Luck of the Irish by Cindy Sutherland Page B

dad for bail money.”
    The look on Cian’s face was priceless, and Quinn managed to keep a straight face for almost three whole seconds before he fell into fits of laughter that made the car shake. After a shocked second, Cian joined in. It took them a few minutes to collect themselves.
    When Quinn finally got his breath back, he gestured toward the keys. “Yeah, I guess we better get going. My appointment at Briarwood is for this afternoon, so we’d better get to the hotel.”
“It’s only an hour or so from here, Quinn. You’ll have plenty of time to get changed and get out there.”
     
Quinn smiled as Cian pulled onto the highway. “Good thing we have your astounding navigation skills to help us find our way.”
    Quinn thought that statement was kind of fitting. Cian had been helping him find his way through more than one problem. It was going to be almost impossible to leave him behind when Quinn had to return to Rockingham.
“So, have you ever met this Kieran Michaels?”
    Cian shook his head. “The few times he and Granddad have gotten together have usually been away from the farm, and I always stayed behind to look after things.” Cian grinned. “I’ve heard the stories, though. I have a feeling that until Gran tamed him, Davin O’Reilly was quite the wild one.”
    “I bet. My Gramma Anna likes to tell stories about my Grandpa Peter. There must be something about being in the horse business. Makes all the men as highspirited as the animals.”
Cian laughed, glancing over and eyeing Quinn appreciatively. “And it turns them all into studs.”
    “Cian O’Reilly! That might be the cheesiest thing anyone has ever said to me.” Quinn chuckled. “Apparently we need to take a side trip from Sallybrook over to Blarney Castle so you can kiss the stone.”
    “Hey, I’ve done that trip a time or two already; it’s how I got my skills!” Quinn sighed heavily and shook his head. “Another legend blown all to hell.”
Cian did his best to look offended, but in the end, he was smiling too hard to pull it off.
    “Actually, after my business is done, do you want to take the scenic route back? Or are you in a hurry…?” Quinn tried not to look too hopeful, but he wasn’t sure it was working.
“That’d be great.” Cian smirked slyly. “I’ll get you up there and dangle you over the edge so you can kiss the Blarney Stone.”
     
“Dangle me over the edge? What in the hell are you talking about?”
    “Well, the stone is set into the parapet of one of the towers of the castle. To actually kiss the stone, you have to lie down on your back and dangle out over the edge and kiss it upside down.”
Quinn blanched. Heights were not his thing. “Uh, maybe I’ll skip that part.”
    Cian smiled over at him. “Don’t worry, no one’s ever died trying to kiss the Blarney Stone, and they’ve installed some safety features these days. It would be bad for tourism if people were falling to their deaths from Blarney Castle.”
    Quinn looked thoughtful before he spoke.
“Tis there’s the stone that whoever kisses
He never misses to grow eloquent….”
C
IAN smiled. “I think I know that poem. It always made me smile.”
    Quinn nodded. “It’s by Francis Mahony. When I was younger, I used to wish I could go to Blarney. I thought if I kissed the stone, maybe I could figure out how to say the things that always seemed to get stuck in my head.”
Cian reached over and held Quinn’s hand in his. “Well, I think you’ve done a fabulous job of figuring out what to say.”
     
Quinn blushed and looked at Cian from under his lashes. “Well, I never had any use for the part about using words to get into the lady’s chamber.” “You never tried to be with a girl?”
    Quinn shook his head. “No. I was kind of an early bloomer, I think, as far as being gay was concerned.” He brought their conjoined hands up and kissed Cian’s fingers. “I never had a crush on a girl, and I kept waiting for it to happen. Then