Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
“It’s a blessed good fortune is what it is,” Kelley said as she hugged me. “I think you’re our lucky charm, Hollie Craft…I mean, Hollie Payton! Since ya walked through that door, Benny has had nothing but good fortune.”
My cheeks heated. If she only knew. The last thing I could do was tell her why her brother was having such good fortune—if it truly was because of the spell.
Lucas
The second I walked through the door, Hollie ran up and threw herself into me. I wrapped my arms around her and laughed. “I think I like this welcome from my beautiful wife.”
She drew back and I swore her eyes were lit up like the Fourth of July. “You’re never going to believe what happened today!”
“Please don’t tell me someone offered to pay Benny for some dick pics.”
“What?” Hollie said, laughing. She shook her head. “No, no one asked him for any dick pics. I think you should sit down for this. Let me make you a drink!”
I watched as she rushed over to the kitchen and poured me a glass of champagne. Then she poured juice into another flute.
With a wide smile on her beautiful face, she made her way back over to me. “Thank you,” I said as I took the drink from her.
“Let’s sit down.” Hollie pointed to the sofa.
After we sat down, she lifted her drink and I followed suit.
“To Benny getting an offer today that he couldn’t refuse.”
One of my brows rose. “What kind of offer?”
She nearly bounced off the sofa. “This well-dressed guy came into the bar who’s about the same age as Benny. He said he owned a top brewery in Ireland and that his father had brought him to O’Brien’s for his first beer when he was younger. It was such a great memory for him that he came back to visit a few weeks ago.”
I tilted my head as I thought about the guy who’d been sitting at the bar, seemingly a bit out of place in his designer suit. “I wonder if it’s the same guy I saw in the bar a few weeks back.”
Waving my comment off, Hollie went on. “Anyway, he has a new stout beer coming out and he wants to name it O’Brien’s Stout, and this is the best part!”
I waited as her grin grew bigger on her face, if that was at all possible. “What? What’s the best part?”
“He wants to put a picture of O’Brien’s on the label and do the launch party there and…”
I waited and motioned with my hands for her to spit it out.
Hollie brought her hand to her mouth then let it fall as she yelled out, “He’s paying him a million euros for the use of the pub’s name and photo!”
I blinked at Hollie for a few moments before I shook my head. “Did I hear you right? You said he’s paying Benny a million euros?”
“Yes!” she cried out. “Kelley said it will pay off all their debts and that Benny will have a nice little nest egg left over for both him and their mother.”
Placing her drink on the coffee table, Hollie took my hand in hers. “Lucas, it worked! The spell worked!”
My mouth fell open, and for a hot second I was about to dispute what she said, but then I clamped it shut.
Her smile faltered some. “You don’t think it was the spell, do you?”
Squeezing her hand, I set my drink down next to hers. “I’ll admit my first instinct was to say it was a coincidence, but with everything that’s been happening to Benny, I think you’re right. It has to be the spell.”
“I called my Sarah today and told her what happened. She believes it was the spell as well. She said now that it’s really happened, that should be it. No more weird offers of sex and feet pictures for money. Benny has fallen on his true windfall, and it was all because of my spell!”
I lifted her hand and kissed it. “Hollie, promise me one thing.”
She beamed up at me. “Anything.”
“You’ll be more careful with the spells, especially since you’re pregnant. The fact that our little one might be making your spells twice as powerful should be a warning.”
She pushed her fingers through my hair as her eyes searched my face. When our gazes locked, she seemed suddenly serious. “I can’t promise I won’t do any spells.”
“I’m not asking you to stop completely, I just want you to be careful with them.”
“I promise you I’ll be careful, and I won’t do any spells without talking to you first.”
“You mean that?”
She nodded. “Cross my heart,” she whispered. Then she scrunched up her nose and added, “What if it’s just a tiny little spell? Like the tiniest of ones.”
I drew in a breath and gave her the look my mother used to give me when I was arguing some point to her.