Page 12 of Stolen Mafia Vows
“Have you arranged to see him?” she asks.
Nothave you arranged to go on a date, and I thank God that I know at least one person who doesn’t believe that a guy should impress a girl with a romantic candlelit dinner and flowers. That’s probably the kind of stuff my dad did when he met my mom, but it doesn’t mean that I want, or need, the same things.
I simply want to touch Eoghan, to kiss him, to feel his hands on me. To hear him whisper in my ear that I’m going to ruin him.
Is that so wrong?
I don’t even think that I can tell Sienna how I feel without my knees turning to Jell-O.
Instead, I nod. “Tomorrow, once everyone has gone home.”
Sienna and Kyle are not having a typical honeymoon. Sienna has fallen in love with Ireland and wants to stay here, in the family home, for a couple of weeks. Phones switched off. Doors and windows thrown open. Long, slow walks along the beach.
I’m staying because college is closed for the summer and Sienna is too nice to tell me to leave. I’ve promised to stay out of their way, so I guess that helped to convince her.
“And you’re counting down the hours, huh?”
I flinch. “I’m sorry, Sienna. The wedding was lovely, it really was, and I’m having the best time…”
“But he’s gotten under your skin, and you can’t wait to spend some time with him.” Her smile is real as her eyes search for, and settle on, Kyle, who is trying to do a zombie walk and looking more like a puppet on crack. “That feeling is rare, Em.Hold on to it. Enjoy it. Because you never know where it might lead you.”
I sigh heavily, and my shoulders finally relax a little. This is Sienna’s wedding day, and she doesn’t hold a grudge against me for mentally being somewhere else with a hot, stormy-eyed, Brad Pitt lookalike.
“Did you feel like this when you met Kyle?”
“Yep. I was prepared to leave the city with him and never look back. I already knew that my life would never be the same again.”
Something happened to tear them apart though. I don’t know what, but I do know that it was five years before they found their way back into each other’s lives. Five years wasted because it’s obvious that they were made for each other.
I don’t want that to happen to me.
“Don’t look so worried, Em. I still feel the same way when I look at Kyle. I still feel like our eyes have just met across a crowded nightclub floor and the world has tilted on its axis.”
Right on cue, Kyle glances at Sienna, and his whole face lights up as if someone shone a flashlight on him.
Is this how I’m going to look when I see Eoghan again?
What if I don’t see anything that resembles that golden glow surrounding Kyle when Eoghan looks at me though? Do I turn around and walk away? Cut my losses before I’m in too deep? Or do I go ahead and let him show me what I’ve been missing first?
Sienna’s fingers entwine with mine. “You have nothing to worry about, Em. I saw the way he looked at you. If you want my advice: grab it with both hands and never let go.”
“Why don’t you come back to the States with us?” Mom grips my shoulders and peers into my eyes as if she can convince me to fly home with them using the power of telepathy.
She is clean and fresh, her makeup immaculate, her clothes crease-free; no one would ever know that she partied almost until dawn after twelve hours non-stop boozing.
My brothers, however, will no doubt sleep during the entire flight back to New York.
“I want to stay until the baby is born, Mom. I like it here.”
“But Kyle and Sienna are on honeymoon.”
Like they can keep their hands off each other any other time.
I smile. “I thought you wanted me to find my roots.”
She and my dad exchange glances that I can’t fathom. “I do, sweetie, but I worry about you when you’re so far from home.”
“Mom, I’m twenty-one. I can take care of myself.”
