Kissing Her Crazy

by Kira Archer

  Oz nudged her shoulder. “I’ve seen you guys together, Len. I’ve been watching Elliot with Tyler. Watching the three of you together. It’s not something I would’ve predicted,” he said with a laugh. “But you guys work.”

  Her eyes filled with tears again. “No, we don’t.”

  Oz gave her that I’m-the-big-brother-so-I-know-better smile. “Yeah. You do. The three of you together…” He beamed at her. “It works.”

  Lena didn’t know what to say. She was afraid to agree, afraid to voice how much she wanted what he was saying to be true. She sucked in a deep breath. “Tyler seems to really like him, doesn’t he? I mean, he likes most guys. But… It’s different with Elliot, I think. More natural. Even though Elliot has no clue what he’s doing,” she said with a quiet laugh.

  “Neither did I when you two first moved in. I learned.”

  Her heart melted a bit. “Yes, you did.” She looked down at her hands, twisting the wine bottle around. “I didn’t think Elliot would be good for Tyler, or for me. But… He’s kind of surprising, isn’t he?”

  Oz smiled. “Like I said, you three work. I don’t know what happened this morning, if it had something to do with his parents or what. But whatever’s going on… Isn’t something that works worth fighting for?”

  She looked down at her clasped hands. Did she want to fight for Elliot? Was Oz right? Did Elliot care about her, too? About them? If he did… She looked up at her brother, a smile spreading slowly across her lips. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

  “Good.” He drew her into a bone-crushing hug. Then he gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and stood up. “I better get going. I’m getting married tomorrow.”

  Lena laughed. “Go get your beauty sleep. Cher’ll kill you if you look horrible for the pictures.”

  Oz winked at her. “Not possible for this to look horrible,” he said, waving his hands at his body like he was the main prize on some game show. Then he sobered a little. “It took me a while, you know. But looks like I’m finally going to see something that works all the way through to the end myself.”

  Lena gave him another hug.

  “Love you, Ozzie.”

  “Love you, too, Lenny.” He opened the door. “See you at the wedding,” he called over his shoulder.

  Lena wrapped her arms around herself. So… Oz thought she and Elliot worked, huh? Looks like she had a lot of thinking to do. Because she was having a hard time talking herself out of believing it, too.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Elliot took another sip of his drink, some ridiculous tropical thing that he’d only ordered because it came in a coconut. And coconuts reminded him of Lena. He hadn’t realized that was why he’d ordered it until he’d taken a drink and the coconut scent had wafted over him. The smell made his heart clench with the memory of the scent in Lena’s hair. On her lips. Her skin.

  He took another sip, letting it linger in his mouth so he could savor it.

  He didn’t notice anyone had sat next to him until she spoke. “If you are too drunk to walk down the aisle tomorrow, I’m going to be pissed.”

  Elliot saluted his sister with the coconut and took another drink. “I promise I will be able to walk down the aisle.”

  “Not if you keep drinking that thing, you won’t.”

  “I didn’t say I’d be able to walk well.”

  Cher shook her head, but she couldn’t help but smile. “Give me that.” She took it from him, sniffed it, and took a sip.

  “Heh. Not bad. A little fruitier than I thought you liked.”

  He shrugged. “I was in the mood for coconut.”

  Cher looked amused. “I bet you were.”

  Elliot’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what she meant. The words might be innocent, but there was a smug undertone to them. Then again, he might not want to know what she meant. Cher had always had a certain intuition when it came to him. Maybe it was a twin thing. Whatever it was, she always seemed to know what was wrong with him before he did. Although in this case he was pretty well aware what was wrong, and he didn’t feel like delving into it too deeply.

  He’d really screwed things up with Lena. He’d let his anger and disappointment over his parents’ rejection of their plan get the better of him. He let his doubts about himself and his future cloud his decisions over Lena and any possible future with her. And shutting her out after everything she’d done to help him, and after everything they’d done together, was inexcusable.

  And then trying to make up for it by trying to force her to accept his help with her own business. Yes, he could admit it had partially been a way to keep her in his life. But that had never been the plan to begin with. They were just supposed to have a little fun. So why did he feel like absolute shit?

  The problem was… He didn’t know what to do about her. He knew how he felt when he was with her. And with Tyler. But how did that translate into a relationship? How would it even work with them? They lived a thousand miles apart. And thinking of how his parents would react made his skin crawl.

  He sighed and took his drink back from his sister, draining the last of it and signaling the bartender to bring him another one. He had no idea how to have a healthy, long-lasting relationship. Hell, until he’d met Lena it had never occurred to him that he’d want one. Let alone one that included a kid. Being with Lena meant jumping right in, with both feet.

  “Come on. What’s up, Smelliot?” Cherice asked, using her childhood nickname for him.

  The bartender brought him a new coconut, and he twirled it in his hands. “Are you happy, Cher?”

  She blinked at him, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. But the smile that quickly followed warmed him right through to his bones. “Very. More than I ever thought I’d be.”

  “Because of Oz?”

  “Yes. Among other things.” She plucked the umbrella out of his drink and leaned her elbows on the bar, twirling it in her fingers.

  “Like what?”

  She sighed, more relaxed and happy than he’d ever seen her. “I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to be free.”

  “Free?”

  “Free,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder. “From all the Debusshere insanity. What happened with Mom and Dad earlier?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you really going to try to lie to me?”

  Elliot rubbed his hand over his eyes, suddenly exhausted. “I pitched them an idea for expanding the charity into a more focused foundation.”

  “I’m guessing they grudgingly listened and then crapped all over it.”

  “Something like that,” he said, taking another drink.

  “And Lena?”

  Elliot looked up, startled. He thought about denying it. But there really wasn’t any point. Cher could always tell when he was lying. “They do not approve.”

  “Yeah,” Cher said with a sigh. “I know how that goes.”

  “They saw her coming out of my room.”

  Cher’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “Oh, really.”

  “Yeah.” He gave her a sheepish smile, more embarrassed at her finding out than he had been about his parents. Then again, he cared about Cher’s opinion more. “They know she was helping me on the proposal for the foundation. It makes me wonder what they would have said if she hadn’t been a part of it. But it doesn’t matter whose idea it was. It’s a good idea, worth doing. It shouldn’t matter where it came from.”

  “It probably doesn’t. You know them. They don’t like change. And they really don’t like their children branching out on their own. You rocking the boat would have been enough for them to say no.”

  “True. But…when they came to my room, after they saw her leaving… They said the most horrible things about her. She doesn’t deserve that kind of crap from anyone. Lena’s smart, Cher. She’s amazing.”

  Cher grinned. “Yes, she is.”

  “They’d be lucky to have someone like her on the payroll. But because she’s not running in their circles, th
ey think she’s…”

  Cher patted her brother’s arm. “Yeah. Been there.”

  “Yeah. They weren’t too thrilled with Oz, either,” Elliot said.

  “It wasn’t quite as bad for us. I was on my own, in another state, working at a job that I loved and they hated. They could hate my life all they wanted. It’s a lot easier to deal with from a thousand miles away.”

  Elliot laughed. “Yeah, I guess it would be.”

  “I’m doing what I love now. I’ve got my shop up and running. Every day I get to help women set up for being out on their own, in a good job. I’m happy. You have no idea what it’s like to make a decision and not have to wonder how it will make Mom react or if you’ll get that look from Dad. I know they love us and want the best for us, but the way they go about showing it…”

  “Sucks.”

  Cher nodded. “Yes, it does. You can’t let them keep doing it to you, Elliot. It’s your life. You aren’t ever going to be happy until you start living it the way you want to.”

  Elliot shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “I think you do,” Cher said, smiling.

  He kept his gaze firmly on his coconut. He didn’t like to admit that he was afraid, but the hard knot in the pit of his stomach was a pretty strong reminder. Maybe his parents weren’t the only ones who didn’t like change. Change was hard.

  “I don’t think I could have done it without Oz,” Cher said, her attention back on the twirling umbrella in her fingers.

  “Done what?”

  “Broken free. One thirteen hour car ride with him and my life was changed.”

  “He encouraged you to get out on your own?”

  Cher laughed. “Encouraged? Hell, he flat-out dared me to quit being a baby and do what I really wanted to do with my life. I’d started in the right direction, but I don’t know if I ever would have gone all the way without him there with me.”

  Elliot nodded. “He’s a great guy.”

  Cher looked at him, her gaze raking over his face. “Lena is a lot like him.”

  “Is she?”

  She nodded. “I don’t know what it is about those two. I wish I could have met their parents. Oz and Lena are…strong. Full of life. There’s just something about them…”

  Elliot pictured Lena’s softly smiling face, her quiet strength, the inner beauty and goodness she exuded without even trying. “I know what you mean.”

  “She’s something, isn’t she? The first time I met her, she hugged me so tight I thought she’d crack my back.” Cher laughed. “That’s just how she is. I always wondered how she could have so many doubts about herself because when it comes to those she loves, she’s fierce. I’ve never met anyone more loving and fun to be around. And the way her brain works downright scares me sometimes.”

  Elliot snorted. “Yeah. It was fun to watch how she can take one little nugget of a thought and turn it into this amazing idea. If she had the right resources, she could take over the world.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know.”

  “Who?”

  “You.”

  Elliot stared at her, pride filling him that she had that kind of faith in him. Pride tinged with fear. And doubt.

  “I wouldn’t ever want to let them down,” he said quietly, finally giving voice to the real fear that had been tearing at his gut since he realized he might want something more substantial with Lena.

  “Lena and Tyler?”

  Elliot nodded. “Tyler…” He laughed. “That kid is something else.”

  “He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah. He is. I’m glad Oz has always been there for him. He needs a good dad in his life.”

  “And you don’t think you can be that for him?”

  Elliot’s hand clenched his coconut, the knot in his gut twisting tighter. “I’d like to be, I think. I want to try. But I don’t know how. I guess I never really thought of myself as dad material.”

  “And now?”

  Elliot stared into his drink for a minute, seeing flashes of Tyler’s face laughing up at him, shouting for joy when he beat him at a game, resting like an angel while he slept.

  Elliot looked at Cher, a smile spreading across his face.

  She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I think you’ve got your answer.”

  She stood up and slapped a couple twenties onto the bar. “The coconuts are on me. Now, I’m going to get some beauty sleep. I’ve got an important date tomorrow.”

  Elliot stood and wrapped his arms around his sister. “I love you, Cher-Bear.”

  “Love you, too, Smelliot. Now go get some sleep.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The knot in Elliot’s gut loosened a bit as he watched his sister walk away. He didn’t know what the future held. He didn’t know if he and Lena could make it work or not. He didn’t know if he’d be able to make a foundation run without his parents’ backing.

  But he did know if he didn’t try, he’d regret it the rest of his life.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Tyler, hold still for one more second. I need to fasten your bow tie.”

  Tyler pouted but managed to contain himself long enough for Lena to get his tie on. She didn’t blame him for being antsy. There was a palpable tension in the air as everyone got ready for the wedding. An excitement that everyone was having a hard time containing. Except for Cher’s parents, of course. Then again, they were always cool as ice and would probably be thrilled if their daughter changed her mind.

  The only child of theirs who didn’t disappoint them was Lilah. But she hadn’t been able to attend the wedding, since she had an emergency with a patient who she couldn’t leave. Cher was the black sheep who was cementing that reputation by marrying Oz in a few short minutes.

  And Elliot… Well, Lena wasn’t sure yet where Elliot would end up standing with his parents. She’d planned to wait until after the wedding to talk to him. She wasn’t sure what she’d say yet. She hoped they could work something out between them. But the morning had been a whirlwind of preparation, and she hadn’t even seen him. The ladies all had their hair and makeup done at the hotel’s salon and were decked out in their bridesmaid gear. Cher was absolutely stunning in a sleeveless mermaid style dress covered in soft lace. Lena had been able to catch Oz, handsome as ever in his tux, for a quick hug.

  But Elliot she hadn’t seen at all. She nearly trembled with the urge to go find him, throw her arms around him, and beg him to give them a chance. Only she’d try to play it a lot more cool than that. If she could. If he’d even talk to her.

  She ran a quick hand over Tyler’s tux, straightened his bow tie, and handed him the ring bearer pillow. The rings were safe in Oz’s best man’s pocket until right before the ceremony.

  “There,” she said, giving his tie one last tug. “You look handsome.”

  “I don’t like this tie. No one else has to wear one.”

  “That’s not true. Uncle Oz and all his friends are wearing them. So is…Elliot.”

  “Elliot is wearing one, too?”

  “Yep.”

  Tyler thought about that for a second and then nodded his head. “Okay, then.”

  Lena gazed thoughtfully at her son. She didn’t know how much to discuss with him. He was only six. But if Elliot was going to be a part of their lives, she needed to find out how Tyler felt about it so she’d at least have a heads-up if there were going to be issues.

  “Hey, Ty,” she said, squatting down so she could look into his eyes. “How do you feel about Elliot? Do you like him?”

  Tyler’s little face lit up. “Yeah! He’s really cool. Can we visit him after we go home?”

  Lena smiled at her son and grabbed him for a quick hug. “I don’t know, sweetie. We’ll see, okay?”

  Tyler’s grin filled his face, and he gave Lena two big thumbs-up.

  It surprised her, since he usually assumed “we’ll see” meant no. Maybe he could tell the difference in her voice… Because t
his time, she meant exactly what she said. She couldn’t promise him anything before speaking to Elliot. But she was hopeful.

  Elliot paced back and forth in the elevator, impatiently waiting for the floors to tick down to Lena’s. Hopefully she hadn’t left for the ceremony yet. He’d planned on waiting until after the wedding to talk to her, but he couldn’t wait anymore.

  New plan. He was going to find Lena and kiss her until she agreed to give them a shot. Hell, he’d beg her if he had to. Follow her to North Carolina and camp out on her lawn. Do whatever it damn well took to convince her she could count on him, that he was exactly what she and Tyler needed in their lives.

  To hell with his parents. All he needed was her. And not just for the foundation, though he had no doubt that they could start a foundation without them. After all, he was the master fundraiser. He still had his connections. They’d be able to get a foundation off the ground. He just needed her, plain and simple. Her and Tyler. He knew they could make it work. And he would do anything it took until she believed it, too.

  The doors dinged and slowly slid open. He pushed through before they’d finished opening all the way and hurried down the hall to where the ladies had taken over a suite of rooms. He burst in and a gaggle of women in mint green dresses turned to stare at him. Cher peered around their shoulders, her eyes wide in surprise.

  The urgency spurring him on took a momentary pause while he took in the vision of loveliness that was his sister.

  “Wow,” he said, coming toward her.

  She glanced down at her dress, fluffing it out a bit. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

  Elliot had to swallow past a suddenly tight throat but managed a nod. “You look so beautiful.” He kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug, being careful not to crush or smear anything.