Every eye in the room slashed toward her.
“Doe?” Tristan breathed, like he didn’t know her at all.
“What?” she cried. “I love Bowie, but I can still appreciate a handsome guy. I may be happily married to the biker of my dreams, but I’m not dead from the waist down.”
“He doesn’t date anyone,” Kennedy cut in from the couch underneath the window, flicking aimlessly through a magazine. “I asked around. He’ll hook up, but not one girl has ever actually gone out with him. Also, apart from the Lucy Bloom thing thatCara saw, nobody’s reported any action with him lately. It seems Donovan’s either had a slow year, or he’s losing his touch.”
Sophie let out a disbelieving snort from her seat beside Ned on the couch. “Losing his touch? Yeah right. He’s either been getting some from out of town, or he’s not bothering with the skanks these days. Maybe Maureen’s right and heisgrowing up.”
Tristan smiled knowingly, making a show of switching on the curling iron.
My eyes narrowed on him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” he replied, much too innocently.
“Triiiis,” I said warningly, dragging out his name. “What doyouknow that we don’t?”
He must have seen that I meant business because he stared at me for a beat and then let out a resigned sigh. “Nothing for sure. It’s just that Maureen seems to think our Donny boy has quite a thing for you. She said that when he saw you walking past the bar, he got a look on his face that she’d never seen before. Mother Maureen also mentioned that he seems to have matured since he left the Army, and since Lorcan died, he’s hardly indulged in the horizontal mambo at all.”
“It happens to the best of them,” Soph pointed out. “It happened to ours.”
“But Donovan O’Shea?” Layla questioned.
“I hate to point this out, Doe, but it happened to Bowie Stone,” Tris clapped back. “Your honeybee used to be as bad as Donny baby—worse in fact. If you remember rightly, we all had our reservations back then, even you.”
“Bowie proved himself, though,” Layla said defensively.
Tristan’s eyes met mine in the mirror again. “And who says Donovan won’t. How ‘bout we stop being so judgy until there’s something to be judgy about? I’m not saying we shouldn’t look out for our girl here; she’s one of ours, so that goes withoutsaying, but Donovan’s a great guy with a big heart. He deserves a chance.”
“You’re right,” Layla acquiesced. “Sorry, Rosie. I just worry about you.”
I twisted my neck to shoot her a reassuring smile.
“Right,” Tristan murmured, running his fingers through my hair. “What are you wearing?”
I twisted my mouth, thinking on my feet. “Short black leather skirt, black satin shirt with a few strategic buttons undone, and black leather thigh-high boots.”
“Hair up, sexy messy bun, with a few face-framing tendrils?” he suggested.
“Perfect,” I agreed.
Tristan picked up the curling iron and got to work. “Wonder where Donny baby was off to in such a hurry.”
“Maybe it hit him like a ton of bricks that he’s actually committed to a date, and he left town,” Kennedy replied, her gaze jerking to meet mine in the mirror before adding, “Only joking.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Stranger things have happened; though I hope not, since I’ve made the effort to come and get my hair done. There’s nothing worse than being all dressed up with nowhere to go.”
“He’ll be there,” Sophie assured me. “We all saw the way he was looking at you last night.”
“It was hot,” Kennedy agreed.
Tristan nodded sagely. “It wassmokinghot.” He held my hair in one hand and ran a brush through to smooth it. “How do you feel about him?”
“I like him,” I admitted. “I mean, he’s gorgeous and he’s funny. I love his banter and he’s good with DJ and Gabby, which is great, but it’s also a worry.”
“Why?” Sophie asked.
Layla leaned forward. “Because when you start seeing a notorious heartbreaker, who’s to say they won't break your kids’ hearts too.”
