Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“I didn’t say he wasn’t,” I said, regarding her defensive stance. I wasn’t sure what she’d witnessed in the past, but it was clear she was used to jumping to Finn’s defense. I put the spoon down and moved to her side, sliding my arm around her waist, despite her tension. “But sexual innuendos are beyond a child’s understanding.” She resisted when I tried to pull her in for a kiss. I chuckled. “I think Finn will survive a bit of kissing.” I kissed her forehead then pulled away.
“Finn, dinner’s ready!” Aislinn called. She was definitely tense, as if she feared I’d jump on her. I’d grown up in an Irish Catholic family in the countryside. I knew to limit my dirty talk and groping to when we were alone.
Finn came into the room, the spiderman figure in his hand. He tugged on Aislinn’s hip. She tousled his hair. “Wh-wh-wha-t-t-t-t d-d-d-d-o w-w-w-e eat?”
His stutter was stronger in my presence and I had some trouble understanding him. Aislinn was familiar with his speech and I’d probably get used to it soon as well, and not even notice it anymore.
“Aislinn’s famous stew,” I said with a wink at him.
He gave me a shy smile before he hid behind Aislinn. We settled at the table, each with a bowl of stew.
Finn soon began to recount every second of his journey while picking pieces of potato and carrot out of his stew.
Aislinn shook her head with a loving smile at Finn. My chest constricted seeing it. Fuck. Maybe Seamus was right.
“You set the bar really high letting him fly business class for his first flight,” she said.
“I told you I would spoil him rotten.”
Finn glanced between Aislinn and me, biting his lower lip. He didn’t look like Aislinn or her sister. He’d obviously inherited his looks from his father’s side: light brown hair and pale blue eyes plus plenty of freckles.
Finn put down his spoon after extracting the vegetables from the stew.
“If you want to grow big and strong, you need to eat your meat,” I said with a nod toward the beef cubes in his bowl. The moment the words left my mouth, I could have kicked my stupid ass. Those were the same words that my parents and grandparents had nagged me with when they’d tried to force me to eat my vegetables. He looked down and squirmed on the chair. “I d-d-d-d-d—” He looked up at Aislinn for help.
“He doesn’t like meat very much, so he doesn’t have to eat it,” she said to me but she was looking at Finn. “Are you full?”
Finn nodded.
“Okay, but you’ll have to stay at the table until we’re done.”
Most of the boys in my family were little troublemakers. Finn was a shy kid. I’d definitely have to reconsider my approach.
After dinner, Finn went back into his room to play some more, though he looked dead tired. He was probably running on pure excitement.
Aislinn cleaned the table, but I could tell she had something to say. I had to admit I was surprised she hadn’t questioned me about my meeting with Sergej yet. Even if she didn’t know about my trip to Miami, she thought Sergej had given me information about her sister. Maybe she wanted to wait until Finn was asleep to avoid him eavesdropping. Must be hard for the poor kid to be abandoned by his mother like that, especially since his father was absent his whole life too.
“You have something to say,” I said as I stepped behind her. She turned, her back against the counter as I supported my arms on either side of her.
“Please don’t force Finn to eat if he doesn’t want to.”
“It was just a saying I often heard as a kid.”
She swallowed, getting emotional. She rarely got teary eyed around me, and if her eyes filled with tears, they were usually angry ones. “Finn’s had sensory difficulties in the past. Some textures trigger his gag reflex. It took a long time to get him to eat chunky food at all. I don’t want him to regress. He’s moving at his own pace, and that’s okay.”
I had so many jokes about gag reflexes but even I wasn’t that much of an insensitive oaf. “You’re the boss when it comes to Finn.”
Aislinn raised an eyebrow.
“You’re my good girl in all the areas that matter.”
She huffed and I stole a kiss, my tongue sneaking into her mouth before she could push me away. For a moment she relaxed into the kiss then tore her lips from mine.
“Aren’t you curious about my meeting with Sergej?” I murmured.
She slanted a look toward Finn’s room. “Later.”
I wasn’t in a rush to lie to her. Maybe telling her the truth would have been the right thing to do, but it would only complicate everyone’s lives. Imogen obviously didn’t give a damn about her family. I could only hope that one day Aislinn would manage to feel the same about her sister.