“If you have a hard time wrapping your pretty head around the idea of dating me, how can you even consider getting naked with me?”
“Because—” She stops, then blinks. “I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”
“Look, as sexy as you are, and as much as I want you, I’m not interested in just sex with you, Mags.”
“What are you interested in?”
I lean in, kissing her cheek. “More.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have a lot of questions, don’t you?”
“I always do. Drives everyone bonkers.”
I chuckle and brush my hand down her soft hair. “Let’s just see where this takes us for now. Go out, hang out, and let it evolve organically.”
“Huh.” She nods slowly. “Okay, I guess. I probably have my defenses up, and I don’t mean to. That means I’ll probably screw it all up.”
I kiss her just to get her to stop talking. Soft, chaste, but enough to make her brain quiet, even if it’s just for a minute.
“Don’t overthink it,” I suggest when I pull back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Right. Unless I do screw it up, and then it’s just weird between us at family gatherings and stuff.”
“You just can’t help it, can you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, we’ve survived the weirdness between us so far.”
She wrinkles her nose. “That’s not encouraging.”
“Don’t sweat it.” I drape my arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be great. When’s your next night off?”
“Thursday.”
“I’ll pick you up at five. We’ll be going into Seattle.”
“For dinner?”
“To start.”
“Do I need to dress fancy?”
“Nope.”
She nods, and I keep her hand in mine as we walk down the steps.
“Can I take a donut with me?”
“I guess.”
“Dude, I brought you a dozen.”
“Exactly, so it’s a sacrifice to give up one of them. But I’ll do it. For you. And don’t tell your brother that I have them because he’ll come and steal them.”
“Kane’s never stolen donuts in his life.”
“Oh, he has.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Fine, your secret is safe with me. I have to go get some stuff done before I head into the pub to help with inventory in a couple of hours.”
“Have a good day.” I tug her in so I can hug her close. God, I’ll never get used to feeling her against me.
She’s fucking amazing.
“You have a good day, too. Doing whatever it is you do up there. Espionage or something, right?”
I laugh and open the door for her. “Or something.”
I’m going to do this right.
I called a meeting with Maggie’s siblings and asked them to meet me at Kane’s place. It’s where we always go when we need to get something off our chests.
I love these people. I couldn’t love them more if they were mine by blood. They’re the only family I have.
And I’m not going to fuck this up.
“I’m here,” Maeve announces as she hurries back to Kane’s sunroom, where the rest of us just gathered. “Sorry, I just left a showing.”
“We just sat down,” Kane assures her, then turns to me. “What’s up, man?”
I take a deep breath and wipe the palms of my hands on my jeans. “I want to date your sister.”
Everyone’s quiet for a moment, and then they glance at each other.
“That’s it?” Shawn asks.
“Yeah. That’s what I came here to talk about.”
“Given that she’s not here, I assume you haven’t talked with her about it,” Keegan says.
“I spoke with her this morning. I’m taking her out on Thursday. But, damn it, you’re my family. I don’t want to do something you hate.”
“If we told you that we didn’t want you to do this, would you call it off?” Kane asks.
“Yes. I wouldn’t like it, but I would.”
Maeve grins and rubs her little, round belly. “It’s about damn time, Cam.”
“I thought you’d be sixty and still pining away for her,” Keegan agrees.
“Wait, you’re okay with this?”
“You’re both adults,” Kane says. “And you’re the best mate I’ve ever had. If it’s my sister that you want, who are we to say no? As long as you treat her the way she should be treated, we’ve no problem with it, Cam.”
“There’s been something brewing between you two for a long while,” Shawn adds. “We’ve all seen it, watched it. She snaps at you more than she smiles at you, and that’s telling.”
“How romantic,” I mutter and pull my hand down my face. “Damn you all. I was nervous.”
“You should be,” Keegan replies. “Because if you fuck this up, we’ll kill you and make it look like an accident.”
They all smile at me.
“She was hurt once before,” I reply slowly, measuring my words. “Because she was with a man who didn’t love her. Who didn’t appreciate her and didn’t give a shit about anything but himself. That’s not who I am.”
“It isn’t, no,” Kane says.
“I don’t know where it will go, to be honest with you. But, damn it, I want to try. I want to spend time with her, indulge her, spoil her a bit. I know that she has all of you, but she deserves to know what it feels like to be with someone who’s crazy about her.”