“I love it,” she whispered, looking up at it in awe. I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

“I know it doesn’t look like much now, but imagine if I cleared out and repaired the front garden, put in new windows and new fencing. Liam and I have gone over this place inch by inch, and the roof is sound. With a bit of hard work, it’ll look great.”

I was rambling now. She’d already agreed to it, so I have no idea why I was giving her the hard sell.

“Can we afford it?” she asked, her eyes full of wonder.

“It’d take all our money and then some. But I’ve worked out a loan with Danny for what we need, and we can pay him back with the rent money we’ll save on our flat. We’ll have to fix it up on a budget but the boys have offered to help with the labor.”

With a squeal she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me loudly. “I can’t believe you found this place. It’s going to be amazing! I know I can’t do any building work but I can clean, strip wallpaper, and paint,” she babbled excitedly. “Ooow, we could go and get some paint samples today,” she suggested.

“We haven’t even had an offer accepted yet,” I pointed out with a chuckle.

“I know, but there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead. Can we look inside?”

“Sure. The agent is meeting us in a few minutes to show us around. It’s pretty rough inside, but the rooms are a nice size. You just have to use your imagination.”

“I can do that,” she whispered as she smiled at me adoringly. Her eyes were full of everything I’d felt when I’d first seen the place, and I knew she was imagining our future in a real home of our own. My heart was so full I felt invincible. The way she was looking at me, you’d think I’d built this place brick by brick myself. I’d spend the rest of the day trailing after her doing whatever she liked just to keep that look. With another squeal she covered my face in tiny kisses, making me laugh, until a discrete cough sounded behind us.

“Are you here for the viewing?” a skinny kid who looked about my age asked.

“Yes, please,” Em answered. She was lit up inside and practically radiated happiness. People couldn’t help but be charmed by her natural warmth, and he was no exception. He smiled broadly at her and with a wink said, “Let’s go and check it out.” My crossed arms and fierce glare told him that I wouldn’t tolerate another wink, and he got the message as he messed around with the keys nervously. Rolling her eyes Em pulled on my arms until I uncrossed them and clasped her fingers between mine. She was used to me getting territorial around her but she really had no idea how many hungry looks followed her around. The agent used his shoulder to push open the front door, past a mountain of junk mail, then fussed about brushing the dirt and paint chips off his suit. The previous owner really had gone to town with a baseball bat, and literally everything would need replacing but it didn’t matter. The more we looked, the more Em fell in love. By the time we were done, there were stars in her eyes. Having realized that flirting with Em was hazardous to his health, the agent couldn’t get out of there quick enough. He told us to call the office if we wanted to make an offer. “I’ll be in touch,” I promised him menacingly, mostly just to fuck with him, but he practically wet himself as he hightailed it back to his car. Em was so caught up in the house she didn’t notice. It was going to be a hell of a day.

* * *

“Can we stop by the gym on the way home?” I asked her. “I forgot to grab my dirty kit, and my wraps need washing and drying by tomorrow.”

“Sure” she replied, happily. I looked at my watch and slowed my steps a little. Kieran was expecting us at five o’clock, and I didn’t want to mess up the surprise by getting there too early. From a distance I could see Tommy standing century at the door, though Em was too busy chatting about paint colors to notice him. He lifted his hand in a wave to me then hurried inside. I opened the door of the gym and stood behind her as she climbed up the stairs. She still didn’t notice that anything was amiss until the boys shouted “surprise.” Kieran yanked on a rope, pulling back the net they’d tacked to the ceiling and dozens of colorful balloons rained down on us. I’d warned Tommy and Kieran both that I’d kick their arses if this surprise had turned out to be shite. I seriously owed them one for the fantastic job they’d done, though it probably hadn’t hurt that Tommy’s ma, Mary, had been on hand to oversee the proceedings. The room fell silent as everyone looked to Em who burst into big, fat, ugly tears.

“Shit, I knew she wouldn’t like it,” Tommy said.

“Well, it ain’t my fault. I told Con we should ’ave got her one of them sexy male strippers like in Magic Mike,” Kieran replied.

“Magic Mike,” breathed Mary wistfully, looking a bit flushed. I bit back a smile as Tommy and Kieran grimaced at Mary, horrified at the thought of one of their ma’s getting horny over Channing Tatum.

Rubbing Em’s back as she buried her face into my chest, I knew these were happy tears. As usual Mary was the first to barrel over with a hug.

“Come on now, lovely girl. No more tears on your birthday,” Mary admonished as she peeled Em off me and stole her for a hug.

“Thank you all so much,” Em told everyone, smiling through the tears. “I can’t believe you all did this!”

“We did the balloons,” Tommy said, indicating himself and Kieran with a big grin.

“That right?” Liam asked him, and Tommy’s dad didn’t look too happy at being left out either.

Rolling his eyes, Tommy mumbled, “We may ’ave had help.”

“You’ve all done a wonderful job. I love it,” she praised them, giving each of them a hug and a big kiss. For the first time, possibly ever, I didn’t get territorial about her showing affection to the lads. Happiness practically radiated from her, and I knew, watching her work her way around the gym, that she wouldn’t be back by my side until she’d said hello and thanked everyone in the room.

A few hours later and I collared Kieran as he was wrestling with Tommy over the last chocolate cupcake. He had Tommy in a headlock as I reminded him we were meeting in Brady’s at ten o’clock. “No problem. I’m sharing a taxi with the guys so we’ll meet you in the downstairs bar,” he told me.