Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
She paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth. “You were serious about that bell? I thought you were joking.”
“I’m not really a joking sort of guy,” he told her.
“Are you sure? I’ve seen you smile a lot.”
“Oh yes, I smile. But I don’t joke.”
Um. Okay.
“So next time, use the bell,” he told her sternly.
Lily swallowed a mouthful of soup, relieved as the warmth hit her stomach and didn’t immediately want to come back up.
“There won’t need to be a next time,” she said. “I’m up now. I feel a lot better.”
He raised his eyebrows, giving her a look that said he wasn’t convinced.
“I’m guessing from your expression that I don’t look much better. Do I look awful?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way,” he said. “But you don’t look the picture of health.”
“I think that might take some time,” Lily said as she took a bite of the grilled cheese sandwich.
Oh, wow. That was so good. She moaned.
“You like that, baby?” he asked, his gaze centered on her lips.
Lily was transfixed by the note of arousal in his voice. Was he attracted to her right now?
How? Why?
She wasn’t in the least bit attractive at the moment. Her hair still needed a wash. She hadn’t had the energy to do it this morning. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to have taken up permanent residence, and she had no idea how to evict them.
Not to mention that her poor lips were chapped and she desperately needed some lip balm.
“You’re a really good cook,” she told him.
He shook his head. “I’m actually not that good, not compared to some members of my family, but I do know how to make a decent grilled cheese.”
“Compared to what I can do, you’re a master chef,” she told him. “I can’t cook at all.”
Harvey shrugged. “We don’t all need to have the same skills. You’re not going to go hungry while I’m around.”
“I think I’d like to know how to cook though,” she said. “Maybe how to bake. Perhaps I can take some lessons when I get myself more together.”
She’d need to learn how to cook if she was going to take care of herself. But even if she couldn’t get to a class, there were always online videos.
She could do this. She just couldn’t let herself get overwhelmed.
“I’ll be happy to teach you. The cooking part, anyway. I can’t bake. One of my sisters is a good baker, though. I’m sure she’d be happy to help.”
Would she ever meet his sister?
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” she asked.
“Two of each. I’m exactly in the middle. My oldest brother is Ronan. He’s a bossy bastard. And cold. But he won’t harm you. No one will harm you while I’m around.”
It was so tempting to just jump from her mother’s control to his. Not that she was saying they were anything alike. She was certain that Harvey wouldn’t harm her.
But it would be all too easy to rely on him the way she’d relied on other people all her life.
“I’m sure your brother is a nice man,” she said.
“He’s not,” he said almost cheerfully. “But you get used to him after a while. And if it helps, he’s extremely loyal and protective.”
Okay. She would take his word for it because she didn’t think she was ever going to meet his brother. Things would finish between them before that happened. She’d get her answers and she’d move on. Harvey would find somebody else.
Someone more fitting for him. Someone stronger. More intelligent. With far less baggage.
“Next is my older sister, Fiadh.”
With names like Ronan and Fiadh, were they Irish? Well, Gallagher sounded like an Irish name.
“She’s the baker in our family. She even owns her own bakery.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. What does your brother do?”
“Ahh, he manages the family business.”
Right. She had a feeling she shouldn’t ask further questions about that. Were they the Mafia? The Irish Mafia?
Harvey wasn’t a very Irish-sounding name, though.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Me? Nothing. Why?”
“Don’t be scared to tell me what you’re thinking, Lily. I’m not going to get upset at you for your thoughts. I’ll only get upset if you put yourself in danger.”
Okay, good to know.
“I guess I was just thinking that their names are very different from yours.”
“Ahh, you’re right. My father was Irish, and my mother was born here. My father insisted the first two children have Irish names, but I was called Harvey because it was my mom’s maiden name,” he said.
“That makes sense. What about your younger siblings?”
“Next is Bea. She’s super smart, our Bea. Her full name is Beatrice after our maternal grandmother. But she’s always been called Bea. She’s actually a research scientist. She’s trying to find a cure for breast cancer.”
Wow, that was amazing. They really were a group of overachievers, weren’t they?