Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2) (13 page)

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. She looked at Grace, whose face was red, and said, “You hooked up with Jonah? That is his name, right?”

Lydia laughed. “They did more than just hook up. I distinctly recall waking up to moaning from the floor next to me.”

Lucy tossed her pillow at Grace’s face. “Nice girl code!”

Lydia laughed and pulled the pillow off Grace. She patted her on the head and sighed. “I don’t care. I could hardly claim a guy when I barely remember leaving with him.”

Then it was Grace’s turn to bury her face in her hands. “I don’t even know how it happened. All I know is that I was really happy. I remember kissing him—and some other
stuff
—and the rest is a blur.”

“Where did the other brother go?” Lucy frowned and tried to count brothers. “There were two other brothers. Where’d they go?”

“I know this one! Charlie has three brothers,” Lydia corrected with her hand raised.

“And one sister, who’s in Boston with her fiancé,” Lucy added too quickly, sounding slightly competitive.
 

“I didn’t know that,” Lydia said. “Anyway, the oldest one, Brandon, dropped us off at Charlie’s and left. I think he wanted to kill us all by the time we left that other bar.”
 

“What other bar?” Lucy asked, laughing.
 

“No clue,” Grace answered. “We were trying to figure that out on the way home this morning.”

“And we don’t know where the other brother went, either,” Lydia added. “That was a mystery, too. He was there and then he wasn’t.”

“What other brother?” Lucy asked. “You two are confusing the hell out of me.”

“All we need to know is that Jonah has beautiful lips and he knows how to use them.” Grace sighed dreamily. “And oh, boy, does he know how to work that tongue.”

“How’d you even get home?” Lucy asked, ignoring Grace’s tongue comment. If she was being honest with herself, she could admit that she was a little jealous that Grace’s evening had turned out so great.
 

Lydia spoke up. “When I realized the sun was up, I called a cab and then woke up our promiscuous little friend over here. Her dress was around her waist and she was cuddling with Jonah next to a pile of baby blankets and toys.”

“I’m so white trash,” Grace squeaked, and covered her face again. “We tiptoed right the hell out of there.”

“A neighbor saw us,” Lydia added. “It was the ultimate walk of shame.”

“Well, at least you two had some fun,” Lucy said.
 

“Ladies,” Lydia began, “last night was not our finest hour.”

“I can’t wait to do it again,” Grace said with a grin.
 

* * *

Charlie stepped into the living room and took in the sight before him. Beer bottles, empty glasses, and plates of half-eaten food cluttered the once-clean room. He shook his head and sighed. He really needed his brothers to go back to California.

He stared down at a shirtless Jonah, who was out cold on the floor. He took a sip of coffee and kicked Jonah’s side until he grumbled in protest.
 

“Stop,” Jonah finally said, and rolled over to his side.
 

“Please tell me you didn’t have sex on my son’s toys,” Charlie said, and took another sip from his mug.
 

Jonah opened one eye and looked at the yellow baseball bat next to his head. He sat up slowly and pushed the bat to the side. He looked from side to side, searching for something or—from what Charlie could gather—someone.
 

“She left,” Charlie said, and took a seat on the couch. “I watched her run through the yard and hop into a cab with Lydia’s Delights at about six this morning.”

“Damn.” Jonah ran his hands over his face and froze as “Old McDonald” started to play from beneath him. He pulled out a stuffed cow and watched as it lit up with colorful lights. “Jack has some weird toys.”

“That’s actually his favorite,” Charlie said, and yanked it from Jonah’s hands. He eyed the toy and raised one eyebrow. “Do I need to burn this and get him a new one?”

Jonah laughed and shook his head. “C’mon, Charlie. Give me a little bit more credit than that.”

Charlie just stared at Jonah—hard. He had heard the moans. One thing about Lucy’s friend, Grace, was for sure: she’d really enjoyed herself last night and she wanted everyone within a five-mile radius to know just how much.
 

“I didn’t have sex with her,” Jonah said, his arms raised in exasperation.
 

“It sounded like sex to me,” Charlie said pointedly.
 

Jonah grinned at that. “I mean, yeah, I definitely made her happy, but I was nowhere near Jack’s toys when it happened.”

“Then why are you on them now?” Charlie asked.
 

Jonah looked around and shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Charlie leaned forward and said through gritted teeth, “Jonah, get off my son’s toys.”

“Right.” Jonah laughed and got to his feet. He sat next to Charlie on the couch and met his glare. “Sorry,” he added with a sheepish smile.
 

“Hugh stole the guest bedroom last night, I see.” Charlie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Your new bedroom, I should say.”

Jonah blew out a breath in relief. “I thought I was kicked out before I even moved in.”
 

Charlie cut him a cross look. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“No more women on the living room floor,” Jonah promised with his hand raised. He shifted his head to the side and looked at Charlie with a knowing smile. “By the way, I was surprised you came home last night. What’s her name? Lucy?”

Charlie grimaced as the memory from the night before played out again. He sipped his coffee before saying, “I really messed that one up.”

“She’s pretty hot, Charlie.”
 

Charlie smiled and then tightened his lips. “Yes, she is.”

“Her friend, Grace … you know … the one on the floor—”

“I know who Grace is, thank you,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, she was babbling away about that at States Bar. I didn’t get a lot of what she was saying, but it seems this Lucy might have a thing for you.”

Charlie took that in and let it settle. “Hmm,” was all he could really say.

“Hmm,” Jonah repeated, a knowing look in his eye. He wouldn’t ask any more about it, though; it was one of the things Charlie appreciated most about Jonah: he only cared about information if it was offered to him. If it wasn’t, he dropped it.

“There’s something about her,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what it is, but I messed up last night. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Jonah sighed and nudged Charlie’s arm. “I don’t think anyone in your position would know how to do it, brother.”

Charlie hit him back. “Thanks.”
 

Jonah rubbed his arm and laughed. “You’re welcome.”

Charlie thought for a minute. “And she knows our last name, too. I don’t remember telling her our last name.”

Jonah shrugged. “I don’t think that’s weird. Do you pay with your credit card when you go into that café?”

Charlie laughed at that. “Yep.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Man, I’m losing my mind.”

“What else is new?” Jonah asked, and then dodged another hit from Charlie.
 

“I’m going to the gym,” Charlie said, standing. “And then I have to stop at Lucy’s work to apologize for being an idiot before Mom drops Jack off.”

“I don’t think it’s as bad as you think, man—whatever you did,” Jonah said, a sympathetic look on his face. “I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Hopefully.” Charlie slid on his leather jacket and lifted his eyebrows at Jonah, who was watching him intently.
 

“You’re actually taking the Harley out?” Jonah finally asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Charlie’s jacket.
 

“It’s been almost two years.” Charlie shrugged and added, “It’s a nice day.”

Jonah stared at him for a moment, deep in thought. His lips curved into a pleasant smile, before simply agreeing, “It is.”
 

Charlie hadn’t taken his bike out since before Meredith had gotten pregnant. She was the last one to sit on it with him and he had planned for her to be the only one. He did miss riding his bike, though. Among everything from his pre-widower life, his Harley was one of the things he missed the most.
 

Two months ago he would only look at his Harley, though he would start it up every now and then to make sure it stayed in good condition. He even considered selling it. But now he felt the urge he hadn’t felt in a long time; he was ready to get on it again.
 

He wasn’t sure what that meant, nor did he care to decipher the meaning it carried.

Today, he wasn’t thinking.
 

He was just riding.
 

* * *

Lucy sighed as she poured steamed milk into a coffee. She still felt like death, even after eating the greasy breakfast burrito Lydia had made her. Of course, she wasn’t sure if that was due to her hangover or just humiliation.
 

Either way, she wanted to die.
 

“Have a nice day,” she said to her last customer of the afternoon rush. She had tried to look presentable with concealer and eye makeup, but she was positive she still looked like hell.
 

“How’s it going out here?” Lydia asked as she stepped in from the back. Lucy found some satisfaction in the fact that Lydia looked like death, too.
 

“Umm, well, let’s see,” Lucy began, looking around. “I’ve spilled two full cartons of half and half all over the floor, I dropped an entire plate of cinnamon rolls, and I’ve gagged three times in front of customers who looked like they were ready to run.”
 

“That good?” Lydia asked, and shook her head. “I burned an entire tray of scones and I dropped the cash deposit—change included—all over the floor.”

Lucy groaned and flopped her arms across the counter before burying her head in them. “What a disaster,” she said, her voice muffled. “No more drinking.”

“At least we don’t have to work tonight, like Grace does,” Lydia pointed out. “We get to go to bed in a few hours.”

Lucy only nodded against her arms.
 

“Hello, beautiful man on a Harley,” Lydia announced suddenly. “Oh, please let him be coming in here.”

Lucy could hear the roar of the engine; it was so loud it must have been right on the other side of the café window. “Please let him not. No more customers.”
 

“Oh, he’s definitely coming in here,” Lydia said after a few seconds, her voice a bit funny. “Good luck, girly.”

Lucy sat up and watched as Lydia scurried into the kitchen, the double doors swaying with her wild speed. “Huh,” she said at the sudden shift in Lydia’s behavior. She shrugged and then turned her gaze to the window, where Charlie was climbing off a Harley.
 

“Ugh,” she said and put her cheek down on the cold counter. “No, no, no. Go away, Charlie.”

With her head down, she watched as he headed to the door. A group of women had stopped to gawk at him and practically swooned when he removed his aviators and smiled at them. She could hardly blame them, of course.

He opened the door and stepped in. He stopped right in the doorway when he saw Lucy, who still hadn’t lifted her head. She was down for the count. She could only imagine how ridiculous she looked, but the cold counter felt too good on her face to move.
 

“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes full of concern.
 

Lucy lifted her head just enough to rest her chin on her arms. She closed her eyes and nodded. “I’m just really hung over.”

And completely mortified
.

“Those shots were not a good idea,” Charlie said, and took a few steps in her direction.
 

“You ride a Harley, too?” she asked, ignoring his comment. Just the word “shots” gave her a strong desire to bolt to the bathroom. “That makes sense.”

“Why exactly does that make sense?” He took a few more steps until he was in front of her and she could then see the amused glint in his green eyes.
   

“It just does.”
 

Does he just radiate sex? Good grief.
 

“I see,” he said, his lips pursed. “Can we talk?”

Lucy straightened her back and reached for her water. “I honestly never thought I’d see you again, Charlie, after the way last night went—from what I remember, anyway.”

“I know, but I really need to apologize to you first and then you never have to see me again,” he said.
 

What?
 

“No. Oh, Charlie. You don’t owe me an apology. I’m the one who acted horribly.” She lowered her face to her hands. “I literally threw myself at you. I’m so sorry.”

“Please don’t be embarrassed.” Suddenly, she felt his hands connect with hers and pull them down. He lifted her chin with his finger, urging her to look at him. “Lucy, I was the sober one. I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did. You are the last person I wanted to disrespect like that.”