Skin (McCullough Mountain 2) (24 page)

He sighed. “They’ll all be there. First my
parents will hear about it, then my sister, she’ll tell my
brothers, and soon they’ll all be there.”

“But Sam made it sound like it would just be
a quiet night with the four of us.”

“Where there’re McCulloughs, there is no
quiet. You should remember that.”

“But I already met most of them.”

“You haven’t really met Kate and her brood
yet. She’s the overprotective older sister. There’s no way she’d
miss this.”

“You say that like it’s a science fair.”

“That’s because they’ll all be judging
you.”

She shrunk back. “Maybe I’ll tell Sam we
can’t make it.”

“Too late. She’ll guilt you. She’s a
McCullough by injection and a fast learner. We’re going. Might as
well suck it up and deal with it.”

The following Friday, they pulled up outside
of Samantha and Colin’s home. It was a sweet house with green
siding and black shutters. Candles burned in each window. She would
have noticed the yard or perhaps any gardens they had, if not for
the dozen cars crowding every free space of ground.

Finn shut off the car and she sucked in a
breath. “You okay, champ?” he asked as she gripped her knees.

She shook her head. She didn’t feel like
being inspected and judged. “Yes.”

He laughed. “Your mouth says yes, but your
head says no.”

She continued to shake her head. “I’m
okay.”

He patted her knee. “Come on. They’re all
probably watching you from the window anyway. Let’s get this over
with.”

He came around to her door and helped her
out of the truck. Her steps were slow. Before they even crossed the
first porch step the door swung open and Colin stepped out. He held
up his hands and said, “I had nothing to do with this.”

Finn chuckled. “Possession is nine tenths of
the law, Colin. You’re housing them.”

“I was told we were going to play cards and
eat. Sammy never said anything about the rest of them showing
up.”

The door opened and they all turned to see a
little boy step onto the porch. “Uncle Colin, Tallulah stinks. Aunt
Sam said to find you and tell you to handle it.”

Colin sighed and followed the boy
inside.

Finn faced Mallory. “Ready?”

She sucked in a breath and huffed it out,
steeling herself for what lay ahead. “As I’ll ever be.”

They entered the house and it was like a
scene from Vietnam. Kids raced around the banister yelling, adult
voices carried from the kitchen, each person shouting over the
next, and in the den—the foxhole—were the men, each one quiet as
though waiting out an attack. Finn took her hand and pulled her
toward the den.

“Hey,” he greeted.

Luke, his twin, quickly put his finger to
his mouth. “Shh. Get in here and be quiet. If they know you’re here
they’ll infiltrate our base.”

Apparently she wasn’t the only one that felt
like she’d just walked into a warzone. Finn headed to the recliner
in the far corner and pulled her onto his lap. She awkwardly rested
her hip on the wide arm of the chair so as not to crush him.

Kelly tipped his beer to her in greeting.
“What’s up, Philly?”

“Hi, Kelly.”

A football game was on the television so his
attention was split. He eyed the TV and asked, “You ready for this?
It’s a whole different game now that they know you and Finn are a
couple.”

“Game?”

“They’re gonna interrogate you,” Colin
said.

“They?”

“The women,” all the men said at once.

She remained silent. What would they want to
know? She wasn’t all that interesting.

A woman she didn’t recognize went to the
front door. “Where are they?” she said, directing her voice to the
kitchen.

“Here it comes,” Frank, Finn’s dad, said. He
may have shivered.

“So much for the second quarter,” Luke
mumbled as he aimed the remote at the television and turned up the
volume.

The woman at the front door squinted and
leaned farther toward the glass. “Wait a minute. Isn’t that Finn’s
truck?” Her gaze shot to the den and Mallory felt the moment she
was spotted. “They’re here!”

Like a Black Friday rush, the women poured
out of the kitchen and converged on the foxhole. Voices carried to
the point she couldn’t understand a single word being said, and
every man seemed to wince and hunch into their chair.

Her nails dug into Finnegan’s legs. If he
left her side she’d straight up kill him. Who were all these
women?

Maureen McCullough bustled to the front of
the line and squeezed her cheeks. It was like having her face
closed in a bus door. “There you are, loves! Why didn’t you tell us
you were here?”

She placed a smacking kiss on Finn’s cheek
and grabbed Mallory’s hand, tugging her up.

Oh no!
Her grip on Finn was cut
off.

“Everyone,” Maureen said, turning her and
gripping her shoulders. “This is Mallory, Finnegan’s
girlfriend!
”

Mallory winced and as all the women shouted
their hello. There was an older woman with bottled black hair and
bright red lips. She must have been in her seventies. She seemed to
be giving Mallory the stink eye under her dark, penciled on
brows.

Then there were two women about Maureen’s
age. One was holding a toddler on her hip. Sheilagh was in the back
rolling her eyes. Beside her was the girl who had spotted Finn’s
truck. She stepped forward.

“Hi. I’m Kate, Finn’s older sister. I saw
you at breakfast a while back, but we were never introduced.”

“Hi,” Mallory said, a little
shell-shocked.

The only person she didn’t see was Samantha.
Oh, you just wait until I find you, Samantha McCullough. Quiet
dinner and cards my ass!

She was dragged into the kitchen. Glancing
over her shoulder, she shot Finn a look of sheer terror and mouthed
Help!

His brows creased with sympathy and he
mouthed
love you.

* * * *

Finn chuckled as Mallory disappeared.
“Kelly, toss me a beer. I know you have a hidden stock in here.” As
his gaze drifted from the door to his brother and he stilled. They
were all gaping at him. “What?”

His dad cleared his throat and shifted. His
uncle turned to the television and asked what the score was. Kelly,
Tristan, Colin, and Luke continued to stare.

“So…,” Colin started. “I guess the decade of
Erin is over.”

Finn’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. And I’d prefer
if we didn’t mention her name, around Mallory, or otherwise.”

Kelly snickered and tipped back his
beer.

“What’s so damn funny, Kelly?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yup.”

Finn glanced at Luke and Tristan. His twin
held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. To each his own.”

What the hell were they talking about? Was
this about Mallory? He didn’t understand what just happened.
“Somebody better tell me what the problem is. I won’t put up with
anyone—”

His dad coughed. “I think, Finnegan, we are
all just a little surprised to see you tell the girl you love
her.”

He gazed at the group of them. Each man
nodded in turn. Had he said that? Yes, he’d mouthed it to her
before she was dragged away like a sacrificial lamb. Finn shifted
uncomfortably in his seat. “So?”

Every man mumbled something, acting like it
wasn’t a big deal, when clearly it was. Luke shot him a sideways
glance, his brow arching.

Finn huffed and got up to grab a beer from
the cooler by the couch. He cracked it open and sipped. Plopping
back in the recliner he informed them, “She’s awesome.”

“No one said she wasn’t,” Kelly commented.
“But we know how you are.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Finn asked.

“I think we just all think it’s a little
fast. I mean, you and Erin just broke up,” Colin said, playing the
diplomat.

“And it isn’t the first time you and Erin
have called it quits,” Luke added.

He was getting tired of hearing his ex’s
name. “Well, this time was for good. Even if I didn’t have Mallory,
I wouldn’t go back to Erin. I’m done with her.”

“Good,” all three of his brothers said at
once.

Then Kelly pulled out a ten and put it on
the coffee table. “I call within a year.”

Luke pulled out a ten. “My money’s on six
months.”

Colin placed a five and five ones on the
table. “By Christmas.”

They were either betting on how long he and
Mallory would last—which really pissed him off—or on how long
until—

“I say next month there’s a ring on her
finger,” his dad said, tossing a pile of bills on the table.

Finn stood. Well… He went to the table and
scooped up their money. “You’re all idiots. But I’ll take your
money and put it toward the ring.”

“Hey!” They all objected, but laughed in
good humor.

He stuffed the money in his pocket and
headed to the kitchen. All the women were either working at the
counter or sitting at the table. Samantha was sitting with Mallory.
He shot his sister-in-law a look that promised retribution.
Mallory’s brows rose and he took it as a sign of exasperation.

“Hey,” he said, softly, settling into the
chair beside her.

She smiled and said through her teeth, “I’m
going to kill your sister-in-law.”

Sammy gasped. “I can hear you.”

“I know. You should probably lay low for a
while,” Mallory warned.

Sammy looked a little scared and got up to
help the others. Finn leaned in and kissed Mallory’s cheek. “How
you holding up?”

“Well, I just had to give my life summery in
ten minutes and that old woman keeps staring at me.”

“That’s Italian Mary. She’s a bit
overprotective of us McCulloughs.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Nah. Maybe a little. I’m sure you’ll be
fine.”

“All right, you two love birds, it’s time to
eat,” his mother said, holding an enormous bowl of ham and
cabbage.

Everyone filtered out of the kitchen and
into the dining room.

His mother yelled into the den. “Come on,
boys. Get off your arses and carry something to the table.” His
nieces and nephews charged down the stairs and rushed into the
dining room.

He pulled out a chair for Mallory, and they
settled in. Colin had a large dining room built in their house,
because he often hosted events for the church. Everyone quieted as
his older brother tapped his fork to his glass.

Colin cleared his throat and bowed his head.
“Lord, we thank you for this amazing feast and for bringing Mallory
here to meet everyone. We hope that she enjoys herself and blesses
us with many more nights filled with family, laughter, and
tradition.”

As Colin went on with grace, Finn reached
for Mallory’s hand under the table and squeezed. He hoped the
same.

After dinner they sat at the table and he
suffered many stories—mostly of the embarrassing sort—of his
childhood. They got out of there around nine. All in all, the night
wasn’t too bad. Mallory seemed to hold up well. His parents had
pulled him aside before they left to tell him how much they liked
her. His brothers took every chance they had to make him feel
whipped and rib him.

As he parked outside of her apartment he
shut off the truck and waited for her to invite him up. “Did you
have fun tonight?”

“It was definitely an experience. You
weren’t kidding when you said your family’s like locusts.”

He laughed and rubbed her knee. “That wasn’t
even all of them. Wait until you meet all the cousins.”

“Your sisters are nice.”

He eased back in his seat and looked at her.
She had such a pretty smile. “You’re nice.”

Her cheeks darkened and she grinned shyly at
him. “Would you like to come in?”

God yes.
“Sure.”

They walked up the steps and she unlocked
the door. Once inside he waited to see what she wanted to do. They
both stood in the living room as though waiting for the other to
suggest something.

Their eyes met and the energy crackled. Two
seconds later, they were wrapped around each other, kissing
fiercely. She tugged at his shirt, tearing open the buttons, and
his hand slipped under her shirt and found her breasts.

They shuffled into her bedroom, never once
taking their lips off each other. They laughed as they toppled to
the bed. She spread his shirt wide and bit his chest. He jerked and
tugged her shirt over her head. She wore a purple, lace bra and he
stilled. Her breasts were magnificent.

“God, you’re beautiful.”

She froze and lowered her lashes bashfully.
“No, I’m not.”

“Yes,” he said, sternly. “You are.”

His fingers pulled the cup of her bra down
and out popped her soft nipple. Leaning up, he pulled it into his
mouth and she moaned, her thighs tightening on his hips. She braced
her arms at his shoulders and he cupped her breasts, filling his
palms, and tasted her flesh.

She rocked over him as her moans grew.
Suddenly, she sat up and scooted lower. Her fingers worked the
buttons of his jeans and the zipper came down in a fast zip. Her
warm hand curled around his flesh and pulled him out. Then her
mouth was on him.

Breath sucked deep in his lungs. He arched
and folded his hands behind his head, eyes shutting in bliss. “I
love this.”

“Mmm,” she said, her muffled reply vibrating
along his flesh.

Her hand pumped as her mouth suctioned up
and down over his length. Jesus, she was good at that—a little too
good. His hips bucked and he felt himself getting close.

“Hold on, Philly, I want inside of you.”

She tightened her grip and worked him
faster. He was going to come. His spine tingled and it was too
late. His release filled her mouth and she never stopped. No one
had ever done that to him so enthusiastically, so perfectly.

He panted as he came down from the sudden
rush of endorphins and she came to rest by his side, her fingers
trailing over his pecs and sending shivers and chills up his
arms.