“Blue goes out to your family’s place once a month. Sometimes he uses my vehicle if it’s raining. He hasn’t bought his own yet,” Bolt explains when he sees my look of surprise.
“Ah, it makes sense now.” I smile. “It’s strange that our families are intertwined in different ways and yet we’d never met until that night.”
Bolt answers, his fingers laced through mine on the console between us. “I don’t think so. I think everything happened exactly how it should have. It gave me a chance to grow up and take some responsibility instead of partying and behaving like I didn’t have a care in the world. Our move to the UK helped with that; I’ve grown up a lot. You wouldn’t have liked me two years ago. I’m not the same man that I was then.”
“Well, I very much like the man you are now,” I tell him.
“I’m glad, sweetness.” He presses another kiss to my knuckles, and my stomach does that little flutter again. I’m sure he doesn’t realise how that simple move makes me feel loved and wanted. Sighing a happy sigh, I sink back into my seat for the ride home.
CHAPTER 7
BOLT
I more than likely should be more worried about meeting Jeanie’s family. Nothing could make me feel bad about anything today. I’d seen my baby on the screen.
Patting my chest, I can’t help the smile that creeps over my face as the paper crinkles in the pocket of my flannel, assuring me that this isn’t a dream. We really watched our baby’s heartbeat on the screen not twenty minutes ago.
And now I am on the way to meet my woman’s family. The woman that I hoped would one day become mine in every way I could tie her to me. We haven’t discussed anything serious aboutwhat would happen going forward, but what I do know is that I was never letting her go. I’d not forgotten a single thing about her since the night we met, and I’d hoped I never had to go one more night without her in my arms.
Up ahead, brake lights light up the darkness, and Sam puts his indicator on. I follow suit.
“Ready for this?” Jeanie wants to know. Turning my head slightly, I keep one eye on the road ahead. I’m once again taken with how beautiful she is. With not a stitch of make-up on her face, hair long and loose. My ma was right; there are no airs and graces about her. She is perfect just as she is.
“I’m ready, sweetness, but…” I start to say. Immediately, she turns to me with a look of concern.
“What’s wrong?” she demands, going from relaxed and easy to tense in a second.
Pressing my lips to her knuckles, I ignore the slight hitch in her breath. I’ve noticed that she does this every time I kiss her hand, and I can’t lie. I love the reaction. I’ll be doing it on the regular from here on out.
“Nothing’s wrong, sweetness,” I reassure her, and there isn’t anything wrong. Not for me, anyway. For me, everything is just fucking fine. I have the woman I’ve been dreaming of for weeks sitting next to me, and she is tied to me in ways that I never dreamed of.
“Give me a minute,” I tell her as we turn off the main road and drive through the gate onto the O’Shea property. Once it closes behind me, I stop my truck and put the handbrake on. Turning towards Jeanie so that I can see her better and so that she knows I’m serious when I ask her to be my old lady, not because of the baby but because of who she is. The one I’ve been waiting for. I’m nervous as fuck, but I can’t face her parents without asking her.
“Before we reach your folks, I need to ask you something.”
She looks at me, her trusting blue eyes holding my gaze as I continue. “I’m asking you this not because of the baby, but because I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the night we met.
“You’re the one I’ve been waiting for, the one who made the noise stop, and the one who filled all the places in my heart that I didn’t know needed filling. I knew you were special the night we met, and I’ll be kicking myself for years that I wasted so much time not getting your last name.
“Being able to call you mine means the world to me. That you’re having our baby is a bonus. Jeanie will you be my old lady?” Her lips tremble, and her eyes fill with tears. I graze my thumb across her cheek as one tear overflows.
“I’d love nothing more than to be your old lady,mo ghrá,” she whispers her acceptance. “I’d love to be called yours, and it’s not because of the baby that I’m accepting. I’m accepting because, like you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you—andI can’t tell you how much I kicked myself for not getting your number that night.
“All my life, I’ve wanted someone like you. I wasn’t sure I’d ever find you. Then there you were, out of the blue, and from the start you’ve treated me the way I’ve seen the men in my family treat their women. I promise to be the best old lady I can.”
Leaning over the console, I thread my fingers through her hair and take her mouth with mine in a hard kiss before releasing her lips and saying, “I have no doubt that you’re going to be a phenomenal old lady, sweetness. Now, how about we go tell your folks, and then you pack a bag and come back to mine tonight?”
“Well…” She smirks with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, you do have my vehicle; I can’t leave it at yours. I’ll have to come pick it up, and it will be very late if I have to drive back tonight, so it’s best I stay over.”
“Exactly,” I reply with a grin, settling back in my seat and putting my truck in gear. Easing back onto the road, I drive towards the lights I can see shining between the trees. The road opens, and I follow Jeanie’s directions to park under the large carport where several vehicles are already parked. There’s Christmas lights entwined around the posts, and I can see the house is decorated and ready for Christmas. Someone in their family does Christmas in a big way.
Sam and Ally are waiting for us to park and get out. Putting my vehicle in gear, I raise a brow at Jeanie when she goes to open her door. “Sweetness!” I growl in warning.
“Sorry…” She eyes me with amusement. “I’ll wait.”
“Good girl,” I tell her, ignoring the way her breath speeds up at my words. Now is not the time for my cock to be twitching in my jeans. Hastily, I get out and walk around to Jeanie’s door, willing my cock to go down. It wouldn’t do to meet her parents sporting a hard-on.
“Are you two ready?” Sam asks as I open Jeanie’s door and help her out.
