She
laughed and shook her head. “There’s another one in the oven. Good thing I planned ahead.” She glanced around the table at each of us. “Anyone else? The fresh one will be ready soon.”
I scraped up the last forkful on my plate. “Not for me, thanks, but it’s delicious.”
“What about you, Ivy?”
“No, thank you, I’m stuffed. It was all so good.” She smiled at Laverne and suddenly, I couldn’t wait any longer to be alone with her.
“We’re going to go for a walk, if that’s okay.” I drew my chair back from the table. “Ivy mentioned wanting to see more of the grove.”
“I did?” When I raised my brows, she delicately wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Oh. Right. Yes. The grove.”
I moved behind her to pull out her chair. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Too much family time makes him itchy. Or else something else needs a scratch.” Ian stuck his tongue in his cheek, making everyone laugh.
I discreetly flipped him off out of Laverne’s line of sight. The bastard just grinned.
Ivy rose. “Let me just go freshen up first. Be right back.”
She’d no sooner disappeared that Ian shook his head at me. “She’s lovely. I hope you don’t fuck it up.”
Immediately, my hackles rose. “Excuse me?”
“You’re clearly out of your element here, but underneath, you’re an okay guy. I know that. My sweet Zoe probably knows that.” Zoe poked him, but Ian didn’t falter. “Ivy, however, may not realize under your porcupine shell, you’re actually made of marshmallows and pudding.”
“Says the man who consumes his weight in sweets on a daily basis.”
Ian patted his rock-hard abs. “I train as hard as I eat. Work as hard as I play. F—”
Zoe covered his mouth. “Stop while you’re ahead. Unless you want to get divorced before you’re even married.”
Everyone at the table chuckled while Ian nibbled the tips of her fingers and on up her arm. Zoe pretended to sigh, but her face was prettily flushed. She was enjoying every second with the loon.
“Ugh, not again. Can we not at the dinner table?” Hayes stood up with a stack of plates in his hands then walked away in disgust.
Ian shrugged. “Your brothers are sorely in need of female companionship, Magic.”
“I’d rather not think about that, thanks.” Zoe wrinkled her nose and drew her arm back, but I didn’t miss the smile she flashed him.
They were insanely in love—emphasis on insane. Didn’t they realize how much control a person had over you once you invested that much in them?
Pity that I never forgot.
I always told myself I’d never had a serious girlfriend, mainly since my first real relationship had ended so spectacularly. It hadn’t lasted long in any case. We’d been young and foolish. Me even more so since I’d figured I could travel back and forth from the States to our tiny village near Dublin.
One day, I’d returned to find my girl in bed with one of my mates. And that had been that.
Since then, I’d done just fine single file. I rarely even thought about Darla. So, why was she on my mind now?
One guess. And her name was Ivy. But Ivy wasn’t Darla, and she hadn’t betrayed my trust.
Yet.
“Thanks again for a wonderful dinner,” I said to Laverne before I escaped.
I went upstairs to where we’d stashed our instruments, took care of business, then picked up my case on my way back out. Ivy was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.