“You’re a lifesaver,” I told her. “I definitely owe you a dinner now.”
“You owe me more than a dinner, asshole,” she retorted.
“Oh, I’ll give you more than a dinner, baby,” I promised, my tone full of heat. “I’ll make all this worth your while.” My mouth hitched into a smirk. “What did you wear for our date?”
“A short leather skirt and thigh-high boots,” she murmured seductively.
“Fuck,” I ground out, adjusting my crotch again.
“You weren’t gonna get lucky, O’Shea,” she teased. “You’re gonna work for it. Remember?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But seeing you in those would have at least filled up my wank bank for the foreseeable.”
“Well, it’s not like I threw them in the trash, so...” She laughed softly.
“Fucking tease,” I cut out. “You make me feel like a damned schoolboy. Every time I think of you, boots or not, my dick develops a life of its own. It’s like I’ve lost all the self-control I learned over the last thirty years.”
“Same,” she whispered.
The line fell silent, but the air still felt charged even though she wasn’t in the room with me.
Jesus Christ, this female made me feel things I never knew existed. I hadn’t thought of another woman since she’d come back into my life, and okay, that was only two days ago, but believe me, I thought about the female form at least seven thousand three hundred and fifty-two times a day.
I flirted with shop assistants and waitresses. Even random girls I passed in the street got The Smirk. It was ingrained in me as deeply as breathing, but since I reconnected with Rosie, I’d completely lost the urge and the will.
“I like you.” I blurted out. “I like you a lot.”
She paused, then replied, “I like you, too.”
“I think what we’ve got is special, Ro. God knows I don’t have a lick of experience with this shit, but I feel it, you know?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I feel it too.”
“I thought about you and us,” I admitted. “After we—” I swallowed. “When I went back to my unit, I thought about you and us. You have no idea of all the bad shit you got me through.” My gut contracted, and suddenly I felt uncomfortable when I realized I’d exposed too much of myself already. I couldn’t take much more emotional turmoil, so I tried to lighten the mood and asked, “Do we get to have phone sex while I’m here?”
“Fuck off, O’Shea,” she retorted playfully. “Talk about ruin a sweet moment, and don’t think I can’t see exactly what you’re doing.” Her voice softened as she continued, “It’s okay to be vulnerable with me, honey. I get this week’s probably brought out some feelings that usually stay buried, and I also get you’reworking through them, but I can help you with that. Just call me and we’ll talk. I can come there if you need me. It’s no?—”
“No,” I told her. “There’s no need. I’ve got my ma, and honestly, I’m so fucking worried about Imogen, I can’t think straight. I’d be shitty company.”
The line fell silent. “I don’t expect you to entertain me, Donny. You’re going through a lot, but I can still be there for you.”
My chest tightened. “I just wanna get this court date over with and bring Imogen home. You’re helping enough by organizing my accounts. The rest is up to me.”
“She’ll be with you soon,” Rosie assured me after a brief pause. “I can already tell you’re gonna be a spectacular father.”
That familiar fire hit the back of my throat yet again, and I croaked, “Hope so, babe. Just gotta get past the judge first.” I was about to start telling her about all the hoops I’d have to jump through when Rosie went and whispered something that almost brought tears to my eyes.
“Keep the faith, O’Shea. You two found each other for a reason. You and that girl are bonded, and I know when that judge meets you, they’ll see what everyone else sees.”
“What’s that?” I rasped, never expecting in a million years to hear the next words from Rosie’s beautiful mouth...
“He’ll see the light.”
—————
True to their word,Tia and Kennedy got an emergency hearing arranged for Thursday morning at the courthouse in Scottsbluff. I was relieved it was all happening so fast, but it didn’t giveme much time to prepare. Still, I learned something important in a very short amount of time: It was amazing what you could achieve when you had Maureen O’Shea, Maeve O’Shea, Kennedy Stone, and Rosie Woods at your back.
Ro had all my financial details couriered to me by Tuesday evening. Only God knew how she made sense out of the shit show that was my filing, but somehow they were impeccably presented and included profit sheets, bank statements, and annual accounts. She’d even calculated a profit-and-loss forecast for the following three years, so the judge could rest easy in the knowledge that, financially at least, I was future-proofed and Imogen would be covered.
