The Irish Lottery: A Friends-to-Lovers Contemporary Romance (Irish Kiss)

by Sienna Blake

  “I suggested it, didn’t I?” he said.

  That meant yes.

  Three out of four brothers were in. We could do it with three. It wouldn’t be as appealing as four brothers, but still…

  We all stared at Michael.

  He paused. “I don’t know… Jesus Christ, if anyone at the office ever found out. If my clients knew…”

  “Mickey,” Eoin said. “No one’ll find out. They’re signing that MBA thingy.”

  “NDA, ye eejit,” Darren corrected.

  Eoin stuck up his middle finger at him.

  “Look,” I said, turning to Michael, “if you don’t want to do it, say no. No pressure.”

  Michael’s face scrunched up. “It’s not that I don’t want to… But if it raises the money for ma’s operation… Ah, feck it. I’ll do it. But I’m drafting the NDA. And the terms and conditions.”

  I pumped my fist.

  “Alright, Mickey!” Eoin leapt up from his seat and grabbed Michael in a half-hug, half-tackle.

  “Get off me, you’re wrinkling the Armani.”

  Eoin chuckled and ran his knuckles across Michael’s head before darting out of the way of Michael’s fist.

  I nodded to my brothers, grinning as hope bubbled up inside me. We were all in this. The plan was crazy as shite but we were going to get our ma the surgery she needed. It was going to work.

  Noah

  The four of us drew up a plan.

  Darren had built his own website for his mechanic shop and was decent at IT—anything mechanical, really—so he was going to be in charge of getting our lottery website up.

  Michael would draft up the NDA and the terms and conditions of the contest.

  Eoin found us the photographer who was a mate of his, sworn to secrecy. The photographer didn’t know what it was for, just that it was to raise money for our ma.

  I was responsible for setting up the digital bank account that the money was all going to.

  Today I had hope. Something that I didn’t have yesterday.

  But hope was a long way away from ma’s surgery being paid for.

  I felt tired and drained as I walked up to the door of The Jar a few days later. I took some comfort in the fact that it should be a quiet night and that it would be an easy shift. And Aubrey would be there. She always made the worst situations feel manageable somehow. Even now, the thought of her grin and easy humor eased some of the weight crushing down on my shoulders. I had to remind myself that she was someone else’s fiancée. I had no right to think about her as anything other than a friend. Still, her beautiful smile and soft laugh snuck right back into my thoughts, quickening my steps, making my hand shake with anticipation as I lifted it to the handle of the door to The Jar.

  “What’s up, asshole?” Eoin’s easy drawl broke through my thoughts.

  I spun on my heel to find my youngest brother strolling up to me, dressed in black sweats—his formal sweats—and a blue jersey.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Eoin snorted and rolled his eyes. “You tell me.”

  I frowned. “What?”

  “I got a message from Aubrey telling me to meet you guys here.”

  “We did, too.” Darren appeared from the shadows, Michael following closely behind him.

  What the hell was going on? I stood with all my brothers, the four of us glancing around at each other, unable to hold each other’s eye contact for long. The last time we were all together was a few days ago when we decided we’d set up the lottery.

  “Did you tell her?” Michael leveled an accusing look at me.

  “Of course I didn’t feckin’ tell her.”

  “Then why are we here?” Darren asked.

  Why indeed. I turned my back on my brothers and pushed through the front door of The Jar. My quiet night instantly went to hell as the packed room erupted into uncoordinated shouts of “Surprise!” Like a birthday surprise party gone wrong.

  It wasn’t my birthday.

  My brothers spilled into The Jar around me.

  “What is going on?” Eoin echoed my thoughts.

  I picked Aubrey out of the throng of people, her radiant smile chasing away most of my apprehension. If she was smiling, then everything was okay.

  With a few steps, Aubrey was in front of me. “I wanted to tell you, but I thought the surprise might be better,” she said to me. “I knew you’d want to help and you have too much on your plate. I didn’t want you to stress.”

  She hesitated as some guy I didn’t recognize walked up and clapped me on the back while saying something roughly comforting about my mother and how she’d get through this. Why was this stranger saying things about my ma? What the heck was going on here? I glanced down at Aubrey and saw the worried look in her eyes. Like she was begging me to understand and not be mad.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked, more curious than anything else.

  She moved her body towards me so we were shoulder to shoulder.

  Eoin caught my eye and wiggled his eyebrows at Aubrey suggestively. Michael elbowed him, but he was looking too.

  Darren still just looked stunned.

  Ignoring them as best I could, I glanced down at Aubrey. She worried her lower lip between her teeth in a way that sent liquid adrenaline flowing through my veins, before releasing it and smiling widely at someone who walked past us.

  “It’s a fundraiser,” she said, glancing up at me with serious eyes. “I wanted to help Ma and this seemed like a good way to do it. Remember, you’ve got a whole community of support behind you. People here know you, they love you, and with a little push, everyone can imagine being in your shoes. They want to help.” Her eyes were shining with tears and…

  Damn, it tore at me.

  I yanked her into a hug and crushed her to my body, my arms as she clung to me.

  She did this for Ma.

  For my family.

  For me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, my words a paltry reflection of everything I was feeling. How did I ever deserve her in my life? How could I ever repay her? How could I even begin to tell her how much this meant to me? How much she meant to me?

  She nodded against my chest. “I’ve been monitoring, too. We’re not at capacity yet, the fire marshal won’t fine us as long as not too many more people show up.” She pulled away and glanced at the door with a worried look.

  The level of responsibility she’d taken on didn’t surprise me. I knew she was responsible, it was one of the main reasons I trusted her so much. Not only was she doing this fundraiser, she’d also taken local laws and regulations into account so we wouldn’t get fined, and I had no doubt she’d made sure to abide by all of them. I wanted to thank her again, but before I could speak, she excused herself and slipped away into the crowd. I tracked her until an elbow caught me in the ribs and I grunted.

  “Oh, damn,” Eoin said, watching after Aubrey even though she was out of sight. “That woman’s a keeper.” He glanced up at me, arching an eyebrow in a clear challenge. “Either you make a move on her or I’m going to.”

  “The fuck you will,” I growled, ready to lay his ass out. I didn’t give a fuck that he was an up-and-coming Rugby champ. He had the weight, height, and muscle over me, but I’d get some good shots in before he knocked me out. I wasn’t about to let him fuck around with the woman I loved. Even if she belonged to someone else. “She’s engaged.”

  Eoin made a rude noise. “I don’t give a damn. She’s worth fighting for.”

  Darren stepped in between us, trying to put space between Eoin and me. Probably a good thing, too. I was half a second from giving my little brother the beatdown right here at a fundraiser for my ma.

  “Have you considered telling Aubrey how you feel?” Darren asked me cautiously, watching like it wasn’t the first time he’d caught a stray hook thrown between Eoin and one of us. It wasn’t.

  “Has everyone forgotten that she’s fucking engaged?”

  “I think Eoin’s right,”
Darren said.

  I noticed Eoin’s smug nod as he crossed his arms.

  “She’s worth fighting for. Hell, she’s fighting for our ma right now.” Darren clasped a hand on my shoulder. “A woman like her might only come along once in a lifetime. Don’t let her slip through your fingers.”

  Everything they were saying I knew. I felt it deep in my bones. Aubrey was one in a million. I regretted not kissing her for every day of our friendship. But she had picked me to be her best friend. She chose him to be her fiancé. I had no fucking right to try to mess things up between her and him, despite him being a right feckin’ knob-end.

  “What is this?” Eoin asked, giving Darren a disgusted look. “Emotion hour with Dr. Phil?”

  At this, Darren dropped all pretenses and hit Eoin with a well-placed elbow.

  My brother doubled over, muttering something about puking all over Darren’s nice shoes.

  “Over here!” Aubrey’s cheerful voice rose over the din, and I saw her coming our way.

  Without missing a beat, my brothers straightened, falling into their best behavior.

  I noticed a man trailing behind Aubrey. I knew that face. How the hell…?

  “She got Jason Reilly here?” Michael asked from behind me.

  I locked on Aubrey’s smile, unable to look away as she walked right up to us.

  “You boys must know Jason Reilly of RTE,” Aubrey said.

  Us boys nodded in greeting at the local news anchor as Aubrey introduced us to Jason and the cameraman at his side, who I’d somehow failed to notice earlier. Ma would shite bricks if she were here. She loved Jason Reilly. Such a handsome young man, she always said with a wistful sigh. Did Aubrey think he was handsome?

  “Jason’s here to cover the event and raise awareness,” she said, smiling widely up at me. I couldn’t get the easy way she said his first name out of my head. It buzzed there like a bee even as she continued speaking. “The station set up a call-in line where people can call and donate from home, too!” Her voice hummed with excitement, her breaths coming out short and shallow.

  I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her hard, the cameras be damned.

  Instead, I forced myself to turn to Jason. “Thank you so much. We appreciate your help.”

  “When this beautiful young woman literally showed up at my office with this sad story and begged me to help, how could I resist?” Jason grinned at Aubrey.

  I tasted something metallic on my tongue.

  “I’d like to interview you as well,” Jason said, obviously returning to a conversation they’d had before she led him over here.

  “I can’t be on camera!” Aubrey’s cheeks turned pink.

  “Sure you can. A beautiful girl like you talking about why we’re having this fundraiser…the audience will eat it up.”

  His expression was unmistakable, and I wanted to punch the bastard right in his pretty face because I knew what he was thinking.

  Aubrey chewed on her lip as Jason continued to try to coax her in front of the camera. I could see she was torn between wanting to do the best for this fundraiser and her own fierce need for privacy. I would not let her bow to this bastard, even if he was some big shot TV presenter.

  I stepped between them, pushing Aubrey to my side. “She said no,” I said to Jason, my voice coming out hard like stone.

  Aubrey shot me an appreciative smile, and it felt like being hit with the warm summer sun full blast.

  “Most people want their fifteen minutes of fame,” Jason said with a sniff, brushing down his suit jacket.

  Aubrey shook her head, her face pale. “Not me.”

  “Neither do I, but I’ll get in front of the camera for my ma,” I said. “Boys, you up for it?” I directed this question to my brothers.

  The three of them nodded.

  Aubrey’s gaze shifted back to me and I was stuck on the slight curve at the corners of her lips and the way she tilted her head back, exposing her throat. Everything about this woman drove me mad.

  “Noah?”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “Jason’s ready to start the interview,” Aubrey said.

  I had to concentrate on the camera, otherwise my crush would be broadcast for all of the country to see. “Now?” I asked, feeling my brothers rallying at my sides.

  Jason Reilly nodded and waved at the cameraman to get into position.

  Suddenly, my mouth went dry.

  Aubrey was in front of me, fussing at my collar. “You’ll be great,” she said.

  I nodded, somehow having lost my voice. I’d have to find it again before the camera started rolling.

  “This will help the fundraiser, I promise.”

  Hearing her promise me anything in that breathless, excited voice could potentially ruin my ability to convince her—and myself—that I only saw her as a friend.

  She stepped away from me and I felt her loss immediately. She stood by the cameraman’s side with a thumbs up and I heard Jason call action.

  Together with my brothers, we worked the interview as best we could.

  Michael and Eoin knew how to be in front of a camera and it showed. I was worried I was a bit stiff through the interview, but Darren really struggled, finally settling on staying quiet and standing near the back.

  “So, Noah, it was your…girlfriend,” Jason said, glancing at Aubrey as if asking her, please tell me you’re single and this guy isn’t with you, “Aubrey, who organized this whole fundraiser as a surprise. She must be pretty special.”

  I looked over at Aubrey, our gazes locking and my breath was stolen.

  I should correct him. Aubrey wasn’t my girlfriend.

  Her cheeks flushed and she tore her eyes off me. But she didn’t correct him, either.

  Why didn’t she correct him?

  “Aubrey is the greatest woman I know,” I said truthfully, still looking at her instead of at the camera or Jason. I infused my words with all the love that I felt but could never say. “I am the luckiest man alive to have her in my life.”

  Aubrey

  The guys had finished up their interview and the live telethon had finally picked up a bit of steam, or so Jason had confided in me. I scanned the busy bar. Several local bands had offered to play for free and people were dancing. I could hear people excited about the raffle all around me, all hoping to win some prize or another from the local businesses that had donated. The electric buzz in the air was exciting, but I couldn’t seem to settle in and enjoy myself.

  I frowned down at my phone for the thousandth time in the past minute. Still no response.

  Me: Where are you?

  I hit send, despite the previous half-dozen messages in the same vein that hadn’t been answered. Maybe this time Sean would actually message me back.

  Maybe there was another reason he wasn’t answering. Maybe his phone was dead. Or maybe he’d left it on silent after a meeting. Maybe messaging wasn’t the way to reach him. With a glance around, I noticed everything was going just fine without me, so I slipped away towards the staff room at the back to call him instead.

  As it rang, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly like I was decompressing and grabbed at the back of my neck with my free hand like I could rub away the weary tension there. I couldn’t. The ache persisted and began to creep up like it was going to turn into a full-blown headache. I said a silent prayer that it wouldn’t.

  Sean answered on the second ring with a surprisingly curt tone that cut me to the bone.

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “I’m busy with work right now.”

  His abruptness and downright rude tone of voice stunned me. “You promised to be here,” I said and cringed. I promised myself I’d never be one of those nagging girlfriends, but lately, that’s all I felt like.

  I’d reminded Sean about Noah’s fundraiser yesterday. I’d even asked him to set an alarm a half hour before so he’d have enough time to get ready and get here. I needed his support; I’d never done anything like this befo
re.

  He let out a sigh. “It wouldn’t make a difference if I was there. The fundraiser won’t make more money if I show up.”

  “That’s not the point,” I said, exasperation coloring my tone. That’s not why I asked him to come in the first place. I wanted him here for me. I was going to marry this man. I needed to trust him to have my back. To be there when I needed him most. Did he not understand that I asked him to come to support me, not Noah? This was important to me. Wasn’t I important to him?

  “Never mind” I said, forcing my voice into a semblance of calm. “When will you get here?”

  “I have too much work to do.”

  My heart dropped. “So you’re not coming at all?” I nearly shrieked.

  “I’m sure your boyfriend, Noah, would prefer it if I didn’t show up.” There was a bitterness in his voice that I could not ignore.

  My boyfri—?

  Sean must have seen or heard the live interview that Noah had done. He must have heard the newscaster call me his girlfriend.

  Guilt stung at my cheeks. Noah hadn’t corrected him. But neither had I.

  “That was a mistake!” I cried. “The newscaster assumed—”

  “Whatever,” Sean’s annoyed voice cut in. “I don’t have time for this right now, Aubrey. I have more important things to do.” The line went dead in my ear.

  Hurt, anger and the unmistakable sting of guilt swirled around me as I glared at my cell phone.

  Sean told me he’d be here. He wasn’t. He’d let me down when I needed him. And instead of being understanding and apologetic, he’d gone right to being a dick for no reason and attacked my best friend. My best friend who was struggling to figure out how to save his mother’s life. Did my fiancé even have a heart?

  It’s not like Noah went out of his way to be nice to Sean. But he was never rude.

  I hated that my fiancé refused to even try to get along with my best friend.

  Yeah okay, he had a right to be pissed that Jason had told the country that I was Noah’s girlfriend, but it was a mistake. An honest assumption. If Sean had been here in the first damn place like he’d promised, Jason wouldn’t have made that assumption.