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Nodding, Paddy strides off as I stir my new coffee, sipping it propped against the counter. I don’t suppose there’s an excuse I can make to get out of going tonight.
It’s not that I have an issue going to this double date dinner party, per se. It’s just that it feels like adate. If I were going to take the lass on a date, my first choice wouldn’t be Paddy’s house with his little wife. I know she’s close friends with Andie, but a first date should be…somewhat private.
The lass and I aren’t dating. We’re… I have no fucking clue. But we’re notdating. Are we?
Chapter Fourteen
Andie
The house is sparkling, so I head upstairs to prepare for dinner before Connor gets home. I haven’t been to a fancy dinner party in West Roxbury before, so I pick out my nicest dress: the one I wore to Lauren and Paddy’s wedding and a pair of black suede stilettos.
I loved this dress the second I lay eyes on it. It’s dark grey, with three-quarter sleeves and a boat neck, showing off my collarbones. The bodice is fitted and hugs my hips and ass, flaring to my knees.
I knot my hair into a loose chignon, adding dangling silver earrings and keeping my makeup semi-natural, though I do ring my eyes with black liner and add a mulberry lip for a bit of color.
I start with surprise when a dark shape appears in the mirror. Jumping, I spin to see Connor leaning against the doorjamb, his hands in the pockets of his dark grey suit, his feet crossed at the ankle.
His heated eyes slide over my figure as I turn to him, slowly trailing down to my feet and back up again. His tongue darts out and wets his lips, and when he finally speaks, his voice is husky, which had my stomach clenching.
“Ye look beautiful,leannán,” he breathes. My cheeks heat up as I blush. “Are ye ready to leave?”
Not trusting myself to speak without sounding ridiculously breathy, I simply nod. Connor straightens, gesturing for me to lead the way. I grab my silver clutch purse on the way out of the bedroom, and I catch Connor’s excited grin as I collect the covered basket of jelly donuts on our way through the kitchen.
Connor helps me into the front seat of his SUV, pulling out of the drive. There’s some soft jazz coming out of the radio, and I blink at it in surprise.
The only other time I have been in his car, it was playing pop music that I sang along to humiliatingly loudly and out of tune. Jazz suits him better than pop music, with his sharp suits and love of poker.
“Oh, lass.” Connor glances over at me when we turn out of his street. “You should know that I call Laurenseamair no cheithre duilleog.”
I blink at him in surprise, hoping the fact that my heart has sunk into the soles of my stilettos isn’t broadcast across my face. I thought having Connor call me things in Irish was my special little thing. But apparently not.
“What does it mean?” I ask at last, proud I have managed to keep the hurt out of my voice.
“My four-leaf clover,” he replies easily with a smirk.
“Oh,” is all I manage, his eyes darting to me. “Like a lucky charm?”
Connor chuckles. “I was having a run of luck the night we all met Lauren. I started calling her it as a joke, but now….” He shrugs, an evil grin tugging at the corners of his lips. “Well, it pisses Paddy the fuck off, which is an added bonus.”
He smirks as I blink uncertainly at him. “That's something you aspire to? Pissing Paddy off?”
Connor’s smirk widens to a mischievous grin. “All my life.”
“But… why?” I'm so confused. Connor glances across the SUV at me in surprise, shrugging like he hasn’t just ripped through my little fantasy.
“Because it's fun.”
I stay silent. It's clearly more than that. Connor eventually sighs into the silence.
“Because he stole Seamus from me.”
There it is. “Stole him?”
Connor shifts uneasily in his seat, shrugging again. “We moved from Ireland when I was eight, and Seamus was nine. With his parents and my mammy. We were excited lads. It was a grand adventure, to be sure.”
He has slipped back into his Irish accent, but I think it’s subconscious this time.
“Paddy was the first lad Seamus met over here, and they clicked. Thick as thieves from the get-go.”
