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“No. We’re not having a quickie before the wedding dinner,” she replied, as if she read my mind.
“Well, that’s promising,” I offered back. It wasn’t an out and out no. Just that I need to wait until after.
“I can’t believe I’m Mrs. Jamie Fontaine,” she said abruptly, as her eyes focused on mine.
Getting serious, I swept my hands to either side of her head. Cradling her face in them, I took a moment to let my eyes tick over her beautiful face. Then I pressed my lips to hers in a closed-mouthed kiss and leaned back to catch her gaze again.
“Since the moment you spoke those first words to me, I’ve never been able to get enough of this smart, sassy mouth of yours. I love that you tell me no … that you put me in my place. Don’t ever let my fame change you, Daisy O’Don … Fontaine,” I corrected myself and smiled.
“What would you have done had I said no to all of this today?” she asked.
“But you didn’t. My gut drove me to do what I did, because I couldn’t have gone another year living the way we had. Not with the connection I feel we have. I know you find being with me feels weird sometimes, but believe me Daisy, I feel like a very lucky man having you as my wife.”
EPILOGUE
“Uncle Eugene is as sharp as ever on that harmonica,” Daisy said as she stood, hugging a glass of champagne and tapping her feet to the fast-paced Irish folk tune the old timers were playing.
“Looks like Catrina and Terry are out in the open,” Dermot mused as he came over beside us and stood watching them. “Before you know it, they’ll all be following you and living in Dublin, Jamie.”
“I’d love it, if they did that,” I admitted. “Nick’s off to college for the next three years in the US though. Cat wouldn’t leave him over there to fend for himself. It doesn’t matter how far away he’ll be in the states, she would never leave the country until he’s finished school at least.”
“She’s going to be torn. Ryan’s going to be in London for three years, so either way, she’ll have one son in the US and one in the UK as it stands now,” he reminded me.
“True. It would make my life easier if she could move to Dublin. At least I wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving her alone, which is what’s going to happen when Nick leaves for college.”
“Don’t underestimate the power of love,” Dermot replied, nodding at Cat and Terry again. I had to admit they looked very cozy together. “Oh, and it looks like Nick might have found someone to play with,” Dermot said.
Daisy’s dad nodded his head toward Nick who had Maria, Daisy’s friend, sitting on his knee. “Isn’t she a little old for him?” Daisy asked, with a confused look on her face.
“Believe it or not Nick’s the more mature of the twins,” I said and chuckled. “Did I really just say that about my nephew?” he joked. “Nick’s more like me than Ryan, if he likes what he sees, age wouldn’t come into it.”
“Oh, and by that I take it that you’ve been with older women?” Daisy piped up with a curious look in her eyes.
“You really want to talk about this on our wedding day?” I asked. “What I meant is, if the chemistry is right, age shouldn’t be a factor.”
“I’d quit right there, Jamie, because I think you’re digging a bit of a hole,” Dermot said coming to my rescue.
“Thanks, Da,” my wife said in a clipped tone. “What are you doing here, anyway? Are you everyone’s chaperone this evening? Where’s Ma?”
“She’s over there acting out her fantasy of being a band groupie,” he said through a laugh as he nodded toward my bandmates. Daisy’s mom was sitting between Fingers and Hogs lapping up Hogs attention.
I laughed along with him. “I’d be careful if I were you, Dermot. Hogs has a penchant for mature women.”
“I’m secure enough in what we’ve got to let her hang with them for a while, she’s a good girl,” he said beaming with pride.
“That’s what I thought about your daughter and look how I’ve corrupted her,” I replied.
Dermot glanced from me to Daisy and back to his wife. For the first time he looked a little unsure of his trust. “Maybe I’ll just go and ask her to dance. She loves dancing,” he muttered.
As he wandered over to the table where my band was sitting, Daisy swatted my shoulder. “You are a bad man, winding my da up like that,” she said through a giggle.
“And you’re a bad woman, who once was a good girl until you met me, right? Would I lie to my wife?” I asked, giving her a serious stare. “I’m telling you, that guy would have your mom’s panties at her ankles before she could blink, if he thought he’d get away with it. There’s a lot about my band you’ve yet to learn, baby. Although I love the guys to bits, I wouldn’t trust any one of them with women.”
“Not even Paddy?” she asked with her eyebrows up in her bangs.
“Especially not Paddy. Why do you think Bernie’s with him all the time? She knows her man inside out.”
Daisy frowned and the concerned look on her face compelled me to reassure her. “Don’t look so worried. You will never need to feel concerned about me and other women. I’m a reformed man; a one-woman man since I found you, and believe me, Daisy Fontaine, you are my world. I’m besotted with you.”
