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“Scout?” I questioned.
“You’re sitting here keeping the old man company,” he said. “That’s a true act of kindness right there.”
Then with a cheerful wave he walked to the end of the bar, putting his hand on the small of the blonde’s back as she hopped down off the stool.
I watched, astonished by his level of cluelessness, and astonished by my own sheer stupidity in having feelings for a man who walked around like he was God’s gift to women.
Which, according to rumors, he was.
Sullivan had seen the inside of half the single women’s bedrooms in town and they all agreed on two things— Sullivan made great use of his tongue in bed, and poor use of it out of bed.
“What does she have that I don’t?” I mused, genuinely baffled by the fact that Sullivan never looked at me like that. Like he wanted to consume me.
“What she has is that she means nothing to him. You mean a lot to him. That’s the only difference.”
Lilly sighed. “I know.” She did know that. She just wished she had at least an inkling or two that he was attracted to her.
Liam’s plan would reveal the truth, that was for sure.
“I’m in on fake dating,” she said. “How do we do this?”
ChapterTwo
Liam O’Toole had found that one of the hardest things about being a parent of adult children was when they were acting like an idiot and you couldn’t do a whole hell of a lot about it. Which in the case of his son, Sullivan, was daily. It was frustrating to watch Sullivan wasting his life chasing tail and barely managing to contain his bitterness over his loss.
As a father, he had deep sympathy for Sullivan’s loss. Kendra had been a good woman. But now, four years later, Liam was done with the bullshit. His first priority was Finn, who was well-loved by Sullivan, but didn’t see him enough. He had been patiently waiting for Sullivan to sort out his emotions and it didn’t seem to be happening. At least he had substantially cut back on the drinking. But the meaningless bed-hopping hadn’t slowed down one bit.
Over the years, he had assumed at some point Sullivan would wake up and see Lilly was madly in love with him, but he hadn’t.
So for a while now, Liam had been mentally brewing this plan to make Sullivan see that Lilly might not hang around forever if he didn’t make a move on her. And he couldn’t do much better than Lilly. She was loving, patient, and easy on the eyes.
“One: we commit to two weeks and at least four public dates,” he told Lilly now. “Two: we tell Sullivan very casually and clearly that we’re dating. Three: we can show affection, like touching an arm or a leg or the small of your back, but nothing beyond that.”
Lilly sipped her beer and stared at the bar top. Then she turned to him and nodded. “That makes sense. Everyone in Beaver Bend will be gossiping though. Are you okay with that?”
That made him smirk. “I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about me. But even if I did, why would I care if people are saying Liam O’Toole is dating a beautiful woman twenty years his junior?”
Lilly was tall, fit, and had an elegant neck. A wide mouth with full lips, a straight nose, and expressive brown eyes. Not that he’d ever really thought much about it, because she was Sullivan’s best friend and before that, Kendra’s best friend. But he’d certainly noticed.
Lilly laughed. “Fair enough.”
“What about you? You know what they say. When one man shows interest in a woman, the rest come crawling out of the woodwork. You may have a bunch of men all in your business suddenly.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Doubtful.”
He noticed Sullivan had suddenly reappeared behind the bar, no blonde in sight.
Liam touched Lilly’s knee. “Look who’s back. You ready to do this?”
“Now?” she squawked. “Like, right now?”
He squeezed her knee and leaned in closer to her. “Hey,” he said, in a low voice, wanting her attention.
Lilly turned toward him and started a little when she realized how close he was to her. But her eyes widened and she locked gazes with him. “Yes?” she whispered.
“Look at me like you want me to kiss you,” he murmured.
Her mouth fell open, her full lips forming a soft “O.” “How do I do that?” she whispered.
