Caitlin smiles. “She demanded you send her every picture of every outfit you buy. You know how she is about clothes. Look what she got baby Seamus.”
I bend down to the pram to see she’s got baby Seamus all dolled up in a little sailor outfit.
“Oh aren’t you the cutest little thing?” I croon at him. He’s got the McCarthy family wide green eyes above rosy cheeks. He shoots me a full, toothless smile. I turn when I hear Cormac coming down the stairs behind me, and the baby squawks to get my attention again. I turn back to the baby quickly. “What was that?”
“His father’s taught him well,” Cormac says. “Don’t let the lady’s attention wane. He’s got you trained already, auntie.”
I roll my eyes, and he bends and kisses my cheek, then leans into the pram and gently tweaks baby Seamus’ nose. “Aren’t you a cute little bugger? Good thing you inherited your mum’s good looks, lad, and not your crooked-nose father’s.”
“Cormac!” Caitlin chides. “Keenan’s nose is not crooked in the least.”
Maeve joins us, gives Cormac a playful smack on the shoulder, and we’re off.
He holds my hand and guides me to his side, so he’s nearest the road. I don’t question it. I remember what Maeve and Caitlin have told me, how the men of The Clan need to feel as if they can protect their women. He needs to be needed, I think.
But as we walk along the street toward the shops, I wonder.
What do I need?
What do I really, truly, need?
A good home. A place where I’m safe and welcomed. Something I never had growing up. Family to care for me, to tend to me… to love me.
Could the McCarthy family be that for me?
Could Cormac?
I shove the questions out of my mind.
Within an hour, I’ve got a bag with new shoes in one hand and a scone in the other hand.
“You’ll be needing some maternity clothes next, Aileen,” Maeve says.
“True,” Caitlin says. “They’ll be more comfortable soon.”
Cormac’s shoulders slump, and he stifles a yawn, but the man soldiers on.
“Having fun, are you?”
“Time of my life,” he mutters. I can’t help but giggle when his eyes go wide at the maternity racks.
“Really?” he asks, holding out a pair of trousers with an enormous stretchy cotton pocket where the belly goes. “Do they really need them that big? Is it for twins, then?”
“Darling, not everyone is as tiny and pixie-like as your wife,” Maeve whispers in his ear.
I snort. “Hardly. I must’ve packed on twenty pounds already, and heavens, I think it went straight to my arse.”
Cormac’s mouth comes to my ear. “Don’t you dare make a comment like that again, lass. You’re utter fucking perfection.”
His comment makes me flush, so I step away from him toward the fitting room. “Be right back,” I murmur.
“Where are you going?”
“Right there,” I tell him, waving in the general direction of the room. “I need to try these on.” I need to take some pictures and send them to Megan, too.
I’m not paying attention to where he’s going, so when I turn and find him nose to nose with me in the tiny room, I stifle a scream.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Helping you try clothes on.”
“In here? There’s hardly room for one, let alone two.”
“I’m not letting you do any of this alone.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re smothering?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’ve got a smart mouth?”
I growl. He growls louder.
I glare.
He stays.
With a sigh, I pick up the first top and I look at the price tag. I wince. Lord, I’ve never spent this much money on clothes. “Oh, ouch. I can’t believe they gouge pregnant mums like that. It’s too much.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about the price tag, sweetheart. I care about getting you home. Do you understand me?”
“I … suppose so. So it isn’t too much?”
“Course not. Buy whatever you want.”
“Seriously?”
He reaches for the top, tears the price tag off, and throws it to the floor. “Seriously.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “Haven’t even bought it yet.”
“I can already tell I love it. Buy it.”
“Did anyone ever tell you patience isn’t one of your virtues, sir?”
“You just did. And call me sir again, I’ll let you buy the shoes, too.”
I smile to myself. Goddamn it, if he keeps going on like that, the man’ll win my damn heart despite my misgivings.
I stare at the top. It’s hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I can buy whatever I want.
“Are you going to try it on, or do you want to continue to chat in this room that’s too small for me to even scratch my arse?”
I give him a look that doesn’t even ruffle his feathers. “Would be more room in here if you weren’t here, you know.” I bend over to kick my shoes into the corner when he playfully smacks me across the arse.