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The Tempting Mrs. Reilly
By Maureen Child Silhouette
Copyright © 2005 Maureen Child
All right reserved. ISBN: 0373766521
"Ten thousand bucks is a lot of money," Brian Reilly said and, grabbing his beer, leaned back against the scarred, red Naugahyde bench seat.
"Don't make plans," his brother Aidan added quickly as he snatched a tortilla chip from the wooden bowl set in the middle of the table. "You don't get it all, remember."
"Yeah," Connor added. "You have us to share it with."
"And me," Liam said with a smile, "to guide you."
"Don't I know it." Brian grinned at his brothers. Liam, the oldest by three years, looked completely at home, sitting in the dimly lit barroom. Not so unusual, unless you took into account the fact that Liam was a priest. But first and foremost, he was a Reilly. And the Reilly brothers were a unit. Now and always.
As the word unit shot through his brain, Brian turned his gaze on the other two men at the table with him. It was like looking into a mirror -- twice. The Reilly triplets. Aidan, Brian and Connor. Named alphabetically in order of their appearances, the three of them had been standing together since the moment they took their first steps.
They'd even joined the Marine Corps together, doing their time in boot camp in stoic solidarity. They'd always been there for each other -- to give moral support or a kick in the ass -- whichever was required at the time.
Now, they were meeting to celebrate a windfall.
Their great-uncle Patrick, himself the last surviving brother of a set of triplets, had died, and having no other relations, he'd left ten thousand dollars to the Reilly triplets. Now all they had to do was figure out how to split the money.
"I say we split it four ways," Connor said, shooting Liam a glance. "Reilly's -- all for one and one for all."
Liam grinned. "I'd like to say no thanks," he admitted. "But, since the church really needs a new roof, I'll just say, I like how Connor thinks."
"Twenty-five hundred won't buy you a new roof,"
Aidan said. "Won't buy much of anything for any of us, really."
"I've been thinking about that, too," Liam said and looked at each of his brothers. "Why not have a contest? Winner take all?"
Brian felt the zing of competition and knew his brothers felt it, too. Nothing they liked better than competing. Especially against each other. But the quiet smile on Liam's face warned him that he wasn't going to like what was coming next. Sure, Liam was a priest, but being a Reilly first, made him tricky. "What kind of contest?" Brian asked.
Liam smiled. "Worried?"
"Hell no," Aidan put in. "The day a Reilly backs off a challenge is the day when -- "
" -- when he's six feet under," Connor finished for him. "What've you got in mind, Liam?"
Their older brother smiled again. "You guys are always talking about commitment and sacrifice, right?"
Brian glanced at his brothers before nodding. "Hell yes. We're Marines. We're all about sacrifice. Commitment."
"Ooh-rah!" Connor and Aidan hooted and high-fived each other.
"Yeah?" Liam leaned back and shifted his gaze between the three other men at the table. "But the fact is, you guys know zip about either."
Aidan and Connor blustered, but it was Brian who shut them up with a wave of his hand. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, I'm willing to acknowledge your military commitment. God knows I spend enough time praying for the three of you." His gaze drifted from one to the other of the triplets. "But this is something different. Harder."
"Harder than going into battle?" Connor took a sip of his beer and leaned back. "Please."
"Anything you can come up with, we can take," Aidan said.
"Damn straight," Brian added.
"Glad to hear it." Liam leaned his elbows on the tabletop and gazed from one triplet to the next as he lowered his voice. "Because this'll separate the Marines from the boys." He paused for effect, then said, "No sex for ninety days."
Silence dropped down on the table like a rock tossed from heaven.
"Come on," Connor said, shooting his siblings a look of wild panic.
"No way. Ninety days?" Aidan looked horrified.
Brian listened to the others, but kept his mouth shut, watching his older brother while he waited for the other shoe to drop. He didn't have long.
"I'm only talking about three months," Liam said, that wily smile on his face again. "Too hard for you guys? I've made that commitment for life."
Aidan shuddered.
"That's nuts." Connor shook his head.
"What's the matter?" Liam challenged. "Too scared to try?"
"Who the hell wants to try?" Aidan added.
"Three months with no sex? Impossible." Brian glared at Liam.
"You're probably right," the oldest brother said and smiled as he took another long drink of beer. Setting the bottle down onto the tabletop, he cradled it between his palms and said with a shrug, "You'd never make it anyway. None of you. Women have been after you guys since junior high. No way could you last three months."
Continues...
Excerpted from The Tempting Mrs. Reilly by Maureen Child Copyright © 2005 by Maureen Child. Excerpted by permission.
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