Billionaire Groom

CRAZY IN LOVE

Chapter one

Blain

The sound of hammers and men yelling over power tools is such an everyday thing to me that I don’t even notice it anymore as I walk around the construction site, inspecting the progress of my latest investment, a hotel that’s going up on the Best real estate in San Francisco.

I have big dreams for this one, though God knows I don’t need another hotel or investment, since I’m richer than half the men in this city. The other half are just about on par with me and they should be, since one of them is my cousin Gray and the other two are my best friends Val and Isaac.

Together we make up a team that dabbles in everything from real estate, to banking. Hell, we even own a franchise of tire outfits and a few small garages in outlying towns close to home.

Yo, Blay! You done here, man, we gotta bounce before my mom calls again and threatens to kill us all, Gray barks out, impatiently tapping at his watch to remind me of the time.

Tonight is not something I want to think about. It’s my mom’s birthday, a party that is being attended by all the elite and something that I would rather not attend, even on pain of death.

I do not like my mother. Not because she’s some abusive monster or neglected me during childhood. No, it’s just frankly a sad fact that my mom is not a nice person and I can’t stand that. Hence the fact that I spent more time at my aunt Char and uncle Eddie’s house with Gray, than I did at home.

My dad I don’t mind, not that I know him all that well since he spends most of his time at the college where he has tenure as the economics professor, and the other half boning his long-time mistress.

Mom knows all this, and yet she doesn’t seem to care as long as dad still has his inheritance and keeps her in style while he ‘dabbles’ at his pesky hobby.

The truth is, my parents suck and they always have. Mom’s not too bad when it comes to loving me, she just isn’t very present and never has been and I think my father actually forgot I existed until I turned eighteen and started my business with the boys, foregoing college since I seemed like a waste of time.

Blay!

Coming! Just let me sign off on this inspection and double check the incoming materials and we can leave.

Turning back to the task at hand, and praying that I somehow slip and fall to my death to avoid this party, I freeze when a flash of hot pink catches my eye across the street.

A woman is walking what I assume is a dog; at least it could be a dog. I think. And she’s talking to it with so much animation I feel a grin split my lips.

It’s quirky, but not what’s caught my attention. No, that honour belongs to the fact that she’s wearing an eyeball blitzing pink dress that’s strapless and clings to an amazing rack before belling out in layers of calf length tulle, resembling a long, puffy tutu.

This outrageous ensemble is topped off by a messy bun that looks un-brushed and lemon yellow sneakers that clash with everything else. She looks like a disaster, something so out of the ordinary that I drop the clipboard in my hand and just stare, completely spellbound by the spectacle she and that fur ball are making.

For some reason as she continues to lecture the yapping, leaping dog, I can’t do anything but just take her in this far away. Three floors up in the shell of what will be one of the grandest hotels in the city, I can’t quite see her face clearly, but it doesn’t matter.

She looks like exactly what I need right now to bring some colour into the gloom that’s surrounding me.

Blay, dammit, I-

Gray stops snarling at me and huffs out a laugh as the little fairy in the pink dress puts her hands on her hips, stamps one yellow shod foot and commences yelling at the mutt like a schoolmarm with a grudge.

The din around us cuts off by increments and in under a minute I can hear her clearly, as can all the men around me who’ve taken notice and stopped working abruptly.

I told you to stay away from her, Jack! She’s a pedigree and her owners are not nice people and now! Now I have to pay freaking child support because you can’t keep it in your fur.

Jack barks once, as if in denial and shakes his head, making Tinkerbelle throw her hands up with a shriek.

Who wants a girl named Muffin anyway? That’s so clichéd Jack. Our line has class, grit and we always choose partners who understand the gypsy way. We do not settle down and make babies we can’t afford to put through doggy college!

The scene is outrageous, that’s the only word that pops to mind as a puff of laughter escapes me, the other chuckles of amusement muffled behind hands as shoulders shake and heave.

Good old Jack yips and stomps his legs in a parody of Tink’s, and I practically hear her sigh as she looks up at the sky, her shoulders slumped.

This is unacceptable and you know it. I’m taking you to the vet tomorrow before I end up paying child support to half the damn city you little lothario. Now stop sassing me and do your business before I do something really mean, like forget to buy your biscuits.

Ouch. I hear all the guys groan at the mention of the poor little bastard losing his nuts and feel his pain in my own.

The dog barks, his mottled coat of stringy fur practically standing on end. I swear, it looks like he’s arguing with her, and that assumption is damn near confirmed when Tink stiffens up dramatically and lets out an enraged shriek.

Don’t you dare blame this on me you little cad. I didn’t sniff her ass and impregnate her. Now pee or I swear I will dump you at grandma’s and let her put you in those outfits she knitted for you. After I have you snipped. Ungrateful wretch.

The laughter is hard to control and I hear one guy sigh in adoration as Gray shakes his head and snorts.

Stop that right now, you have no leg to stand on here Jack. You knocked her up and that’s that. You’re going to doggy slave labour camp to work this off you adorable little beast and that is that.

The fact that she just called him adorable while cussing him out is hilarious. Add in the fact that she’s dressed like my new wet dream and I know I’m caught, kissing my freedom goodbye with nary a shudder of resistance.

This woman, whoever she is must be mine. I know it in my bones, feel it in my skin. My life’s been a grey wasteland for so long that I can hardly understand how one little puff of pink could possibly have taken me down so swiftly.

I’m the guy who doesn’t call after the first date. Not ever. I see a pretty woman; I seduce her and then move the hell on before they can start painting dreams in their heads of love and happily ever afters.

I’m the guy who wears a condom and pulls out anyway because I’m terrified of one slip that will lead to a lifetime of commitment. Looking at Tink, right here, right now, I have the overwhelming need to sweep her up and lock her away in my tower above the city so that no one can ever threaten the claim I want to have on her.

Oh, Jack, I didn’t mean that booboo, I’m just stressed is all. Don’t be mad buddy. She croons suddenly, leaning over to coo at the little runt.

What is that? Is she even real? Gray breathes while hardened men all around me sigh and look on as if captivated.

His tone is filled with wonder but I ignore him and start walking fast, needing to get down there. Right now. He follows me down to the ground level and off the site because my only objective now is to meet that wonderful creature and ask her if I can pay child support too. For the dozen babies I want to have with her glorious self.

Here’s the thing, I know a good thing when I see it, I always have. That’s the reason I hit my first million before the age of twenty and the reason I am now rich enough to buy a good portion of the country. Aunt Char says I was born under a lucky star and Uncle Ed says I’m a shark. All I know is, I know a good thing when I see it and Tinkerbell is probably one of the best deals I have ever seen.

And I have to have her.

Blay.

Coming out of the building I hear the guys all yell my name just before I look up to see my target lifting her ugly dog and sliding into a cab, her little bun hitting the roof before disappearing from sight.

I’m running before I can form another thought, desperation nipping at my heels as the cab takes off in the opposite direction, stealing my future wife right out from under my nose.

No!

It’s ridiculous, I know it is even as I run like hell and dodge traffic, but for some inexplicable reason I need to get to her before she disappears from my life forever.

Tink!

The cab speeds off and turns a corner even as Gray runs behind me, our yells piercing the air and the sound of men yelling getting louder. The entire construction crew is egging me on, screaming at me to run faster but I get less than a block before I have to stop and face the facts, my knees almost giving out under me.

She’s gone. That colourful sprite, my baby mama who I have never met before, is gone. And I don’t have a clue how to start looking for her

Shit man. What the hell was that? Gray barks, wheezing as his hands plant on his knees and he struggles for breath.

Mine, I say starkly, looking down at him before closing my eyes in stark dejection. She’s mine.

Chapter two

Ginny

I can’t believe my life is this messed up. First my dog goes and bones a little loose tailed flirt and knocks her up, something that wouldn’t really bug me all that much since he’s just following his nature, until Lindsey Ormond decided to yell at me like a fishwife and threatened to have each and every single one of my grandbabies put down if I don’t take them when her precious runt finally delivers.

What the heck am I gonna do with all those puppies? And I know the numbers are big because Jack Sparrow and Muffin are both tiny and couldn’t possibly have created less than six children from the looks of her pregnant rotund belly.

To make it all worse my mom called me this morning and expressly ordered me to come to a family dinner, which would be fine but for the fact that she’s still trying to set me up with the butcher’s son Joseph.

I’m a nice person. A people pleaser and happy by nature but Joseph is not for me. Not that he doesn’t have anything going for him or anything, but I have a phobia about hairy men ever since my aunt Effie’s boyfriend gave me a hug that one time we went over to their house for a pool party and I ended up coughing up hairballs for days.

Now the thing is, that experience was not at all my fault. I did not want to go to the a party seeing as the pool was nothing more than a metal frame covered in old waterproof tarp and had seen more hygienic days.

The water felt like milky slime, and I still shudder just thinking about it. That was okay though, even considering I had to fend off my cousin by marriage who’d taken a shine to my fourteen year old self and kept telling people I was his girl.

Yikes.

What killed me was the hair. I still can’t look at a hairy man without clearing my throat, something my Irish mother sill bemoans because as she says, most good Irish boys are hirsute and I should just accept my lot.

I’d rather perish an unthinkable death, thank you very much.

But back to Joseph. The guy is sweet, he is, but he doesn’t need to wear a shirt to be dressed if you know what I’m saying and he also happens to be dull as dishwater.

Really. He took me on a date to the freaking slaughter house and spent an hour explaining cuts to me. I was so freaked out by that event, because my cousin Ing made me watch Slaughterhouse the week before I fainted and ended up in Joseph’s chest. His hairy chest.

Jack barks beside me in the taxi and I snap out of it only to see that traffic is backed up to hell and back and I don’t stand a hope in hell of getting to mama’s dinner on time.

Shoot.

Sorry sweetheart but this isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The radio is reporting a sinkhole up this way and we’re already in the thick of it.

Darn it. I have to get to my mother’s before she calls the priest. Last time she did that I had to sit through an hour’s lecture about respecting your parents. I huff, smoothing the pink skirt of the dress I got on sale this morning and just couldn’t resist wearing.

I love anything pink, loud and unique so I was sold the minute I saw it in that hobo’s trolley. I bought it right then and there, skipped to the Laundromat and got it cleaned in a jiff.

Don’t judge me, I needed it after Muffin and her loose tail got me in trouble. Coincidentally, that was my job so I also got fired this morning thanks to Jack and his philandering ways.

So yeah, not a good day. I suppose I can dog sit for someone else, but that job paid well, and I kinda liked the next door neighbour Mr. Tills. He’s weird, but he shared his cookies with me until I realized that he keeps the box in his underwear to keep them ‘fresh’.

You’ll have to hoof it then darling. Sorry, the cabbie grunts, taking my cash with thanks and a wave as I grab Jack and push out of the cab. Go back up the way we came and hang a right. It should get you far enough away to grab another cab.

I thank him with a wave and start running, thanking my stars for my excellent shoe choice as I go. I hate heels. Last time I wore them I got a blister that got infected and almost contracted gangrene. Okay so it wasn’t that bad but it was huge, and gross and pussy.

Horns hoot as I keep running and in just over fifteen, side cramping minutes I’m at the corner I started at, my eyes darting wildly for a cab. This city isn’t like New York though, not as congested with yellow miracles as one would think and I don’t see one in sight as I scan the street, praying for a miracle.

First off, I can’t walk another step or my lungs might fail and second, I am so late, I think as I check my watch. It’s only just gone four but in my house, dinner is five sharp, no matter what.

Papa once missed it because a truck rode over his foot while he was directing it into the docking bay at the fishery where he works and even a broken foot did not stop mama’s wrath.

This is all your fault, Jack. If you’d just peed when I asked... I whine, clutching at my side when a stitch grips me.

It’s not his fault, I know but I need someone to blame and the last time I yelled at myself in public a woman tried to have me committed. That was not a good incident, especially when mama had to come get me at the hospital and sign me out of the psych ward.

Looking around again before looking back at my watch, I groan and stamp my foot against the pavement, dejected beyond all reason. Seems like I’ll be counselling with Father O’Leary again this summer huh.

Oh well.

Jack yaps at me in commiseration and I can’t resist a hug as I sigh and start up passed the half constructed building that caught my eye earlier. I think Ing told me this place is going to be some swanky hotel for the super dicks, I mean rich, but at the moment it’s just a shell that looks quietly eerie despite the construction going on.

Hey! Hey you! You’re back, someone yells, making me stop to look up.

When I do, I see ten male faces, all beaming and staring down at me in wonder. Huh, the dress must be really nice, I think, smoothing it down with a smile.

Okay, I say, smiling a little before walking on.

Wait! Don’t leave yet, one of the guy’s yells out, making me distinctly nervous as other faces pop out to grin at me.

Okay. Time to go Ginny, I think, keeping my smile in place as I start power walking, ignoring the shouts.

Last month some poor girl was found wondering in the park, muttering about being attacked. I don’t think it could happen to me per se, not on a busy street like this and with so many witnesses, but you never know.

I bet those poor prostitutes Jack the Ripper got at never once thought a man would do that to them and look what happened. Nuhuh, rather safe than sorry, I think, picking up the pace despite the stitch in my side. I’d rather suffer a stitch than see my own innards and ain’t that just the truth.

Definitely should have laid off the muffins this morning, but they were so fluffy and delicious I couldn’t stop myself.

Miss, please wait!

I ignore the yells and walk faster, juggling Jack’s squirming body in one arm when the sound of running footsteps meets my ears. I’m just about to bolt and chance getting mowed down by a car when my dog jumps out of my grip and runs balls to the wall at something behind me.

The curse and ripping fabric make me groan before I’ve fully turned and I curse myself when I see Jack going attack dog on a man dressed in what is probably Armani and costs more than my yearly rent.

Dang it Jack, stop that right now. Please. I moan when the sound of ripping gets worse, the man shaking his leg to get rid of Jack is only making matters worse. Oh Jack.

The snarling finally stops after an eternity of nail biting and the rascal runs back to me, grinning like he just did me a freaking favour while I, I’m too cowardly to look up as the sound of mama’s voice keeps playing in my head telling me that my room is still empty and waiting for me.

If I have to replace this man’s suit I’ll be living at mama’s for the next year at least.

Gathering my courage I look up, up, up and into eyes so light a blue it steals my breath away. The rest of him seizes my lungs as I take in hair the colour of chocolate and a face that must have been carved by the angels themselves.

I‘m shocked speechless, my mouth hanging open as I take him all in. He’s so handsome I can’t even reference a celebrity look alike and don’t want to. None of them would do him justice anyway and that’s telling, because I still have a stalker crush on Henry Cavil in those blue tights and red cape.

He’s smiling down at me and it takes me a while to blink and close my mouth, processing the fact that he’s not yelling or threatening to kill my dog.

"Um, I am so sorry! He never does that. Er, besides that one time he bit Fern Joffey but she was throwing bread rolls at me and he took exception. Although, those rolls came in handy when mama called to ask me to bring some for Saturday breakfast. Lucky right? They were only a little dirty and I dusted them off. No one even realized. Then again, my family sort of attacks food the way a bear mauls a salmon so that’s not really a good example." I say, trailing off when that bright smile gets wider, followed by a bark of laughter that makes me cringe.

I have toxic tongue mama says. I yap when I’m nervous and say things that no normal person would say. Like telling a handsome, rich stranger from the looks of his mauled suit that I’m descended from cave dwellers. Great.

You’re perfect, he breathes out, reaching out a hand to stroke my cheek.

I feel that touch all the way to my nether bits as mama calls them and swallow back a gasp of arousal when he strokes his thumb over my mouth and pulls away, sucking his finger into his mouth as if tasting me.

Holy Mary, I am a sinner, I think as the urge to kiss him silly hits me. And not just kissing. No, I have the need to do things to and with this man that make my cheeks heat even as I gulp back a squeak of need.

I laugh nervously and clear my throat when all he does is stare, silently watching me.

I am so sorry about your pants. I can replace them? Uh, fix them! I could get into your pants, I mean get your pants and fix them?

It’s a question more for me than him because without selling myself or an organ there is no way in hell I can afford replacing those beauties. Even if I still had my crummy job.

Suddenly those cookies of Mr. Tills don’t look quite so gross considering I’ll probably have to sleep in an alley and scrounge sustenance where I can.

What’s your name? he asks, totally ignoring my question, still staring in a way that has me grabbing Jack up against my chest to hide my hardened nipples.

Ginny.

It comes out a breathless squeak and I wince when I realize that I am talking to possibly, no definitely the most beautiful human being I have ever seen and my hair is not brushed.

Ginny. That’s so you. I’m Blay. Blain George.

The way he keeps looking at me is starting to get uncomfortable and I swallow a sigh when I remember dinner, how screwed I am and the possibility that I might be warming father O’ Leary’s couch for the rest of my life at this point.

I could probably stand here and drool for a good week but I need to go, least of all for the fact that if I don’t I might embarrass myself by trying to flirt with him and as papa once said, darling, you just don’t have the knack for it’.

Crimminey.

I have to go. Um, maybe, I could give you my number and you can call me about your pants? I ask, blushing when I catch myself ball gazing under his ever watchful eyes.

The urge to titter is overwhelming but I squelch it by holding my breath when he smirks and gets a gleam in his eye.

Okay, though I have to warn you Gin, if you get into my pants things may be a little hard for.

Huh?

Don’t blush. You’re Irish, Gin, it’s not a good look on your pasty skin.

He smirks again and then laughs at the size of my eyes.

They’re tailored sweetheart. You may find fixing them a little hard.

Oh! Oh, I mean I’m pretty good with pants and measurements. I say matter of fatly.

Blay fights a smile, I can see it and inclines his head as I rattled out my number and watch him enter it into his phone.

I’m counting on it Tink.

Tink?

I really need to go.

Before I do something embarrassing.

He inclines his head and steps closer and I swear he’s leaning down to kiss me when Jack lets out a frothy snarl and bares his toothpicks causing Blay to leap back with a curse. Course male laughter rings out from above and I look up to see the construction crew laughing down at us.

Don’t let her get away, boss.

Yeah, Blay, don’t let her get away. Invite her to Cecily’s party, this from a guy who looks a little like Blay but has short blonde hair and darker eyes.

Blay nods with a smile and looks down at me, keeping his distance when Jack yaps again.

You could come to a party with me.

I, I can’t. Mama’s summoned me to dinner and I have to go or she’ll set the church on me again and I do not have three months of my life to lose if I have to look for another job because Jack knocked up my boss’s fur ball, I complain, closing my eyes. She’s got Joseph there. He’s hairy and he likes me. It’s a harsh situation.

More laughter abounds and I see Blay’s brow knit before his eyes narrow, that sensual mouth thinning.

Who is Joseph?

My cheeks heat with embarrassment because telling this gorgeous man that I need my mama to set me up on a date with a man/boy who smells like pork and chest hair is humiliating to the extreme.

Part of me would rather eat hair than go that low but another part is still the dramatic lunatic Ing accuses me of being and well, I like talking and talking to him for even a minute longer is possibly the only thing I want right now.

The butcher’s son. Mama’s been planning a wedding. I think she’s under the impression that I’ll cave for the free meat I could get out of it but as much as I love ribs and bacon I would rather become a vegetarian. My babies would overheat in the summer you know and I’d probably have to teach poor little Mia to shave at the age of four. That’s no life for a kid Blay, no life at all. I say sadly, tearing up a little at the thought of razor cuts on my poor baby’s little wolf legs.

Poor Mia.

Take me to dinner with you. He says, startling me out of my worst nightmare with a bump back to earth.

No. Oh absolutely not. My family lives in a working class neighbourhood and mama still hangs the laundry in the front yard because she can watch it from the stoop and talk to Mrs. Fein across the way.

I’m not ashamed of my family, I love them but I have two brothers who do not understand antiperspirant or basic table manners, mama is a harpy at the best of times and papa comes to the dinner table in his shorts and vest. Even in winter. And he keeps his black socks and work boots on!

And Joseph. God. He’ll make moon eyes at me while trying to cut my meat!

Er-

Take me to dinner and I’ll forget the pants.

Okay.

What. It’s not like I’ll see him again, anywhere but in my dreams that is. And those pants look like they’re made of pure money.

Chapter three

Blain

My town car cruises through a neighbourhood that is in no way familiar to me and I love every sight as Tink keeps babbling and pointing out people’s houses, while the hairball from hell continues to snarl and snap at me.

It’s taken me precious minutes of thinking but I finally know what this dog looks like. A demon. An ugly little stringy thing with a pointy face and one milky eye that I assumed was blind, but keeps following me with every move I make.

Gray of course finds this hilarious because true to form once I tricked Tink into inviting me along to dinner, the idiot put on and act and got her to bring him along.

Suddenly Aunt Char and her anger wasn’t even a blip on his radar anymore. Bastard. I’d been hoping like hell that a miracle could happen and Tink might let me kiss her on the drive here but no dice. She just keeps ignoring her evil dogs frothing at the mouth while telling us stuff about ‘the neighbourhood’ while we creep along, stopping every now and then to let kids in the street clear out before resuming whatever game they’re playing.

Soon she grows really quiet and I swear, I hear her mutter a prayer and some bargain with Jesus, and then the car pulls to a stop. Looking out of the window, I take in the brown brick house. It’s a thin structure but tall, three stories high and reminds me of something that belongs in Harry Potter.

Why I find it inviting is beyond me, especially when we all pile out of the car only to be met by a tiny, round little woman with faded orange hair and scowl on her face that has Tink squeaking another prayer beneath her breath.

Whatever you do, do not talk back. Don’t look her directly in the eyes unless you want to lose your soul. And please, do not mention the bread okay.

Gray looks bemused but shrugs and plays along while I nervously straighten my tie and pray to God these people like me seeing as I intend to be family really soon.

Mama.

Don’t you mama me you little sneak, what is this? she cuts in sharply, pointing at Gray and I both with a curled lip that makes her look like she’s smelling something bad.

Tink gives a moan in the back of her throat and cringes a little before giving us both a sheepish smile.

Uh, this is Blay and his cousin Gray-

Hmf! Not much imagination in that family I see. Well come in already, the beef is getting cold and poor Joey is just dying to see you again, he mutters, stomping into the house with a sniff.

Don’t let them get me. I fear for the babies. She whispers as she approaches the door slowly, almost as if she’s walking into a crime scene.

I see why immediately as we close the door behind us, and slap Gray’s head when he chokes out a cough that sounds suspiciously like a laugh. Little Joey as mama affectionately calls him is a behemoth of a man with a belly that speaks of his occupation and so much hair it peeks out from under the off white vest he’s wearing.

Scarily enough, his hair is thinning drastically and shows his scalp where he’s meticulously oiled and combed it back from his face. The rest of him is exactly as Tink described. He smells like pork with a heavy dose of mama’s boy and I want to beat the heck out of him when he immediately comes at us and wraps Tink up against his body.

Ginny! How’s my girl?

I could swear she mutters ‘dying’ beneath her breath and know it’s true when Gray makes a choking sound and suddenly finds the cat painting to his left fascinating.

Fine, I’m fine Joseph. She pants after wriggling away and stepping closer to me, her face so red I realize she’s holding her breath. You look good. Your mom finally got you onto that low sodium diet?

Oh yeah. It sucks but hey, at least I’ll live longer right? he chuckles, winding down when he finally deigns to notice me. Oh hey, man. I’m Joe.

I hate that he’s friendly and completely oblivious to my glare, just on principal alone and have to stop myself from crushing his girly hand when he shoves it at me, pumping it roughly.

Blay. And this is Grayson, my cousin.

Hey, man, nice to meet you folks. You catch the game the other night?

Joseph, let them in for God sakes boy before Lizzie gets her knickers in a damn twist again!

I look to Tink as that voice booms out, deep and loud and she mutters ‘papa’ before smiling so wide it’s like the sun just started shining.

Papa!

Well come on over here girlie and give your papa a proper hello. And introduce me to the suits for hell sake!

What I see when Joseph steps back to let us in is so contrary to the picture that voice evoked all I can do for a good minute is star slack jawed.

Tink’s father is a tall, skinny man who apparently favours his blue and white striped boxers, a snow white vest and-

Gray chokes again when we both look down and get a hold of two paper white skinny legs, black socks that almost reach the man’s knees and boots that are at least a size twelve. At least.

I want to laugh, not because I’m thinking uncharitable thoughts but because seeing Tink, and then her parents, makes me immediately wonder if they found her in a garden somewhere.

She’s a brunette like her dad, short like her mom but that’s where the resemblance ends. And I man ends.

Ian Egan, pleased to meet you rich boys. You come over here to rub elbows? he booms, shaking my hand with a strong grip before greeting Gray, who seems to be turning redder by the second.

I swear to God if he laughs I will kill him. I have just cause, that being the future of my babies and the desperate need I’ve been harbouring to claim Tink since I saw her.

No sir. Tink, I mean Ginny invited us, said we have to try the bread, I improvise, startled when he booms out a laugh that shakes the rafters.

He laughs so hard I see Tink bite her lip to stifle a giggle and shrug at her questioningly.

You’ll see boy. Ian chortles, nodding at Tink. Come on in to the dining room while Lizzie finishes up in the kitchen. Run along Gin and help your mama. Joseph, go tell Abe and Davey to get down here before their mama has a conniption.

We sit, Gray shoving me to the seat, kitty corner to Ian, and it soon becomes apparent that the old devil is enjoying whatever he’s thinking about.

You like my girl, Boy?

Yes, sir, I say, no hesitation whatsoever.

I want him to understand right off that I mean business, whether they like it or not. My Tink deserves only the best, not free meat and the plump wolverine.

Soon Joseph comes back, trailed by two men who turn out to be eighteen and nineteen alike. I hear Gray choke again, spluttering on the sip of water he just took when we hear this because they are literally huge. Football player big, with necks like tree stumps and arms that could shred metal.

I look at them, over at Ian and then back again, not believing my eye sight until Ian laughs uproariously and points to the one called Davey.

He takes after my father and that big lug over there is Abe. He takes after Lizzie’s uncle Thomas. Poor Lizzie called it quits on the babies after that big bruiser came along and I can’t even blame her. Of course I’m thankful since they eat enough to warrant a second job some days.

Aw pop.

Quiet boy, I’m just kidding, don’t be so sensitive for the love of...so Blay, you were telling me about your interest in my Ginny girl.

This man is looking to get me killed and enjoying the show, I realize when Joseph starts and the brothers glare over at me, one cracking his knuckles while the other cracks his neck.

Like I care. Gray took me under his wing when I was a scrawny kid getting bullied and Uncle Ed sent us both to a kickboxing gym. We both know how to handle ourselves with Gray’s take no prisoners attitude thrown in as a bonus.

I could probably just sit back and let him at it without lifting a finger.

You leave Ginny alone. She’s marrying Joe and that’s that. Abe grunts.

I know better than to take Gray anywhere and that hits home when he smiles wisely at the ass.

You want free meat to shove in your face go work for it asshole. Ginny deserves to be with someone she likes, not to be sold off so that you can reap the rewards with your big ass. Sorry Joe, I like you man but you’re just not in Ginny’s league and we all know it. Move on and get a wax man, I can hook you up if you want. The ladies like a well scraped area you know.

Ian chokes on his laughter, turning red when the women walk in and Lizzie gives us all the evil eye.

You find something funny Ian Egan? Why don’t you share so we can all laugh? she asks sweetly, though Lord knows, I don’t think it’s so much a request as an order.

I want to laugh when Ian throws us all a covert wink, his blue eyes, eyes just like Tink’s start sparkling mischievously.

Why Lizzie dear, I was just telling Blay here how glad I am that our Ginny finally found a man she likes! No offense but I like potatoes as much as meat and I can live off a good spud and vodka if need be.

Oh God.

Lizzie’s eyes narrow at us all and I see Tink curl in a little, her cheeks a delightful pink as she forgoes the seat beside Joseph and sits next to me instead.

Nonsense! Joseph is a perfect match for her.

Yeah, Joseph pipes in, beaming at mother Satan.

Tink makes a peeping sound and rolls her eyes before looking up at me, her eyes rounding when she realizes I’m staring Lizzie down with an eye twitch.

Don’t look, she’ll suck out your soul. She whispers dramatically, making her father chortle and her mother glare.

Stop teasing me girlie and help the men get their plates filled.

Tink rolls her eyes and starts reaching for my plate and Gray’s but we stop her with grunts, and instead start filling her plate first. In my house, well in my Uncle Ed’s house ladies always come first.

Aunt Char gets seated and fed first before any of us touch a serving dish, whether she cooked it herself or ordered take out. That’s just the way Ed raised us and by God I won’t let her mom undervalue her that way ever again.

Blay-

Women first, Tink. My Uncle Ed would kick my ass if he caught me treating you or any woman like a second class citizen, isn’t that right Grayson?

Gray nods and piles so many potatoes on her plate I see her eyes bug before she lets out a giggle. Ian and all the others are just as still but I see his eyes appraising me, and when he nods once I feel like I just got handed a freaking award.

That is not the way we do things in this house Mr. George. Ginny-

Is a person, just like your sons and by God, she seems to need food more than these two behemoths. Ian cuts in, earning my undying respect. Hush now honey and fill your plate before these three pigs wipe us out. You’ll need your strength later. he chides, making her blush and giggle.

Well I’ll be damned. Seems the old man still has it huh.

For some reason that makes Ginny grimace but she keeps quiet and starts eating, her eyes trying to tell me something as Gray and I both reach for a piece of homemade bread and take healthy bites.

The table goes silent. Immediately .And I freeze mid-chew just as Gray turns his head, his wide eyes meeting mine.

Chew and swallow, I order myself when the salt hits my taste buds, right after my tooth gives a protesting groan. Christ, it’s like biting into a piece of granite!

Gray’s eyes start watering and I feel my own bulge as Lizzie beams at us both and starts digging into her food. It’s the first sign of humanity she’s shown so far and I don’t want to ruin it but Ian, the bastard just keeps staring expectantly and Tink’s shoulders are shaking so hard she can’t manage to bring a forkful of food to her mouth.

It’s when Lizzie offers us the bread basket that Gray and I can’t hold it any more. I spit, moaning when the piece of rock hard gunk plops onto my plate, bearing what I now understand is a piece of my front tooth and Gray swallows so hard I hear it over the laughter that suddenly can’t be held in anymore.

They’re all pissing themselves, including Joseph as Lizzie glares at me and stabs at her meet.

Welcome to the family boy. I hope you have dental. Ian sputters, laughing harder when my tongue worries my now aching tooth or what’s left of it.

Tink-

She’s still laughing and only laughs harder when she spots my mouth.

Have a beer, Gray drawls, shaking his head as he digs into the beef and potatoes. Goddamn, Mrs. Egan, this is fantastic. The bread was shit, no offense but this I like. Blay’ll probably need a new tooth but it’s worth it if this is what we get all the time. You open Sundays?

The woman beams, lighting up like the freaking fourth of July before sniffing at me with a snarl.

Eat up, Gray my boy. Blay, stop being such a bleeding baby and eat your beef. My soda bread is an acquired taste is all. And stop pouting Ian. Now, boys, are you Catholic?

Chapter four

Ginny

I’ve never laughed so much before in my life and I once saw my cousin Moira flash an entire room when she fell on her ass at Finnigan’s pub the day she went for a Brazilian and couldn’t bear her panties on.

I’m still stunned mama hasn’t started wielding her skillet against the George boys, even after they insulted her precious bread the way they did. Poor Blay looks shell-shocked as he tries to chew his food while his half missing tooth throbs painfully, and Gray’s still holding court and insulting everyone in the weirdest way imaginable.

I don’t get it. They’re laughing, all of them, even when he told Joseph and Abe that if they both like meat so much they should make it official. They chortled right along with us, even mama who I would have sworn was born without a sense of humour, but I have the feeling Joseph and Abe just didn’t quite get the joke.

Blay tried to get in his two cents but mama shot him down with a hiss to shut up and eat since he looks like a stiff breeze could fell him. Utter nonsense. The man is so muscular and fit I feel dwarfed beside him.

Did Ginny ever tell you about the time she had a crush on the Foster boy?

Papa, no!

Oh God.

He ignores me and giggles, yes giggles before sighing sadly and looking at Blay, who doesn’t take his eyes off me, something that’s had me hot and bothered and awkward all night. Honestly, the man has not stopped watching me the entire time, a feat since he’s cutting his own meat and eating without assistance. I won’t tell him his side of the table looks like an animal attacked his plate of course. It’s unsettling and yet sweet all at the same time.

At least, it’s not as terrible as sitting beside Joseph who has a habit of shoving his fork into my plate. How sweet was it when he insisted on feeding me first and-

Well she was all of fifteen when my little darling got it in her head that she had a liking for Conner Foster and started planning her wedding. Took it into her head that if she could just grab his attention he’d realize she was his perfect match and sweep her off her feet. But that boy, he was a fast one even then, and he’d have soon enough noticed my little Ginny as volunteered for the church choir. See, Ginny is and has always been a good girl.

Papaaaa, I groan, dropping my head into my hands when all he does is purse his lips.

Stubborn fool. Jack scuttles under the table as if sensing my distress now that mama has ignored his whines long enough and rubs up against my leg.

"Sush, Ginny, this story is an accomplishment my girl. Anyway, she wants him, is convinced he’s perfect since he’s smooth as a babes bottom or some such nonsense. So she sets out to make him notice her."

God.

Gray’s entranced, hanging on the edge of his seat but Blay just keeps watching me as papa continues

She threw herself at him, started dressing in the raciest clothes and damn near gave my poor Lizzie a heart attack. The woman went to church to pray for her soul every day.

Much good it did me, she’s still a stubborn chitty.

Lizzie, shh.

What happened? Blay asks softly, his eyes kind but twinkling as I blush profusely.

He told her that he never considered a girl until he could sample the goods, Papa says, laughing so hard he almost chokes on his beef.

I see Gray frown and watch Blay’s lip curl in disgust but I drag my eyes away when Davey and Abe both snarl and crack their knuckles. My brothers may be Neanderthals and pigs when it comes to women, but I’m their sister and the standard is different.

If they could see Foster now they’d probably break both of his legs. The notion makes my lips twitch but I’m brought right back down to earth with a thump when papa starts really winding up for the rest of this terrible story.

Now you should know, my Ginny is stubborn! She’s got class but she’s also got sass. She took that statement as a challenge and no matter what we did, she refused to walk away. Sometimes I think she does these things just because we had the gall to say anything to her.

Gray smiles, and I avoid looking at Blay who has gone stiff beside me.

What did she say, Lizzie?

Mama sniffs and gives me the pursed lips and evil eye before rolling them.

She said she just had to show him what true love is.

Kill me now, I mutter, shoving a whole potato into my mouth with a huff.

Yeah! She started lecturing that boy something fierce and had him so wrapped around her little finger I could have sworn he’d changed just for my girl.

Pigs don’t bark, Gray drawls, chuckling at my expression and the huge balls of half chewed potato in my cheeks.

Exactly. They were going steady for a good month when she caught him with her cousin Fayette in her bed. On her birthday.

Yeah. On the brand new princess sheets mama had given me for my birthday. I swear, I can’t remember what hurt more, seeing those two grunting and going at each other or the state of my sheets. Cried so hard when I tossed them in the trash mama had to give me a shot of whiskey to calm me down.

I told you, I really like pink and coming from blue and white sheets before that, I was devastated.

God.

Yeah, but this girl, papa chortles, throwing a thumb at me with sparkling eyes. She’s an Egan through and through. She didn’t even make a sound, just calmly walked over to her guitar, picked it up and decided to multipurpose the thing! Hit them both so hard with that old ukulele I heard the strings snap from down here.

Brother.

Fay was screaming something fierce, Foster was crying like a girl... he wheezes, making me grimace. And Ginny was smiling. Until she caught sight of her stuffed animals, now violated with their ‘foul liquids’.

Even my lips twitch remembering the horror and unholy screech I let out when I saw my babies gazing up at me, traumatised beyond all repair. I went a little nuts after that.

Conner Foster still has a limp and Fay still puts flowers on the grave in the back yard after I buried my poor departed animals. I bet those two will never play hanky panky on the sly again.

I expect Gray’s laughter, heck, even mama’s removed the stick from her butt and chuckling along with the others, except Joseph who hasn’t stopped making eyes at me all night.

What I don’t expect to see and what has me freezing is Blay’s exuberant smile when he gently strokes my cheek.

I knew it was you.

Chapter five

Blain

I was so embarrassed!

Mom keeps huffing over her breakfast plate while Uncle Ed and Aunt Char do their utmost not to laugh as I give mom a blank stare and keep eating, my mood so light after a night spent with Tink that I’m not sure anything can ruin it for me. Not even my mother’s histrionics or the fact that despite my best attempts at seduction Tink didn’t take the bait, and Mrs. Egan kept eyeing me suspiciously and sucking her teeth until we just finally left.

Leaving her there with Joseph of the soft eyes was hard but I did it because one, I saw her face when he kept hugging her after dinner and pulling her into his chest and two, Ian laughingly assured me that his little gypsy’s virtue was safe, mostly thanks to her and her dislike of doing what her mama wants her to.

Of course Gray laughed his ass off all night, even when we stopped in at the men’s club for a drink and met our friends and business partners Ty and Rus there. I spent an hour trying not to kill them all when they started ribbing me for falling for an Irish sprite who seems to have shoved me into the pals category.

Like I didn’t already know that shit! Her, ‘I am so glad I met you’ was sweet. Until she started yapping about me saving her from a shotgun wedding and then let it slip that she was super relieved not to have to replace my pants.

Ego. Decimated.

I woke up this morning with new purpose though and an optimism that I can’t shake, which is great for mom because I’m still grinning through her tirade.

Blain George! Are you even listening to me?

Sure, I drawl, throwing Char a grin.

Dad coughs from his end of the table and I swear I see his lip twitch before Medusa starts hissing at me again.

They were all expecting you and I invited Gliss Humphreys to partner you. How could you not show up to your own mother’s birthday?

Huh.

Remember last year? I ask sweetly, enjoying her flush.

Don’t be rude, Blain, that was an unfortunate oversight.

My ass, Char hisses, hackles rising. "You threw the boy a huge surprise party two months after his birthday because you genuinely didn’t know that you had the wrong date. And then you tried to set him up with that Lorens girl, the one who sounds like