“You know safe is boring, sunshine.” O’Connell smiled with his trademark, sex appeal grin and not the genuine one that made me tingle.

“Perhaps,” I replied sadly, “but boring is still safe.”

When we made it to my apartment block, I opened the main entrance door and without even thinking about it allowed him to walk me to my door. Letting myself in, I leant against the doorframe to say goodbye.

“Thanks for walking me home,” I told him.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, tucking one of my curls behind my ear. It was so beautifully intimate, that I had to steel myself not to close my eyes as his touch grazed my cheek.

“I’m sorry I fucked up tonight. I would have liked hanging out with you,” he told me, sadly.

“I would have liked that, too,” I replied. “It’s probably for the best, though,” I admitted painfully. “The drinking and partying isn’t me. I couldn’t give you what those girls do, not even close. I’d go from a novelty to a bore in the space of one evening.”

“You really have no idea, do you?” He chuckled. I said nothing, having no clue what he was talking about.

“You know I’ll make it up to you. Turns out that I’m as shit at this whole friends thing as you are, but I’d like to have another crack at it.” His swagger was back now with renewed enthusiasm and his optimism that we could ever be friends was infectious.

“You think its possible then?” I asked.

“What…that we can be friends? Hell yeah, baby. Course that doesn’t mean I won’t try my best to make you fall in love with me, too,” he joked.

“Don’t worry, I’m fairly immune to your charm,” I quipped.

I could see that he was itching to volley with a sleazy comeback, but he really was reining it in. Maybe he was serious about being friends. I worried that I would spend half my time with O’Connell wanting more, but wouldn’t I be doing that anyway, even if he weren’t with me? Despite his cocky charm, there was no way I was letting myself falling in love with this man. I really didn’t think that my heart could take the beating.

“You working at the cafe tomorrow?” he asked.

“Uh, huh. The early shift,” I replied. “Why?”

“No reason. I might develop a sudden urge for a fried breakfast, though.” I grinned at the thought of seeing him tomorrow and cursed myself for being so obvious. I literally had no game face.

“Goodnight,” he murmured, and in the sweetest move ever, leant forward and gently kissed my cheek.

“Goodnight,” I whispered back. I closed my door as he strode down the hall and banged my head back against it. So much for not falling for him. I was absolutely fucked.

Work the next morning was a double-edged sword. I’d been used to enough late mornings and warm nights hunched over the computer in my office, that I’d become spoilt. Having to get up at the crack of dawn and drag myself through the icy streets in my thin shoes was brutal. The double edge to the sword was the delicious anticipation of seeing O’Connell again. I was so busy cleaning my station, I didn’t even realise he was there until he was right behind me.

“Good morning, sunshine.” I felt his breath, warm against my neck, as he whispered his greeting into my ear. He was so close behind me that a fraction closer and his lips would have been touching my skin. The slightest scent of his aftershave lingered, and my stomach clenched with excitement. I turned around to face him.

“Good morning, yourself.”

“You’re getting better, you know,” he pointed out.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yeah. Not too long ago, you’d have jumped a mile if I’d crept up on you like that, but today you didn’t flinch.”

“Well, I’m kind of getting used to having you man giants around,” I replied with a grin as O’Connell slid into a booth.

“Boo,” a second voice behind me said over my shoulder.

This time I did jump a mile and turned around just in time to smack Kieran on the arm.

“Arsehole,” I muttered as I hit him.

“Ow,” he moaned, rubbing his arm as he sat across from O’Connell.

“How come he gets the smile, and I’m the arsehole,” he moaned.

“Because he warned me that he was coming,” I replied.

It was somewhat true, but I didn’t think I was brave enough to confess that I’d been watching and waiting for O’Connell all morning. Even now, the sight of him in worn jeans and a crisp, clean white t-shirt, that hugged his biceps like a second skin, made me hungry with a craving I wouldn’t satisfy. Every woman in the cafe, young or old, looked his way. I saw them surreptitiously stealing glances at him as he watched me, and why wouldn’t they? At six-foot-five of solid muscle, he was easily the biggest man in here, but it was more than that. He was the embodiment of everything that women wanted but didn’t know they were looking for. He was big enough to protect, but dangerous enough that it was a turn on. His raw masculinity triggered the release of an unfettered string of pheromones wherever he went. Even just taking his order, I was barely holding it together, and I was betting that there was more than one girl around here whose knickers were wet just from watching him. That didn’t mean Kieran wasn’t gorgeous as well. That boy had a killer body, and a great personality to go with it, but it was the danger that drew women to O’Connell. Those beautiful, scarred and calloused hands could break a man, and the thought that he could do that to protect me made something inside me melt. It felt like everyone’s eyes were on us both, and I began to panic. I didn’t want to be invisible anymore, but I couldn’t be in O’Connell’s limelight, either, and there seemed to be no happy medium. If I couldn’t stay a ghost, or at least hidden in the shadows, how long would it be before Frank found me? It was a sobering thought, but just because I couldn’t act on my feelings for O’Connell didn’t stop me from having them.

I looked up to see both the boys staring at me, and I had the feeling that I’d just missed something.

“What can I get you both for breakfast?” I asked.

“Whatever takes care of this hangover and stops me from feeling like shite,” Kieran groaned as he laid his head down across his arms that were resting on the table.

“One coffee coming up.” I chuckled.