An Irish Affair (Heart of Hope 2)

“Can I help? You'll have your hands full with total Roarke business domination and I’m more up on the New York club scene. I can help.”

My instinct was to say no because I was a man trying to prove himself. But I also knew my sister was ready to move on from celebutante to more serious work. She was smart and capable, and she was right in that she had more insight into the club scene here than I did.

“Yes. But you have to work, Bri. You can’t stay out all night and then stroll in at three in the afternoon whenever you want.”

“Why not? If I’m out all night, I’m doing research.”

I smirked at her, though I suppose she had a point. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Goodnight, big brother.” She shut her door.

I shook my head as I laughed. We’d create the best club in New York, I was sure of it. It would likely be fun, but also, full of headaches to work with her.

Once in my room, I got ready for bed, and then stood at my window looking over the river, as Serena drifted back into my brain. She’d never been far from thought since I saw her that afternoon.

She never did tell me why she didn’t come with me to Europe five years ago. She suggested that I shouldn’t have cared because it was a little fling. I had cared. She’d been the one to dismiss the depth of feeling between us. Or, I suppose, I was the only one who felt that way.

Perhaps it was just as well. I had no doubt my parents wouldn’t have approved of her simply because she wasn’t from an old money family. The only reason my parents liked Evie was that her family had been part of New York aristocracy longer than mine had.

I wondered what my parents would do if Serena had come with me. I scoffed. I knew exactly what they’d do. They’d work to separate us. They’d probably try to pay her off. I didn’t think Serena could be that easily bought, and yet, I supposed everyone had a number. I’d like to think she and I would have made it. We’d have lived and loved through Europe. Maybe we’d be married. Perhaps I’d have that heir I was expected to have.

I shook my head. Fairy tales and soulmates were for pussies. A fantasy was all well and good for jerking off, but real life wasn’t as clean or happy as the books and rom-coms suggested. The truth was Serena would have probably missed her family or gotten bored with me and my life. Lots of women said they wanted to be a princess, but then they learned that living with a prince sucked.

I climbed into bed, sinking down into the soft sheets and closing my eyes. It didn’t take long for Serena to show up in my dreams. She was naked, sauntering toward me with those blue eyes blazing.

“Welcome home, Devin.”

That was the greeting I’d have preferred, I thought.

“Did you miss me?” she cooed.

“Yes.” My dick was at full mast as I took her in my arms and got reacquainted with her luscious body. Unfortunately, in my dream, I was never going to get the satisfaction my body craved. I woke the next morning with a dick as hard as granite.

I slipped out of bed and headed to the shower. Stepping under the hot spray, I conjured Serena up in my mind again, this time on her knees, those blue eyes watching me as I slipped my dick between her luscious pink lips.

“Suck me, baby,” I rasped while gripping my cock and giving it a long stroke. During our week together five years ago, I’d not only taken her virginity, but I’d showed her all the ways a man and woman could enjoy each other. She’d been an eager, active learner, and more than once had me seeing stars. The first time she sucked my cock until I came, I thought I’d blown the top of my head. She was a natural when it came to sex, and I couldn’t get enough of her. Even now, five years later, the image of her sucking me off was my go-to jerk-off fantasy.

“Yeah baby, more,” I groaned as my hand slid faster and faster, while in my mind she was licking and sucking and stroking my cock. I jerked my hips forward, shoving my cock to the back of her throat. The image tipped me over, and I sprayed my hot cum over the tile wall of my shower.

“Fuck.” I pressed my hands on the tile as I caught my breath and my dick finished jerking the last bits of cum.

It occurred to me that now we were in the same town, perhaps we could pick up where we left off. She’d seemed resistant to that idea, but maybe it was because she really believed I hadn’t taken us as seriously as I had.

I finished cleaning up and dressed for a day at the office. I checked the calendar on my phone and saw I was planning another trip to the restaurant. Would Serena be there again? The party for Gallagher was tonight. I wasn’t planning on attending, but maybe I should. It would be goodwill for Gallagher and his celebrity friends. And maybe I’d see Serena.

I headed downstairs for breakfast. My father was at the table eating his usual egg and toast. My mother had her tea.

As I sat down, my parents’ cook brought me a plate of eggs and bacon. “Would you like anything else, Mr. Roarke?” she asked me.

“No, thank you, Mrs. Sanders.” After she returned to the kitchen, I poured myself a coffee. “I’m thinking of attending the Gallagher party tonight.”

“Good idea,” my father said. “Get seen by his acquaintances.”

“Do you think we should have our thirtieth anniversary at the Roarke?” my mother asked.

“Thirty years? Really?” I asked.

“You’re twenty-eight. We were married two years before we had you,” she said. My mother didn’t look old enough to have been married thirty years.