Page 78 of Love Bomb

He’d wanted to talk to them as soon as they’d arrived home, but Darach had threatened to throw him into traffic if Bain didn’t let them sleep. Apparently, their night doing recon on the folly had been a sleepless one. Conall had taken first shift in Rona’s room at the hotel—and had fallen asleep without setting an alarm. He hadn’t returned to the church until very early in the morning, when Rona had kicked him out of her room.

His brothers weren’t happy with Conall.

To make up for his offense, Conall had provided lunch. He was also acting as supervisor for the work crew on the dental surgery job while his brothers slept. According to Darach and Kade, it wasn’t enough to make up for their suffering.

“Well?” Bain demanded as his brothers worked their way through the pies Conall had picked up from Morag’s bakery. “Don’t you have anything to say about the situation with Rona?”

He’d been hoping for some helpful advice on how to resolve things in a timely manner. The clock was ticking. Rona planned on returning to Edinburgh after the folly was destroyed, and he wasn’t getting any younger. Bain wanted to get a ring on her finger before she escaped.

“Let me get this straight,” Kade said. “Three days ago, you were annoyed because your mini stalker was back in town.”

Bain nodded as he leaned back against the kitchen counter.

“Two days ago,” Kade continued, “you thought the best way to deal with her was to ignore her until she left.”

There was nothing he could say to that, so he waited.

“Yesterday,” Kade said, “you decided to start a relationship with her. And today, you think you should marry her. Have I covered everything?”

Bain thought about it. “Yes,” he said. “What do you think?”

“Other than you’re out of your mind?” Kade asked.

“Aye.” Bain nodded.

“I got nothing,” Kade said looking at his twin. “What about you?”

“My brain is fried just listening to this,” Darach said.

Nobody bothered to ask their youngest brother what he thought. Conall wasn’t allowed an opinion until he’d made up for abandoning his brothers in the church.

Of course, he offered his opinion anyway. “I think he could do worse,” Conall said. “Rona’s a nice lassie.”

“Exactly,” Bain said, cutting his youngest brother some slack seeing as Conall agreed with him.

Darach cleared his throat. “Seems to me that you’ve forgotten one tiny detail in your extensive life planning—what Rona wants. And from your description of how your proposal went down, I don’t think she wants you.”

“I just caught her by surprise,” Bain said. “Once she’s had time to calm down, she’ll come around. After all, I’m stable, I have a good job, I make her laugh, I’m great in bed, and I’m bloody adorable.”

“Don’t bite my head off,” Conall said, “but shouldn’t you love the person you want to marry?”

“Love?” Bain said the word like it was alien to him. “What’s that got to do with things? I thought I explained this properly. Rona won’t take me seriously because she thinks I’ll dump her after sex. To prove that isn’t true, I proposed. That way, after we’re married she won’t worry I’ll dump her, which will give us time to see where this relationship goes.” He held his hands wide. “Simple.”

Darach blinked several times. “Usually, when you see where a relationship goes, you mean whether or not it will lead to marriage. I’m curious, if you’re already married, where do you think this one might go?”

“I don’t know.” Bain was losing patience with them. “Kids, maybe?”

Kade stared at him for a bit before turning to Darach. “Ma says Da dropped Bain on his head when he was a baby. It all makes sense now.”

“Look,” Bain said with frustration. “I don’t need your opinion on the plan. The plan is sound. What I need is suggestions for how to get Rona onboard. Any thoughts on that?”

The doorbell rang.

“I have many thoughts, Mr. Adorable,” Darach said. “And even more questions. How about you go answer the door and then we’ll get into it?”

“My pleasure,” Bain said, fed up with his useless brothers, and hopeful that it was Rona at their door—with an apology for overreacting and stealing his truck.

To his annoyance, there was no one on the other side of the door.