The Kiss that Seals the Deal
Chapter six
WRAITH
Iorder the stretch limo Brogan prefers to use brought around for the girls so áine and I can have privacy to discuss details of our fake relationship cover story in my SUV on the way to her place.
The limo is armor plated and my man is driving. Noah, another of my men, stands by the open door to the passenger area. He's riding shotgun as security.
Noah nods to me and I incline my head. "Stay frosty."
The blond nineteen-year-old is the only man on my crew that I recruited to the Shaughnessy Mob. I caught him trying to shoplift food from my local bodega and when I had words with him about that, he admitted he was living on the street.
I took him to a shelter and made sure they had a bed for him, but I checked back in with him. It was a month before he admitted that he was only seventeen. He didn't want to go back into the system, and that resonated.
He's smart and tough, but he had zero interest in going into the military when I suggested it. He's got his reasons and if I had his background, I might feel the same.
I took a more subtle approach to recruiting him than Mick did with me, starting Noah out with small jobs to test his trustworthiness and he passed each one. He's young and still learning, but he trains hard and pays attention.
"We get to ride in that?" Neeve asks, an undertone of excitement in her quiet voice. "Like rich people?"
"Yes," I tell her.
The three girls clamber inside the limo chatting excitedly. Well, Sadie and Joy are. Neeve's not saying much, but her eyes are shining as they check out the interior.
áine moves to join them, but I stop her with a hand on her arm. "We're taking my SUV."
She turns her head whiplash fast and looks up at me. "What? No. I need to ride with them."
"No."
"What do you mean no?" She yanks her arm from my grasp and pokes me in the chest, whisper yelling at me so the excited girls can't hear her ire.
"Let's get something straight, buster, I'm an adult woman and their mom.
Just because I agreed to this harebrained scheme of yours to keep them safe, doesn't mean you get to boss me around. "
As much as I enjoy how pretty her eyes are when they're snapping blue fire like they are right now, I don't want to upset her.
So, I explain. "We need to talk."
"We can talk in the limo."
"No."
"Why not?" she demands with exaggerated patience and an eyeroll that would do her teenage daughter proud.
I feel myself smiling. I like áine like this better than when she's afraid or muting her true self like she was doing with Allison Shaughnessy.
"Privacy." I offer as additional explanation.
"Would it kill you to talk in full sentences?" Her narrow-eyed glare says there's only one right answer to that question. "Nobody is going to fine you for using too many words," she mutters and then asks, "What do we need privacy for?"
"The plan." Am I pushing her buttons by giving as few words as possible?
Maybe.
But watching her go up like a roman candle is arousing as hell.
áine's chest swells with outrage and she opens her mouth to blast me, but then snaps it shut as realization dawns in her eyes. "Oh. Right. We have to get our stories straight."
I nod.
"Though with as taciturn as you are, we could just agree to let me do all the talking?" she asks with a hopeful look toward the limo.
"No."
She harrumphs. "Fine. Give me a second to explain to the girls. They're not going to accept a unilateral pronouncement either."
I shrug and step back, allowing her to climb into the limo with her daughters. It takes a lot longer than I think it should, but she finally puts a foot out to step from the car.
Noah jumps forward, his hand outstretched to help her. She raises hers to take it.
I shove my soldier out of the way, knocking the cinnamon toothpick he's chewing out of his mouth. Grasping áine's small hand myself, I pull her toward me.
She trips forward and lands plastered against my front, the top of her head only hitting me mid chest. I like the way her tiny body feels pressed against mine. Snaking an arm around her back, I hold her to me.
"Ooh, they're hugging!" Three small faces agog with curiosity peek out from the limo's still open passenger door.
"Is he going to kiss her?" Joy asks delightedly. "When boys like girls in my class, they chase them and kiss them."
That sounds like something I am going to have to discuss with her school's administrators.
"You mean you chase them," Neeve corrects her sister. "I saw you at recess."
Either way, there will be no kissing on the playground where my daughter is involved.
áine shoves against my chest. "I told them you had to drive your SUV back and I didn't want you to ride alone. They think we're dating."
Which is exactly what we want them to think. If her girls are convinced, others will be too.
Lifting her up so her face is even with mine, I nod. "Good."
"What are you do—"
I cut off her question with my lips.
Hers are pursed and open from talking and I take advantage, molding them with my own. áine's mouth goes slack with shock and I take further advantage, sliding my tongue inside, seeking out her flavor.
Sugar cookies and something even sweeter hit my tastebuds. áine tastes like happy memories from when my gran was still alive and my heart beats with hope I haven't felt since that time.
The hope of a family. Warmth. Affection. And the hope of something I had no clue about at that young age.
Sexual satisfaction.
I explore her mouth, my tongue sliding along hers, my lips demanding response.
At first, she doesn't give it, but then her hands go from trying to shove me away to winding around my neck as she kisses me back like she can't get enough of my taste either.
Wrapping my other arm under her ass, I pull her closer and claim my soon-to-be wife with a kiss hotter than the pistol barrel after discharging a full clip.
áine moans against my lips, her arms tightening around my neck as her lips devour mine.
"Uh, Wraith…"
"Mom!"
áine goes rigid and then she rips her mouth from mine. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe…put me down, Kieran! That was…"
"Hot," I finish for her when she doesn't continue as I force my arms to let her go, setting her carefully on the ground.
"Embarrassing." Her cheeks flush dark. "I can't believe we did that. I can't believe I did that!"
She's whisper yelling again, but with as focused on us as our daughters are, there's not much chance they miss a single word.
"Woah, you really have been dating," Sadie says and fixes me with a glare. "Kissing like that, this better be serious. My mom deserves to be treated right."
I give the girl a serious nod. "Very."
"Right, okay. You girls get your butts back in the car if you want to ride in that limousine."
It's only as she says the words I realize the girls had climbed back out to watch us better. Life with three daughters around is going to take some getting used to.
Neeve and Joy scramble back into the luxury limo, but Sadie crosses her arms. "Maybe one of us should ride with you two."
"Maybe you should all ride with us," áine replies.
I think at first she's trying to get out of talking privately with me after the kiss, but then I watch in astonishment as the two younger girls grab their older sister and drag her back inside the limo, threatening dire consequences if they don't get to ride in it.
Little Neeve isn't so quiet now and Joy is starting to cry, accusing Sadie of trying to ruin it for them.
As soon as the twelve-year-old is inside the limo, áine urgently says, "Shut the door."
Noah obeys fast and I stand dumbfounded. "You knew."
"That the girls would convince their big sister faster than I could?" áine nods. "When you're a single mom, you learn fast how to manage your kids with the most efficiency for all your sakes."
"Not a single mom anymore," I promise with satisfaction.
"What? No…" She shakes her head. "Come on. You're right, we need to talk."