“I can almost see her titties,” Marcus whispered.

Ian gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Where did you learn that word?”

“Listenin’ to you tossers,” Marcus said. “Besides, that’s what they’re called, right?”

Dec rolled his eyes and Ian suppressed a grin. “Yeah,” Ian murmured. “That’s what they’re called.”

“I’m gonna go talk to her,” Dec said.

“I talked to her once,” Marcus said. He held out the small medallion he’d found in the barn a few years back. He now wore it around his neck on a leather string. “I showed her this. And I told her about the treasure.”

“She’s not interested in your silly old treasure,” Ian said.

“Yes, she was. When I showed her, she wanted me to tell her all about it. And I told her if she ever wanted to borrow my good luck charm, she could just ask.” He paused. “I think she likes me.”

“Not as much as she’s gonna like me,” Dec said. “I’m going down there.”

“Dec, don’t,” Ian pleaded. “She’ll figure out we’ve been watching her.”

“Who made you the boss of me?” Dec asked.

“Ian is the boss,” Marcus said. “Da made him the boss before we left and we’re supposed to listen to him. And if he says-”

“I listened,” Declan interrupted. “But that doesn’t mean I have to do everything he says.” He grinned. “I’m gonna ask her out. Maybe take her to a movie.”

“You are so full of shite,” Ian scoffed. “She’ll never go out with you.”

“We’ll see.” Dec dropped lightly to the ground and waded through the deep perennial beds until he stood on the grass beside Kitty. He glanced back up at Ian who watched him with barely concealed awe. Ian had always been more careful around girls, but Dec had never thought caution was much use. There was no denying that he appreciated a pretty girl, so why pretend otherwise?

He possessed a natural charm that usually appealed to the girls who he found worth pursuing. Girls had become his special talent, ever since he’d first tongue-kissed Alicia Dooley behind the rectory when he was eleven. Since then, he’d kissed a lot of girls. But he’d never approached a girl as worldly and sophisticated as Kitty Donahue. She was seriously out of his league.