Her gaze narrows on me, then looks to Wendy, a small smile tugging at her lips, and I can see a plan formulating. “I’ll stay out of yer way, if...”
“If what?” I ask suspiciously.
She smiles. “As long as yer nanny stays on.”
I glance at Wendy, who's chewing on her bottom lip, and although I can’t read her thoughts, I know for a fact that she has no long term plans of staying here. This was just a summer adventure for her. Sure, I don’t doubt that she has strong feelings for me, but I can’t ask her to stay - and neither can my aunt. Even if I do love her ... she has every right to leave.
“That’s not up to me,” I finally say, looking back at my aunt.
“No, you’re right,” Naive says with a grin, her gaze focused on Wendy. “It’s up to her. So what do ye say, lass?”
“Will ye stay, Wendy?” Bradan asks, wrapping his fingers around hers and looking at her with pleading eyes. “Please.”
“I...” she glances at me, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I promise no more shenanigans,” Colin says, then with a shrug adds, “At least none involving ol’ Mrs. O’Flynn’s sheep.”
Wendy laughs at that.
“And I’ll help out more,” Riley says, surprising me. “Whatever ye need.”
I take her hand, her flesh soft and warm, and I bring it to my lips. “I can’t tell ye to stay, love. And I don’t want ye to feel guilted into it. No matter what ye choose, we’ll be alright.” I place her palm over my heart. “Sure ye’ll take my heart with ye, but I want ye to do what will make ye happy.”
She lets out a shaky breath and leans into me. “I want to stay. But...”
“But what, lass?”
She chews on her bottom lip, and I can tell she wants to say something, but she holds back. “Nothing. I want to stay, and I will if that’s what you want.”
A smile tugs at my lips, and it takes all my strength not to kiss her, but with my aunt Naiv watching, I know now’s not the right time.
“Aye,” I tell her. “I want that very much.”
Chapter Ten
Wendy
How was I supposed to tell Ewan that I wanted to stay, but not as his nanny - as so much more? But it’s still so soon. Sure, I may have given him my heart when I gave him my body, but I’m not sure exactly where he sees us going.
It’s been two weeks since Naiv was here. I’ve spent every night in Ewan’s bed, talking, making love, allowing myself to fall deeper and more madly in love with him every moment we share together.
My days are spent watching over Bradan and the twins, who both continue to find creative ways to get into trouble. But I’m starting to realize that it’s part of them just being boys.
Now that both Riley and Colin have started helping out more, I’ve been able to take over the cooking for the household and the guests. The three younger boys have actually started helping me in the kitchen, and surprisingly Liam shows signs of being a good chef.
When I get back to the house after grocery shopping in town, Bradan runs out telling me not to come inside yet.
“Why not?” I ask, dreading just what the boys have gotten up to this time. My arms full of grocery bags and I don’t want the food to get warm in the summer heat.
Bradan grabs a bag from my hands and Colin runs outside to grab the rest. “Ye have to wait, Wendy!” he tells me before rushing back inside.
I stand, a little perplexed, but decide to do as the boys ask. Pulling my phone from my purse, I call my mom on FaceTime. But she answers the call on audio only.
“What are you calling me for?” she asks. There is noise in the background that surprises me. The bookshop is closed for the day.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“Oh just doing the dishes, darling,” my mom says as my dad grabs the phone and asks what I’m doing.
“I’m just getting home from the grocery store. Why?”
“I just want to tell you how proud I am of you.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“I just don’t think I tell it to you enough. And I think what you’ve done this summer with the O’Brion boys is something special. And your mother and I are very proud of you for always following your heart.”
“Okay, Dad, well, thanks.” I smile, his words so unexpected. “I always thought you were disappointed your daughter wasn’t a writer or philosopher or something.”
“No, that isn’t the case, love. Your mom and I just want you to be happy, no matter what you do or where you live.”
“Where I live, what do you mean?” I ask, but then the boys are running outside, telling me I can come in. “Um, Dad, I gotta go. Tell Mom I love her, okay?”
“Okay, and Wendy?”
“Yes?”
“I can’t wait to see you soon.” He hangs up before I can ask what that means.
Liam and Niall tell me to turn around so they can blindfold me, and I laugh. “What are you guys doing? Should I be worried?”
“Nah,” Liam says. “Nothing to worry about. Ye trust us, dontcha?”
“I thought I did, but then last week you put a sheet of plastic wrap over the toilet seat.”
“I’m really sorry ‘bout that,” Niall says, taking my hand. Liam takes my other. I can’t see a thing, but I know I am being led into the house through the front door.
When I step inside, I smell something delicious and hear Ewan playing the guitar, singing a song. To me.
She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me.
The boys take off my blindfold and I gasp, seeing my parents here alongside all the boys I have come to love over the last few months.
“Oh,” I gasp, covering my mouth in surprise. “Mom, Dad.” I shake my head, looking at the man who I have fallen in love with. He finishes singing the song, “The Rose of Tralee,” and he sets down the guitar, coming over to me.
He takes both my hands in his. “I love ye, Wendy Darlin’. And I know Ireland isn’t yer home, but yer heart is the only place I want to dwell. I can make life work alone, sure, I have fer a good long time. But I don’t want to. I want to make a life with ye.”
“Ewan,” I say, tears brimming in my eyes. “I love you.”
“Right good thing to hear considering I’m asking ye to be my bride.” He drops down to one knee and pulls out a Claddagh ring, the center heart a diamond, glittering just like Ewan’s eyes. He looks at me the way a woman could only dream of. With so much love it makes my own heart burst.
“Marry me, Wendy, and make me the happiest bloke in Ireland.”
“Of course I will marry you,” I say as he slips the ring on my shaking finger. I look around the room in shock as Ewan stands and twirls me about the room. “Mom, Dad, when did you get to Ireland?”
“Yesterday,” Dad says. “We had to meet the man who called and asked for your hand in marriage.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “I’m so happy you’re here,” I say, hugging them both. My mom kisses my cheeks and my father is shaking Ewan’s hand. “I was just talking to you on the phone,” I say, laughing.
“I was scared we would give it away,” Mom says. “But we didn’t. It was a perfect surprise.”
“We have another surprise,” Bradan says.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“We made you a cake,” Liam says. “Well, Colin did most of it.”
The boys present me with a three-layer chocolate cake that could very well topple if we don’t eat it quickly. Riley produces a bottle of whiskey for a toast, and Ewan growls at him, asking where he got such a thing, but before he can answer, Mom is passing around slices of the gooey chocolate cake.
“I can’t believe you planned all this,” I say to Ewan, wrapping my arms around his neck. “We’re getting married. You and me. It’s crazy.”
“You said you’d never done anything wild in ye life, I figured marrying a filthy Irishman might just do the trick.”
He kisses me, and I kiss him back and somehow, in that moment I know that it’s not so crazy - it’s love.
Epilogue I
Ewan
“My god, ye’re the most beautiful bride that’s ever lived,” I tell my wife as I lay her down on our bed.
Just as Wendy had wanted, the wedding ceremony was simple, with just our closest friends and family. Her girlfriends, who were also nannies this summer are here, Dina, Sofie, and Elsie. Somehow all four women found themselves husbands. Whoever runs that nanny agency needs to start a matchmaking one.
Fiona’s father, Pastor Connery, performed the ceremony, and Mrs. O’Flynn provided hundreds of flowers from her gardens to decorate the yard and house with. Wendy’s parents are here of course, and they are even talking about selling their bookshop and moving to Ireland permanently. I know they are hoping for grandkids eventually, but they have taken a shining to my brothers in a way that still makes me get overly sentimental. They’re the grandparents my brothers never had.
Everything was perfect, and even the boys behaved themselves for the most part. Except for the small incident when Liam and Niall lost the wedding rings. Thankfully, Riley found them in time, and the crisis was averted.
There are still some guests lingering in the backyard, and our family and friends from out of town are staying at the Bed and Breakfast. But even though the music still plays, I couldn’t wait to get my bride to our marital bed.
“Today was wonderful,” Wendy says, tugging at my tie, then starting to loosen the buttons on my shirt.
“Ye’re happy?” I brush my lips across her jaw, down her neck, then move behind her and start to unfasten all the tiny little buttons attaching the ivory lace.
“I’ve never been happier,” she says as I slide her gown off.
Now that she’s out of her gown I take in the delicate lace lingerie she’s wearing just for me. My cock is instantly hard at the sight of her tits pushed up in the corset, her stockings held up by a garter belt. And instead of a pair of panties covering her, that perfect pink pussy is utterly bare.
“Ye’ve made me the luckiest man alive,” I tell her, my hand running over her bare ass. “And being Irish, I already had a lot of luck on my side.”
Her lips twitch and she wraps her arms around my neck. “You thought you were pretty lucky the day I met you at the airport.” She laughs. “I can’t believe some of the things you said to me.”
“I thought ye liked when I talked filthy to ye.”
“I do.” She tilts her head back and smiles up at me. “Are you going to talk dirty to me now?”
“I’m going to do a lot more than talk, love.”
I run my hands over her wet slit, and my cock aches to fill up my bride. She presses me down onto the bed and straddles me, letting me take in her gorgeous body. “Feck,” I groan, pulling her mouth to mine. I kiss her, hard, loving the way she feels in my arms. She sits down on me, sinking herself onto my cock and she moans in pleasure as I begin to fill her the way she so desperately needs.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” she tells me, panting as we move as one.
“Me too, love,” I admit. “God, I need ye.”
She rocks her hips and I pull the cups of the corset down, sucking her round tits as she rides me. “I can’t wait until the honeymoon,” she purrs as I roll her over onto her back, moving deeper against her.
“Tomorrow, love,” I tell her. We’re flying out from Dublin at dawn, headed to Australia. We’ll see my brother while we are there, but we’re mostly excited for the snorkeling we plan to do in the Barrier Reef. Neither of us have done much in the way of wild and crazy - I mean, besides falling in love and getting married in a single summer. So we’re going to start our marriage with a much needed alone time - without my brothers anywhere near us.
“Oh, Ewan,” she whimpers, my cock nearly ready to explode. When I finish inside her, she is breathless, coming down from the orgasm that washes over her.
“I love you so much,” she says, resting her head against my chest. “But I have something to tell you.”
I tilt her chin up when I hear the worry in her voice. “What is it?”
“It’s going to get busier around here.” She chews on the inside of her lip watching me.
“What do ye mean?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” I pull back, and sit up, pulling her with me. “For sure?”
“Are you upset? I know it’s going to be a lot of work but—”
“Ye’re having my baby.” I grin at her, my heart overflowing. “Lass, ye couldn’t have given me a better wedding gift.”
Epilogue II
Wendy
Eight months later...
“They’re so delicate,” Ewan says, sitting beside me on our bed, holding Brigid in his arms. She’s got dark hair like her father, and he’s right, she is delicate, like a fairy, and I can’t believe how much I love her already. How much I love both of them.
“Shush, now,” I say softly when Moira starts to fuss in my arms. Unlike her sister, she has reddish blonde hair and came out with a wail and her tiny fists shaking. She might be delicate, but she’ll be my little fighter.
“After being around boys, it’s going to be strange raising girls,” Ewan says.
I chuckle, “You mean easier.”
“Maybe for ye, love,” he says with a grin pulling at his lips. “But I’m already protective of them. I don’t know what I’m going to do when they start walking or go off to school.”
“Or when they bring their first boy home?”
He groans. “I can’t even think about that.”
There’s a knock on the door, and when it opens my lost boys are standing there. But they’re not lost anymore. Far from it. Riley will be off to university in the fall, and we’re hoping he’ll be studying more than running around with Fiona, who he’s still head over heels for. Colin hasn’t gotten into any trouble with Mrs. O’Flynn since the sheep incident, and he’s got himself a girlfriend. A sweet little thing named Nora who has already offered to help out with the twins whenever I need it.
Liam and Niall still find ways to vex me, but I’m used to their antics now.
“They’re so small,” Bradan says, his eyes widening when he sees the girls. I don’t claim favorites with the boys, but he has a special place in my heart.
“Would you like to hold her?” I ask when he peers over the bed, blinking down at Moira.
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to break her.”
I chuckle. “You just have to be careful to hold her head. Here, sit down beside me.”
When he does, I shift Moira into his arms.
“She’s got red hair like Liam and Niall,” he says, then looks up at me. “I hope she doesn’t act like them.”
I try to hold back my laugh, but everyone else starts to chuckle - except Liam and Niall.
“You know, Bradan,” I say. “I hope the girls end up being like their uncles.”
“Really?” he asks, his eyes brightening.
“Yeah,” I say, kissing his head. “You boys may be a little wild, but you are so much more than that. You are strong, and fierce and know that family is the most important thing of all. You’re all such good men.”
Ewan smiles at me from across the room and I feel a surge of love toward my husband. “We also know that behind every good man is an even greater woman.”
Preview
Lola Barringer is on her hands and knees when I step foot on her property.
Her perfect ass is the first thing I see and the only thing I want.
She’s flawless and funny - and so damn sexy.
But when she takes a good look at me, she’s furious.
Turns out I broke her heart years ago.
I was her first crush, her one and only fantasy ... and now I’ll do what it takes to win her back.
I effed up once - but I won’t do it again.
This time I’m nailing down
the girl who got away.
Dear Reader,
Second chances never felt so good!
Mason Stone can do more than pound a nail in a floorboard.
He’s ready to put his hammer to good use!
This one is dirty and delicious and exactly what you deserve! Enjoy!
Xo, Frankie & Chantel
Chapter One
MASON
It’s a white-picket fence kind of day on Maple Lane with all the typical clichés you find in every uppity-up subdivision in America. Including some khakis-wearing dad-type watering his yard across the street who raises a brow at me when I pull my twenty-year-old Chevy pickup to a stop in front of my next job.
On the passenger seat is a clipboard with the project details, and I give a harsh grunt when I scan the contact info.
Lola Barrington. Even the name sounds pretentious. Just like this damn neighborhood.
I wasn’t welcome in these parts as a teenager, even now I’m aware of wary glances directed at me, or rather Big Bertha.
My partners at Nailed It Construction have been bugging me for years to trade my baby in for a newer model, but she’s the first thing that was ever truly mine. Sure, she’s got more rust on her back end than paint, but I’ve got no plans of giving her up. Even if it means spending more cash keeping her running than buying a new truck would.
I open the door and grab what I need from the back, which isn’t much since I’m just here to appraise the job. Usually I’m more of the hands-on-guy of the business, but since Eli is off on his honeymoon in Tahiti, I’m going to have to pull a fake smile out of my ass and act like I care if the woman chooses Calacatta or Emperador marble countertops.
“It pays the bills,” I mutter, feeling more comfortable with a hammer in my hand than a damn notepad. “Shit.” I jump back when something hisses at my feet. An orange and white ball of fur races through my legs, darting into one of the nearest bushes.
Filthy Irish: Love Without Limits Page 5