Page 43 of Hot Irish Halloween

Some revelers dressed as ancient spirits danced by. They were getting closer to the stage. Penny had that little wrinkle between her eyes, the way she did when she was pensive about something.

“I’m here for another couple of months to finish my book, as you know.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that rumor,” Jack said, and she grinned. His gaze lingered on her eyes and her smile. There was a strong doubt in his mind that he’d ever get tired of looking at that smile. He’d always want to be the reason it lit up her face.

Rolling her eyes at him, she said, “Yeah, well, I’m here in Ireland for another couple of months. I’ll be going home to see the fam like I promised, but I might come back around. Stay a bit longer. Just to see where things go. Are you good with that?”

“I’m good with that.”

He lifted her left hand, still bearing the ring he’d put on it for their act. Jack pressed his lips against it softly, looking into her eyes.

“Will you keep this on in the meantime?”

He was still wearing his ring. Penny rolled her eyes again but then sighed, settling her shoulders.

“If you insist,” she drawled teasingly. “Yes, Jack, I’ll keep it on.”

It was not his way to make huge public declarations or displays of affection. Never had been before Penny. But he couldn’t help himself when he picked her up in the middle of all the beautiful fairy lights, the laughter, and the music and kissed her long andsweet, kissed her like he was dying of thirst and the honeyed well of her mouth had been offered up for the quenching.

“Well, as I live and breathe, as I live andbreathe!”

Whoever was talking was too fucking close. Jack swiveled his head to behold a dark-skinned man wearing a striped beanie and sheepskin jacket on his big frame.

Penny gasped when she saw him. She didn’t have to tell Jack who this was. It was her old bandmate, Lemon “Squeeze” McGill, master of the slack guitar and the standing bass.

“Squeezy, you’re here!”

Penny pulled out of Jack’s embrace and traded him for Squeeze, leaving him suddenly cold and missing her warmth. Then he sighed.

Oh well. Looks like the past wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

15

BULLY BOYS

PENNY

Despite repeating the tall tale to everyone he met, Lemon McGill was actually not named after citrus fruit solely because his mama loved eating them while she was pregnant with him. Hailing from Morganton, North Carolina, Lemon was named Leonard after the band leader Leonard Cohen by his father, who played jazz piano. It was his big sister who’d been too small to pronounce Leonard correctly when he was born and called her new baby brother Lemon. The name had stuck. It was hard now to figure out which had come first, the name or the sunny personality that matched it.

Lemon Squeeze was a doll. Or rather, a big, squeezable bear, hence the nickname Penny had bestowed upon him herself. She loved him and their other bandmate, Dennis, like the brothers she never had. But like everything else that reminded her of her old life, she’d been avoiding him. A text here, a phone call there. That was all.

“Why are you acting shocked to see me, Penny? Told you I was most likely gonna be here with Jennifer and them, dummy.” The insult was affectionate, but Jack frowned.

“Is Dax here too?” she asked. Dax Lo was his boyfriend of a year already, a bass player in a rock band. Last she’d heard, things were going pretty good between them. Maybe marriage level good. She regretted that she hadn’t met him yet.

“Nah, he couldn’t make the trip. And if you answered a brother’s texts, you and I could have made plans to meet up instead of running into each other by accident.”

“Introductions before you start getting on my case,” Penny said quickly. Holding onto Squeeze’s arm, she said, “Jack, you were a Thorny Rose fan, so you already know who this is. Leonard McGill, also known as the one and only Lemon Squeezy. Squeeze, this is my…um…this is —”

“You don’t have to tell me who he is. It’s Lucky Jack Valentine. I’m a fan. Big fan.” Squeeze practically grabbed Jack’s hand and pumped it, his gap-toothed grin wide.

“Good to meet you.” Jack seemed mollified by Squeeze’s announcement that he was a fan.

A crowd of partiers momentarily swarmed the three, so they moved to the side. Squeeze finally dropped Jack’s hand and grabbed Penny’s again instead. He looked good. His skin was clear, both gold earrings shining bright. With his shaved head, the effect made him look like a devilish pirate or maybe a genie. A big, strong genie.

“Is Dennis here too?” Penny asked.

“Nah. He was supposed to be, but you know how he is. Got sidetracked by some girl in London and didn’t make his flight over here.”

---