Pretending like he hadn’t already known this, Connor said, “So, the O’Brien brothers’ charm isn’t working, huh?”
Liam shrugged. “Not yet, but I’ll keep trying.”
“That’s the spirit,” Will said. And then, holding up his water glass, he said, “How about a toast to the beautiful women we love and who love us back?”
Love? Really? Just the thought of it made Connor’s heart race. The word had slipped off Will’s tongue smooth as silk, but he was getting married soon, so it made sense. Finn and Harper had recently moved in together, and Connor suspected that they’d be next. That left him and Liam. But Liam had lowered his head and appeared to be busy choosing the best-looking mozzarella stick from the appetizer tray.
“C’mon, Connor. Raise your glass,” Finn demanded.
Feeling ill at ease, Connor obeyed, and the three of them clinked glasses before taking a drink.
“Why the hesitation, man?” Finn asked once they’d set their drinks down.
Connor shrugged. “Julia and I haven’t said that to each other yet.” Maybe it was the beer that was making him talk, or maybe he just really needed some input from the guys, but he continued. “Things haven’t exactly been smooth and easy for us.”
Finn and Will laughed. “Love isn’t supposed to be easy,” Finn said.
“If it’s too easy, it’s probably friendship, not love,” Will added.
Finn eyed him for a second as if he knew Will was referring to Harper.
“Hold on. Is this guys’ night or ladies’ night?” Liam asked. “Because right now, it sounds an awful lot like ladies talking.”
“Don’t be jealous, Lee,” Finn said, giving him a little shove.
“Why would I be? I’m the only guy here who can go out with whoever he wants.”
Connor laughed. “There’s only one woman you really want, and she’s sitting right across the room.”
“Speak for yourself, brother,” Liam said and then finished off his beer.
“Excuse me, gentlemen. Your…um…ladies wanted me to tell you that they left.” This came from the waiter their women had been ogling.
“Did they seem okay to drive?” Will asked, showing concern.
“You must be Will,” the waiter said.
“Yes.”
“Okay, then. Megan said to tell you that she’s perfectly fine and she’ll meet you at her place later.”
“Any message for me?” Finn asked.
“Which one are you?” the waiter said.
Poor guy. Their women had obviously used him to impart information on their way out. Connor smiled at the thought of it.
“I’m Finn, the best and the brightest O’Brien brother,” he said.
Connor and Liam shook their heads, and Will let out a laugh.
“Let’s see. Harper is yours, right?” the waiter said.
“Or so he likes to think,” Connor teased. “It’s really the other way around.”
“Right. Well, Harper said to tell you she’ll wait up for you.”
“Oooohhhhh,” Liam said. “Somebody’s going to get lucky tonight.”
“Yeah, and it’s obviously not you!” Finn said.
Liam gave him the finger, which they all ignored. This was typical behavior for the brothers, and even Will seemed to be getting used to it.
“So, which one of you is Connor?” the waiter asked, looking between the two remaining brothers.
Liam raised his hand, and Connor smacked it down. “That would be me,” Connor said firmly.
“Okay. Julia said to have fun and that she’ll talk to you in the morning.”
It might not have been as enticing a message as Finn and Will had gotten, but Connor smiled all the same. He could read between the lines, and he understood what Julia had been trying to tell him. She knew how much he’d needed a night out, and she was giving him free rein to stay as long as he wanted. Which meant that she was sensitive to his needs and that she trusted him. That was huge in his book, especially since Cam had come back into his life. The fact that Julia trusted him made his heart warm. Maybe love was the right word to describe this feeling after all.
“Now, let me think,” the waiter said, tapping his index finger to his chin. “There was one other message.”
All heads turned toward Liam, who wore an expression of surprise and hope.
“McKayla, the pretty blonde one.”
“Yeah, that’s right. What did she say?” Liam asked, not bothering to hide his impatience.
“She said, and I quote, ‘Keep your nose out of my business.’”
Before Liam could react, Finn and Connor burst out laughing. Will was the only one who had the decency to look sorry.
“Are you serious, man?” Liam asked as if the waiter might have gotten him confused with someone else.
“You’re Liam, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, then, yes. Sorry, man.” And with that, the waiter turned and walked away. A few minutes later, Liam left, not even bothering with excuses.
“I gotta go,” he mumbled, and that was it.
“Gosh, that sucks,” Will said, shaking his head.
Connor snickered but not so much about Liam as about Will using the word “gosh.” He was as straight as an arrow, that one.
“He’ll get over it,” Finn said and then finished off the last of his beer. “You guys about ready to go? I’ve got a pretty lady waiting at home for me.”
“Me too,” Will said.
“I guess that leaves me, huh?” Connor said, although being alone had never really bothered him. In fact, he usually enjoyed it, or he had until recently. But suddenly, the idea of sitting there drinking alone didn’t appeal to him. He’d much rather be going home to Julia. Damn! Maybe I really do love her.
They’d made Will the designated driver, although they’d all driven there separately. It turned out that none of them had drunk enough to need Will’s services, which was probably a good thing. But it also made Connor feel old. They were all starting to “settle down” even though none of them were married yet. He’d bet money that it wouldn’t be long before Finn proposed to Harper. And now Connor had Ava and Julia. And if Liam had his way, he’d be tangled up with McKayla before long.
What a crazy thought. Just a matter of months ago, Connor had been as free as a bird, flitting between women and not even considering settling down. And now he was the father of a beautiful baby girl, who, if he were being honest, he missed like crazy whenever they were apart.
Suddenly, he didn’t want to be free as a bird anymore. He wanted to be the involved dad— a man who was there for his daughter from now until forever. But when he looked into the future, it wasn’t just Ava’s face he saw. He saw Julia’s face too.
Oh. My. God. I do love her!
“Hey, Connor? Something wrong?” Finn asked, breaking into his thoughts.
“No. But, I just decided that I’m ready to get out of here too.” He might not have someone waiting at home, but he knew right where he wanted to be.
Up until then, it had been easy to forget that Will was Julia’s cousin. First, they didn’t look that much alike, and second, Will had just been one of the guys. But now Will studied him closely.
“I have to admit that at first, I wasn’t so sure about Julia dating you. But now I can see how much she cares about you,” Will said.
“Goes both ways,” Connor said, looking him directly in the eyes.
“I can see that.”
“I wish it were that easy for the rest of her family.”
“You’re talking about Dr. Lee, right?”
Connor shrugged.
“I get it. He’s my uncle, but he’s always scared the crap out of me,” Will said. “I’m related to Julia through Debra.”
Connor smiled at Will’s attempt to apologize for Julia’s dad.
“Anyway, he’s just overprotective because Julia’s his only child,” Will said.
Connor could relate. He’d become fi
ercely protective of his own daughter in the short time he’d known her, and he suspected the feeling would continue to grow. While he and Will had been talking, Finn had paid their tab, and now he stood, indicating that guys’ night was officially over.
Connor and Will stood too, all three of them anxious to get back to their women. They said goodbye in the parking lot and took off in their separate vehicles. As Connor drove through town and then down the two-lane road toward his house, he debated about turning around and heading to Julia’s.
He felt confident that if he showed up on her doorstep, she’d let him in and even invite him to spend the night, but he decided that wasn’t the best course of action. His thoughts were all over the place, and he needed some time to process what he’d discovered—that he loved her.
He was afraid that if he went to her house, they’d tumble into bed together, and then he’d tell her he loved her before, during, or after they had sex. And for some reason, he didn’t want it to go down that way. He wanted to tell her in the light of day when she least expected it, not during the throes of passion. Maybe it was because of the way their relationship had begun. Originally, that’s what he’d thought it had been about—sex. But now he knew different, and he wanted her to believe him when he said the words.
So, even though his body yearned for her and he would have liked nothing better than to be wrapped up in her arms, he went straight home. But as for going straight to sleep, that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he lay there in the dark, hands behind his head, and tried to formulate a plan for when he would tell her. After a half-hour of thinking, he realized he sucked at making plans. He was much better at shooting from the hip, at spontaneity. Julia was the one who excelled at planning, not him.
“Errrrrrr,” he growled after several more minutes went by and he still hadn’t come up with an idea. But then he decided to cut himself some slack. He would know when the time was right, and then he would go for it.
“Ahhh. Much better,” he said, wriggling down beneath the sheet. After all, Julia knew him, and she wouldn’t expect some big production. He would do what he did best—play it by ear and then hope like hell that she’d say it back.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I recently started giving her solid food,” Cam said, “so if she seems hungry, you can try to feed her from one of the jars I brought.” She proceeded to hold up jars of baby food ranging from fruit to mixed veggies to cereal.
“We’ll be fine, won’t we, sweetheart?” Julia said as she gave Ava a squeeze. This was the first time she’d seen Cam since Connor had had “the talk” with her. It had been awkward at first, but the minute Cam had handed Ava to her, Julia’s discomfort had disappeared.
Oddly enough, Cam had agreed to let Julia watch Ava while Connor and his brothers helped Cam move into her new apartment. Julia took that as a positive sign, since Cam could have left Ava with her parents instead.
Connor winked at Julia. “I’m not sure who’s going to have more fun, you or Ava.”
Julia smiled broadly while Cam looked on. While she didn’t want to rub Cam’s nose in it, she had decided not to hide the way she felt about Connor or Ava. It was time that everyone started getting used to this, Cam included.
“I need to get some tie-downs from the garage. Be right back,” Connor said.
After he left the room, Julia and Cam stared at each other for a moment, and Julia hefted Ava to her other hip. “She’s getting heavier,” Julia said, hoping to break the ice.
“I know. Ever since she started on solids, I can tell a difference,” Cam said, reaching out to touch Ava’s hand.
“Connor said your new apartment is really nice. I bet you’re looking forward to moving in.”
Cam nodded. “It will be great for Ava to have her own room. We’ve been sharing my old bedroom at my parents’ house, and it’s kind of crowded.”
“I bet. It’s amazing how much stuff babies need.”
After a brief pause, they both started talking at once.
“I…”
“Look…”
“You go ahead,” Julia said.
“I just wanted to say that I appreciate you helping out with Ava.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“And I’m…sorry. For the way I treated you before.”
Julia tried not to let her mouth fall open, but Cam obviously read her look of shock.
“This has been really tough on me, and I guess I was hoping…well, I thought…”
“That you, Connor, and Ava would become a family,” Julia finished for her.
Cam nodded. “But now that I know that’s not going to happen, I need to move on.”
“Just to clarify, that doesn’t mean moving away, right?”
“I considered moving back to Denver, but I don’t think that would be best for Ava.”
Thank God.
“Besides Connor, she has a lot of other people here who love her.”
Julia nodded. “Myself included.”
Just then, Connor swept back into the room, loaded down with various straps. He looked between the two women, and not noticing any signs of discord, he smiled. “We should get going,” he said to Cam.
Cam started to follow him, but then she turned back around and said to Julia, “I should give you my phone number, just in case.”
“She can just call me,” Connor said, but then he clamped his mouth shut when Julia frowned at him. “Never mind. Julia should have your number too. I’ll just wait outside.” With that, he took turns kissing Julia and Ava on the cheek and then sauntered out the door.
“Men can be so oblivious sometimes,” Cam said, her mouth turning up into a semblance of a smile.
Julia laughed. “Yet they think they know everything.”
“Exactly.”
Julia set Ava down in the middle of the carpet while she and Cam exchanged phone numbers. Then Cam bent down to give Ava a squeeze.
At least she’s not wearing a V-neck today.
When she stood back up, Cam said, “I’m not completely over feeling jealous of you and Connor.”
It sounded like a warning, but her expression didn’t contain the malice that it had before.
“Same here,” Julia said, surprising herself with her bluntness.
Her admission seemed to take Cam aback too. “Really? You’re jealous of me?”
“You were the first woman he loved, and you gave him a child. I’d say that gives me two valid reasons to be jealous.”
Cam shook her head. “But he loves you now. Surely, you know that.”
Julia’s eyes widened, but she didn’t have time to respond.
“Uh, Cam? You about ready to go?” Connor said through the screen door.
Julia felt a moment of panic, wondering if he’d heard what Cam had just said, but he appeared to be his usual easygoing self.
“Coming. I was just giving Julia some last-minute instructions.”
“Okay,” he said and retreated again.
“See what I mean? He doesn’t have a clue about what we were really talking about.”
Julia giggled, but it came out strained.
“Call me if something comes up with Ava,” Cam called over her shoulder before disappearing out the door.
After they left, Julia slumped down on the rug next to Ava and handed her a toy. Ava babbled enthusiastically and temporarily distracted Julia from her rambling thoughts.
Is it true? Does Connor love me? Did he tell Cam that? No. He wouldn’t tell her before he told me. Would he?
She’d probably been sitting there with Ava for all of twenty minutes before the doorbell rang.
“Hello,” Harper called through the screen.
“Come on in,” Julia said, not wanting to get up and leave Ava alone.
But it wasn’t just Harper who’d come to visit. McKayla entered the room too, and each of them was carrying a bag from a local children’s clothing store.
“We come bearing gifts,” Harper sang as she and McKa
yla plopped down on the floor next to Julia and Ava.
“Ohmigod. She’s the cutest thing ever!” McKayla exclaimed.
“I told you,” Harper said.
“Well, you’re her aunt, so I would expect you to say that,” McKayla said.
Harper stared at her like she’d said something crazy. “I’m not her aunt.”
“Yet,” McKayla said. “But you will be soon.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
McKayla shook her head and reached out to hold Ava’s hand.
Julia looked between the sisters with a touch of envy. How she’d wished she had a sibling, and now she was surrounded by people who had them. Connor, Finn, and Liam, Harper and McKayla. While it would have been nice to have someone be related to her by blood, this was the next best thing.
“What’s in the bags?” Julia asked.
“Here. See for yourself,” Harper said, handing her a bag.
“Shouldn’t Cam be the one to open these?”
Harper shook her head. “We didn’t buy them for Cam. We bought them for Ava, and we wanted to give them to her when you were here.”
Tears pricked the corner of her eyes at her friends’ show of support. Julia leaned over to give Harper a hug, and then she hugged McKayla too for good measure.
“Geez, you two are sappy. Just open it!” McKayla said.
Julia reached into Harper’s bag first and pulled out an adorable two-piece outfit. The shirt read If you think I’m cute, you should see my daddy! The set also came with a matching bib.
“How sweet! Connor will love it!” Julia said.
“Now mine,” McKayla said.
McKayla’s gift was a colorful floral-print sundress and matching sunhat.
“Wow. This little girl is going to be so spoiled,” Julia said just as the doorbell rang again.
“Helllloooo,” Barbara called through the screen before letting herself in.
Julia had known that Harper might stop by, but she’d had no idea that Mrs. O’Brien was coming over. Not that she should have been surprised. Everyone knew how thrilled Barbara was to finally have a grandchild. It was all Connor could do to prevent her from coming over every time Ava was there, claiming he still needed to bond with her on his own.
But Barbara wasn’t one to sit back and wait for an invitation.
The Sweetest Mistake (O'Brien Brothers #2) Page 18