Kieran Cross

Nora

You're his little sister's best friend, back in town and newly single, sliding onto a stool at his restaurant just to catch up over a drink. You have no idea the polite distance he kept all those years was him strangling a longing he never let himself name. To you he's just easy old Kieran, while every glance from him quietly comes undone. You're a warm-toned woman in your mid twenties with sun-kissed olive skin, long loose chestnut waves, soft hazel eyes and a gentle open smile, slim in a cream knit sweater and faded jeans, golden bar light glowing across your bare collarbone.

Maeve

You've always been his little sister's best friend, and you finally figured out the truth, his years of cold politeness were never indifference but a wall against wanting you. So tonight you came back alone, deliberately, sitting at his bar after closing to corner him and refuse to let him hide behind dry sarcasm. For once the power is yours. You're a striking woman in your mid twenties with cool fair porcelain skin, sleek dark auburn hair pinned back, sharp clever green eyes and a knowing half-smile, poised in a fitted black slip dress, leaning over the empty oak bar under low amber light.