“You’re going to do us a lot of good.” His gaze slid past me. “You’re going to dohima lot of good.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I passed him a skewer. “I mean it.”
A grin tugged his lips as he chomped down, and he chuckled when strong arms encircled my shoulders.
“You can’t have this one.” Rían tugged me against his chest, his forearm draping my collarbones. “She’s mine.”
“Want to bet?” Seamus’s eyes gleamed. “I remember how it turned out for you last time.”
“Oh, really?” I glanced over my shoulder at Rían. “You had the hots for Mrs. Seamus?”
“More like Seamus fell in love with Lisa at first sight, but she wasn’t having it.” Rían snorted. “I spent every weekend for six months playing third wheel to them on not-dates where my job was to talk him up to her. To this day, I’m convinced she only agreed to his proposal so I would shut up and leave her alone.”
“The moral of the story,” Seamus was quick to say, “was how she chose me over Rían.”
“Mmm-hmm.” I rested my temple against Rían’s cheek. “I would say it’s her loss, but you guys do make pretty babies. Your son is adorable. Clearly, you two were meant to be.”
Lips warm at my ear, Rían murmured, “Are you saying we won’t make pretty babies?”
Pretty wasn’t the concern. Size was what worried me. I bet Rían was one of those twenty-five-inch-long babies whose healthy birth passed into nurse lore. I ought to check stats with Fayne before agreeing to contribute to the next generation of Walshes.
“I’m saying have one of these delicious meatballs.” I didn’t wait for him to open his mouth but smeared it across his lips, forcing him to accept it or wear sweet and sour lipstick the rest of the evening. “I should go circulate. These won’t eat themselves.”
Soft laughter trailed me as I made my escape, but I wasn’t hanging anopen for businesssign on my uterus just yet. Even if a yard full of adorable children…
No.
Fayne wouldn’t. Would she? Surely not.
Dangle cute mini Walshes in front of me and hope I caught baby fever?
That was devious beyond even her scope.
Right?
“I am too paranoid for my own good.” I laughed off the idea then stumbled as someone clipped my shoulder. “Oh.” I steadied the tray. “Excuse me.”
The man stared at me, tipped his head to one side, then smiled and walked away.
I was standing there, skimming a mental list of names and faces from the flood of earlier introductions, trying to place him, when Sloane carved a path to me.
“Well?” She helped herself to a meatball. “How’s it going?”
“Okay.” I relaxed into her enthusiasm. “Are we ready for the second presentation?”
“Fayne and Liam are herding the kids this way. You better get the next batch of trays prepped. Without the sugar, Rían is going to have an unconscious audience.”
Normally, giving sugar to kids was frowned upon, but they had been hitting the obstacle course hard for a couple of hours now, and the younger ones’ heads were bobbing on their necks.
“Can I help with that?”
The head-tilt guy had drifted back into my orbit while I was talking to Sloane, whose nostrils flared at his approach. Subtle tension feathered lines at the corners of her eyes, her smile as fake as the engagement ring she promised me. Her reaction validated mine. I still couldn’t place him, his features were too bland to stand out, but that wasn’t saying much when there were so many new faces swirling around me.
“Have we met?” She stuck out her arm. “I’m new to the clan, and to the enforcers.”
“I only just arrived, so I haven’t been introduced to everyone.” He grasped my tray rather than her hand. “I haven’tmet Ana formally, but she did bump into me earlier.” He fixated on Sloane. “You must be the best friend I’ve heard so much about.”
Squeals rose around us as a flood of children of all ages whipped past to claim seats with their parents.
