The O'Malley Brides (31 page)

“I certainly do,” Winston agreed.  “It’s nice to see you again Caitlin.”

“Nice to see you
too and you
can call me Caitie.  Are you gonna marry my Aunt Bridget?”

“No, at least I don’t think so,” Dell replied carefully.

“Why not,” Lilly piped up.  “You like her don’t cha?”

“Yeah, how come you don’t wanna marry our Aunt Bridget?  She’s nice an
,
pretty too,” Rose added joining the fray.

“She’s very pretty,” Dell agreed, looki
ng to Bridget for assistance
.  N
one was forthcoming.

Bridget was enjoying this.  It was good to see him unsure of himself for a change.

“I can’t marry your Aunt Bridget,” he said sadly, finally seeing a way out of this.

“Why not?” all three girls asked in unison.

“She
doesn’t
like my name,” Dell told them.  “How will she ever be able to call me if she can’t say my name without laughing?”

“
What is
your name again?”
asked one of the twins
.

“
Delbert,
Lilly,” he told her.  “My name is Delbert.”

“I’m Rose,” the little girl insiste
d.  “Your name is Delbert Lilly?
  That
’s not a bad name.  M
y sister has
that name too.  I mean some of it.”

“I got an idea,” Caitie offered grinning.  “If she don’t like y
our name she can call you Honey?  Mommy calls my new Daddy
“
H
oney
”
all the times.”

Bridget had her arms crossed over her chest trying to control her laughing. 

“I don’t think I’m making this any better,” he admitted to her, a desperate look on his face.

“No and you never will,” she agreed.  “Those three should all go to law school at some point. They can talk you
in circles
and they have an answer for everything.  You girls are so silly,” Bridget told them, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek.  “I have to go introduce Winston to the rest of the
family.  Y
our babies are crying anyway, you better take care of them.”

“Okay,” they agreed
, but before Dell and Bridget
could make good on their escape, Rose had one more suggestion.  “I thought you
said his name was Delbert Lilly?
  Why did you call him Winston?”

“I don’t know, that’s just what I’ve always called him,” Bridget replied.

“Then you
can get married,” Caitie supplied clearly pleased that the
whole thing was settled.  “You
can call him
“
Winston
H
oney
”
.  I like that better than Delbert Lilly anyways.”

“Good grief,” Dell whispered at they walked away.  “Are they always like that?”

“Yup, sometimes it’s even worse.  I can’t imagine what they will put their parents through, but I’m sure I’ll think it’s funny.”

“I’m sure you will too,” Dell agreed, shaking his head in amazement. “Who do the twins belong to
?
” he asked.

“My sister
,
Colleen
,
and her husband
, Noah. 
Noah’s
a History Professor at the college.  They also have a son
,
Devlin
,
who’s around here somewhere.  He’s the same age as Todd and they get along famously as long as it’s just the two of them.  Add Molly and
Patrick’s
b
oys
,
Michael and Ryan
,
and all hell breaks loose.  We’ll run into them sooner or later and you’ll get to meet them.  For now I better introduce you to Ma, before she blows a gasket.”

“Is your mother like you, easily excitable?” he asked innocently
.

“I guess that depends on what you mean by excitable,” Bridget answered, pulling him into the empty study and pushing the door closed with her foot.
She’d show him excitable.

When she threw
herself into his arms, Dell
was
helpless to deny her.  Lifting her off her feet
,
his arms were steel bands around her as his lips claimed hers.  Her toes curled and her shoes dropped right off her feet, thumping silently on the carpet.  Dell murmured warnings about getting caught
,
but Bridget just let her head fall back exposing her throat to his ravaging mouth. 

“Oh Winston,” she moaned.  “You’re so good at this.  I don’t think I can let you go.”

“For y
our information, Bridge, I
am the one who has
you, and you’re not going anywhere,
” he gro
wled against her throat.  One arm held her as he slid the other under her dress grabbing her ass and pulling her tighter against him.  When he had he
r
secure, his other hand moved up her back tangling in her hair holding her head at the angle he wanted.   Turning
around
,
he
backed her up against the thick door as her legs came around his waist.  With the door supporting some of her weight and holding her steady
,
he was able let go of her head reaching instead to cup her firm breast in his hand.

“Oh my God
,
Bridget, this is so wrong,” Dell panted, feeling the heat from her body through his trousers.

Bridget pulled his glasses off and dropped them to the floor
. T
aking hi
s hair in both hands
,
she forced him to
look into her
passion glazed
eyes.  “If you stop now, I’ll kill you
,
Winston, I swear it,” she growled
before locking her lips on his neck.

They both froze when they heard the door knob twist. 

“Is someone in there?
” Molly whispered.

“It’s Molly, thank God,” Bridget sighed, letting her legs slide slowly down Winston’s.

“We’ll be right out Molly,” she called back softly, hanging onto Winston for support, her legs to weak to stand on her own.  Tears leaked out from her eyes as she rested her head on his chest.

“You better hurry,” Molly whispered back
,
“
y
ou have about three minutes.”

Slipping her shoes on
,
Bridget ran her fingers through her hair and wiped the tears from her eyes.
  Picking up Winston’s glasses
,
she tossed them to him

“Why are you crying?” Dell asked confused.

Shakin
g her head, she held a hand
splayed over
her
abdomen.  “I didn’t think women felt pain from unsatisfied desire, only men, but right now I want you so badly it hurts,” she told him truthfully, her green eyes huge in her face.

“You could have picked a better time to throw yourself at me
.  What will your parents think?” Dell shot back, his erection tenting his pants.

“
Quick, get behind that
chair and stand there,” she ordered, flying across the room and diving into the chair, smoothing her dress down.

Winston did exactly as
she said and stood behind the high backed wing chair about two seconds before Rory opened the door and walked in.

“You two hiding in here?” he inquired, noticing the flush on Bridget’s face.  Dell looked like he swallowed a lemon and he wondered what his sister was up to.

“Detective O’Malley, nice to see you again,” Dell managed to squeak out. 

“You’ve met?” Bridget asked in surprise.

“Yes
,
we met when I was trying to find Tess.  How are you
,
Dell
,
isn’t it?”

“Yes S
ir.  Bridget had a little headache so we came in here so she could rest for a few minutes.  Isn’t that right Bridget?”  Dell was amazed how quickly a man could lose an erection when the girl’s
cop-brother
made an appearance.

“Yes,” she stammered in agreement.

“And are you feeling better now?” Rory asked, speaking to
Bridget, but fixing Dell with is
best interrogation stare.

“Oh yes, much better, thank you
.”

“Then maybe you better take Dell out to meet Ma, she’s been asking where you were.”

“We’ll do that Detective O’Malley,” Dell replied, stepping out from behind the chair and reaching for Bridget hand.

“
It’s Rory, Dell.”

“Yes Sir
,
Detective… I mean Rory.  Come on Bridge, let’s go.
”

Rory poured a sho
t of whiskey and tossed it back
.  S
haking his head
he went to find Tess.

Bridget made the rounds
,
introducing Winston to the rest of her family.  Her mother loved him on sight, appreciating the lady-like clothes Bridget had decided to wear to dinner. 

Colleen gave him the once over behind his back and gave
her
sister the thumbs up sign.  He’s cute
,
she mouthed.
Secretly
,
she doubted Delbert was as mild-mannered as Bridget thought, but
then again, what did she know.  Colleen had l
earned appearances could be deceiving and that even gentle loving husbands could be driven to unpredictable behavior.

Rebecca and Mason arrived with baby and gear in tow shortly after noon and it wasn’t long before they all sat down to eat.

Sean said the prayer as hands joined around the table.  Rory could feel Tess’s ring on her finger and wondered how long it would take someone to notice.

  Dell held Bridget’s hand and wondered where this girl had been hiding.  Today he was seeing a side of her that surprised him.  Apart from the scene in the study, Bridget looked and acted like a perfectly acceptable young lady.  Even his mother would not be able to find fault with the sweet creature seated next to him.  For perhaps the first time
,
he saw her as viable girlfriend material.  The Bridget that existed outside
of
the O’Malley home was wild, flirtatious, blatantly
sexual
and uninhibited,
likely to self-destruct in the near future.  Even her perfume was different today, but Dell didn’t dare ask the name of it.
It was sad really, he thought.  One of these days she would come on to the wrong man in the wrong place and there would be hell to pay.  It was too bad there wasn’t someone who could put the brakes on her wild ways.  Glancing around the table
,
he saw a roomful of big
,
strong men and it was obvious they all adored the girl.  If the men in her family had no stabilizing influence on her, what chance did anyone else have?

As soon as grace
was over, serving dishes were passed
around the table.  Sean carved the turkey and the table all but groaned under the weight of all the food.  Everyone was talking and teasing as they filled their plates.  Maggie caught Nick eyes in the huge mirror over the buffet and he winked at her reflection.  Colleen and Noah
assisted their children
with passing
dishes
and Maeve took care of Caitlin, who had drawn the
coveted
long straw
for the seat next to Grandma
.

All of this was new to Dell, an only child used to quiet, elegant holiday dinners with his parents.  Bridget plopped food on his pla
te as he enjoyed the experience,
watching all the different personalities blend together.

All at once Bridget screamed and dove across the table, grabbing Tess’s hand.  Dell’s quick reflexes saved her wine glass from tipping into his plate.

“Bridget,”
Maeve scolded, “what are you
doin’ g
irl
,
you scared me half to
death
!
”

Instinctively Dell grabbed her hips and
pulled her back into her chair,
while Sean’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Clearly this young man was better acquainted with his youngest daughter than he’d thought.

“Bridget, sit down,” Dell ordered softly.  “Behave yourself.” Keeping a hand securely wrapped around Bridget’s upper arm, he hung on while she bounced up and down in her seat.

“Tess, show Ma your hand,” Bridget
instructed, trying to pry Dell’s fingers off her arm.