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Gwen narrowed her eyes. “I’ve known you for more years than either of us care to admit. I can see it every time you look at him, though before I wasn’t sure if you were just appreciating his looks or wanting in his pants.”

“Gwen!”

“What? You want Colin. Why not go after him? He’s single. You’re single. I’ve seen the looks you shoot each other. The house might burn down from the heat.”

“Am I that obvious?” Ellie moaned.

“Is that bad? He is very kind. And he’s not hard on the eyes…at all.”

“You’re not wrong on that account. But he’s off-limits, Gwen.”

Gwen threw her a skeptical look. “Um, are you listening to the spoken words or the unspoken ones? Because I’m telling you, the sparks fly when you two are near each other.”

Ellie cast her eyes to the floor. “Please, Gwen. Not this time. No pep talk. He made it perfectly clear, without mincing any words, that he is not a forever kind of man. His words.”

“Ouch.”

“Yes, ouch. And despite how handsome he is, there can never be anything between us. So I will happily get to know Reg further.”

“He did look like Superman.”

Ellie laughed. “He did.”

“Yet somehow, Colin is hotter.”

“We’re back on him again?”

“What? I mean, James is, too. It makes you wonder. How is it that one family—”

“Has so many good genes?” Emma asked, popping her head in the room.

She grinned. “Sorry, door was open a little. But you know, I often ask myself the same question about these men. When I first saw all of them at once, I couldn’t speak from…

well, let’s put it this way: it wasn’t from a lack of thoughts, for I had many, none of which were appropriate. ”

Gwen grinned. “Are you leaving?” she asked, noting the jacket slung over Emma’s arm.

“I am,” Emma said. “Aidan’s itching to get home.

I need some time to think of a good strategy for Ellie going forward—we want to have a backup plan just in case things don’t work out with a candidate.

I also need to look into a security detail, at least until the paparazzi settles down.

They’re still outside your flat, Ellie.”

Gwen nodded in confirmation.

“Security?” Ellie choked.

“Oh, you’re safe here,” Emma reassured her.

“No one knows you’re in the country, and it’ll stay that way until you and Colin can determine when you should go back home, especially now that you have Reilly and James here as well.

I’ll be in touch in the next few days; if you need anything, please call me. ”

“Thanks.”

With a wave over her shoulder, Emma disappeared as quickly as she’d come.

The next morning, after a sleepless night, Colin sat at his cousin’s kitchen table and brooded.

When Ellie finally returned from her date, she’d been quiet and pensive, and went straight to her room without talking to him.

He could hear her and Gwen talking in low voices, and the occasional laugh or giggle would trickle through the walls.

“Good morning.” Gwen gave him a sleepy smile as she headed directly for the teakettle. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thanks.”

“Liar. You look like hell.” She turned the kettle on and leaned on the counter, her arms folded.

He raised a brow. “Thanks.”

“Sorry. Sometimes my filter doesn’t work.”

“You have one?”

“Ha ha. So last night went really well. I’m impressed—Ellie had nothing but nice things to say about Reg. And that’s saying something, as she normally hates dating.” Gwen watched him carefully. “You really do seem to know what you’re doing. This guy couldn’t have been more perfectly suited to her.”

“Glad to hear it,” he replied.

She shot him a sharp glance. “Yeah, sure you are. So what’s it like?”

He glanced at her, confused.

She clarified, “You know, warring with yourself all the time?”

“Come again? ”

“You put on the act pretty well, but I can see right through it. And if you’re not careful, Ellie will too. Which will be a shame after all the work you’ve done to convince her that you’re not that into her.”

Colin, speechless, just stared at her. His throat worked, the denial on the tip of his tongue, but the words simply wouldn’t come.

Gwen sighed. “Colin. She’s my best friend.

She’s been through some really, really terrible things.

And she’s the last person in the world who deserves terrible things.

So I say this with all the kindness in my soul.

” She leveled him with her stare. “If you won’t make her happy, then leave her the hell alone. ”

And, despite the harsh words, they were delivered in such a gentle tone that Colin couldn’t possibly take any offense. Instead, he took them to heart.

The kettle whistled and she poured herself a cup of tea, then joined him at the table. “Do you have any other dates planned for her as of yet?”

“Wait a second,” Ellie exclaimed, joining them in the kitchen. “I thought that I got to decide if I wanted a second date before we moved on to a new candidate.”

“So you want a second date?” Colin asked, his hand shaking slightly as he reached for his coffee. He snatched it back and tried to look interested in her answer.

“Well…I think so. What do you do with clients the day after a first date?”

Colin straightened, determined to be the professional he was. Or had been, at any rate.

He shook his head to clear it. “You and I go over the date itself, work through any issues you found, decide if you want to see the guy again. Then I’ll call Reginald and get his perspective on it.

If you’re both interested in a second date, I’ll give you each the other’s number, and I’m out of it until you notify me that it either didn’t work out and need a new candidate, or what the wedding date will be. ”

“I think that’s jumping the gun a little,” Ellie replied wryly.

Colin shrugged, hoping it came off as nonchalant. “I’ve told you this before. Celtic Connections deals with life partners. Marriages are the end goal. So if you can potentially see yourself with Reg long-term, then we discuss the date.”

Say no , he silently implored her, keeping his expression bland. But say yes.

Slowly, she drew a breath. “He took me on the most perfect date I’ve ever had.”

“Oh. That’s good.” Colin tried to remain a bit distant, but his heart was thudding so loudly he could barely hear anything over it. He even thought he felt a bead of sweat roll down his back.

Get it together, O’Rourke. The man isn’t perfect. He didn’t win her in a single date.

“He took me on a literary tour of Dublin,” she revealed. And then she smiled a soft, private smile at Gwen, and all the air vanished from Colin’s lungs.

She could fall for this guy. But she’s not your mate, right? his inner voice sniped, causing him to knock over the coffee cup, spilling the hot liquid all over the table.

Gwen shot him a look that spoke volumes, but Ellie had already turned to get towels, so she missed it. By the time everything was cleaned up, James joined them.

“Hey, Gwen, nice to see you again. So, I hear you went on a date, Ellie. Has Col gone through the checklist of follow-up questions with you yet?” James asked, his face a perfect mask of interest and innocence.

“We’re just getting started,” Ellie replied, dumping the soaked towels into the sink and handing Colin a fresh cup.

James smiled encouragingly at her. “I remember some of them. Col, you go ahead and dig it up from your files and I’ll start.”

“Thanks,” he muttered.

James winked at him. “Of course! I worked at the company for a little while, while I was waiting for my residency to start. I always loved hearing the different versions of the date from both sides. If I remember correctly, there are three main questions. The first one is: Did you enjoy yourself?”

Ellie nodded. “We went on a walking literary tour of Dublin and discussed all sorts of fun stuff, like how Wilde’s works compared to Yates’s in style and scope—”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” James cut in, his eyes wide. “That has to be the most boring date idea ever.”

Ellie smirked at him. “Bookshop owner, remember?”

James whistled through his teeth. “Ah, he’s good. That was smart of him. Dinner too?”

“Yes—private dinner at The Clarence.”

“Not the best restaurant in the city,” Colin felt compelled to point out.

Ellie raised her eyebrows at him. “At one of the pubs we stopped at, I mentioned that I enjoyed U2’s music, and he changed our reservations because Bono and the Edge own that hotel.”

“Smooth,” James murmured. “So I take it that you did in fact enjoy yourself?”

“Very much.”

“Colin, you have your list up yet?”

Colin resisted the urge to wrap his hands around his brother’s neck. Why did James decide that this morning was a good time to stir the damn pot?

“The next question is a bit personal, but it’s important to answer it honestly,” Colin intoned, burying his dread deep.

You can do this, O’Rourke. Just ask the question.

He drew a breath, schooled his features into the blandest expression he could muster, and coughed out, “Was there any physical affection between you last evening?”

Ellie flushed a deep red—the same red that had crept so quickly up her neck when they were together in Reilly’s garden weeks ago. She looked lovely when she was flustered.

Stop .

“Yes.”

The single word shattered him in ways he didn’t even know he could break. James slid him a sympathetic look, but Colin tapped on his keyboard as though he were methodically completing the questionnaire, when in reality, he had no idea what was in front of him. All he could see was red.

After a too-long pause, Gwen asked, “What’s the next question?”

Colin swallowed past a dry spot in his throat. “Do you want to see him again?” He didn’t look up from his screen until he was certain that his face showed nothing but mild, professional interest.

Ellie studied him a moment, then her mask fell just the slightest bit. If he hadn’t been watching for it, he wouldn’t have seen it—but he had, and he hated himself for it.

You would have to give up everything, he reminded himself. No expansion into the UK. Smear campaign from her aunt. All that, just to make her miserable as I travel all over the time continuum. I’ll have ruined both our lives.

And I’ll have nothing to show for my own.

He remained impassive, as though the next word out of her mouth wouldn’t kill him inside.

“Yes.”

“Oh!” Gwen exclaimed suddenly. “There’s Reilly. I’ll be back in a bit.” She jumped up from the table and raced out the back door.

James watched her with bemusement. “You’d think we weren’t staying in the man’s house with the way she thought to catch him.”

Ellie smiled. “She and Reilly go way back, but I understand that he’s been a bit absent this visit.”

Colin forcefully typed more gibberish on his screen, then closed the laptop. “I’ll let you know what your match says, and if he feels the same as you, I’ll have his phone number for you in just a few hours.”

He scraped his chair back from the table and gave them a quick nod before exiting as quickly as possible.