3 Seconds (Time for Love 6)

“It’ll never happen, Freckles, my desires are your desires.”

He placed the guitar on the floor next to him, propped up against the chair, and I moved closer, as if being pulled by a string.

“You have so many opportunities available to you … Paris, New York … You shouldn’t give all that up for me.”

“Those places are meaningless without you.”

Brendan got to his feet and moved the mic stand off to the side, then jumped down off the stage and stood before me.

He was saying all the right things, but, “I want kids.”

He reached out and caressed my cheek.

“I want our kids.”

A small laugh escaped as I sobbed with joy.

“I love you.”

Brendan pulled me to him so swiftly that I swayed slightly, then his lips were a breath away from mine. My heart stopped and he replied, “I love you, too, Bronagh. The only thing I need in this world … is you.”

One….

Two…

Three…

That’s how long it took before my heart started beating again. The crowd cheered loudly around us as his lips crashed down to mine, and we wrapped ourselves around each other.

Chapter Thirty-One ~ Brendan

I tried to sit still, but my leg kept bouncing as anticipation rolled through me. Bronagh placed her hand softly on my thigh, causing me to settle, and I looked to my left to see Brock grinning down at me. Victoria sat next to him, her small hand cradled in his large one.

I grinned back at my brother, then turned my attention back to the stage.

“Brady O’Malley,” the emcee called out, signaling it was time for my brother to cross the stage.

After twenty weeks of training, my brother was finally graduating from the police academy, and I couldn’t be more proud.

I fought the urge to stand up and cause a ruckus, knowing that it would just embarrass and piss off my older brother, but that didn’t stop me from clapping and whistling as he walked.

He didn’t smile, but he strode purposefully, posture erect and proud, and I knew he was feeling happy as shit, and thankful that the rigorous training was over. We’d only been able to get together every few weeks, since he was so busy with training, and I was busy getting my life together, but he’d filled me in on some of the shit the academy threw at him, so I knew it was no small feat for him to be graduating today.

We sat through graduation, then annoyed Brady further by making him take pictures with us in his snazzy new uniform. We were having a party at mine and Bronagh’s place that afternoon, with everyone in attendance.

“C’mon, just wear the uniform to the party, give everyone a little thrill,” Brock was saying to our brother, half serious, and half busting his balls.

“Not gonna happen,” Brady said wryly. “I’ll stop at my house and change, and then be over. It won’t take long, I promise.” This he said to Bronagh, and I knew it was because he didn’t want to piss off my new wife.

She’d told me about the conversation they’d had after she’d broken things off with me, and although we both knew his heart was in the right place, he was still worried that she hadn’t forgiven him for coming down on her so hard.

He’d been trying to make it up to her since she’d finally taken me back that night at the pub. Now that she was part of the family, he looked after her with the same pit-bull mentality he looked after all of us. No one messed with his family, and he wanted to make sure she knew he would do anything for her.

Bronagh knew, and had grown closer to him over the past eight months, but I still enjoyed seeing him sweat.

“All right, party-pooper,” I said, ribbing him a little. “We’ll see you at the house.”

A couple weeks after Bronagh and I had gotten back together, I moved out of my loft and into her house. It was a much bigger space, and she loved it there, so it only made sense that we would make our home there. At least for now.