Lucky This Isn't Real: MacBride Brothers Series St. Patrick's Day Fake Fiance Romance by Jamie Knight (good books to read for beginners txt) 📗

Patrick. I’m just glad there wasn’t any confusion at the reception or after. That could have been really embarrassing.” She slapped a hand against her mouth and giggled. “Please don’t tell him I said that.”

“Of course not. Besides, confusion wasn’t likely to happen. Gavin was wearing the nicer suit,” I pointed out.

“True, and he also talks a bit softer, something I only figured out after the side-by-side comparison.”

“Are you nervous about seeing his dad again? I wish you could meet their mom. She sounds like she was a saint. Sean told me a few things about growing up in Belfast.

Gavin and Sean’s past wasn’t really my business, and I didn’t want to be speaking out of turn, but I was curious. I hardly knew anything about the situation except that Sean still seemed a bit bitter.

“Yeah, I noticed you two getting all snuggly, exchanging meaningful looks and all that. I could have lit a candle with the fire between you,” she teased me. “Did he go deep into his family history and past with you?”

“Only conversationally. He did kiss me, though.”

“Minx.”

Maggie winked.

“Only when provoked,” I said and laughed. “He didn’t tell me directly about his past. I picked some things up and overheard him talking to his brothers. Gavin seems to be okay with things now, but I’m not so sure about Sean. I think he’s worried about Eoin.”

“There are things not even I will be able to understand about the dynamics of their family. There’s so much trauma and hurt lingering beneath the surface. Gavin has worked through a lot of his issues thanks to therapy. I’m glad he finally went, even though he was very reluctant to at first. It ended up being great for him.” Maggie sighed. “But enough about that. How was the kiss?”

Goosebumps raced up and down my body at the thought of Sean’s lips on mine.

“Amazing, but then he had to rush home. There was some kind of emergency at work. He seems like at least a little bit of a workaholic.”

“Takes one to know one,” she said teasingly. “We were sad he had to leave.”

I definitely wished we had had more time together. It was typical that I’d meet my perfect man at a wedding, only to find out that he was already married to his career. A real karmic kick if ever there was one.

Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something. Something my friends had tried to convey for years. They were forever nagging me about slowing down and finding a work/ life balance.

I did have other interests outside of work, such as going to conferences like Comic-Con and making costumes, but lately, that had all fallen to the wayside. I should really find other pursuits to put my energy into. After all, I was only a number in the big machine, and numbers could be replaced.

Sex wasn’t a likely hobby to pursue. Sean was the first guy I’d been truly attracted to in years, and, apart from my desire for him, I wasn’t built for one-night stands.

Something happened to me when I had sex. I had heard it happened to some other people too, but I still felt weird about it. I tended to get emotionally attached to my partner once we’d had sex, to the point that it really hurt when they left unceremoniously.

That was what had happened my first time and it had put me off to the whole idea for a while. I’d gotten it into my head that ‘pump and dump’ was how most guys saw things, and I didn’t want to risk that kind of heartache again.

The second guy hung around for a while, and when he left, it was because his job transferred him to Australia. It helped a lot knowing that he hadn’t dumped me and moved on to someone else. But I still worried about getting too close to anyone again.

In a weird inversion of my worst fears, Sean and I hadn’t even had sex before he had had to leave, although it didn’t make it hurt any less. It was just a different kind of hurt, one that was in some ways worse than getting fucked and left with no real promise of a future to start with.

I could see myself having babies with Sean. If only the fates hadn’t decided to play games.

Despite the intensely satisfying masturbation session he’d inspired the other night, which had been as close as I had gotten to intimacy with him, I was afraid to even touch myself in case it reminded me of Sean.

I needed something else other than work to occupy my mind. Maybe it was a good time to learn a new language.

“Do you know anything about Irish?” I asked Maggie, randomly now.

“I hope so. I’m married to one now.”

“No, no, I mean the Irish language.”

“Gaelic? Oh, sure, I’ve got a whole course, including some audiobooks. I wanted to impress Gavin, who’s been speaking it most of his life. They teach it in school there, now at least. But I think it’s mostly regarded as a dead language, which is such a shame. I read an article saying that by the end of the century, it’ll be extinct. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve been thinking about learning,” I said sheepishly.

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“Oh, Wow. I can loan you the course if you like.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling the warmth rise in my cheeks. “I’ll think about it some more.”

I could tell she had refrained from saying, “You must really like Sean!” because she knew it would embarrass me.

I really couldn’t get much past her. It was like she was able to look into my very soul and see my true intentions as clearly as if I’d sent them in an email. I guess that was the side-effect of