She brushed her hand over her hair self-consciously. “If you want. I have to get up early though.”
“That’s fine. I’ll have to get up to go home for clean clothes.”
He realized that asking to spend the night might be pushing things between them. He’d agreed to take it slow, and it seemed like overnight everything had jumped to warp speed.
“If you’d prefer for me not to stay, that’s okay too. I know we said we were going to go slow.”
She smiled sweetly. “That kind of went out the window at lunch.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know if that meant you were ready to throw your whole plan out.”
“I don’t have a plan. But this feels right.” She paused and looked into his eyes questioningly. “Doesn’t it?”
“Hell, yeah it does.” He was just glad that she felt the same as he did. “Let’s go to bed.”
He stood and while she folded the blanket for the back of the couch, he cleaned up their dinner.
In the bathroom, she handed him a fresh toothbrush. “You can just keep this here, for whenever.”
They got ready and as they climbed into bed, he asked, “What’s the likelihood of me convincing you to sleep naked?”
“Hmmm . . . I guess it all depends on how convincing you are.”
And before they fell asleep he completely convinced her of all the benefits of sleeping naked.
* * *
At seven o’clock a few nights later, Kevin’s phone rang. He considered ignoring it because he wanted to see Kathy, but the ringtone told him it was Jimmy. He knew better than to ignore Jimmy.
“Hello.”
“Hey, shithead. You got a promotion and didn’t tell us?”
“How the hell did you find out?”
“Did you forget I married a woman who does nothing but stick her nose into everyone’s business all over the city?”
He should’ve known better. Moira had enough connections that she would’ve heard, probably before any other reporter did. “I planned on telling you all this weekend.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t like to wait. Get your ass down to O’Leary’s Pub now. We’re celebrating.”
Kevin almost groaned, but he sucked it back. His siblings were happy for him and wanted to celebrate. “Let me call Kathy and see if she’s up for it.”
“Already done. Moira’s picking her up so you have a designated driver to get home.”
As usual, Jimmy controlled everyone’s lives. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
He closed up his newly refinished office and headed out. At least with Kathy being his designated driver for the night, his brothers couldn’t accuse him of being a pussy for ducking out early. Kathy always had to be at the shop at the ass crack of dawn, so she wouldn’t be up for partying late.
When he arrived at O’Leary’s, the bar was already busy. It was probably normal for a Friday night. He looked around and didn’t see his family, so he fought through the mob while texting Jimmy. Where are you?
In the back.
He walked around people and dodged waitresses to get to the back room. He shouldn’t have needed directions. If he’d waited two minutes, he would’ve heard the sound of the O’Malleys. One thing he could always say about his family was that they were never quiet.
“Hey, asshole, it’s about time you showed up,” Sean called from the table.
The family had a few tables shoved together and they took up a good portion of the back room. Jimmy stood and gave him a hug.
“Congrats, man. You should’ve told us.”
They separated and Kevin looked at his sister-in-law. “I was going to tell all of you this weekend. I didn’t plan on Mouthy Moira getting in the mix.”
“You should’ve known better,” she yelled. “I’m in every mix. Now sit down and have a beer.”
He neared the table, his eyes scanning for the one person he really wanted to see, but she wasn’t there. He sat down and opened his mouth to ask about Kathy, but Moira continued to talk.
“She ran to the bathroom. She’ll be back in a minute. Her seat is next to you.” The whole time she talked, she poured beer from the pitcher in front of her.
From the other side of the table, Norah passed a plate of appetizers. “Celebratory food. Congrats. Tell us about the job.”
“Not much to tell. I’ve moved from being a peon in one department to a peon in another.”
“Shit. I can’t believe it,” Moira said. “Kevin O’Malley is being modest. He might still be a peon, but he’s a peon with the mayor’s ear.”
He nodded because that much was true.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Kathy approaching. He stood and slid her chair from its spot for her. She edged to the side, as if avoiding any contact with him. What the hell?
She sat quickly.
“Is something wrong?”
She smiled. “No, why?” Her face gave away nothing.
“Because you’re acting like you barely know me.”
Her gaze shifted around the table. Everyone there—his whole family was coupled up. Kevin slid an arm around the back of her chair and leaned closer. “My family obviously knows we’re dating.”
“I know.”
“Then what?”
“They’re kind of overwhelming,” she said quietly.
He pressed closer still until his lips touched the shell of her ear. “They’re overwhelming, so that means you can’t kiss me hello? I’m not understanding that.” His lips closed on her lobe and her breath hitched.
“Man, you really are an asshole,” Sean yelled again.
Kevin looked around the mass of Kathy’s curls with lifted eyebrows. She stiffened next to him.
“We invite you out to hear about your fancy new job and all you want to do is make out with your girlfriend. And you guys say I’m rude.”
With that, Sean’s girlfriend, Emma, shoved his shoulder. “Maybe if you didn’t scream across the table and call people names, we wouldn’t say that.”
Kevin shifted so his arm sat comfortably on Kathy’s shoulders. “I apologize, brother. I haven’t seen my girlfriend in a few days. You have my attention now. What
