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CHAPTER NINETEEN
Teagan satin a lounger in Devlin’s enclosed backyard with her phone against her ear. Emmy had just called her, asking her when she would be back. “I’m staying the night, Emm,” Teagan said to her sister.
After spending some time at the river, Devlin had brought her back to his place. He told her to kick back and relax and to let him take care of her. She’d only been here for an hour and she already felt some of the stress flow from her body.
“I don’t know if Mae said anything about what happened, but I just need a few days. I’m not ready to go home yet.”
Her sister sighed. “I can’t believe that it has come to this. Is he really worth it?”
Teagan took in Devlin behind the grill, stacking Nora’s plate with some extra corn since she’s a vegetarian. He kissed the top of his sister’s hair as she beamed at him. This big, burly man turned into a fluffy teddy bear around his family.
Devlin’s intense eyes rested on Teagan as she said into her phone, “Yes. He’s definitely worth it.”
She wondered if he’d overheard her when he smiled at her from across the backyard.
“Okay. I’ll come and bring you a bag if you promise me you’ll not move in with this guy.”
Teagan rolled her eyes. So much for her sister having faith in Teagan’s sanity. It proved to her once again how her family thought about her.
“Can you at least pack for a few days?” Teagan asked, her annoyance seeping through.
“Yeah. I’ll so you soon.”
“Thanks, sis,” Teagan said before Emmy hung up the phone.
“Everything all right?” Devlin asked as he handed her a plate with grilled salmon and lemon green beans.
“Oh, this smells amazing, Dev. I could get used to this,” she joked.
A myriad of expressions crossed his face before he took a seat next to her. Nora joined them and took a seat in the rocking chair, her plate resting on her thighs.
“Since they got that grill up, they’ve been cooking almost every day,” Nora said.
“Practice makes perfect,” Teagan said with her mouthful of perfectly crispy tender green beans.
Nora smiled and took a bite of her corn.
“How’s school, kid?” Devlin asked Nora.
Nora swallowed down her corn and said, “It’s great! I’ve met this one guy, he—”
Devlin leaned forward in his seat. “What guy?”
Teagan giggled at the look of disbelief Nora shot her before she rolled her eyes. Devlin hooked his arm around Teagan’s neck and brought her head to his so he could kiss her temple.
“Are you two ganging up on me?” The smile in his voice told her he was anything but disgruntled about them getting along from the get go. Nora had been easy to talk to, though a bit shy at first.
The twin sister with the chestnut hair had not only been looks wise a complete opposite from her twin, Catriona. Nora also hadn’t told her any embarrassing stories about her brother thus far and had kept to singing his praises. It was very clear to Teagan how much she obviously wanted Devlin to be happy.
Teagan really wanted to be the girl to make him happy. Although her family didn’t approve of her involvement with this thirty-seven-year-old strip club manager, she had a gut feeling that once she could have everyone seeing eye to eye, they would actually love him for her. How could they not?
“Yo, what’s happenin’?”
Teagan recognized the cheery voice of Devlin’s brother, Kieran, even before he joined them in the backyard with an empty plate.
“Well, I’ll be damned. That’s the second time this week I find you here, Teagan. Man, I need to lie down for a minute. I must be having a seizure, or are you a mirage?”
“Cut the bullshit,” Devlin grumbled, and stood from his seat next to Teagan. He snatched Kieran’s empty plate from his hands and walked over to the grill.
