Luc of the Irish

Maggie O'Malley considered herself lucky, at least in the fact that her family's curse had not afflicted her. Then again until she started her graduate degree she had closed herself off to the possibility of romantic relationships. She joked that by earning another degree she was giving the curse another chance to work its magic. Here she was a few months from graduating and despite it all she felt just as bad as if she was cursed. Her family was thrilled and she felt like crap, and being at her family's bar was not helping this time. The curse was a simple thing, both of her brother's had gotten married before they graduated and their wives were pregnant before they finished college. Her uncle went through the same thing before he graduated college, her mother married first but was pregnant when she graduated college. Her grandmother was married and pregnant when she graduated college. Her grandfather never went to college, and it seemed to carry on through her grandmother who had been born four months after her parents married. There were no records beyond that, but considering her cousins followed the same pattern, it seemed inevitable.

Maggie was at the bar idly throwing darts with stellar accuracy, when her best friend Hailey strolled over. "So how is the writing going?" Maggie was home for Spring Break and trying to avoid pressure.

Maggie groaned, "If one more person asks me about Jeremy or my thesis I just might kill myself." She picked up her beer glass and drained it, at least she had a high tolerance for alcohol. Unlike Jeremy who had such a severe reaction to a single drink that he was practically allergic to the stuff. She pushed the memory of him from her mind. The last thing she needed was to think of his hot athletic body.

"Okay, so what shall we talk about? How about the cute guy over there." Hailey knew better than to ask about Jeremy. Sometimes she thought Maggie had loved him, other times she wasn't sure, especially as Maggie refused to talk about how things ended between them.

"Please, my life is complicated enough." She stood up and put her jacket on. Maggie half smiled, and promised to get together with Hailey when she was not quite so busy. She still had a lot of work to do, despite the break from college. Maggie went up to her empty old room, it seemed odd that it was just this last Christmas that things went so very wrong. Her family had tested Jeremy, and he had failed on so many levels. She recalled how things had progressed from friendship to lovers. She pushed the memories away, trying to control her bodies response to the images of his body. Of course none of that mattered now, he had called her the wrong name at an intimate moment. It was only then that she realized he was not over his former crush. It had crippled her emotionally for over a month, she had thrown herself into her thesis, and at least was ahead of schedule.

She looked over her research, and worked until her family interrupted. Then it was a mass of food and conversation. She avoided prying questions, sometimes she wished she had sisters instead of brothers. Then one of her sisters' in law would make a comment and she would be glad she had brothers. They were over protective, idiotic, and she loved them for it. Maggie managed to find time to spend with Hailey, avoid awkward questions from her family, and tried to stay away from 'the cute guy at the bar.' Unfortunately her family owned it and she ended up there on St. Patrick's day and the bar was a green haze. Her older brother was celebrating his anniversary and her parents were watching the kids. So she was stuck behind the bar, wearing an old tiny t-shirt that said something suggestive. Hailey had stopped by for lunch, but she had her own family to take care of, so she was basically on her own for the evening. That "cute guy" Hailey had pointed out earlier was back tonight. He seemed to be doing his best not to be obvious about ogling her. As closing time neared she found herself wondering who he was. He didn't seem like the collegiate type, and he didn't look like the typical barfly.

Luke had a thing for red heads, and this gal had beautiful flame kissed hair. He'd been watching her, trying not to be obvious, especially as she seemed to not want the attention. The other day she had accepted drinks, but sent polite declines back to him. She had this way about her, and he couldn't help but want to get closer to her. When she was closing the bar on St. Patrick's, he was upset and excited. Luke could get some time alone with her, but it would be obvious he was interested. When closing time came around his nervousness increased. His palms were sweating and he felt like he had too much to drink.

Maggie knew exactly how much he had to drink and noticed that his hand was shaking. "Forget your designated driver?" she asked. The way he looked at her made her feel strange inside, and danger bells were going off in her head.

"Something like that," he tried to laugh it off, but he was tongue tied. Luke was usually pretty easy going but she had a strange affect on him. "I usually don't drink like this," he offered. He sounded incredible lame, he hadn't thought about how she might feel after dealing with drunks all day.

"Can I arrange a ride for you?" she asked as she cleaned things up. It was second nature to close down the bar, she'd been doing it since she turned eighteen. In fact it was pretty surprising that she'd remained a virgin for so long. Then again when you had several brothers she had become expert at spotting bullshit. She had also known most of the guys her age for too long to think of them romantically or sexually.

"I'm going to need my car in the morning," he handed her his keys. It was strange as if he didn't have a lot of control over his actions. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that she would offer to take him home, but a small part of him hoped. It was a wild hope, and he dared not believe it was possible. Then she spoke and it was like a dream come true, even as he dared not wish for more than just extra time alone with her.

"Where do you live?" she asked as she picked up his keys. As the youngest child it wasn't often that she got to drive someone else's car. In fact she didn't even get her own car until she finished her undergrad degree. That was mainly because she had applied to graduate programs out of state, where she would need a car of her own. It had been the best thing for her, to get away from the drama of her family. Except for right now when she was stuck back in the middle of it. She was actually looking forward to returning to school, despite the stress of finishing her thesis and the transition to the working world.

He rattled off his address without thinking and she said she knew where that was. Somewhere in his hazy mind it finally dawned on him that she was offering to take him home. Luke was very glad that his room mate was celebrating St. Patrick's out of town. Then again he rationalized it wasn't as if something more was going to happen. His spirit was willing, but his body, well alcohol had taken care of that. Luke hated the thought even as he managed to get into his car without any help. He should have laid off on the beers, but when someone was buying a round, it was tough to turn down a free drink. His inhibitions were equally impaired as he made a clumsy pass at her as she made sure he got to the door and was handing over his keys.

She was surprised at his behavior, the kiss was uncomfortable. Maggie could smell the alcohol on his breath and had noticed other signs of intoxication.

He fumbled for words, he had surprised himself. "I just noticed what your shirt said." That sounded even lamer, as he would have to be blind not to notice the way her shirt clung to her breasts. It said in bold green letters, 'Kiss Me I'm Irish.'

She opened the door for him and helped him stumble inside. "I guess I should have expected that." She could feel the press of his body against hers as he leaned on her. Maggie felt emboldened by the knowledge that she was safe with him because he was inebriated. She turned into his body and kissed him back, it had been a long time since she felt wanted as a woman.

He was lost in that one kiss, he wanted it to last forever. Luke wasn't sure what was going on, it seemed like a dream. Her lips were soft, warm, and pliable against his. He felt his body betray him as his tongue brushed her mouth.

She wasn't prepared for the extra weight as he fell against her. She stumbled a few steps and ended up underneath him on the nearest chair. Common sense was fighting with the rush of excitement coursing through her veins. "Do you think you could eat something?" Somehow she managed to stand up and dump him into the chair as she flicked on a lamp. She noticed his nod as she headed to the kitchen. Maggie enjoyed looking through other peoples cupboards. The tricky part was finding something edible that would stay in his stomach.

He started coughing and managed to get both of their clothes in the process. Luke felt like a complete idiot, he knew he was not making a good impression. Somehow despite it all she helped him take his shirt off, and took off her own. She handed him a glass of water and set the plate of food beside him. He was stunned as she headed back to the kitchen and set out to rinse the shirts out in the sink. She was wearing a simple bra and on her it looked stunning. Once again he wished he hadn't had so much to drink.

She wasn't sure if she felt bad for him, or if she just felt for him. It was strange to feel comfortable around him wearing her bra. She glanced back, he wasn't ogling her anymore. Or if he was he wasn't being so obvious about it. He was snacking and she was thinking of how this could be her last chance for a no strings fling.

He wasn't sure what surprised him more, that she stayed or that she was seducing him. Luke wouldn't remember much about that night, other than her glorious smile. Maggie on the other hand would remember every glorious detail of that night from the stumble to the bedroom to the feel of riding his body until he was spent.

Maggie managed to slip away in the middle of the night, she hadn't been able to sleep next to him. The walk home in the cool air, helped her settle her thoughts. She kept recalling how it had felt to be wanted, even though she never told him her name. She laughed as she realized she hadn't known his name either, now it was a matter of staying away from the bar until it was time to head back to college. It was one time her family managed to help her out. They appreciated her closing on St. Patrick's and so she got to focus on her thesis.

She was driving on Sunday afternoon, life seemed far from simple, but at least she was still on track for graduating in May. Her small apartment seemed even smaller. It wasn't much but it suited her needs. She managed to spend most of her time in her bedroom. She had her TV, computer, and her sewing machine all crammed into her own private space. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of Jeremy, he had been one of her first real friends when she started grad school. They had spent a lot of time in her room, watching TV and making out. She had rearranged as much as possible, but it still hit her at times. Usually when she least expected it, like when she was just falling asleep at night. Luckily her thesis and coursework was taking up most of her times this semester.

Now she had a different man haunting her at night, and during the day. She was throwing up, and at first she thought it was a stress migraine. When she missed her second period she was feeling more than just the usual amount of stress. So here she was taking a home pregnancy test and praying that it would be negative. She left it sitting in the bathroom, there was nothing like a having something looming over you to make you catch up on everything else. It wasn't until she had washed her room mates massive stack of dirty dishes that she realized she was avoiding the bathroom. She knew the result without looking, it was the curse, the test was positive. Now she just had to make it to graduation without letting it interfere. It was only two weeks away and she was doing fine with her thesis. Her room mate wasn't around enough to notice, and her classmates were all wrapped up in their own thesis to notice. Even if they did notice, they'd figure it was stress, just like she'd thought it was.