IRL: In Real Life (After Oscar, #1)(87)

Roya leaned over and deposited her leftover curly fries in front of Conor. “Who’s Scotty?”

Conor grinned. “Remember the story in the news a few months ago about the carriage driver from New York and I told you the guy was a friend of mine?”

“Wait, the crazy story—with the cop and the high-speed carriage chase?”

Conor nodded with a grin. It was a great story and still managed to make him chuckle. “That’s the one. Scotty the carriage driver. You’ll meet him. He’s a good guy.”

I thought back to the young man who’d been so chatty with Conor. A streak of latent jealousy shot through me, despite knowing Scotty was zero threat to my relationship. “You mean the one who wouldn’t stop flirting with you?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, I mean the one who seemed interested in dating your ex-boyfriend Oscar.”

Now it was Conor’s turn to sound a tiny bit jealous. I pressed a kiss to his nose. “Oscar was never my boyfriend,” I corrected him.

He waved a hand. “Close enough.”

“And besides,” I added, “don’t forget that James dated him as well. In fact, I think that’s who he was with when he met Richard.”

Conor tilted his head to the side, thinking. “So you dated Oscar, and then broke up with him and fell in love with me. And James dated Oscar, and now he’s madly in love as well.”

“As evidenced by his reluctance to leave the hotel room,” I pointed out.

“Exactly. He’s a good-luck charm of sorts.”

I ran my thumb over his knuckles, before bringing them to my lips, enjoying the shiver that passed through him. “You’re such a romantic.”

Conor’s eyes twinkled and he leaned forward to give me a lingering kiss. “Romantic for believing your ex had something to do with bringing us together?”

I threaded a hand into his hair, cupping the back of his neck and pressing my forehead to his. “If he’s the reason I ended up with you, then he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Liz let out a dramatic sigh. “Cut out the kissyface nonsense, or I’ll regret slipping that phone number into your coat pocket.”

“What phone number?” Conor asked with a smile, pulling away from me but clasping my hand to make up for it.

“Wells’s cell number. The one I gave you before that first New York trip.”

It took a second for her words to process, but then Conor and I both whipped our heads around to stare at her. “Mom!” Conor gasped. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes while Bill started laughing. “Honey, you were so nervous to take my place in the negotiations. ‘Mom, what if I forget how the printer works?’ ‘Mom, what if the hotel lost my reservation?’ ‘Did you write down the address for the office?’ Conor, I told you if all else fails, call Mr. Grange himself. And then I gave you his number. You almost left it on the kitchen counter for goodness’ sake. Don’t you remember?”

The look on Conor’s face was hilarious. “Mom, no. I do not remember that. Not at all.”

I felt the same shock evident on his face. He and I had wondered for ages how he’d gotten the wrong number that night. It had become a running joke between the two of us.

Liz waved a hand like it was nothing but added a wink. “Well. All’s well that ends well. Right, Wells?”

I looked at Conor’s incredulous, beautiful face.

And felt like maybe, just maybe, I owed Dr. Elizabeth Newell another foundation.

Before I could agree with her, Conor threw himself in my arms again and most definitely did not cut out the kissyface nonsense.





Letter from Lucy & Molly





Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading IRL: In Real Life, book one in the brand new “After Oscar” series! We would love it if you would take a few minutes to review this book on Amazon. Reader reviews really do make a difference and we appreciate every single one of them.

Lucy and Molly are pen names of a real pair of sisters who are excited to collaborate on our first ever joint project. While Molly has been a full-time author for a decade, this is her debut novel in the gay romance genre.

There are five stories planned in the After Oscar series, so please stay tuned. Up next is the story of what happens when a cop hops into Scotty’s horse carriage and yells Go! What happens next will hopefully have you Laughing Out Loud.

Be sure to follow us on Amazon to be notified of new releases, and look for us on Facebook for sneak peeks of upcoming stories.

Feel free to sign up for our newsletters, stop by www.LucyLennox.com, www.MollyMaddox.com, or visit Lucy’s Lair on Facebook to stay in touch.

To see fun inspiration photos for this book, check out the Pinterest page for IRL.

Happy reading!

Lucy & Molly





About Molly Maddox


Molly Maddox is the romance pen name for a New York Times bestselling author who started writing at an early age because her older sister, Lucy Lennox, was a writer and Molly wanted to be like Lucy in all ways (she still does).

When she’s not writing, Molly likes to cook, read, take pictures of her dog and cat cuddling, and finds an odd satisfaction in folding sheets so that the top sheet is indistinguishable from the bottom sheet.