Saving a Legend(72)

He planned on telling her everything, laying his entire past and heart out on the table and hoping she chose to stay. The thought terrified him, but he knew he didn’t want to wait any longer.

She deserved to know who he was.

“Hey, babe,” her soft voice pulled at him, and he turned to find the very woman he was thinking about standing in front of him in a light blue cropped shirt that perfectly matched her eyes and left a hint of her midriff showing over her dark jeans. He felt a stirring at the sight, reaching an arm out to hook her into him as he kissed her.

“Damn, Fi. You can’t come in here looking like that,” he growled gently into her ear before returning to her lips, feathering kisses on her. “I can’t control myself when I can see that much of you.”

That was another thing he loved—the nonstop heat between them. Every time they found a spare moment, they spent it wrapped around each other. He couldn’t get enough of her, and he hoped he never had to stop.



“Kieran, it’s the tiniest bit of my stomach. I’m not walking around in lingerie.” She smacked his chest lightly before letting him pull her back for another kiss. “Anyway, stop. Your mom is right behind me, parking the car.”

“Saved for the moment,” he said, seeing his mom round the corner and heading in their direction.

“You guys are gross.” Nora walked up next to them with a wink.

Fiona blushed and pulled away from him, but Kieran knew there was no way he’d be able to wipe the grin off his own face. He laughed and wrapped his arm back around Fiona’s shoulders. “Sorry, boss. Are we a bad influence on the children?”

“Another five minutes of that and you’ll be a bad influence on me,” she teased, before frowning out at the playground.

“Hey, kids.” Dee walked up just then and linked one arm around Kieran’s waist, giving him half a hug before turning her attention to Nora and hugging her.

Nora embraced her warmly. “Hi, Mrs. Kavanagh, it’s great to see you again.”

“Please, Nora, call me Dee.” She smiled back. “Any friend of Fiona’s is on a first-name basis with this family. I tagged along today to bring the youth center library some new books that the local bookstore donated. I’ve got them in the trunk. These kids could use a little something nice.”



“Thank you! That’s so wonderful,” Nora replied. “We were just talking about the kids.”

“All good things, I hope. Kids need encouragement, you know,” Dee offered, always one to give unsolicited advice.

“We try.” Nora nodded, a sad look on her face. “It’s not always easy, though. These kids aren’t here because of their great behavior.”

“I’m going to go find Shea,” Fiona told them as she looked around the lot. He’d already seen Shea go inside not too long ago, though.

“Nonsense, Kieran can get her,” Dee insisted, looking at him pointedly.

Kieran grinned; his mother was still trying to teach him to be a gentleman even though he was an adult. “I’ll get her,” he agreed. “You ladies catch up.”

Fiona gave him a warm, grateful smile, and Nora’s face lit up as she spoke. “Thanks, Kieran! Her backpack was in my office last time I checked.”

“Got it.” He gave her a small military salute before walking back into the building as he heard the women chatting behind him.

Rounding the corner at the end of the hall, he walked into Nora’s office and found Shea’s backpack sitting on a chair in the corner. Grabbing it, he slung it over his shoulder and headed back out to find Shea. Whispers from behind a storage closet door to his right caught his ear, making him pause. He pulled it open.

“What the—” Kieran coughed, swiping at the air in front of him in an attempt to push away a billow of strange-smelling smoke that hit him square in the face.



“Kieran?” Shea was sitting on the ground of the storage closet with another girl, who was at least a few years older than her and whom he recognized as Cassandra. She was holding a lit joint, and the entire room reeked of marijuana.

“Are you two smoking pot?” He gaped, trying to figure out how the hell two young girls had even found pot, let alone knew how to smoke it. Shea was most definitely not old enough even to begin experimenting with things like this.

“It’s not ours!” Cassandra stubbed it out on the ground, then tried to hide it behind her back.

Kieran shook his head, not understanding why smoking inside a closet seemed like a good way to hide what they were doing. “Get out of there right now!” he bellowed, furious, as he snatched the joint from behind her back and motioned for both of them to stand before him. “Where the heck did you get this?”