Chapter Selection:
[1] [2]

Chapter 1

“Oh, my GOD!” screeched, jumping out of her car and surveying the damage. “This is my new car!” She moaned to anyone who could hear her (ie: no one). She was out in the middle of nowhere, with no houses for miles and she hadn’t seen another car since she left her flat. Until one rammed into her, that is.

She ran a hand through her hair, which she’d tried taming and putting into a bun to look professional, but bits were falling out everywhere, and she looked like a madwoman.

had left her house in a hurry, nothing unusual there, and had been carefully driving down the winding road into town, minding her own business when she was run into while at a stop sign.

“I am SO sorry,” came a deep, Irish-accented voice from her left. “I’m late for a meeting and I haven’t slept for days and I guess I just fell asleep at the wheel.”

stared at him lividly, barely registering that he was probably the most handsome man she’d seen in her entire life. And she couldn’t even see most of his face because he had a baseball cap on.

“I’m late for a meeting as well,” she said through gritted teeth, hauling her door open and grabbing her purse. She pulled a phone out and waved it around in the air for about five seconds, trying to find a signal. She normally had to go into fields and things to get signals, but that’s what you get for buying a cheap phone.

“Do you want to use mine?” He asked, holding out a mobile. She was startled by how gentle and calm his voice was, when hers was so shrill, like she was part banshee. Feeling a fool for screaming bloody murder about a car when he had obviously had a hard day too, she gingerly took the phone and dialed her boss’s number.

After a very quick and curt conversation, she handed his mobile back and got into her car. “Sorry for snapping at you,” she said, attempting a smile. She handed him a card, her business card. “If you could ring me for insurance purposes, that would be brilliant.”

He nodded, his lips curved ever so slightly into a grin and returned to his car. She watched him go in her rearview mirror; his head was bent, and his hands were in his pockets. She noticed what appeared to be a surfboard sticking out of his back seat, and she wondered fleetingly if he was a professional surfer. With that body, he could be.

She realized sitting there that when she’d looked into his blue eyes, she felt compelled to hug him. She wasn’t sure why. Probably because she was upset, or because he looked so tired and drawn with dark circles under his eyes.

Although she didn’t like to admit it to herself, she probably only wanted to hug him because she’d never been so strongly attracted to someone on sight, and maybe she wanted to have him hold her, just for a second.

Shaking her head of these ridiculous thoughts, she turned her engine on and sped off down the road, leaving him in the dust.


Chapter 2

“Sorry I’m late,” Kian announced to the room at large, closing the conference room door closed behind him. “I got into a bit of an accident.”

“Are you all right?” Louis Walsh asked, looking concerned.

Kian nodded, tugging his baseball cap off and sitting in the vacant seat. “I’m fine but---” he paused, seeing the woman from earlier sitting across from him with a man he knew as Richard Bryant, a PR director that often dealt with Westlife issues. “Oh, hello,” he said, feeling his heart speed up considerably. Whether because she looked so cute sitting there, or because he was afraid she’d start yelling at him again, he couldn’t tell.

She nodded at him, adjusting the papers in front of her, then turned to her boss. “Erm…I’m ,” she said, turning back to Kian very quickly, and then looking away almost immediately. “ .”

“She’s the best one for your case,” Richard said in his booming voice. “Now then, shall we get started?” Everyone seemed to agree and so he continued, only lowering his voice a tad. “You’ve had some…trouble lately, eh, Egan?”

Kian stopped smiling and scowled at him. “Yes, you could say that.”

“Kian’s extremely sorry he’s caused your firm so much trouble, aren’t you Kian?” Louis prodded him in the side and Kian nodded, his eyes going to ; she noticed, blushed, and looked down at her lap.

“It’s not my fault, you know,” Kian argued, raising his voice slightly. “I can’t help it if I get accosted everywhere I go!”

looked up, startled. “It was my understanding, Mr. Egan, that you were the one who initiated all of the fights in question.”

“Maybe physically I did,” Kian allowed, his temper rising as he watched her taking notes. “But when blokes come up to you and start harassing you…and I was right pissed, I’ll admit…I don’t just stand there and take it!”

Richard put a hand up to stop him. “We’re not here to pass judgment. , get on with it. Let’s solve the problem, rather than rehash it, shall we?”

Kian didn’t have any idea why he was so mad all of a sudden, but he no longer thought she looked cute. Actually he did, but he’d rather die than admit it. Even to himself.

“Perhaps the best thing would have been to avoid having a fight at all,” muttered, sounding like a petulant child.

Richard gave her The Look (which told her in no uncertain terms that she was this close to being sacked). “That’s not helping.”

sighed in resignation, wanting very much for this meeting to be over so she could be far, far away from those probing blue eyes. “Well, you might think about joining that charity football match this Saturday.”

“Good,” Richard said, nodding his head and standing up, adjusting his tie. “You can oversee everything then, and make sure you make him look good.”

glanced at Kian, who was talking in a low voice to his manager. “I’ll do what I can,” stated, picking up her bag. “But I can’t promise anything. It’s mostly up to him.”

Richard and Louis were both headed for the door. “We’ve some other things to discuss,” Richard explained, leaving the room, obviously in a very sour mood.

“I’ll speak with you later, Kian. I don‘t want to hear you‘ve been into any pubs,” Louis said before departing.

Kian let out a heavy sigh once the door was closed again. He glanced at , who was busy fumbling with the pile of papers in front of her. “I’m sorry about earlier--”

She cut him off, furious. “Had I realized my meeting was with THE Kian Egan of Westlife, I probably would have quit. And furthermore, had I realized YOU were who you are when you ran into me, I would have filed a lawsuit.”

“Well, there’s still time for that,” Kian said with false cheeriness. “Only about an hour’s passed since.” He stood up, sharply putting his cap back on his head. His dark blond hair curled up at the ends, and he suddenly looked much younger than he was. “I don’t know what your problem with me is, but maybe--”

jumped from her seat, leaning closer to him so she’d be heard. “No you don’t, but I can assure you that I won’t let my animosity towards you effect my job in anyway. Unlike some people, I can control my emotions.”

Kian snorted and his eyes flashed with something couldn‘t quite decipher. “Like you’re doing now, you mean?”

let out a scream of indignation and stuffed everything from the table into her already bulging bag. “Good day, Mr. Egan. I’ll have one of my colleagues take care of your case. Expect them to ring tomorrow.”

With that, she stalked from the room, breathing heavily. When she got to her car, she leaned against it, clutching her chest. She wasn’t really sure why she was acting this way, nor why she seemed to simultaneously want to kiss him into oblivion and ring his neck, but she was sure of one thing: she wouldn’t be seeing him again.


Chapter 3

Except she ended up seeing him the next day. Richard had refused to let her switch jobs with a colleague, so she was stuck looking after a vain, spoiled pop star who couldn’t drive if his life depended on it, and who also happened to have a penchant for fighting.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we?” stated when Kian opened the door to his flat the following day. She stood waiting to be invited in, but he just stared at her. With a sigh, she said, “I only have until I’m retired, Kian.”

“Oh!” Kian shook his head, trying to rid his brain of any and all thoughts running through. (They mostly consisted of how cute she looked when she was put-out and trying to look professional but failing miserably because her hair, a mess as usual, gave her away.) “Sorry,” he said, shutting the door behind her.

stood in the middle of his unkempt lounge, clutching the stack of papers in her arms to her chest and looking around, curious to see where he lived, in spite of herself. “I like your flat,” she said, attempting politeness. “It’s got a lovely view.”

Kian shrugged, dipping his head and putting his hands in his pockets. When he looked up at her, he was smiling, but she suddenly noticed the horrible black eye.

“Oh, my God,” she said, dropping the papers on the coffee table and stepping closer to him. “What on earth happened?”

He laughed. “This is the result of getting too pissed and not knowing when to walk away.”

“I didn’t notice it yesterday,” she said quietly, suddenly feeling so much compassion towards him she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Kian chuckled nervously. “Erm, yeah…makeup does wonders. They like to disguise my real face as much as possible, even without a black eye.”

found herself laughing along with him, and thankfully her heartbeat seemed to be returning to its normal speed. She wasn’t sure why her body had such an intense reaction to him, when all her brain wanted to do was hit him upside the head (or kiss him).

Kian pulled at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. “So, do you, uh, want a drink? Louis confiscated all my alcohol, but I think there’s some tea in the kitchen.”

“He did?” asked, taken aback. “Doesn’t he realize that beer is like water for Irishmen?”

He laughed. “I tried to tell him.” He headed for the kitchen, and she followed uncertainly. “He didn’t really,” Kian confessed, as he bustled about making tea while sat at the chair he indicated at a wooden kitchen table.

“Just as well,” replied easily. “I can’t drink while on the job, anyway. Or at all, actually. I’m pretty much anyone’s after two drinks.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, and Kian turned around to look at her, amusement clear in his eyes. “Um…I mean…wow, this kitchen sure is colorful!”
Kian glanced around at the furnishings; his kitchen was done in dark colors, blacks and the like, so he knew she was just trying to change the subject.

He held back a laugh and set the tea on the table, before taking the seat across from her, his lips formed in a grin.

, for lack of anything better to do with her hands, busied herself by putting sugar and milk in her tea, something she never ever did.

“You like sugar, do you?” Kian questioned, leaning back in his chair comfortably and surveying her with those blue eyes that seemed to cause her to immediately become an idiot.

stopped spooning sugar into her cup and started stirring it around. She was acutely aware that they were alone in his apartment. The thought jolted her slightly and she started glancing around the room nervously. She was alone in Kian Egan of Westlife’s apartment, and he was looking downright hot and she was behaving like a fool, and her tea was now 95% sugar, 5% tea.

“So,” she said brightly, taking a sip of her tea and trying not to gag. “We should probably discuss the match.”

Kian nodded, holding back a smile; she looked so uncomfortable and so conflicted that he was dying to just kiss her. Maybe just to shock her, or possibly just because he had wanted to kiss her since the first second he saw her, yelling at him in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ll do whatever you say,” he said with a devilish grin that made her heart flutter up into her throat.

cleared her throat, her face flushed. “You’ll need to do some interviews. Talk about how important the charity is to you, and if they ask about recent events---” she glanced pointedly at his eye, “--just tell them that everything has been blown out of proportion. I’ll fax over a list of things you can say.”

“Great,” Kian replied, finally giving in and smiling the biggest smile ever at her. “I really appreciate your help with this.”

“Well, it’s my job,” stated, squirming in her seat and wishing he’d look away from her so she could flee from the apartment without him seeing. “So…I should be…going.”

Kian stood up when she did, and was suddenly standing directly in front of him, their noses almost touching. She stepped back and awkwardly played with the cuffs of her shirt.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” He blurted out, and was upset to see complete horror and surprise cross her face momentarily.

“I can’t,” she breathed, going to the lounge for her things. “But thank you.”

reached out her hand for him to shake, all business, and he shook it, holding it longer than necessary. “See you at the match, Mr. Egan.”

Kian followed her to the door, trying to smile but feeling like this was the first time he’d ever been rejected. It wasn’t, but he hadn’t felt the feeling in quite a while. Mostly because girls he asked out either said yes, or he didn’t fancy them enough to be upset when they said no.

seemed to be trying for some world record on how fast you can actually escape a building. By the time Kian went to the window to see if she made it to her car okay, she was long gone, leaving Kian feeling hollow and disappointed.


Chapter 4

arrived at the charity match an hour early to go over some things with the press. Like which questions they could ask Kian, and which ones they had to stay far away from. (Like “So, Kian, how’s it feel to be on the Top Ten Most Outrageous Temper Tantrums list?” and things like that.)

Half of her was looking forward to seeing him after three days of fuming about his existence, and his asking her out (on a date? She couldn‘t decide if that‘s what he meant or not) but the other half wanted to run screaming from the immediate area. She’d never had any sort of reaction like this to a guy before, so she was in completely uncharted territory…and she didn’t like it.

The match was a public relations heaven or hell, depending on how you looked at it. saw it as a little of both when Kian appeared beside her wearing jeans and a faded t-shirt, his hair wet from the shower, and his aftershave hitting her nostrils full force (and not in a bad way).

was caught off guard when he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Hi,” he said gruffly, shoving his hands in his pockets and surveying the scene. “Big turn out, eh?”

She nodded. “Yes. Should be enough to get you back into society’s good graces.”

“Thanks for helping me,” he said, not looking at her. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain in the arse to work with this week.” When he looked at her, she could tell he wasn’t really talking about the first day they met.

shrugged, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. His black eye was gone, and he looked well-rested and in better spirits than she’d ever seen him. Not that she’d seen him a lot…well, maybe a lot in her dreams and things like that.

“I haven’t exactly been at my sweetest,” said apologetically.

Kian looked at her, his blue eyes shining. Her eyes found the small scar under his eye and longed to reach out and trace it with her fingertips. “You’ve been a perfect angel.”

was about to laugh extremely loudly and scare all the small children gathering in the stands, but before she could, he’d pressed a light kiss to her lips and run off, toward the changing area.

She wasn’t sure what surprised her more: being called an angel, or the butterflies that reared up in her stomach when he kissed her.

*

“How’d I do, boss?” Kian asked with a cheeky grin after the match when met him outside the press area, after he answered questions for what seemed to be an eternity. All he wanted to do was see her, be with her. But the damn press kept asking questions, and he had to keep answering.

smiled warmly at him. “You did brilliantly.”

“I think this calls for a celebratory dinner,” Kian stated, watching closely for her reaction (it was less like a scared rabbit, and more like a girl trying to decide if she liked a boy enough to go out with him). “How about it?”

She shook her head, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I don’t think we should, Kian.”

Kian blinked a couple of times in surprise. “Why?”

“I like you a lot, but---”

He stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers with such force that she was momentarily caught off balance; he grabbed her arms to steady her and she relaxed against his kiss, even starting to kiss him back after the shock wore off.

“I like you a lot too,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers. His voice was husky and it sent a thrill through her that she hadn’t experienced in quite a long time. If ever.

“All I’ve been able to think about since that bloody day I ran into your car is you,” he continued, as her eyes glistened and her lips curved into a huge smile.

“I’ve had some trouble trying to decide all this week if I wanted to kiss you or hang you on my laundry line from your toes.”

“I hope the former won out,” he said with a hint of uncertainty.

laughed. “Yes, it definitely did.”

Kian pulled back slightly, pushing hair off her face and smiling happily. “I’d really like it if you’d go to dinner with me. I promise not to talk about anything involving how we met. And if you’re worried about getting sacked for dating a client, I can take care of that. I’m not Kian Egan for nothing, you know. I do have some pull.” He winked at her.

smiled and nodded. “I was afraid my horrid boss would tell me I shouldn’t fraternize with you.”

“Excuse me,” Kian said, puffing his chest out with authority. “But I decide who I fraternize with.”

She leaned in and kissed him, savoring the moment when his arms went around her waist and she felt finally, really and truly happy.


THE END



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