Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“Are you gonna elaborate?” Ben drawled.
Right. That seemed like a logical follow-up question, but the answer was no. He wasn’t ready.
“What’s there to elaborate?” I deflected. “I’m just confident your Irish luck’s about to change.” And speaking of Irish and…his wallet…I should confess.
“When did I tell you I’m Irish?” His forehead wrinkled.
“I was getting to that,” I replied. “Your last name is Cleary or something, right?”
“O’Cleary,” he corrected.
“That’s what it was!” Fucking hell, I should’ve remembered the O. “I found that out back in January because I dug through your wallet when you were in the bathroom, but then I forgot most of the information, and it’s been bugging me for months.” I scratched my head. “But yeah, I knew it was Irish.”
He stared blankly at me.
I grinned sheepishly. “The more information I had on your tight-lipped ass, the more I could trust you, and the more I could help out.”
“My tight-lipped…” He shook his head as if to clear it, and he shot me a little scowl. “You fuckin’ sneak.”
“You left without a word! Call it even?”
That earned me an “Are you fucking serious?” look.
I slid closer to him and linked my arm with his, and that evidently earned me some suspicion too.
“Think about how cute I am.” I threw that out there, reminding him of the word he’d used at Costco. Fucking cute. What about irresistibly sexy? I’d rather be that.
He narrowed his eyes at me, and I cranked up my innocence and rubbed his arm.
This might actually be fun.
Unfortunately, my phone started ringing, and only one person was ballsy enough to call me this early.
Ziggy woke up and looked our way, quickly losing his interest.
“Hold that thought,” I said and stood up. “Or move on to a better thought if the current one isn’t working in my favor. We don’t need negativity in our home.”
I grabbed my phone from the armrest, and sure enough, it was the Spawn of Satan calling.
“Mornin’, sis—”
“Thank God you’re awake,” Sarah croaked. She sounded like death warmed over, so I guessed my day off now included uncle duties. “Is there any way you can watch Charlie after kindergarten? I woke up with a fever and haven’t stopped barfing.”
“Thanks for the image.” I made a face. “Do you need help getting him there first?”
“No, one of his friends’ mothers is picking him up in an hour,” she replied. “I don’t have the freaking time to be sick, and this week is so busy.”
Yeah, I knew that. I was gonna watch Chip on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
“We’ll work it out,” I said. “When do I pick him up?”
“Three-fifteen. The problem is, I promised him we’d go to that color run thing by Navy Pier—the Monday to Monday in Color I told you about? Today is the last day.”
I didn’t remember Sarah saying anything, but Chip had been buzzing about it for days.
“Okay, so I’ll take him.” I shrugged. We could get a couple beefs afterward. “What time is the run?”
“You’re the best, Trace—thank you so much. They start a run every hour from noon till six. I’ll email you the information. It’s free, by the way. And it’s in that park right before the pier, you know where Lake Stage is?”
“Yeah, I got it. So we’ll head over right after I pick him up. No worries.” I paused and figured it couldn’t hurt asking. “You sure it’s not morning sickness?”
“Not this again,” she grated out. “I’m not fucking pregnant!”
“Easy,” I bitched. “I’m just lookin’ out for the family.”
“No, you’re looking out for the bar by treating me like a baby factory.”
“Is it working?” I asked.
She hung up on me.
Fucking rude.
I sighed and dropped my phone on the mattress, then turned back to Ben, who was handing out one of his wry smirks.
“I’m watching Chip today,” I said.
“Oh, I heard everything. You were sweeter than sugar right up until you started hinting at Clover heirs again.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. He and Sarah had met a single time, for about ten minutes, and it’d been enough for Ben to be Team Sarah on the baby front. Fucking White Sox fans. They always picked the wrong team.
“Anyway. Shouldn’t you go to bed?” I thought it was best to change the topic. “I’m gonna hit the shower and think about what I’m buying for your birthday.”
That was code for, be nice to me because I’m giving you a present tomorrow.
He grinned faintly and scooted up on the bed. “I already told you what I want.”
I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. It’d be a cold day in hell before I put on a Sox tee and posed for a picture.
Chip was feeling pumped by the time we arrived at Polk Bros Park by Navy Pier, and I couldn’t lie. The music, the freaking T-shirt weather, and the view breathed life into me too. The green slope was lined with parents and dancing organizers of the event; there were big balloons, food vendors, a DJ on the stage, and colors everywhere. The part of the lawn near the finish line was an explosion of colors from that powder they threw over the kids when they completed their race.