Wild Chance (Wilder Irish #13) - Mari Carr Page 0,26

to have to make a lunch date one day soon so I can hear all about it.”

“My dear Emmy, I’ve told you a million times to call me Pat. And it was a brilliant trip, lass. A one-in-a-million opportunity. I’m going to hold you to those lunch plans.”

“This place,” she said, looking around, her voice filled with awe.

“I know,” Pop Pop said. “Paddy and I were just remarking on it.” He looked over her shoulder at Joe. “You and your brothers do fine work, Joe. Very fine indeed.”

Joe nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Collins. That means a lot to me.”

Under normal circumstances, Padraig would have joined the conversation, but at the moment, he was too fixated on Joe’s hand, on the way it had returned to the small of Emmy’s back after she’d hugged his grandfather.

“Hey, Joe!”

Their small group looked over to see Tony waving to his brother. Joe looked at Emmy. “I’m going to go say hello to my brothers, then grab us a booth.”

“Cool,” she said. “I’ll order our drinks. What would you like?”

“Peroni would be great.” Joe turned to walk away as Padraig scoffed.

“Peroni,” he said with disgust.

Emmy laughed and teasingly called him a beer snob.

“You’re here on a date with Joe Moretti?” Padraig asked as he poured Joe’s beer, then reached for the bottle of Emmy’s favorite Chardonnay.

“Yes. Do you believe it?” she said, giving him a wide-eyed look, mouthing OMG. The response would have been adorable if Padraig wasn’t so…pissed off. “He called me this morning to see if I was coming tonight. When I said yes, he asked if I wanted to go with him. Since you told me to start bringing my dates here, I figured you’d be pleased.”

Padraig could feel the weight of his father’s and grandfather’s stares as they both looked in his direction. Their expressions, if he’d bothered to glance their way, would no doubt be of the WTF variety.

Emmy picked up their drinks from the counter as he pushed them across to her and said “thanks” before turning to find Joe.

Padraig watched as she slid into the curved corner booth next to Joe, who wasted no time resting his arm on the back of the seat behind her. If the man got any more handsy, tonight was going to end in a brawl.

Finn and Layla walked up to the bar, both of them looking back to where Joe and Emmy sat.

“Did Emmy just walk in here with Joe?” Finn asked.

Padraig nodded as Layla sighed.

“Shit,” she said, quickly apologizing to Pop Pop for her language before he had a chance to say anything to her. “That’s my fault. I was texting with Emmy on Thursday, asking how her date with Lucas’s friend went. Joey was with me. When I told him who I was talking to, he said he thought Emmy was Paddy’s girlfriend. I explained that you guys are just friends,” she said to Padraig. Before he had a chance to correct her, Layla continued, “I didn’t realize he wanted to ask her out. I mean, I love my brother dearly, but Joey is a player from the word go. I would have set her up with Gio or Luca.”

“Not Tony?” Finn asked curiously.

Layla shook her head. “No, Tony’s a bit too intense for her, I think. Oh well,” Layla said as if it was no big deal. “Who knows? Maybe Joey and Emmy will hit it off and get married. She would rock as a sister-in-law.”

And then, oblivious to the bomb she’d just dropped on Padraig’s head, Layla headed toward the large table she and Finn were sharing with their third, Miguel, and the other Moretti brothers.

Finn remained behind, studying Padraig’s face closely. Not that he had to look too hard. Padraig wasn’t bothering to hide his feelings at the moment.

“Emmy told the girls that she asked you out before Christmas and you turned her down. That you insisted on just being friends,” Finn said, as if that would help.

Pop Pop shook his head. “Oh, Paddy.”

“You’ve changed your mind, haven’t you?” Finn asked.

Padraig nodded. “Yeah. I have.”

Uncle Ewan walked over. “Hey. Is Emmy here with Joe Moretti?”

Padraig might have laughed at all the men in his family swarming around, ready to do battle with him, if he weren’t so pissed off. And while he was angry at Joe, he was more furious with himself. He’d taken Emmy for granted for too long, unable to see what was standing right in front of him, too blinded by grief and guilt.

“I