Unwrapped by Erin McCarthy, Donna Kauffman, Kate Angell Page A

expecting his friend to shrug off the exchange and let him go. Graham and Roan both ribbed him on many an occasion about his mysterious paramours in the city, waxing ridiculously rhapsodic about the life of debauchery and decadence they were certain he must live there, to counterbalance the life of a monk he lived on Kinloch. He let them have their ribald fun, knowing he’d have his own opportunities for giving back as good as he got. Which he did, in his own dryly acerbic way. It was the way of old friends, and he normally didn’t mind it in the least. But he was thankful, on this day, to have it over with.
    So, it surprised him when Graham spoke again, earnestly this time, without a hint of humor in his tone. “Shay, I know you spend a goodly amount of time as an intimate witness to the worst of what a man and woman can do to one another. But you were raised, for most of your life, here, an equally intimate witness to the glorious best of it. And though I’ve not been long in their ranks, I can tell you, you cannot even imagine the true gloriousness—”
    “Graham,” Shay said, a surprising note of warning creeping into what was normally his smooth, some would say relentlessly even tone. “Please don’t proselytize the sanctity of the glorious union to me of all people.”
    Now it was Shay’s turn to be surprised, as a very rare, hard light came into his friend’s eyes . . . and a warning note echoed in his words. “Oh, I’m no’ preaching for you to join us, mate. That is a decision each man makes for himself. I’m merely reminding you there’s a balance of good to evil. And, perhaps, a bit of cautioning as well. Kira might share your desire for a brief crossing of paths, I’m no’ to say. But given her heart has already been trod heavily upon once, you wouldn’t want to be the man to do that to her again.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Shay felt his fingers curl into his palms. “What kind of man do you take me for? Why do you think I don’t start things here, with any woman?”
    “Kira is no’ ‘any woman,’ ” Graham replied.
    “My point exactly.” Shay was stunned, actually, at the force of anger that rose inside him and he fought to control his tone. “I’m afraid, however, I’ve missed yours entirely.”
    “I’ve been observing the way you look at her, mate. And I’m well aware of that look and the feelings that accompany it. I daresay our friend Roan could weigh in on the topic as well. At great length.” His tone eased along with the hard lines around his jaw. “And I know ye’ve no reason now, with Roan wedded, to satisfy yourself with looks alone.”
    “I—”
    “What I’m sayin’ to ye is that I’m the first one to applaud a man following his heart and going after what he wants. But you’ve made it more than clear that ye dinnae believe a lifetime spent with one woman is possible.”
    “I’ve made it clear that I see how it’s more often impossible than not for two people to forge a lifelong commitment to one another, no’ that I personally disapprove of it. Big difference.”
    “And yet, the tie that binds those two ideas together is that ye dinnae personally believe it to be possible. For you. And, given her past, I’d say that she deserves a man who not only knows his intent, but fully believes he can back it up, with all that is in his heart.”
    “And I believe I told you that I’ve no plans to conduct myself otherwise. No’ here.”
    “As I said, I’ve seen the way ye look at her. The fact that you’ve been at all obvious in your interest says a great deal.”
    “I have no’ been obvious. I’m the least obvious man on this island.”
    “Not to those who know you best. And I’m only speaking from personal experience. I know what it is to try to deny that interest. You’ll tell yourself you can walk away, keep a distance, no’ act on it. But the last barrier you had to hide behind just walked out those abbey doors.”
    Shay didn’t bother to argue