Easy Virtue (10 page)

“Did she know that you were listening?”

He blushes and looks down at his feet. “No …”

Giggling, I realize that I haven’t been this entertained in a very long time. Who knew innocence would be this sweet and fun?

I’m about to take a second bite when it dawns on me that he’s alone. Frowning, I ask, “Hey, where are your—”

“Ollie! There you are, buddy! I told you to wait for me with Frank!”

I turn in the direction of the voice. The sound stirs my memory, and when my eyes land on the man addressing Ollie, I know why. Shocked into immobility, all I can do is stare at him, the same guy from outside the Met, as he takes me in as well. A stunned expression crosses his sun-kissed face that I’m pretty sure mirrors mine.

“Hi,” I say, suddenly nervous. “Does this cute little guy belong to you?”

As soon as I ask, I see the resemblance. Glancing between them, I notice that they both have the same wavy coffee bean colored hair with natural golden highlights under the sun. Ollie’s curls are long and untamed, but the man staring at me with the most unusual, striking light brown eyes, has short hair, the top longer than the sides. They both have the same straight and elegant nose, but the man’s nose is dusted with freckles, giving him a boyish air. He’s absolutely sigh-inducing.

He puts his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and smiles, making his eyes crinkle at the corners. “Maybe. Has Ollie been bothering you?” His voice is husky and deep, reminding me of old school Hollywood actors.

I look down at the grinning boy as he pushes himself closer to me. I smile and wink at him. “Not at all. As a matter of fact, he was kind enough to share his pretzel with me.”

“Yep, I was a good boy and shared like you and mom always tell me,” Ollie says.

“That’s my boy,” I hear the stranger say. The thought that he might be married is disappointing, which is totally ludicrous because I don’t even know the guy.

After taking a few steps, he sits down next to Ollie. As he wraps an arm around Ollie’s shoulders, his free hand ruffles his hair, making the kid giggle. “You scared the hell out of me, buddy. I went back to Frank’s looking for you and you were gone. I need to text Frank and let him know that I found you before he loses his shit. Seriously, you can’t do that again. I’m going to have to tell your mom and I’m pretty sure she’s going to rip me a new one.”

Ollie’s shoulders fall contritely. “I know, Uncle Ronan. I’m sorry. I got bored listening to Frank talking to his girlfriend so I left. I just wanted to sit here.”

Uncle
Ronan?
Hmm, I like.

The man, who is actually a lot more handsome than I remember, lifts his eyes, meeting mine, and smiles. “I can’t say that I blame you, buddy. But you can’t do that again. Promise?”

“I promise, Uncle Ronan.”

I blush and lower my gaze to the ground but watch out of the corner of my eye as they shake hands. With his attention now on Ollie, I take the opportunity to check him out. The light caramel color of his skin lets me know that he spends a lot of time under the sun or outdoors. The sexy scruff on his square jaw says he hasn’t shaved in a couple of days, and the muscles in his arms, strong like corded steel, show that he likes to work out. He reminds me of a model for Gap—laid-back, sexy, and oh so very cool with a dash of rock star. I don’t think I have ever seen someone look as masculine and sexy as he does in a simple black fitted T-shirt without being totally douchey.

I continue to appraise him when his gaze connects with mine again and he smiles, almost as if he knows I’ve been watching him the entire time.

Figures. He just caught me staring.

I smile back because, really, what else can I do?

“Sorry, I’m being rude. I forgot to introduce myself,” he says.

“No worries. You must be the one who taught Ollie all his killer skills with the ladies.”

He runs his hand through his hair, groaning. “Do I even want to know?”

I shrug, enjoying myself immensely. “Oh, I don’t know … doll.”

“She seemed to like it too. She started making these funny noises and telling him not to stop and to keep going,” Ollie adds proudly.

I grin when I hear Ronan curse under his breath.
Poor guy.

Leaning forward, he places his forearms on his legs and turns to look at Ollie and me, his eyes dancing with mirth and a slight blush covering the crests of his cheeks. “Glad you two are having such a good time at my expense.”

“Well … you asked, right, Ollie?”

Ollie nods his head vigorously, making his curls bounce. “Yep.”

Ronan laughs out loud, pulling Ollie closer to him and mussing up his brown hair, making him giggle. It makes me smile too. “You little rascal. You’re supposed to be on my team.”

“She smells nicer than you, Uncle, and she’s prettier too.”

I grin. “See—smart boy.”

“Jesus. How can I compete against that?”

“You can’t,” I say, laughter embedded in my voice. “I’m Blaire by the way.”

“Blaire,” he says, letting my name roll off his tongue. “It suits you. It’s very pretty.”

“Thanks.”

“So, Blaire … tell me, how is the dude in the tux?” he asks offhandedly, looking down at the ground as he runs his hand over his scruff. Though, by the way the muscles in his arms tense while he awaits my answer, I get the sense that he cares.

“You like to get straight to the point, huh? He’s gone.”

Ronan lifts his head to look me in the eye, all traces of laughter in his face replaced by something sincere, something tender. “Can’t say that I’m sorry to hear that.”

I want to speak, but the way he’s watching me, almost as if he can truly
see
me, creates complete chaos within me, leaving me tongue-tied. His soft brown gaze wrecks every single thought of mine.

Our eyes remain locked as a sweet smile crosses his lips before he speaks once more, only further messing with my head. Really, I’m so busy watching the way his full and oh so kissable lips move that I’ve completely missed whatever he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I say breathlessly.
Why the fuck am I breathless?

He lets his eyes roam over my face, pausing on my lips. “I thought I would never see you again.”

“Uncle Ronan … I’m still hungry. Can I have a popsicle now?” Ollie interrupts. His words, like a hammer, break the thick brick of tension that surrounded us a moment ago. And I can’t say that I’m sorry for it.

Sighing a breath of relief, I happen to glance at my watch, noticing the time.
Shit!
It’s past four, and I still have to go home and get ready for work.

I stand and stretch my stiff legs after sitting for such a long time, noticing that the couple who was making out next to me are gone. Actually, the crowd is completely different from before, and the heat also feels less suffocating, less stifling. Funny how time seems to fly when you’re having a good time. After I pick up my almost
forgotten shopping bag off the ground, I turn to look at Ollie and Ronan as I tuck a flyaway strand of hair behind my ear.

“I’m really
sorry but I have to go. I have an appointment in less than two hours, and I still need to catch a cab. It was great meeting you, Ollie and
Uncle Ronan.
” I wink at Ronan.

He smiles crookedly at me, shaking his head. “You have a thing for walking away from me, don’t you?”

I bite my lip, as I recall that night. “And you have a thing for stalking, don’t you?”

“Maybe I do … maybe I don’t. Maybe it’s destiny playing its hand.” He pauses, grinning cheekily at me. “Or maybe I just have a thing for nice scenery.”

Laughing out loud, I whack his knee with my bag. “You’re bad.”

“Uncle Ronan …”

I chuckle when he interrupts us once again. I almost get the feeling he’s doing it on purpose.

“Yes,
Ollie
?” Ronan asks without breaking eye contact with me, amusement dancing in his eyes. That little boy is totally killing his game and he knows it, and if I may say so, quite successfully.

“Can I ask you a question?” Ollie asks.

“Sure.”

I watch as Ollie pushes his little body closer to Ronan’s and whispers something in his ear. Ronan shakes his head and smiles at me but addresses Ollie. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

Ollie runs a hand through his long curls, making them look wilder than before. “I was wondering if you want to come to my birthday party tomorrow.”

My heart skips a beat. I don’t do birthday parties. I hate them. As panic begins to rise inside me, I have to cough a couple times to find my voice. “Oh, no-no-no … ah … I don’t know … I can’t … I’d be intruding on a family event. I just couldn’t. Thanks for asking though, Ollie. That’s really sweet of you.”

Ollie shakes his head. “No! My mom won’t mind, right, Uncle Ronan?”

Ronan pats Ollie on the back. “Nope, the more the merrier. Come on, don’t break the boy’s heart. It’ll be fine.” He turns to look at Ollie. “Right, buddy?”

“Yeah. Don’t break my heart,” he repeats meekly.

“You two are trouble, you know that, right?” I say as two pairs of brown eyes stare at me, waiting for my answer.

“But of the best kind. Don’t you agree, Ollie?”

Ollie smiles, his baby dimples appearing. “Yep.”

“I don’t know, Ollie. We just met. I’m sure your mom is going to have something to say about inviting strangers from the park,” I say, even though a part of me already knows that I’m going to go. I mean, how can I deny a child asking for me to celebrate with him when I know what it’s like to want someone with you on your birthday but have no one?

“Oh, please, please, please come to my birthday party. There’s going to be ice cream cake, hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn with lots of butter. And you can bring me a present. And we’re not strangers! We shared a pretzel and you know my Uncle Ronan. And I already like you better than my uncle’s other floozy.”

At this, Ronan’s eyes look like they’re going to pop out of their sockets. “Who taught you that word?” He groans angrily. “Never mind, I’m pretty sure that was your mom’s doing. We’ll have to talk about that later.”

Not wanting to get Ollie in more trouble, I blurt out, “Okay, I’ll come.”

Ollie smiles smugly, his chastised expression from a moment ago evaporating into the air. “I knew you would, I knew you’d come!”

We exchange numbers and I type the details of his party in my phone (Ronan, the sneak, totally took advantage of the situation by saving mine in his cell). As I’m walking away, Ollie catches up to me, stands on his tiptoes, and whispers in my ear, “I think my uncle likes you, Ms. Blaire.”

Tongue-tied and blushing, I turn to steal one last glance at Ronan and find that he’s staring at me. When our eyes connect, the asshole has the audacity to wink at me before he breaks into one of those hypnotic smiles of his—and like an eclipse— I can’t look away.

It’s not until I’m in a cab on my way home that I realize I didn’t remember to check out the brand of his watch. I don’t think it would have mattered anyway.

I’M NOT AWARE OF MUCH
other than how nervous I am as I ride the subway to Brooklyn. Distracted, I got on the wrong train a couple of times which has made me terribly late. So now, on top of everything, I’m fidgety because I’m running behind. Fashionably late went out the window a train ride ago.

Why, oh why, did I let that little boy talk me into going to his birthday party?

I realize that a part of me wants to go and spend time with him and Ronan.

Ronan
. Just thinking of his name makes me want to smile.

There are so many red flags in this scenario, but would it be horrible if I ignore them just once and have fun for a couple of hours? It’s not like anything will happen between us.

I live in an apartment I can barely afford, I charged a major shopping spree on my credit card before Walker broke up with me, and my job is as a hostess. I have enough money in my savings account to last me for a while, but not if I’d like to keep up with my lifestyle.

Tapping my foot on the floor, I take my cell out and text Elly.

B: You’re not going to believe where I’m going.