“He’s your friend, Sassie. I was being an idiot. Is he coming back, do you know?”
She sat up, squinted at him in the low light. “Why? You’re not planning on hitting him again, are you?”
“Tempting as it is, no. I think I owe him another apology, to be honest.” He pulled her close again. “I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, Sassie, O’Leary. You take my breath away.”
“You say the nicest things, R.P. But you know how much I love you, right? And if I start to get a little bit crazy and smother you, you give me a gentle kick in the backside.”
“I like to be smothered, especially if it’s by you.”
She sighed. “I’m serious here, R.P. This is why I wanted only sex with you. I know my limitations. Ask me brothers how over the top I can get and then you might regret pouring out your heart to me.”
“So you’re a little protective. I can deal with that.”
“It’s a bit worse than that. I take over, and before you know what’s happening, you won’t be able to breathe on your own.” She licked her lips. Hopefully, she wasn’t scaring him off. “It’s the reason I haven’t talked to my brothers in a while.” She shivered. “Gosh, I was horrible to them, truly I was.”
Riley laughed. He didn’t believe her, the poor foolish man.
“It’s not that funny. Not when you’re on the other side of it.”
“How bad can it be?”
Sassie grinned. “Devon. He’s the baby of the family and needed me more than most, by the way. Well, when he started school, I used to walk him there and back. I didn’t trust the others to look out for him. Poor boy. I was still walking him when he started grade three. Can you imagine how embarrassing it was for the poor lad? He never forgave me. Should have seen him when he started high school and I offered to carry his lunch pail. I thought he was going to take me out back and bury me in the garden, he was so angry.”
“Fair enough. But that’s not enough to make you hold off having a proper love interest, is it?”
He still didn’t get it. Silly man. “Ah, what can I say. It was his first date. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he chose Cathleen O’Connor. Everyone knew that lass had an eye for the boys and once she had her way with them, poor boys got dumped. I didn’t want that for our Devon. Can you imagine how broken hearted he would’ve been getting dumped publicly by that floozy?”
“We all have to go through it. A bit like a rite of passage.”
“For sure, but not my baby brother. No sir. I wasn’t about to let that happen.” Riley had trouble keeping his lips from curling. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you, R.P.?”
“What did you do, Sassie?”
It was so embarrassing now she was saying it out loud. “I followed him on his date. They noticed me when he was in the back of the movie theatre. I’d snuck in there after the lights dimmed, hoping to go unnoticed. Devon was crawling all over her, going in for a decent bout of kissing when he saw me. The light flickered over my face and gave me away.” She laughed.
“Poor boy was so embarrassed, and didn’t I get it when he got home.” Riley rubbed his hand over her back in circles. “It was then I realized how much I’d gone overboard. I mean, the others didn’t mind me doing everything for them, but Devon was a bit more independent. Even with me mothering him like I did. He hated it and let me know it in not so many words.”
“Fair enough. I wouldn’t appreciate Mom doing that to me either.”
“So I packed my bags and left them to their own devices. I figured it was time I did something for myself and let them spread their wings. They didn’t all appreciate it, but that’s life. None of them died learning to take care of themselves.”
“That still seems unrealistic to me as a reason to avoid a relationship.”
“Not saying it’s reasonable, but it is what it is.” She tilted her head. “I didn’t scare you away with that admission?”
“Not a chance.” He kissed her. “Just proves to me that you’re the most wonderful person I could imagine. What you’ve done for your brothers was a selfless act, and I love you all the more for it. Maybe one day I’ll get to meet them.”
“Maybe you will. Now that we’ve had some time apart, I might be able to trust myself not to smother them again.”
“Save that for me.” Riley lifted her and carried her to the bed. “I could do with whatever kind of loving you want to give me. I’ve missed you, Sassie.”
“I’ve missed you too, Riley. Please stay with me tonight.”
“There’s no way I’m leaving you again. From now on, this is where I want to be.”
THE END
Author Info
If you enjoyed reading Riley, you might like Grady, My Book
Mitch, the third book in the Cooper’s Crossing series is also available here My Book
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Now on to something completely different for me. I’ve always wanted to write a split timeline book set close to where I live in the country. Foxborough Hall is that book and I hope you like reading it as much as I did writing it.
Grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy!
Volume Four
Foxborough Hall
Ann B. Harrison
Copyright © Ann B. Harrison 2016
Prologue
San Francisco, 1978
The creep of tiny fingers up her spine said, prepare for a sudden nose dive.
Billie pinched
