Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104386 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104386 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Who are you? And why did you say my name? And why in the hell do you have my stomach twisted in knots?”
“What the fuck does Aisling even mean?” I asked Trevor as we stood outside and watched Jonathon put up a sign for the new Irish pub, or restaurant, or whatever the hell that place was going to end up being.
“It means vision or dream.”
I jumped at the sound of her voice.
“Christ almighty, Maebh! Don’t be fucking sneaking up on people,” I spat.
Maebh’s smile faded, and I felt like a prick.
She glanced up at the dark sky. “Looks like it’s going to be lashing down.”
Trevor and I looked at each other in confusion. It was bad enough I could hardly understand Maebh with her thick Irish accent, but when she threw in her little Irish sayings, I was lost.
“Lashing down?” I asked.
She looked at Trevor like he had asked the question. She grinned and my legs shook a little.
“Raining hard,” she replied.
Trevor glanced over to me. “Did you hear that, Cord? Lashing down means raining hard. Pay fucking attention, will ya?”
“Makes sense,” I said, giving her a smile and praying like hell she would return one. She did, but it was nothing like the one she had given my brother.
“Jonathon said you’ll be opening soon. Are you excited?” Trevor asked. I wanted to kick him in the balls. I hated that he was being so friendly. Not because I didn’t want him to treat her nicely; I did. But the way she looked at him had me wanting to hurt my own flesh and blood. Maebh was Trevor’s age, twenty-five. She stood at about five-feet-four inches, if that. We both towered over her with our six-two frames.
“Yeah, I’m excited. Me da has been langered most of this last week though trying to chase away the nerves.”
Trevor laughed, and I looked at him. He had no fucking clue what in the hell langered meant, just like I didn’t—yet that bastard laughed like he knew what she was talking about. What an ass. There was no way I was going to ask her. She probably would answer Trevor again and act like I wasn’t even standing there.
Her eyes drifted up to mine, and we held each other’s gaze for a few moments. It was like she could read my mind.
“Langered means drunk. It takes a lot for me da to get drunk so…” she shrugged. “It’s sort of funny.”
This time I smiled bigger. I liked hearing her call her father da. I liked hearing her talk, even though I couldn’t understand her half the fucking time. Her voice was beautiful.
She was beautiful.
And all of that fucked with my head.
“You should teach a class on Irish lingo so we all know what you’re saying,” Trevor said, pulling a slight giggle from between Maebh’s soft pink lips.
I balled my fists. My brother was flirting, and I didn’t like it. Not. One. Fucking. Bit.
“Do y’all need any help with anything, Maebh?”
The offer was out of my mouth before I could take it back.
When Maebh worried her bottom lip, I moaned internally. My cock slowly started to harden as it pressed against my jeans. I couldn’t pull my eyes from her mouth. Trevor cleared his throat, pulling my gaze from her mouth to him.
He smirked. The damn bastard must have known where my eyes were focused and where my thoughts were going.
“I hate to ask, but me da can’t really help with this, and it’s really got nothin’ to do with Aisling.”
With a shrug, I said, “That’s okay. Just tell me what you need.”
Her nose scrunched in the most adorable way, and I nearly had to reach for Trevor to hold myself up. My fucking legs were about to give out on me. I thought I was having a fucking heart attack; it was the only explanation.
“It’s sort of a big undertakin’, and I feel bad asking. It’s just, I don’t know a lot of people around here and…”
Her voice trailed off in sadness. It nearly brought me to my knees. Again. What was this, like the fourth time in the last ten minutes?
The idea of her not having many friends and feeling lonely made my chest ache.
“I can help,” Trevor piped in.
Maebh’s eyes sparkled with happiness.
“No, you can’t.” I quickly snipped. “You promised Mom you were going to get that fence taken care of at the front gate.”
Trevor stared at me for a few seconds like he had no idea what in the hell I was talking about.
“I’ll help, Maebh.”
It hit him slowly. I was making up a story to get my own brother out of the picture. It wouldn’t take him long to call everyone in the family and insist I had a thing for Maebh, when all I really wanted to do was get information on her new restaurant. That was all.