Say You're Mine (The Gallaghers Book 1) by Layla Hagen (digital ebook reader .txt) 📗

gone. I would lose money, but I wanted my clients to be comfortable.

But the hard work did pay off though. Only one client canceled the session we’d scheduled during that time. Everyone else was okay talking to me online.

My family and the Winchesters were calling me almost every day, checking if I needed help with anything. They’d all been surprised but happy that I was going with Brayden on tour.

Jana and Donna both messaged me on Instagram, saying Brayden had told them the good news and giving me about a gazillion pieces of advice. I appreciated their support.

I even met with Cami, who basically just told me to take everything easy and to remember that the crazy interest of the press and fans always faded. She wasn’t coming on the tour, which was a pity.

Brayden had been right about the press being thrown for a loop that we’d gone official, but I still had a few reporters show up in front of the office. Sasha had instructed me to tell them they should contact my PR team—aka Sasha herself—so I parroted back her exact words.

On the day we were taking off, I asked the sibs over to my apartment to keep me company while I packed. The plane was leaving at five o’clock, and Brayden was picking me up at one. It was a bit silly to say I was already missing my siblings, since I’d only be gone for three weeks, but I did.

“Why do you need a whole day to pack?” Ian asked, gawking around my bedroom. I had clothes on every single surface.

Dylan seemed too stunned to say anything at first, but he recovered a few moments later. “Why do you need so much stuff? Are you leaving for three weeks or three months?”

“Weeks, you buffoon. But Sasha, the manager, sent me a list of how many outfits I need, and apparently the answer is a lot.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to ask our opinion on what you should take with you or something.” Dylan looked so desperate that I didn’t even have the heart to tease him about it. I had mercilessly tortured my brothers with this in high school.

“No, I simply wanted to see you two. And maybe ask you to make your famous omelet.”

“I knew it. You want to put us to work,” Dylan said with a grin.

“Just to feed us,” I promised. “I still think your omelet is the best ever!”

Ian pointed to a burnt-out light bulb in the corridor. “Do you have any spare ones?”

“I think there are some in the cupboard.”

Ian was cute, always checking to see if everything was in working order when he was here. I was proud to admit that they’d both spoiled me a lot growing up. Even though Ian was younger than me, they’d both looked after me, probably because Ian was hero-worshipping Dylan and wanted to copy him.

That phase lasted until Ian turned thirteen, when he totally rebelled and decided he wanted to be the opposite of Dylan. But one thing never changed throughout the years: we were always close, and grew even closer once Josie left.

Catching up with them was not the only reason I’d asked them here though. I wanted to tell Dylan about this great woman I’d met through one of my clients. I was certain she and Dylan would hit it off.

I had to be careful though. Last time I tried to set Dylan up, he was not happy with me, but I was persistent. I had to wait for the right time to bring it up though.

While Dylan made omelets, I started the coffee machine. Josie arrived just as we were about to eat. She brought Sophie too, who had grown to be even more snuggable, I swear. Since she wasn’t so tiny anymore, I wasn’t afraid I’d break her and actually held her for quite a bit.

“Careful with her head,” Josie reminded me constantly. But honestly, the reminder was necessary because I wasn’t used to it.

“She smells so nice,” I said. I was holding her so Josie could eat. The small bar area at the kitchen island wasn’t big enough for all four of us, so we were sitting around two coffee tables we’d pushed together in front of my couch.

“It’s baby smell,” Josie said proudly. “I think Mother Nature is trying to make babies as cute as possible so you love them even though they keep you up at night and basically dictate everything in your life.”

My sister yawned. She’d asked for decaf coffee. My heart went out to her.

As we finished brunch, Dylan was in a great mood. It was time to make my move.

“So, Dylan. Don’t freak out, but I have something to ask you.”

Chuckling, Ian patted Dylan’s shoulder. “Man, if she starts out with that warning, there’s no saving you.”

“I’ve met someone recently, and I think you’d have fun going out on a date with her,” I blurted out.

Ian grinned.

Josie laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, Isabelle.”

Dylan cocked a brow. “No.”

“But she’s a really amazing woman—”

“No.” His tone was final. Damn, why did I blurt it out like that? I should have casually brought her up, praised her a bit before revealing my true intentions. I had zero tact.

“I’ll go out with her. Is she hot?” Ian asked.

I glared at him. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not? So Dylan is good enough, but I’m not? I feel like a second-rate citizen right now.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said quickly, holding Sophie even tighter to me, as if she could shield me somehow.

Josie winced. “It sounded like that though.”

I pressed my lips together, weighing my next words carefully.

“Well, I know you don’t take relationships seriously, Ian.”

“True, but you think this one does?” He pointed his thumb at Dylan. “Times have changed, Sis. Hey, Dylan, maybe we should let our sisters know that you’re getting a lot of action. Even more than me.”

Josie and I groaned at the same time.

“That’s TMI,” I informed them. “We really