Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Like all those disabled pensioners who live on the bottom floor with Gavin and Kalin?”
“Exactly.”
I chuckled. “You’re a good man, Kane Slater. Even when you’re bein’ a d-i-c-k-h-e-a-d.”
“Date,” Jax suddenly called me. “Food?”
I laughed, and so did Kane.
“No. Ye already ate all your dinner.” Aideen scowled at him. “If ye eat anymore, ye’ll be sick.”
Jax sighed and turned back to the television. He patted Locke’s tummy, which was fucking adorable.
“And call him Uncle,” my sister added. “Not Date.”
“He’s a riot.”
“How hard did he hit Ina for her to get light-headed?”
“Three hard whacks.” I shook my head. “The boy is strong.”
“I wonder if … wait a second.”
Both Aideen and I shared a look and a shrug, not knowing what Kane was talking about until he pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. “I have a direct link to the security feeds. Let me tap into the feed on your floor on Friday night … what time exactly? I’ll put it up on the TV.”
“Should be around four on the dot, which would technically be Saturday mornin’.”
We all looked at the telly when Kane changed the channel. The boys shouted in protest, but Aideen hushed them. She picked Locke up, who quietened down when she lifted her shirt and began to feed him. I looked at Jax, who climbed onto my lap. He rested his back against me as Kane scanned through the minutes on the screen until Jax and I appeared.
“Surprise, surprise, you’re shirtless.” Aideen chuckled. “Thank God ye kept your trousers on.”
“I always do around your d-i-c-k-punchin’ child.”
Kane hit play, zoomed in, and we watched my first interaction with Ina O’Shea in high definition. It had sound, which surprised me. I cringed, and so did Jax’s parents when Jax hit Ina. Aideen told Kane to hit pause, and when he did, she gave Jax her best “mammy glare”.
“That was very bold,” she scolded him. “Ye never hit another person, d’ye understand me?”
I wasn’t sure if he did entirely, but Jax nodded and looked at the screen.
“Ouchy Ina.”
“Yeah,” I murmured to him. “Ouchy Ina, but she’s okay now. Don’t be sad, buddy.”
Jax nodded and squeezed my hand as Kane hit play. We watched for a few more minutes, and Aideen chuckled. “You’re both shamelessly flirtin’.”
My lips twitched. “D’ye blame me?”
I disappeared from view into my apartment to get Ina the old phone I had. I watched as Ina quickly fixed her hair, then looked down at her body and covered her face.
“She’s just realised she only has a T-shirt on.”
We chuckled as she tried to tug it down to cover more of her thighs, but she straightened and quickly leaned against her doorway when I returned.
“She likes ye,” Aideen said as Kane ended the feed. “Or at the very least, is attracted to ye.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But she’s shy and not very sure of herself. She reminds me of a kitten. I deal with wild cats, not kittens. I thought Alannah was meek, but Ina takes the cake.”
“D’ye still have feelings for Lana?”
I looked up and found Aideen and Kane’s eyes locked on me. Kane looked like he would kick my arse if I said anything other than a firm hell fucking no. Alannah was, after all, going out with his baby brother.
“Nope,” I answered honestly. “She’s me friend. I’m over any feelings I had for her, making me wonder if they were real feelings or if I just thought them up because she wasn’t a regular one-night stand. Even though I can’t stand your brother, Kane, I’m happy that she’s happy with him. She’s me friend.”
Kane nodded, satisfied, and Aideen exhaled a breath of what was clearly relief.
“Approach Ina differently,” she suggested. “If ye actually want her, I mean.”
“I do want her.”
“For more than s-e-x?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Then do yourself a favour and don’t seduce the woman,” my sister urged. “Just see how bein’ her friend goes, and if ye like her before ye do the deed, maybe ye’ll want to keep her.”
“She probably won’t even want you like that,” Kane chimed in. “Just because she’s obviously attracted to you doesn’t mean anything will happen. There is a different vibe with her. If you spook her, Date, she’ll run.”
I got that impression from her, too.
“I’ve already made up me mind about gettin’ her. I just have to find an approach I’m not used to. Maybe I’ll do what you said, Ado. Friends first.”
My sister smiled. “I’m finally gonna get me a sister-in-law.”
I rolled my eyes, and Kane glanced at her. “If any of my brothers’ wives hear that, they’ll gouge your eyes out.”
“Ye know what I mean.” She grinned. “A sister-in-law from one of me brothers.”
“Did Dame and Lana elope or somethin’?”
“Nah.” Kane shook his head. “They’re recently engaged, and the wedding will happen later next year. She doesn’t wanna be pregnant walking down the aisle, so they’re waiting.”