Cash’s grin came slow. I matched it.
“Grand. Just fuckin’ grand.” He lifted a hand. “See ya on the other side of this, cousin.”
My wife’s hand came to my back. She peeked around me. “Bye, Cash!”
He stopped and looked at her, then at me. Keely stepped up next to him. She waved at Maeve, and Maeve waved back.
“When can we invite them over for dinner?” Maeve asked.
“Dinner sounds fun!” Keely said.
“See ya two soon,” Cash said, placin’ a hand on his wife’s back, directin’ her to the car, laughin’ some.
“Yeah,” I said, lookin’ at the smile on my wife’s face. “See ya two soon.”
Chapter32
Maeve
Amonth later, I was getting ready for Delaney and Robert’s surprise wedding. It was happening just as the sun set. Robert had asked me for help throughout the process, but he mostly handled it himself, and I thought he did an incredible job.
Delaney was going to love all the subtle touches, and how romantic having it at the library was going to be.
I couldn’t wait to see how everything was going to come together. The thought made me rush to finish getting ready. I applied the finishing touches to my makeup and then slipped into the gold slip dress I’d decided on. I’d have to wear a thick jacket over it, but I thought it was going to be perfect for the backdrop of the library. I was even able to pull out my wedding heels to wear. Beatrice had made a good choice when she’d chosen them.
I made a mental reminder to call her soon. She and Henry had been somewhat distant after what had happened with Charlie and his wife. I wasn’t sure who was responsible for that—my husband or them.
Cian came into the room and stopped when he saw me. “Intoxicatin’,” he said in that sexy way of his, taking me in.
I took a shuddering breath and thanked him. I opened my mouth, but then shut it. I opened it again and pointed to the closet. “Your suit is hanging up.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist, watching me through the mirror, until he set his mouth over the pulse in my neck. He kissed me there until I was trying to remember how to breathe. It was like he was making love to me with his lips and tongue. When his eyes met mine, I grabbed for the counter to steady myself against his gravitational pull.
He kissed me one last time, a small grin on his face, and left me so he could get dressed.
I stared after him, thinking about how our lives had changed so much in just that one month.
The war with Oran Craig was waging on. So far, my husband was in the lead, since he had more support and was able to take over areas that had previously belonged to Oran, but all war comes at a price.
For my husband, it was the loss of some of his men, sometimes it was an area he wanted and couldn’t take over yet, other times it was money and time.
For me, it was the loss of sanity and sleep—whenever he was late, I had to occupy myself to keep from calling him a million times just to hear his voice. I threw myself into woodworking, but thetickof the clock had never seemed so loud. Neither had the imaginary petals in the hourglass falling to the sound of it.
Sooner or later, my husband was going to face Oran Craig and his son, and I knew how horrible they could be. It would take a beast to stand up to them.
I just wasn’t sure I wanted it to be mine.
It felt wrong to feel, especially because of what Oran had done to Cian and his family, but…a part of me that was very selfish didn’t want to take the chance of losing him over it.
I turned back toward the counter and fiddled with the makeup spread over it, then fixed my hair a little more. Cian said something about being late from the closet, and I turned so fast I knocked a few things onto the floor. He met me there while I was picking them up and put a hand over mine. His was steady over my trembling one.
“Talk to me, Maeve,” he said, bringing me up without the things I’d dropped.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. He was breathtaking in a classic black suit. A shot of courage made me open it again and speak the first truth that came to mind. “It’s a big day for Delaney,” I said.
He nodded, picked up the things I’d dropped, and then helped me into my fancy coat. I stopped short when Kennan came out of the kitchen, fixing his nice jacket.
I motioned to his face. “Sorry again about your nose.”
