“Jackass!” Raven laughed as she poked Bran’s side. Silently dying over Bran’s reference to her being his girlfriend. Telling herself to not make a mountain out of a moment. “Fine,” Raven snapped with faux annoyance. “Let’s work quick so you can get a nap in.”
Bran wasthe one who felt like he was sixteen. He was obsessed. Possessive. And aroused as all hell. He knew that this trip would either set the tone or write the ending of their budding relationship.
“Why don’t we spend the rest of the flight making a list of places you and your sisters want us to look at for Wolves. I also want to add stops that are purely for fun.”
“Agreed.” Raven already had her laptop out.
“Tonight, we’ll party, or as close an approximation as I can manage considering my age, get up early, start visiting some of your artisans, find some obscure pub for lunch, and visit some of the countryside. I’m sure the Fitzwilliam butler will have several suggestions.” Ignoring Raven’s snort of amusement, he went on.“I’ll have Dom, that’s the Butler’s name, speak to you before we go out tonight.”
“A man with a plan. I like it. Two nights at the Fitzwilliam, and then we’ll be off to Roscommon. Nan’s home is in a lovely town with the Curlieu Mountains as its backdrop. Oh, it also has phenomenal shopping and craftsmen. We can workandvisit family. Have you ever been to Boyle?”
“No, honestly, we mostly travel for business. Obviously, my family has distant relations in Ireland. Our family is on the board of trustees for Trinity College in Dublin.”
“You’re joking?”
“I’m not,” Bran smirked but admitted, “It basically means we had family that attended once upon a time. So, we show up to fundraising galas every few years, or if we can’t make it, send a donation.”
Your family is... wow... not intimidating, at least not to my sisters and me, but definitely... connected.”
“Does it bother you?” Bran hadn’t thought about how Raven would feel stepping into his world. She grew up in an amazing family too. Raven was intelligent, thoughtful, and put together, though he liked her hair wet and wearing a baggy T-shirt as she had at his dad’s house. He hoped his family’s wealth wasn’t something that could come between them.
“Of course not, Bran. It just takes me aback at times. When you speak of butlers with the type of ease other people, like me, order some fries at McDonald’s.” She laughed as her hands were making directionless swirls in the air. “I mean... yes, it’s different, but... but I’m with you, speaking to you. Not your wallet or your family’s connections. You could be taking my order at a drive-thru, and I’d see a gorgeous towhead with a killer smile. Not your job. I’d want that smile directed at me every day.”
Bran could only look at Raven. It was quite something to realize she held something in her that he hadn’t even known he needed. He knew that with Raven, he wasn’t just a means to an end like he’d been for his birth mother. He wasn’t a convenience or a trophy to show friends.
He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. She was tiny compared to Bran. Delicate. The thought of them parting ways when their trip ended didn’t set well. Even though it was too soon, Bran wanted her to live with him. Damn it, he knew it was fast. It didn’t matter. Gran didn’t think it was weird. Great, he was taking love life advice from his grandmother now.
It felt odd to consider that he had feelings for a woman other than lust. Hedidwant to rip all her clothes off the moment they hit the penthouse. He wouldn’t, of course, but he wanted to... badly. Maturity was a real downer sometimes.
Instead of divulging his inner thoughts, the soft ones and the lustful ones, Bran leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I want to smile at you every day and have you smile back.”
12
Raven and Bran spent about forty-five minutes in their penthouse, fifteen of that was speaking to Dom, the butler, about tomorrow’s plans, and then they got a lift, from Dom, of course, to Temple Bar.
The bright, red facade always made her smile. The polished wood, chatter, music, and rows upon rows of amazing whiskies, were what this girl’s dreams were made of. Sitting on a pair of barstools, munching on her favorite pub meal, fish and chips, Raven’s knee kept brushing Bran’s— she was extraordinarily happy.
“You keep smiling, Raven. Thinking about our accommodations or are these fries better than McDonald’s?” Bran was teasing her about the sleeping situation. Little did he know what was packed in her suitcase. Spoiler— it wasn’t a baggy shirt.
“The fries are amazing.” Raven picked up two warm, crispy potato bits and shoved them in her mouth. After swallowing, she reached up to Bran’s lips and gently swiped a bit of ketchup from their corner, quickly sticking her finger in her mouth and delicately licking the tip.
Bran’s focus went from zero to triple-digit intense on her mouth. “I just hope my snoring from the bedroom down the hall doesn’t keep you up all night.”
“You snore? Doubtful, or River would have texted me the moment she knew of our trip.” Bran picked her hand up, the same one that had brushed his lips a moment before, and kissed her palm warmly. He was definitely better at sexy.
“She would have too, the bitch.”
“You miss them?”
Raven thought about her sisters at home in Oklahoma. “It’s not like, ‘Oh no, I won’t be able to sleep without them,’ but more like... reminders to myself to tell them what I’ve seen and felt while we’re apart. That probably seems silly, but... we are just so very close. We were before our parents’... accident. We’re more so now.”
“Not silly in the least, Raven. A testament to how strong your family’s connection is. I imagine your parents would want just such a bond for the three of you.”
Raven stopped herself from saying— Yes. Barely. She did have the ability to be articulate, but when Bran was likethis, words did manage to escape her.
“Thank you. I told them earlier I would let them know how Temple Bar was when we get back to the room... rooms,” she smiled at Bran, teasing him.
“My dad, brother, and I may be as bad,” Bran admitted. “I don’t think we’ve ever not spoken or texted one another every day.”
