by Anna Castor
Duncan shook Calum’s hand before slapping him on the shoulder. “Apology accepted. I know you’ve just met me, and you’re only looking out for your sister. But let me tell you once again, I’ve fallen for Kayla. I’m in deep, and no pussy is going to mess with that. I’m a one-woman man when I’m in a serious relationship. Fuck if I know if your sis even wants that with me, but I’m not running scared. She’ll get her head out of the sand soon enough.”
Calum chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
Duncan thought it best to get it all out and asked, “Now, give it to me straight. Do you have problems with me being with Kayla?”
The question wiped Calum’s smirk off his face. He looked Duncan in the eye and said, “I’m always honest, Duncan. I will always give things straight; what you see is what you get. If you mess with Kayla in one way or the other, you and I have some real problems. I don’t know you all that well, but I can see that you mean to be around for her. I can see that you care for my sister.”
Duncan nodded and was glad that Calum at least acknowledged his feelings for Kayla.
Calum continued. “I think she cares about you too. I think you’ll be the reason she’ll tell me to go back to New Jersey alone. I think that’s the reason I was coming on so strong. If her reason for staying here is going to fuck up, then I want to prevent her from walking away from her family again.”
“I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you, Calum.” The three men all turned around at the sound of Kayla’s soft voice. They hadn’t realized she had entered the dojo, and Duncan wondered what she’d overheard between him and Calum.
She knew she had hurt her family by leaving them so abruptly, and she knew Calum was especially hurt by her lies about the attack. He was her big brother, and he wanted—no, he needed to be there for her. It had always been his role to serve and protect, and he was pissed off that he hadn’t been given the chance to help her. He couldn’t exactly yell at her with all that went on, and Kayla was sure he was taking it out on Duncan.
“Please, Calum, I don’t want you to fight with Duncan. I know you’re trying to look out for me, but I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’d like to think that I can still handle things on my own.” She glanced from Calum to Duncan and noticed he was losing some of his anger. When she’d walked in during their discussion, she’d felt the tension pouring off both men.
When Duncan told Calum he was serious about her, that he’d fallen for her and was a one-woman man, her heart skipped a beat. She was standing still, holding her breath and trying to not miss a single word that came from his mouth. He’d said he was waiting for her to get her head out of the sand, and she’d felt her lips curling into a smile.
But the next words that came from her brother made her so sad. When Calum said it would feel like she was walking away from her family all over again if she decided to stay here with Duncan, it was clear that he was hurt. He was trying to hold on to her, and he thought that if she didn’t have Duncan, then she would go back with him and all would be all right. But it would not be all right, and Kayla suddenly realized it.
“I’ve fallen for you too, Duncan. My God, I don’t want to have this talk so soon, and certainly not in front of our brothers.”
Donovan chuckled, and Duncan shoved him aside before walking over to stand in front of her.
She looked at her brother over Duncan’s shoulder. “I know you want to protect me. You think you’ve failed me with everything that has been going on.” Calum took a step toward her, but she kept talking before he could interrupt her. “I know that you want me back home. Perhaps if I hadn’t fallen for Duncan, I would have returned with you, but I don’t want to leave Austin. I don’t want to leave Duncan. I don’t even want to leave my demanding new boss.” She shot a look at Donovan over Duncan’s other shoulder and quirked her brow at him.
“Good to hear. Me and the guys need you there,” Donovan said.
Duncan took Kayla’s hand in his and asked her, “You’re falling for me?” He was standing there with his signature smirk on his face, and all she could do was move a little closer to him, get on her tiptoes, and kiss him.
After their soft little kiss, she backed away and looked him in his eyes. “One-woman man?”
He held her head in his hands, his thumbs caressing her cheeks as he said, “Yes, wildflower. Only you.”
Calum sighed. “I think Donovan and I are going to leave you lovebirds alone. I’m going to check into a hotel, and maybe we can talk tomorrow?” He looked defeated, and Kayla hated seeing her big brother like that.
“Calum Walsh, if you go stay in a hotel, you know I’m just going to come over and set fire to your bag, cut your credit cards in half, and then drag you straight back to my apartment by the hair, right?” Hands on her hips and her chin up, Kayla dared him to argue with her.
Duncan and Donovan both bellowed a laugh, and Calum smirked before saying, “I’d like to see you dragging me with you, little sis.”
Kayla went straight into Calum’s waiting open arms and hugged him. “Shut it, Calum. I love you. You are my big brother. I’m sorry for all that has happened and for hurting you. Please don’t stay in a hotel. You’re my blood. You stay with me, and I don’t want to hear anything about the matter anymore, okay?” He hugged her even closer.
“Okay, now we go to Lucky. After all this hugging and kissing, I’m in need of a drink. Happy hour is on its way as we speak. Come on,” Donovan said, leading the way for Calum.
Duncan grabbed Kayla’s hand and pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “Come on, I wanna buy my girl a drink.”
She couldn’t stop smiling the entire drive over to Lucky as she sat next to him in his truck. While he drove, she studied his features. He had a strong, chiseled jaw, and his crooked nose gave his appearance a dark edge that matched the faded scar that crossed his right brow.
He kept his hair closely shaved to his scalp, but she could see the dark little hairs. His black hair stood out beautifully against his light green eyes. His eyes could smile, and that was what they did right now as he looked at her. “If you stare any longer at me that way, I’m gonna take you back to my place instead.”
“Mmm... tempting, Dunc, but let’s go with our brothers for that drink. I really want to meet the rest of your family.”
He looked over at her in a peculiar way.
“What?” she asked as he shook his head.
“You called me Dunc. Nobody but family calls me that.” She felt her cheeks turn red, and it stung a little that he’d said that to her. He must have noticed her hurt feelings, because he instantly grabbed her hand and added, “I love that you’re calling me Dunc.”
After parking the truck on the street of the pub, Duncan moved his upper body over the console and kissed her lips. His hand slipped behind her head, and he held on strong as he deepened their kiss. A soft moan slipped out of her mouth, and he instantly let go of her.
“Come on. One drink and then we’re out the door.”
Kayla’s giggles filled the cabin at his growled words.
“Boyo, don’t keep Kayla from me. Come over here, will ye?”
Kayla smiled at Pops. They’d just entered The Lucky Irishman, and Pops was already yelling at Duncan that he was keeping her from him. Duncan had been stopped by a guy standing next to the entrance who had a question about a fight.
Kayla gave Duncan a kiss on his cheek. “I’m going to Pops.”
“Mmm, I like it,” he said, focusing on Kayla even though the guy kept talking to him.
“What?” She smiled when he tightened his grip on her hand when she was about to let go.
“I like you kissing me here. I love that you want to go to Pops, even when he’s all shouting. It feels right, like it’s the way it should be.” He grabbed the back of her head with his other hand and gave her a long, passionate kiss.
“Now that’s a Mills man for ye. Let her go, boyo. Give us a chance to talk to her, will ye?” Pops interrupted their kiss with his shouting,
and Duncan smiled against her lips. She gave him one last kiss and turned to walk to Pops when Duncan gave her butt a little slap. She looked over her shoulder at him and was trying to act annoyed, but when she spotted him smiling at her, she realized she couldn’t fool Duncan.
“Come over here, fine thing. Let me get ye some wine. White, am I right?” Pops had owned this pub, and Kayla figured remembering one’s drink must have been second nature to him.
“Yes, thank you, Pops.”
He gave her hand a little pat and shuffled toward the bar as Kayla looked over at Brennan, who saluted her with two fingers at his forehead. She gave him an awkward little wave and sighed.
Looking around the busy pub, she noticed that the place was packed. No empty barstool was visible and all the booths and tables were occupied. Some guys played pool in the back, and when she looked closer, she could pick out Calum and Donovan playing against two familiar-looking guys. These had to be Duncan’s younger twin brothers Maureen talked about when they were here the other night. My God, these Mills brothers all seemed so tall and handsome in their own way.
Duncan stood out the most for Kayla. He wasn’t only beautifully strong, he also had a darkness, a ruggedness, even though she could often see his playfulness shining through. The way he’d teased her but, at the same time, cherished her was heartwarming. He was a contradiction, and she figured it wouldn’t get boring and predictable as it had been with her ex Cole all those years ago.
“You must be the girl who has my son’s panties all up in a twist.” She turned toward the chuckling voice and instantly recognized the man as Duncan’s father. Sean had black hair with a touch of gray at his temples. He was a beautiful older version of Donovan with his wavy hair and gray eyes.
Kayla knew a heartbreaker when she saw one, and Sean must have broken quite a few in his time, and perhaps even now. She turned in her chair and tried to shake Sean’s hand, but he ignored her outstretched hand and went for a hug instead.
He pulled her up and into his arms and spoke softly in her ear. “Good to meet you, Kayla. I’m so happy for Dunc. I hope you two make each other very happy. Give this old man a few grandchildren to run after, and I’ll be the happiest of us all.”
She sniggered and pulled back to see Sean’s twinkling eyes. If this was how Duncan would look in thirty years, she wouldn’t be disappointed. Not at all.
“Leave my girl alone, old man.”
They both turned when Pops joined their table again with a white wine for Kayla and a whiskey for himself. As they all sat down, Kayla looked around the pub and spotted Duncan standing at the bar talking to the pretty brunette waitress. She was cackling with her head thrown back, and he sat there smiling at her. She felt a pang of jealousy, and she didn’t know what to do with the feeling. She’d never had the need to feel jealous of her partner.
“Tell me about yourself, Kayla. You work for my other boy Donovan?”
She returned her focus to Sean and smiled at his question. “I do indeed. He’s quite the character, and they are a bit rowdy, but I love working there. I grew up with three older brothers and two younger sisters, so I feel right at home in their man cave they call an office.”
Pops and Sean chuckled, and she could see Sean’s appraising eyes travel over her face. “What’s your last name, dear?” Sean asked.
Before she could answer, Pops interrupted. “Son, told ye already, boyo found himself a good Irishwoman. He set the standard damn high for the rest of yer heathens, I tell ye.” He patted the back of her hand and looked at Kayla. “Tell you what, the moment yer two sisters come into town, ye must send them straight to Lucky. No detour, nothin’. The rest of these lads all need a good Irishwoman, so they’ll have their pickin’.”
Kayla smiled and looked over at Sean, who smirked as he shook his head.
“Aye, I think that’s the best idea ever. Two more Kaylas is precisely what we need, ye hear?”
Sean and Kayla shared a smile, and Pops looked at them as if they were the crazy ones.
Seeing Kayla sitting there laughing and joking with Pops and his dad made Duncan’s heart sing and dance the nonexistent “Kayla Song.” She was so beautiful in her tight black skirt and baby blue shirt that stretched across her breasts. She must have gone straight from work to the dojo. They hadn’t had the chance to speak to each other since they’d arrived here.
Some douche tried to take up all of his time, rambling on about Ronan’s upcoming fight. Duncan glanced back at Kayla and noticed that she seemed enthralled at what must have been an old story about Duncan from his dad. Sean loved to tell childhood stories about his sons. Duncan shook his head, smiling.
Pops noticed Duncan watching and gave a nod, as if to say that he wanted him to come over to the table. Duncan gave Pops a chin lift in acknowledgment, but he turned around to Brennan behind the bar.
“Yo, Bren, hit me up with another beer?”
Brennan looked annoyed at Duncan from his side of the bar. “You can have a beer if you take it back with you to Pops’s table, you hear?”
“What’s up, Bren?”
His brother leaned across the bar, placed a beer in front of him, and stared Duncan down. “You’ve been at Lucky for almost half an hour now. Talking about fights, talking shit with Tori and me. Now take this beer and go to your woman.”
Duncan looked over his shoulder and spotted Kayla watching him, smiling softly and then looking away from him. He was such an idiot. He had felt as if all was how it should be. Lucky was his home; he was here with his family, and now he had Kayla and she’d fitted right in.
She was talking and laughing with Pops and Dad, but he was so stupid because he knew he didn’t have her completely yet. Brennan was right to be reminding him that he needed to go see his wildflower.
He grabbed his beer and nodded. “Thanks, Bren.” Brennan grumbled something unintelligible and walked over to another customer.
“Ah, there he is. Yer done wanderin’ ’bout, boy?”
Pops didn’t call him boyo; that wasn’t good, not good at all. Pops must agree with Brennan, feeling as if Duncan had neglected Kayla. Pops was normally a tad cranky, but Duncan realized, if you messed with Kayla, Pops turned it up a notch.
“I tell ye, boy, ye got such a fine thing and yet yer sittin’ at the bar talkin’ to no one special. What an idiot ye are.”
Duncan smirked and shook his head. “You are right, Pops. Nobody’s more special than Kayla.”
Kayla looked up from her half-empty wineglass and raised her left eyebrow as she drawled, “Oh, is that right?”
Duncan sat down in the chair next to her as she stared him down. She was such a feisty little Irishwoman, and from the corner of his eye, Duncan spotted the amused looks between his dad and Pops.
This was not the time to think lightly of her feelings, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped, and he decided to shut her up by giving her one hell of a kiss. At first she felt rigid in his embrace as he grabbed the back of her head with his calloused hand and brought her lips down to his. But that was only a fleeting moment, as she thawed swiftly and kissed him back.
“Uh-hmm.”
The clearing of a throat behind them made Kayla break the kiss too soon for Duncan’s liking. He narrowed his eyes over her shoulder as he saw his two younger twin brothers standing there smirking back at him.
“Kayla, I would like you to meet my two baby brothers, Declan and Ronan. Dec and Ro, meet my girlfriend, Kayla.”
Duncan grinned at the blush that crept over Kayla’s cheeks as he called her his girlfriend. But she hastily masked any sign of embarrassment as she gave both of his brothers a warm smile and a firm handshake.
Before either of them could start a conversation, Pops announced, “Dec, Ro, if ye boys don’t get yer heads out of yer asses and mess things up indefinitely with yer ladies, be safe to know that Kayla has two beautiful Irish sisters for ye.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good recommendation for my sisters, Pops.”
All the Mills men present at the table instantly cracked up at Kayla’s retort.
“Ye got me there, fine thing. Got me there.” Pops smiled and shook his head over his whiskey glass.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Kayla. I’ve heard so much about you from Dunc and Don,” Declan said as he took the last vacant chair at the table.
“Thanks, Declan. I was hoping to meet more of Duncan’s family tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you couldn’t wait to finally meet the two best-looking brothers of the family,” Ronan joked and winked at Kayla.
“Sure... where are they?” Kayla mocked as she made a show of looking past Ronan, who stood next to Dec’s chair.
“I like you already, Kayla. Welcome to the Mills family.” Sean grinned as he stood from his chair and asked Pops to come with him, as they needed to discuss something with Brennan about Lucky.
Kayla thanked Sean by lifting her wineglass in the sign of a toast. Ronan took the vacant chair from his dad, and Donovan and Calum joined them too. Calum perched his tall frame in Pops’s vacant chair, and Donovan grabbed a chair from the table next to them to sit next to Calum.
Donovan immediately got down to business as he said, “Okay. So, Kayla, as we said this morning, I’ve informed my brothers about what we’re dealing with. Declan will inform Caitlin, with her being his partner on the force, and from my end, everything is set in motion. If the sucker is doing anything sketchy, I’ll know.”
Duncan picked up on Kayla losing a bit of her bantering spirit as she bent her head and studied the inside of her wineglass. He took her right hand in his and placed it on his knee while she looked up and gave him a sad smile.
He kissed her cheek and tried to reassure her. “It’s gonna be okay, wildflower.”
Kayla nodded. “I’m just sorry to drag you all into my mess.”
“Kay-Kay, I know you don’t want to ask for help. Fuck, I know the feeling.” Calum chuckled. “But I think it’s smart to let these guys help you.”
