by Rachel Lacey
She sat down on her bed, waiting for the room to stop spinning. This wasn’t fun. Her stomach wasn’t feeling so great either. Getting drunk had been a lot more exciting when she was younger. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, just for a minute.
***
When she hadn’t come out of her room after fifteen minutes, Luke went down the hall and knocked on her door. It swung open beneath his knuckles to reveal Amy curled up in a cute-as-hell little ball on her bed, fast asleep, still wearing the yellow dress.
Sexy. So fucking sexy.
And not so drunk that he needed to stay here and watch over her tonight. No, it was probably in both of their best interest for him to drive home now. Tomorrow night, though. That was another story.
He went into the kitchen to refill her glass of water and set it on the table beside her bed. He bent to kiss her cheek, then left her there.
At home, he found his mom in the living room watching an old episode of Law & Order, with her little dog, Dove, in her lap.
“How was the rehearsal?” she asked, motioning for him to join her.
“Fine, Mom. Everything went well.”
“It must be so stressful for Amy, having the wedding at her house. I bet she appreciates all your help,” his mom said, not even trying to keep the eagerness from her tone. If there was anyone who regretted the way things between him and Amy ended more than Luke did, it was his mother. “You know, I bumped into her at the supermarket not too long ago. That little boy of hers sure is adorable.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“I heard he’s autistic,” she said.
“And you’re nosy, Mom. I’m just doing a favor for Joe.”
She sighed. “Can’t blame a mother for hoping.”
Couldn’t blame a man for hoping either. He sat with his mom to watch the end of Law & Order, letting his mind wander while they figured out who had murdered a bike messenger on the streets of New York. He liked getting to spend this time with his mom. It felt good to be back in Dogwood.
He just might stay, if a certain brunette would give him half a chance at her heart.
He went to bed early and slept like the dead—a handy trick he’d taught himself during years of medical school and overseas with Doctors Without Borders. He woke to the sound of an incoming text message on his phone.
Sorry about last night. It was from Amy.
His dick sprang to attention at the thought of her in bed, all sexy and rumpled from sleep. No problem. You feeling okay this morning?
Been better, but I’ll live.
Still wearing that yellow dress? Why was he torturing himself? He sucked in a breath as he waited for her answer.
His phone chimed. No.
Aw, hell. What he wouldn’t give to be in her bed right now.
I just got out of the shower, Amy texted, and the tent in his sheets grew.
Damn, woman.
Do you still sleep in the buff? She added a little winky face to the end of her message.
Boxer briefs. Which were strained to bursting right now. If you’re still wearing your towel, lose it.
His phone was silent for a long minute.
Okay, she finally answered.
Holy shit. So you’re naked?
Another long pause. Yes.
Damn. Luke blew out a breath. He’d never sent sexy texts with a woman before, certainly wouldn’t have imagined himself doing it with Amy. In high school, she’d been so sweet and innocent. She’d have turned beet red if he’d asked her something like, Are you touching yourself right now?
In the silence that followed, his mind went to all kinds of dirty places, all of which involved Amy pleasuring herself while he waited here on the other end of the line. He clutched the phone tighter as he waited for her response.
It never came.
He should go take a long, cold shower. Instead, he pressed her number and brought the phone to his ear. “The suspense is killing me,” he said when she answered.
“Luke,” she sounded breathless…aroused.
And they definitely weren’t finished yet. “I’m thinking about you touching yourself right now, and it’s hot, Amy. So fucking hot.”
She whimpered.
Luke groaned. The images in his head right now were downright X-rated. “Imagine my hands on your body, touching you. I can almost feel how wet you are.”
She gasped, and the sound sent a surge of arousal through him. He knew that sound, remembered how she would gasp like that when he was driving her wild with his hands or his tongue. Yeah. She was close.
“I love the way it makes you crazy when I kiss that spot on the side of your neck.” His voice had gotten lower, gruff. He squeezed his eyes shut, imagining Amy. Naked. In his bed. “I’m imagining my hands on your body, touching every inch of you until you’re screaming with pleasure.”
Amy was silent, but he heard a quick intake of breath, so he kept talking, urging her on. He told her all the things he wanted to do with her, how he wanted to taste her, how he wanted to bury himself inside her until they both lost their minds.
There was a pause, and then a soft cry as she found release. Luke fisted his hands in the sheets and gritted his teeth. Fuck. That was hot. A shudder rippled through him, settling with a heavy ache in his dick.
“Holy shit,” she panted into the phone.
Holy shit indeed.
“I, um, I have to go.” With a click, she was gone.
Luke set the phone down and closed his eyes, replaying the soft sounds of Amy’s arousal, the way she’d panted his name, her cry as she came…
A knock on his bedroom door nearly sent him careening onto the floor. “Luke?” his mother called. “Are you awake? I’m making breakfast. You need to get a move on before the wedding.”
And just like that, his dick shriveled. He cleared his throat, searching for composure. “Let me just hop in the shower, and I’ll be right down, Mom.”
And what a cold, miserable shower it would be.
Chapter Six
Amanda twirled in front of the full length mirror in Amy’s bedroom with a radiant smile, then clutched her stomach. “I’m going to be sick.” She bustled into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
Amy exchanged a glance with Dorothy, Amanda’s mother.
“I’ll make sure she’s okay in there with her dress,” Dorothy said and followed Amanda into the bathroom.
Amy walked to the window, smoothing out the floor-length blue chiffon bridesmaid dress she wore. The ceremony started in twenty minutes, and the combination of nerves and pregnancy hormones had done a number on Amanda’s stomach.
Amy pushed back the curtains and peeked outside. The backyard bustled with people and happy chatter. Near the arbor, Joe, Michael, Carlos, and Luke stood together in off-white suits with blue shirts that matched the bridesmaid dresses. They each wore a red rose buttoned to their lapel.
They looked handsome, all four of them. Luke stood out from the other three men with his fair skin. Amy had to admit the light-colored suits looked especially dashing on the African American men, but…Luke.
She still couldn’t believe what she’d done on the phone with him that morning. She’d been so turned on she’d gotten caught up in the moment, but now…now she was torn between being mortified and still a little bit secretly thrilled that she’d done something so totally unlike herself.
The bathroom door opened, and Amanda stepped out, pale but smiling. “Is it time yet?”
Amy glanced at the clock on her bedside table. “About five minutes. Why don’t I go get your dad, and we can start lining everyone up?”
Amanda nodded. Her mom handed her a glass of water, then hustled her back into the bathroom to touch up her lipstick. Amy walked to the living room, where she found Amanda’s dad pacing nervously by the back door. “We’re ready,” she told him.
His eyes lit, and he clapped his hands together. “Finally. Great. Where do you need me?”
“We’ll start lining up near t
he back door.” Amy found Becca and Tara in the kitchen, peeking out the window and gossiping about what everyone was wearing. “You guys ready?”
“Yep,” Tara said.
“Luke looks hot. Anyone know if he’s single?” Becca asked.
“He is,” Tara confirmed.
Amy bit her tongue and hoped she looked more nonchalant than she felt.
Becca went to the back door and motioned to the guys to let them know they were ready. Carlos and Luke headed their way, while Michael went around asking everyone to take their seats. Joe took his place in front of the arbor beside the minister.
Amy’s stomach flooded with butterflies. A real wedding. In her backyard. Amanda and Joe’s wedding. She pressed a hand to her chest.
The back door opened, and Luke stepped inside. He winked, and her face flushed hot. He leaned in close. “That was quite a wakeup call this morning.”
His words sent a thrill down her spine, but she shook her head and backed away. No way were they discussing this now. Or ever, if he’d let her get away with it.
Dorothy handed out bouquets to all the bridesmaids. Outside, music began to play.
“Oh my God,” Amanda whispered and pressed a hand to her stomach.
“Okay?” Amy asked.
Amanda nodded. Tears shone in her eyes. “I just can’t believe it’s finally happening.”
The photographer clicked away, documenting the moment.
“Here we go,” Dorothy announced cheerfully. She gave her daughter a quick hug, then took Joe’s father’s arm and headed out the back door.
“We’re up next,” Luke said and took Becca’s arm.
Last week, Amy had been relieved not to be paired up with Luke, but right now, she really wished she were the one on his arm. Becca was holding onto him a little too firmly for Amy’s taste, batting her eyelashes and chattering a mile a minute as they walked out the door.
As Luke and Becca started down the aisle, Amy took Michael’s arm. She glanced over her shoulder one last time at Amanda. “Love you,” she mouthed.
“Love you too,” Amanda whispered back, a radiant smile on her face.
Amy stepped out into the bright sunshine with Michael at her side, a sea of faces smiling at them as they walked down the aisle toward the arbor in front. Today, it was draped with lush pink and white flowers.
Luke stood to Joe’s right. His eyes met Amy’s and held.
“We’d be married with a couple of kids by now,” he’d told her twice now.
As she walked toward him, carrying a bouquet, she had to give her head a quick shake to keep out the visions of herself dressed in white. Because her dress today was blue, and they were here to celebrate their friends’ wedding. And while she and Luke definitely had some residual chemistry, he was going back to Baltimore after the wedding, and Amy would get back to focusing on Noah. He came first. Always.
She passed Luke to take her place next to Becca. Tara and Carlos came next, and then the music shifted. Everyone’s eyes locked on Amanda and her father as they came out of the house.
Tears welled in Amy’s eyes. She’d never seen her friend happier than she looked at that moment. And as she stole a peek at Joe, she saw the same joy stamped on his face, along with the awestruck look of a man who’s just had his breath taken away by the woman he loves in her wedding gown.
The ceremony went off without a hitch, with Amy and pretty much everyone else sniffling their way through as Amanda and Joe professed their love for each other and were pronounced husband and wife. About a million pictures later, they finally made their way to the tent for refreshments and dancing.
“You look stunning,” Luke whispered in her ear.
She glanced up, lost in his endless hazel eyes. Lost because she couldn’t imagine him not being here, not being with her after the wedding was over. Maybe a little part of her had been in love with him ever since high school. “Thank you.”
“Please tell me you’re not drinking Amanda’s wine again tonight.”
She grimaced. “I’m not drinking any wine tonight.”
His head dipped closer to hers. “That’s good, because I think we have some unfinished business to take care of later.”
A warm shiver ran through her. “Do we?”
“I know I do.” With a wink and a look that left her breathless, he walked off toward the bar.
“You and Luke have looked awfully intense together this week,” Amanda said from behind her.
Amy turned, feeling her cheeks grow hot. “What?”
“Are you two back together?”
“No. I mean, not really, or… I don’t know.” She pressed a hand to her forehead.
Amanda laughed. “Mm hmm, I know that look. Maybe you want to keep the wedding arbor up in your backyard a little longer?”
“What? No…no way.” Amy was stuttering, and she couldn’t help it. “I don’t think I’ll ever get married.”
Amanda winked. “Never say never.”
***
“May I have this dance?” Luke held his hand out.
Amy took it with a smile. The party was well underway now. With Joe’s iPhone hooked up to a speaker system in the tent, they had their own readymade DJ. Couples had spilled out onto the lawn to dance in the grass.
And when a slow song started, Luke couldn’t resist the chance to hold Amy in his arms. She was absolutely breathtaking tonight in that blue dress that accentuated all her curves. If luck was on his side, he was going to get to take it off her later tonight.
He was damn near dying to find out what she was wearing underneath it, to take that off her too, to make love to her because he had a feeling it would be even better between them now than it had been in high school.
She followed him to the area of the lawn where other couples were dancing and settled in his arms. The sun had dipped below the treetops, setting the evening around them ablaze in pinks and purples. Someone flicked a switch, and strings of white lights lit all around the tent.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“It’s pretty, but not anywhere near as beautiful as you.” He tightened his arms around her, drawing her closer.
“Luke—” Her brow bunched.
“No worrying. Tonight we just see what happens, and tomorrow we’ll figure out the rest of it.”
She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. They swayed together to the music, and when Joe’s iPhone segued into another slow song, they kept dancing. Amy smelled like some kind of flowery perfume tonight. It was intoxicating. She was intoxicating.
“Um.” She giggled, glancing down at the front of his pants.
Yeah. He wanted her. Bad. And there was no hiding it. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “As I recall, this morning’s chat was a whole lot more satisfying for you than it was for me.”
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Oh. You mean, you didn’t…?”
He shook his head. No, he hadn’t wanted anything to distract him from her pleasure. Even if it meant he’d had to take a long, cold shower afterward.
“Oh,” she said again, bringing her hips against his.
He groaned. “If you want to know the truth, I just got back in the states a few weeks ago. I was overseas with Doctors Without Borders for eighteen months.”
“And you didn’t date while you were over there?”
“No. So it’s been a long time for me.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “I don’t date much—or at all, really. Noah is my priority.”
Interesting. “How long?”
“Longer than you.”
He chuckled. “So we’re both up for some kind of award for celibacy then.”
She looked up, her brown eyes hazy with lust. “I’m ready to end that tonight.”
Oh, hallelujah. Her hips were still flush with his, and his poor aching cock was about to burst through the front of his pants. “Right now, it’s really inconvenient that we’re not at some hotel where we can just go upstairs to your room an
d put an end to our reign of celibacy.”
“We can’t even leave early since it’s my house. We’re stuck here until every last person goes home.” She looked around them at the yard still filled with happy guests.
The universe had a really sick sense of humor sometimes. “Then we keep dancing.”
So they did. They danced and danced, but no one seemed to be in any hurry to break up the party. “So tell me,” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
“What will we do first?” The night around them was full dark now, lit only by the twinkling white lights around the tent. Here on the lawn only a few other couples remained dancing.
She glanced around them, then smiled. “Well, I’d like to say first we make out for a while, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait that long.”
“As long as I have you, I can wait as long as you need.” Which was true, but it was going to take every ounce of his willpower.
“I think we’ve already waited long enough.” Her breath warmed his neck, and he felt his control slipping.
“There’s something I’ve got to know,” he said.
“What?”
“What are you wearing under that dress?”
“Well, there’s a strapless bra.” She paused. “It’s lacy, with blue trim. You might like it. And, um, a thong. Also blue and lacy.”
“Damn, woman.”
She gave him a shy smile. “I was kind of hoping this might happen when I got dressed this morning.”
“What, that we’d be stuck on the dance floor for hours waiting for everyone to leave?”
“No,” she whispered. “That you’d, you know, stay. Tonight.”
Stay. He liked that word. “I was kind of hoping that too.”
“A few people have left,” she said.
So they had. But the bride and groom were still here, which meant the party was still going. “So, back to tonight. After I take you out of your lacy bra and thong. Then what?”
“What would you like?”
“I’d like to put my mouth on you until you’re screaming my name.”
