Page 46 of Surrender
“If she’s so special then why didn’t you bring her tonight?”
“I invited her but she had some work stuff.”
“What does she do that she couldn’t attend a family dinner?”
“Jesus, can Ruby not have a life? She runs a charity and they have a big event coming up. And, as you said, she’s been shacked up with me all week—not working.
“Okay, fine.” Sophie couldn’t really argue with that one tiny miniscule point.
“A charity you say? Fair play to her,” said Shamus throwing his oar in.
Nan winked at him.
“What charity is it?” asked Liam. “I wonder if she knows Gwen?” Made sense seeing as Gwen ran a charity as well.
Keefe thought for a moment but couldn’t remember. He remembered all sorts of other things about her but not that. “I don’t remember the name of it but it’s for women who have been abused.” That earned a collective gold star from everyone in at the table. Well, everyone except Sophie. “I promise, you will all meet her soon.”
“You could bring her to the twins christening if you wanted,” suggested Darcie. “She would be welcome, wouldn’t she Connor?” she nudged Connor in the side.
“Yes, of course. The more the merrier,” he said brightly.
“Thank you, Darcie. That’s very kind of you. I’ll invite her since you’ve mentioned it.”
Sophie couldn’t take another second of it. “What the hell is it with this family? You’re as bad as Connor and Simon!”
Connor and Simon both cried, “Hey now!”
She lifted her glass, paused, then added, “And Dad. And Uncle Henry.”
Henry, who was about to take a bite of steak barked, “Hey now is right!”
Then she took a long drink. “Jesus, Keefe! You do realize it’s not a requirement to fall in love instantly, right? You can, oh I don’t know, maybe take a couple of months. Or at the very least—find out why she lied to me.”
Keefe understood that his sister was genuinely concerned for him and not just being a brat but she was also being entirely unreasonable. “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”
“Like what?”
“Come on, don’t you see?” he spread his arms out with a fork in one hand a knife in the other. “You introduced us. I asked you—my best friend. The one person who knows me better than I know myself—to find me someone, and you chose Ruby. It’s fa?—”
“Don’t you even start that fate crap with me!” she snapped. He’d buttered her up for a moment there but she wasn’t ready to let this go just yet.
“That isn’t what you said to Connor when he said he would marry Darcie.”
“Connor isn’t my brother.”
“I know but when you know, you know. You know?” His lovesick grin couldn’t be contained.
Sophie couldn’t form her feelings into words. At least not into words that used more than one syllable. He was out of his mind! She shook her head. “You’re just ho?—”
“Don’t you dare say that I’m just horny Soph! I love her!” he shouted. Now he was getting angry.
“How could you? You’ve only just met!” Sophie shouted back.
The family knew enough to stay quiet.
“I don’t know! But I do! And she loves me too!”
“She said that?”
