Free Easy Virtue by Mia Asher Page B

shakes his head. “No! My mom won’t mind, right, Uncle Ronan?”
    Ronan pats Ollie on the back. “Nope, the more the merrier. Come on, don’t break the boy’s heart. It’ll be fine.” He turns to look at Ollie. “Right, buddy?”
    “Yeah. Don’t break my heart,” he repeats meekly.
    “You two are trouble, you know that, right?” I say as two pairs of brown eyes stare at me, waiting for my answer.
    “But of the best kind. Don’t you agree, Ollie?”
    Ollie smiles, his baby dimples appearing. “Yep.”
    “I don’t know, Ollie. We just met. I’m sure your mom is going to have something to say about inviting strangers from the park,” I say, even though a part of me already knows that I’m going to go. I mean, how can I deny a child asking for me to celebrate with him when I know what it’s like to want someone with you on your birthday but have no one?
    “Oh, please, please, please come to my birthday party. There’s going to be ice cream cake, hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn with lots of butter. And you can bring me a present. And we’re not strangers! We shared a pretzel and you know my Uncle Ronan. And I already like you better than my uncle’s other floozy.”
    At this, Ronan’s eyes look like they’re going to pop out of their sockets. “Who taught you that word?” He groans angrily. “Never mind, I’m pretty sure that was your mom’s doing. We’ll have to talk about that later.”
    Not wanting to get Ollie in more trouble, I blurt out, “Okay, I’ll come.”
    Ollie smiles smugly, his chastised expression from a moment ago evaporating into the air. “I knew you would, I knew you’d come!”
    We exchange numbers and I type the details of his party in my phone (Ronan, the sneak, totally took advantage of the situation by saving mine in his cell). As I’m walking away, Ollie catches up to me, stands on his tiptoes, and whispers in my ear, “I think my uncle likes you, Ms. Blaire.”
    Tongue-tied and blushing, I turn to steal one last glance at Ronan and find that he’s staring at me. When our eyes connect, the asshole has the audacity to wink at me before he breaks into one of those hypnotic smiles of his—and like an eclipse— I can’t look away.
    It’s not until I’m in a cab on my way home that I realize I didn’t remember to check out the brand of his watch. I don’t think it would have mattered anyway.

I’M NOT AWARE OF MUCH other than how nervous I am as I ride the subway to Brooklyn. Distracted, I got on the wrong train a couple of times which has made me terribly late. So now, on top of everything, I’m fidgety because I’m running behind. Fashionably late went out the window a train ride ago.
    Why, oh why, did I let that little boy talk me into going to his birthday party?
    I realize that a part of me wants to go and spend time with him and Ronan.
    Ronan . Just thinking of his name makes me want to smile.
    There are so many red flags in this scenario, but would it be horrible if I ignore them just once and have fun for a couple of hours? It’s not like anything will happen between us.
    I live in an apartment I can barely afford, I charged a major shopping spree on my credit card before Walker broke up with me, and my job is as a hostess. I have enough money in my savings account to last me for a while, but not if I’d like to keep up with my lifestyle.
    Tapping my foot on the floor, I take my cell out and text Elly.
    B: You’re not going to believe where I’m going.
    Not a minute goes by before Elly texts back.
    E: China?
    B: Ha! Feels like it. I’m going to Brooklyn … to a * kids * birthday party.
    E: ?
    B: Long story short. Met a cute kid at the park. We shared a pretzel. Met his cuter uncle, who I kind of know already. Got invited. Couldn’t say no.
    E: Aww. Blaire does have a heart. <3 How cute are we talking about here? PS I can’t believe you ate a pretzel. The guy must be really cute.
    I smile.
    B: The boy was very cute. But the uncle is delicious. So