Vinny: Alvarez Security Series (28 page)

The two women on either side of him looked back and forth between the gorgeous man and the woman they recognized from the performance. Understanding flashed through the eyes of one and she pulled her less intuitive friend along with her.

“Princess,” he said softly. “I’m sorry—”

She face-planted into his chest, no longer feeling brave. When she saw the women approach him, she felt jealousy and the innate desire to stake her claim. But after the words came out of her mouth, she felt nervous. Shaky. Unsure.

“Babe,” he murmured against her hair. Her only response was to shake her head against his chest. He lifted his head, catching the gaze of Gabe, making a motion toward her harp still sitting at the table. Gabe nodded and pulled Jennifer back into his lap, keeping an eye on the instrument.

Taking his fingers and lifting Annalissa’s chin, he confessed, “I can’t change my fucked-up past and I’m so sorry about that, but you gotta know you’re it for me.”

She peered up into his eyes, searching for truth…and finding it. A small smile curved the corners of her mouth as she accepted his apology and his promise. “Let’s go home,” she whispered against his lips as he lowered his mouth to hers.

His answer was his kiss. Deep, hard, wet. And a very public branding of who she belonged to and who he had now given himself to. The hoots around them broke them apart, grinning as they made their way back to the table. He leaned down to grab Easnadh’s case with one hand with the other arm around her. Winking at Gabe and Tony as Annalissa hugged Jennifer and Sherrie, they all headed out into the night.

A
nnalissa dreaded the
trip the next day to meet Vinny’s parents, until they pulled up outside the quaint stone building near the riverfront just outside of town and saw Gabe’s truck parked outside.

“I didn’t know they were going to be here!” she exclaimed, relief evident on her face.

“I wasn’t sure either,” Vinny stated, “But this’ll put mom in a happy coma.”

“A happy coma?”

“You know. Her two sons showing up at the same time, now both with women. Jesus, it may actually kill her with happiness.”

She giggled, but felt her nerves return as soon as he helped her down from the truck. She smoothed her long, navy, jersey dress and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“You look gorgeous, baby,” he whispered as he ushered into the pub.

Her eyes had to adjust to the dimness of the insides of the building, but as she looked around, she was enchanted. A stone fireplace was in a gathering place to the left, with old, comfortable sofas surrounding it. She could smell the slight smokey scent of the fireplace that gave the pub a homey scent. Along the right wall was a long, polished bar with mismatched stools lining it. In the corner was a dart board with a chalkboard to the side for keeping tallies. Toward the back were empty tables and booths, awaiting the lunch regulars.

“Vincent,” boomed a voice from the back. A large, muscular man headed toward them wearing jeans and a
Malloy’s Pub
t-shirt. A Celtic tattoo on his bicep peeked from the t-shirt, matching the one she knew so intimately on Vinny.
I would know this man anywhere—he looks like an older version of Vinny and Gabe.
The man bear-hugged first Vinny and then turned to her.

“Maeve, get out here woman,” he shouted with a smile.

A beautiful, petite, dark-haired woman came out of the kitchen as well, wiping her hands on her apron. Jennifer followed closely behind, next to a young boy.

After hugging Vinny, his mother turned to Annalissa as Vinny made the introductions. Placing his arm around her, he turned back to his parents. “Mom, dad. I’d like you to meet Annalissa O’Brian. Annalissa, I’d like you to meet Patrick and Maeve Malloy.”

Maeve stepped in front of her and took both of her hands in hers. “Oh, my darling girl. You’re absolutely beautiful and you’ve no idea how happy this makes me.”

Annalissa noticed tears in Maeve’s eyes as she was pulled into another hug.

“Thank you for loving my son. I’ve prayed so long that he would find someone,” Maeve whispered.

“Don’t mind my Maeve,” Patrick said, putting his hands on his wife’s shoulders. “She cries when she’s happy.”

Patrick stepped up to Annalissa and she had to lean way back to look into his cheerful face. “Good to have you here, darling. Maeve and I’ve heard a lot about you and are tickled to finally meet the woman that tamed one of my boys.”

Jennifer giggled before accusing her in-laws of saying the exact same thing when she met them last year. The young boy ran over to fist-bump Vinny.

“This is my brother, Ross,” Jennifer introduced. “He and Vinny are great friends.”

“Hey buddy,” Vinny greeted. “I’d like you to meet Annalissa.”

Gabe walked through the back carrying a tray of beers on tap. “Let’s celebrate,” he called out.

Maeve and Patrick had their servers bring out platters of fish and chips and the rowdy group settled in to eat. Patrick regaled the women with tales of Vinny and Gabe growing up on the river and the shenanigans they used to get into. Maeve beamed at the gathering and Annalissa felt her eyes on her several times.

Finally, she leaned over to Vinny and whispered, “I think your mom wants to say something, but she just stares instead.”

“She wants you to play your harp.”

Her eyes widened as she bemoaned, “But I didn’t bring Easnadh.”

Vinny winked as he moved from his chair. “I’ll be right back.” A few minutes later he returned with her harp case in his hand. “I stowed it in the back. I just knew Ma would want to hear you play an Irish tune.”

Maeve clapped her hand in delight. “Oh, my dear. Please do. Ever since Vincent told us you played the Celtic harp, I just knew you were the one for him.”

The group moved to the sitting area in front of the fireplace as Vinny got a chair for Annalissa to sit in. For several minutes she played one Irish ditty after another, interspersed with several ballads.

Once more Vinny sat entranced watching her play, her fingers gliding over the strings eliciting the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Her eyes were closed as she rocked back and forth, one with the music. Suddenly another sound emerged. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized she was singing.
Singing!
The haunting tones from the harp were now joined by the sweetest voice he had ever heard as the words to the Irish lullaby floated over the pub.

As her fingers stilled, Annalissa opened her eyes realizing that she had been singing in public—something she never did. And the gathering was silent. Perfectly silent.
Oh Jesus, what have I done?

Maeve burst into tears as she sprang from the sofa, rushing over to envelope her in her embrace. “Oh, my. I’ve not heard that since my mother would sing it to me and I sang it to my boys.”

Annalissa glanced over Maeve’s shoulder to see Patrick wiping his eyes, a broad smile on his face. As the older woman released her, she dared to look Vinny’s way. He moved over to her, pulling her from her chair and encircling her in his arms. Looking down into her green eyes, he whispered, “Never thought I’d hear anything as beautiful as you playing the harp. But hearing you sing at the same time? Fuckin’ amazing.”

“I didn’t mean to sing,” she confessed. “It just sort of happened.”

“Happened for a reason, babe.”

Soon it was time to say goodbye, this time she was comfortable with his parents’ show of affection. They were so much like her mother that she had to fight the tears of remembrance.

As they pulled away from the pub, Vinny turned to her and asked, “You okay, baby?”

She returned his smile as she answered, “Everything’s perfect.”

*

The warm water
was no longer frightening to Annalissa as she treaded through the shallow side, slowing making her way into the slightly deeper water. Keeping her head above the water line, she moved her arms while kicking her legs to propel herself toward the stunning man smiling at her as he floated along. He dipped his head under the water, rising up before her like a Viking god. Chiseled abs, with the Celtic patterned tattoo around his thick bicep, water dripping from his hair down his square jaw with a hint of stubble.

Good Lord,
she thought as her motions faltered. He quickly reached forward, a smirk on his face.

“Babe, keep your mind on the lesson or you’ll drown.”

Clinging to his hard body, she replied, “How can I be expected to keep my mind off of you when you look like that?”

Laughing, he pressed his erection against her core. “You’re not the only one struggling here. Just the sight of your sexy body sliding through the water is keeping me hard.”

“Maybe someone else should teach me to swim,” she suggested, licking the water off of his neck. “Maybe Jobe is available.”

“Fuck, no,” he growled, squeezing her ass. “He may be one of my best friends and true to the core, but no one’ll ever be this close to you when you’re half naked.” His aching dick was making the lesson difficult, so he moved her out to arms’ length as he floated her to the shallow side.

“Back to business,” he ordered, giving her a quick kiss on the nose, admiring her little pouty mouth. “We need to get your head under the water and add the breathing into the strokes.”

Determined not to show fear, she stood and followed his motions of holding her breath and lowering herself under the water. Up and down she went, practicing taking a deep breath before plunging, blowing bubbles under water and then rising again.

Having conquered her fear of being under the water, he then stood behind her moving her arms as she turned her head. Her attempts to put arms, legs, and breathing together were awkward and resulted in swallowing water.

Sputtering and coughing, she lifted her head in frustration. “I’m never going to get this! There’s too much going on for me to remember how to do it all.”

Once she had caught her breath, he pulled her close allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist again as she locked her hands behind his thick neck.

“Babe, you’re doing great.” Seeing her start to interrupt, he continued. “How long did it take you to learn to play the harp?”

Knowing where he was going, she grinned ruefully. “Okay, okay. I know, I have to practice. But it’s not like I’m ever going swimming by myself. And I have no intentions of ever trying to cross a river again.”

“You never know, babe. After all, when we have kids and they’re playing around the docks at my parents’ place, you’ll want them to know how to swim and be able to swim with them if you need to.”

She stilled, bringing her head from his shoulder to face him. Her eyes searched his, looking between them. He looked…serious.

“Our…children?” she asked, her heart beating a staccato rhythm in her chest.

“Don’t know where you think this is going, but I see it going all the way,” he said holding her gaze, feeling her body tremble against his.

“I…but you’ve only known me a couple of weeks,” she whispered, afraid of him changing his mind and terrified of him being serious.

“Lived hard, baby. Seen things I wish I hadn’t seen. Done things I wish I hadn’t done. But when something comes along that’s right and you know it’s right? You don’t sit around just twiddling your thumbs.”

A nervous giggle erupted from her lips as she said, “I hardly think we’ve been sitting around twiddling our thumbs, Vinny.”

He watched as water droplets made their way down her silky cheeks, dropping onto the tops of her breasts peeking out of the water. Then he lifted his gaze back to hers. “First time I saw you on stage performing, I had no idea you were the woman I was supposed to escort. But I stood there in the wings and knew I’d give anything to know someone who could bring such beauty out of an instrument.

“Then, when you walked into the dressing room and I knew that I was going to be able to spend some time with you, I felt like the luckiest man alive. And babe,” he said, making sure to hold her gaze, “There hasn’t been one moment in this crazy couple of weeks that have made me doubt my feelings for you.”

The sound of water lapping against the edges of the pool was the only noise heard as she clung to his body, her thoughts swirling.

“What are you thinkin’, princess?” he asked, his confidence leaving him as her expression was unreadable.

“I’m stunned,” she replied truthfully.

“Stunned good or stunned bad?”

Smiling gradually, she said, “Stunned good.”

He let out the breath he did not realize he was holding. “Can we work with that?” he asked.

She nodded before saying, “I still can’t believe that you’re in my life. You, who could have any woman, want me.”

With his arms still enveloping her, he began to slowly twirl them around in the water. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” Deciding not to push her, he maneuvered her toward the side, his mind already on the ring he wanted to purchase.

Lifting her up on the side of the pool, he hoisted himself out as well. She leaned her head way back to take in all of him. His wet hair appeared as dark as the scruff on his strong jaw. Wide shoulders and muscular chest tapering down to his trim waist. His tree-trunk legs spread in a wide stance. And his hand…held out to take hers.