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My heart jumped as I stared at the back of Ina’s head. She had no idea the gift she just gave me by calling Harley her brother. Fuck, she loved my family like they were her own. This woman amazed me.
“Don’t worry, sis.” Harley gave her a playful shove. “I’ll be here for a while longer. The place won’t be built, furnished, and ready for openin’ for at least two years since I’ll do a lot of the work. Work won’t even start on it for a few months.”
“Thank God I’ve advertised that we’re hirin’ mechanics. I’d up and have a heart attack if I had to schedule jobs with a man down.”
I chuckled because it looked like that scenario might have been an actual nightmare of hers.
“Tell me everythin’ about what ye have planned for the pub. What will it look like?”
“Well, it’s a pub, Ina.” Harley chuckled. “Ye know what a pub looks like.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never been in a pub before.”
I didn’t have to look at my brother to know he had the same look of disbelief on his face as me.
“B-But you’re Irish,” Harley stammered. “Even Irish people who don’t drink frequent pubs. It’s a rite of passage.”
Ina shrugged. “I guess I’ve just never gotten around to it.”
“Well”—Harley puffed his chest out—“I’ll be honoured if The Hideout is the first pub ye visit.”
I grinned. “Love that name.”
“I’ll be there on openin’ day with bells on and me purse full so I can buy everyone a round!”
Ina’s excitement for my brother made me fall that bit more in love with her. I froze the second the thought entered my mind. I didn’t know when it happened or when my heart and mind recognised my feelings for her as love, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I loved her. It scared the shite out of me.
I was quiet as Harley and Ina spoke. I was watching her through a new lens now. My eyes roamed over her body, pausing to watch as she spoke with her hands when talking to my brother and scratching her neck when she was unsure of something she said. She had different smiles too, I realised. The smile she wore now was for when she was excited, but my favourite was the smile she only gave to me when I was loving her body.
Christ, I loved this woman … now I just had to tell her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Date
* * *
I always thought I wanted half a dozen kids, but my nephew Jax made me re-evaluate that daily.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Sunday was the only day of the week when the garage was closed. Branna Slater liked having barbecues when the weather was nice, and as Ireland was currently experiencing a heatwave that made us Irish complain about the weather more than usual, it meant she was cooking lots of food and wanted everyone to stop by and have some. She didn’t have to tell me twice. You’d be sure to find my brothers and me where there was good free food.
“I honestly don’t know,” Aideen answered my question. “I think the heat has him tired and cranky.”
That was an understatement.
“Are ye sure he isn’t a changlin’?” I quizzed teasingly. “Maybe the fae have the real Jax.”
“Don’t say that!” Aideen hissed as she blessed herself and brushed my words off her shoulder like they were dirt. “I’d die, Dante!”
“What’s the fae?”
“The fair folk, fairies, goblins, gremlins, giants, banshees, leprechauns, the púca,” I explained to Nico. “Ye know, Irish folklore.”
“Ah, fairy tales.”
“The fae aren’t tales!”
The fact that every Irish woman in the room spat this made Nico shrink in his chair.
“Okay,” he said in response.
We all hid our muffled laughter at his meek response, but our reactions only went and upset Jax further. Kane had a snoozing Locke lying across his chest, so Aideen had the task of trying to calm a flaying Jax down. The fact that he was having none of her soothing told me he was really riled up because he was, without a doubt, a mammy’s boy.
“Jax,” I said, gaining his attention. “Come to Uncle.”
I held my arms out to him, and he reached for me instantly. I stood while Branna and the others filled plates sky-high with food. My stomach rumbled, but I ignored it and focused on my nephew. I walked into the kitchen with him. Aideen was hot on my heels.
“Come on, now.” I bounced him. “No more tears, okay? There’s nothin’ for ye to be upset about.”
Jax stared at me. His grey eyes seemed huge when he cried.
“D’ye have a sore tummy?” I patted his belly. “Does it hurt?”
He shook his head.
“Is your mouth sore?” I quizzed, wondering if any of his teeth were giving him trouble. “Does it hurt when ye eat somethin’?”
Again, he shook his head.
