Uh…what sex?”

Maeve laughed. “The Irish Sex Fairy strikes again. See? You’re feeling so much better.”

Keara felt her cheeks heat up to red-hot. “Coincidence.”

“I think not.”

They shared a smile, Keara still a little embarrassed. “Whatever.” She waved a hand. “What security company do you use for your alarm system? I’m going to call them and get them to give us a quote on security for that door.”

She’d just hung up from making the arrangements when the phone rang again. It was Shane, calling to check on them.

“We’re fine,” she said, leaning against the counter.

“Did you sleep okay?”

She sighed again at the interest in her sleep, first Maeve, now Shane. But it was kind of nice that they cared. “I slept great.”

“Good. So, tonight…wanna come to a movie?”

She blinked. “A movie?”

“Yeah. My buddies Dillon and Joey—I think you know Dillon?”

“Yes, I remember him.”

“They’re taking their wives out to a movie tonight and they invited me to come. I thought you might like to join us.”

It sounded almost like a date. Keara nibbled her bottom lip. “Um…I guess so.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, they’re harmless. It’ll be fun. I’ll pick you up at seven. We’ll probably go out for a drink after too.”

Fun. What a concept.

She and Shane had had a lot of fun together lately, just the two of them. Meeting his friends added a new dimension to the whole sex relationship thing.

But his friends were fun. After the movie, they all went to O’Doole’s Pub and argued about the movie and laughed and teased Shane about the first girl he’d kissed and how her mouth had ended up bleeding from Shane’s braces. Joey and Dillon shared Shane’s sense of humor, and their wives Lisa and Gwen included her in conversations that she might have felt left out of, not knowing them and their clearly long and friendly history. When Shane dropped her off at Maeve’s near midnight, he walked her upstairs into the quiet apartment, one lamp on in the living room, Maeve’s bedroom door closed.

Shane pulled her into his arms and kissed her, and she found herself responding with a deeper intensity of feelings, a new warmth and affection for him after the casual,