“I’m going to make you play for it. I want you to play for the wedding. Will you? I know it’s last minute and all, but you’re here and there’s no one else I’d rather hear.”
Flynn still wanted to know the story behind this sudden rush to the altar. But given her fiancé was watching him from ten feet away, he opted for the only safe answer. “I’d be honored.”
Kennedy threw her arms around him in another, staggering hug. “Oh, thank you!”
“Anything for you. Now, where are the rest of
these lights?”
Chapter Two
AFTER DINNER, ATHENA DECLARED dishes as someone else’s responsibility and disappeared for a poker game with a couple of their foster siblings, who’d come to town for the wedding. Ari had gone up to watch, and Maggie holed up to do a little telecommuting for her firm in L.A. Wanting some quiet and a chance to find a little balance again, Pru shooed Kennedy and Flynn off to the family room for a visit. It seemed she hadn’t been able to quite catch her breath since she fell off the ladder and into his arms.
What was it about accents that were so damned sexy?
She could hear Flynn’s clearly from the family room as she washed and stacked. “Tell me true, deifiúr beag, how are you?” There was a wealth of affection in the term, and Pru wondered what it meant.
“I’m home,” Kennedy said simply.
Flynn made a noise of disbelief. “You’re as much a gypsy as me. You expect me to believe you’re really okay with putting down roots again?”
“I enjoyed my travels, but you had me pegged that last night in Kerry. I was running.”
“From Xander?”
“From mistakes. It’s more complicated than that, but I’m in too good a mood to rehash all of it now. Suffice it to say, I don’t have any reason to run anymore. I’ve loved him most of my life, Flynn.”
“You’re really happy here?”
“I really am. I’ve missed my family. I still want to travel some, and I will for the book, but I don’t feel the need to go anymore.” She gave a contented sigh, and Pru could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke again. “Love will do that to you.”
“And I suppose now you’ll tell me I only need the love of a good woman?”
Pru figured a man like him must’ve had the love of more than a few. Because, damn, her long neglected lady parts were sitting up and taking notice. And unless she was very much mistaken, he’d taken some notice of her, too. Aside from the whole falling on him part.
Just what would it be like to have Flynn Bohannon in her bed?
Even as the thought formed, she pushed it away again. He wasn’t her type. He was charismatic and gorgeous, with a serious case of wanderlust. A born heartbreaker. She’d loved a man like him once with all her heart, and he’d left her shattered and alone. Pru knew better than to expect anything else. Maybe, if she only had herself to think about, she’d consider it. But she was a mother now—or nearly. Her focus had to be Ari.
Still, it couldn’t hurt to just look. Not looking at a man like him had to be illegal in some countries. Pru paused just beyond the threshold of the family room to do just that. He was so…well put together. He had a swimmer’s build—long, lean limbs, with powerful arms, as she had reason enough to know. All that wavy, black hair fell into his eyes and just begged for fingers to run through it. Would it be as soft as it looked? What about the neatly trimmed beard? She’d never been a fan of beards before, but Flynn’s worked, framing that strong jaw. Watching him in easy conversation with Kennedy, his bright blue eyes twinkling beneath a thick fringe of lashes—why were they always wasted on men?—she wondered if there’d ever been anything between them beyond friendship. There was no question that Kennedy had always been in love with Xander, but Flynn had seemed poleaxed at the announcement of her engagement. Was that because it seemed fast or because he thought there’d been a chance for something more?
“Are you really ready for this?” Flynn asked. “Isn’t there anything else you want to do before you tie on the old ball and chain? Any carousing or adventures?”
Pru stepped into the room. “Considering she did most of her carousing with Xander…”
“True story,” Kennedy admitted.
Flynn winced as he sat up, before his grin spread wide. “Kennedy Reynolds, were you a wild child?”
Kennedy feigned an innocent face.
Pru gave her the side eye before holding her thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart.
Kennedy shrugged. “Well, maybe a little.”
Pru zeroed in on the hand Flynn rubbed along his nape. “Are you hurt?” Had she injured the poor man by falling on him?
“What? Oh, no. I’m just all kinked from the car. It’ll go away in a day or two.”