Something to Prove Read Online Free Page B

now was dodge
     Keith. He’d see right through her and ruin her plans.
    With that settled, she rose and took a shower. Her brain was fuzzy, but she intended
     to use the extra time wisely. She needed to make improvements quickly.

    Colin strode through the back door of O’Leary’s to grab a cup of coffee before heading
     up to shower. He was getting a little old for this.
    Mary sat at the bar drinking coffee and reading the Sunday Tribune . She looked over her shoulder as he got closer. “The walk of shame again, Colin?”
    He shrugged and smiled. She didn’t need to know that it was a poker game with the
     guys and not a woman that had kept him out all night. He enjoyed his reputation as
     a ladies’ man. If he got half the action everyone thought he did, he’d be a very happy
     man. “What are you doing here so early?”
    “I like the quiet here on a Sunday morning. Don’t you have family dinner today?”
    He nodded and poured a cup of coffee. O’Leary family Sunday dinner was early afternoon
     to accommodate the bar schedules. He checked his watch. “I have time for a nap before
     I go. You need anything down here before you open?”
    “Nope. I’m good.”
    And she was. Ryan had totally lucked out in hiring Mary. She ran the place in Ryan’s
     stead, a job Colin should’ve had years ago. He took his mug with him up to his apartment.
     This, too, used to be his brother’s. When Ryan moved into his house with Quinn, Colin
     decided he’d rather live above the bar than with their mother.
    He set his cup on the counter and lay across the couch his brother had left for him.
    Hours later, Colin sat on the couch in his childhood home and felt the cushions sink
     and curve around his body. The nap hadn’t done him any good. He needed a good night’s
     sleep. Liam sat and handed him a beer.
    “Mom know you grabbed these?”
    “Hell, no. She’s in the kitchen talking babies with the girls.”
    That had such a strange ring to it, but it fit. The girls Liam referred to weren’t
     their sisters, but were family just the same. Ryan’s wife, Quinn, waddled into the
     dining room carrying the basket of silverware. He jumped up to help.
    “Go sit down,” he suggested.
    “If one more person tells me to take it easy, I’m going to hurt him. I’m fine. I want
     to move. I want this baby out of me.”
    Colin took a step back. The woman was downright scary. This hormonal version was worse
     than anything he’d experienced with his two younger sisters growing up. He didn’t
     have a response. “I’ll get the plates.”
    “Thank you.”
    In the kitchen, Quinn’s sister, Indy, stood with a baby cradled in her arms. He leaned
     in and kissed her cheek. “Hey, good to see you. Where’s Griff?”
    “He went with Ryan to get dessert. Ryan forgot it was his turn, which pissed off Quinn
     because she would’ve made something. Bugged me too, because she probably would’ve
     made chocolate cake.” The baby squirmed.
    He reached out. “Let me have her.”
    Indy’s brow furrowed. “You sure?”
    “I’m the oldest of six. I spent most of my childhood with babies around.” He scooped
     the tiny girl from her mother’s arms. She weighed nothing, but then again, she was
     little more than a week old. She had that baby smell no one could resist. While he
     held Colleen against his chest, he said, “I need the plates for dinner before Quinn
     gets mad at me.”
    Indy brushed past him. “Don’t mind her. She’s mad at everyone right now. I’ll get
     the plates.”
    He followed Indy back through the house and took Colleen into the living room with
     him. Holding her like a football, he returned to his spot next to Liam and drank from
     his beer.
    Liam slapped Colin’s free arm. “You look kind of natural holding a baby.”
    “Shut up.” He took a drink from the bottle again. The truth was that he had been thinking
     about marriage and babies a lot lately. How could he not? Ryan had gotten married,
     then