Page 64 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
Chapter Fifteen
Donal’s answer to their problem was a doorbell.
A doorbell.
“Are you out of your ever-loving mind?” Bets placed her hands on her hips. “No one has a doorbell in this part of Ireland.”
He beamed at her. “Exactly! We’re to have the finest doorbell anyone around here has ever seen. It has a camera that works twenty-four seven, facial recognition, and automated messages when anyone shows up.”
He pulled the user manual out of the box and flipped through the glossy pages. She took the opportunity to look under her gold settee for her car keys. After some serious making out this week, she’d lost both sets. Again.
She was having a horrible time focusing on the myriad details required for the art center’s grant application. All she did was fantasize about Donal—so much so she had to carry around bag of ice to cool down. Something had to give.
“This had better work, Donal.” The closer it came to Liam moving out, the more her temperature seemed to rise. She was sure her blood was boiling now.
“It’s going to work. Aha! I found the messages. If we’re occupied, we can have it say, ‘No one can come to the door’ or ‘you can leave it.’ It’s brilliant, Bets. We’ll be the talk of the village with this new beauty, and we won’t have to be rude to any of our friends. Let’s go to the pub tonight to tell everyone about it.”
Thatwasimportant. She had to give him credit for being considerate. It wasn’t like they could tell everyone not to pop by because they planned to have sex on every available surface in her house any time of day. The general consensus was well known—there was no such thing as spontaneous sex, least of all inside one’s house. Okay, perhaps the people in Dublin were different, but she couldn’t be sure. Also, she didn’t have any interest in living there.
So she went along with his plan, and they brought the doorbell to the pub that night. Before long, the men clustered around him, making appreciative grunts, in the corner by the bar.
She’d shared everything with her friends, the Lucky Charms, of course, and they’d shown up to offer their support. Angie and Megan were there too, because Kade had offered to have a boys’ dinner with Ollie. Bets was happy for Kade, whom she loved like a son, and Megan, who deserved happiness. They both seemed to be walking on air. She hoped she would be walking on air soon. Her horniness had her feeling very heavy these days, especially in her belly.
She turned her head to see how Donal’s plan was progressing. “One might wish men could move past grunting at the newest thing,” Bets said, picking up her Guinness.
“But if this works, Bets,” Nicola said with a knowing look, “you’ll be needing this little book I ordered for you. In case you’ve forgotten anything.”
The other women craned their heads to see Nicola passing a navy gift bag to her under the table. When Bets peeked inside, she sputtered.The Kama Sutra: A Modern Sensual Explorationstood out in bold black letters with a cartoon-like picture of two people doing it Indian style.
“You brought this book here?” She immediately lowered her voice when a few of the people at surrounding tables turned around. “To the village pub? Are you insane, girl?”
Nicola only laughed.
Megan fidgeted with the collar of a navy pullover Bets had never seen.
“What book?” Siobhan made a grab for it.
Bets deflected her. “Not here. Jeez! Come to the bathroom. All of you.”
Angie sent her a puzzled look, which made her peaked complexion look even sicker. She’d made up a bum excuse about not drinking tonight—a first—saying she had an upset tummy. Her sister had fallen for it and ordered her some peppermint tea.
Bets and her friends had all shared a look, knowing the upset tummy/not drinking routine was code for morning sickness. The worst. Bets had puked every morning for what had felt like forever with her boys. She didn’t miss those days.
Of course, no one congratulated Angie and Carrick, who was part of the male grunting committee. They understood it was still early in the pregnancy. But Brigid, who was imagining what it would be like to be a grandma, no doubt, couldn’t hide her soft smile. If it was true, she’d be the first in their circle. How fun! Although Bets was glad her boys weren’t rushing into anything, she couldn’t wait for a grandbaby.
All the better to have Donal install this doorbell so they could get on with wild monkey sexnow, because she wasn’t going to send a message that saidNo one can come to the doorif her grandbaby was out there.
When the lot of them had finally squeezed into the bathroom, Brigid plucked the gift bag out of her hands and pulled out the book. Her gasp was almost as funny as Siobhan’s squeal. Megan’s eyes went wide as saucers.
Angie’s grin brightened her complexion. “Now that’s a classic. Nicola, I might need a copy for my honeymoon. Just in case Carrick and I miss something. I hope it’s okay to say that in front of you, Brigid.”
“Of course, dear.” Her future mother-in-law patted her arm. “I want you and Carrick to be as happy as you can be in your marriage bed. I think Seamus and I have done pretty well in that area ourselves.”
Megan edged back and jumped when she accidentally turned on the hand dryer. “Oh, excuse me!”
That told Bets all she needed to know. Megan wasn’t as comfortable about sex as her sister. Their mother was fairly clinical about it, she remembered, being a nurse. Art might have helped Angie. A woman didn’t paint nudes without being comfortable in her sexuality. Bets could use a little dose of that kind of confidence at her age. She’d looked at her graying bush in the mirror and wondered if it was possible to dye it to match her hair. But it wasn’t exactly something she wanted to ask Lisa Ann at the hair salon about, although she rather thought the edgy young woman would have a response.
Siobhan grabbed the book from Brigid, who had blushed beet red after a few pages, and started flipping through it. “My goodness. It has a checklist. For positions.”
