Chapter Sixteen
Liam
My phone pinged again with more hieroglyphics from Callum. I swear I should kill him and Michael, yet earlier had been a stroke of pure genius.
One summer.
That was the agreement, but now that I’d gotten over my temper tantrum at discovering the truth about why she left, I wanted so much more than that. Michael’s joke had backfired big time because I would do everything in my power to make his statement the truth.
Callum denied all knowledge of putting Michael up to the prank.
I knew nothing about fashion, but I knew what suited Oonagh. She tended to hide her curves behind baggy clothes. The outfits I selected showed her knockout figure to perfection. The entire world would soon know that Oonagh was mine, and I wanted her to be confident in her appearance. She deserved to step out of the shadows.
“No, seriously, I insist on paying,” Oonagh said somewhere in the distance, her voice annoyed and tone rising.
Rolling my eyes at her, I paced through the store until I found Oonagh surrounded by bags, her credit card in her hand. My arm snaked around her waist and I lifted her to carry her toward the door.
“Liam,” she elongated my name in annoyance.
“Oonagh,” I replied, turning my attention to the assistants. “I’ll grab the bags in a minute.”
“We’ll bring them out for you, Mr. Doherty. You have your hands full.” Cassidy began rounding up bags to follow us. My lips twitched at Oonagh’s rebellious expression.
“I can walk,” she hissed in my ear.
“Indeed, but this way I know that you’re walking to my car and not away from me again.”
“You’re being a dick!” Her fist bunched in my shirt.
“I know you happen to like my dick, so I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Oonagh released a low growl that made my smile widen. She was trying to convey her annoyance, but she had the opposite effect. “You sound like a sexy tigress.”
Her body stilled and she tried to cant back to stare at me. I snatched a kiss and set her on the ground beside my car. The assistants packed her bags into the boot, and waved to us as they went back into the store.
“You’re not paying for my clothes,” Oonagh said, her hands on her hips.
“Baby, there’s no way you can go to our engagement party in jeans and a T-shirt.”
“We’re not engaged,” she pointed out like a smartass.
“Technically, I didn’t say anything to Dermott. That was all on you. I have a massive deal pending with him and there is no way I’m going to look like a liar and cancel our engagement. I guess you’re stuck with me until we can sort out this mess.”
Any second I expected the steam to come swirling out of her ears. Oonagh stared at me, her jaw grinding. “Well then, I guess I’m going to need a ring.”
Fuck! I wanted to punch the air in victory. Instead, I ushered her into the car. As soon as the door closed, I stared up at the sky and said a prayer of thanks to whoever was finally on my side and granting wishes.
***