For the Love of a Lush (Lush No. 2) (24 page)

She reaches up to grab his hand on her shoulder, and that’s when I see it—a very large, very sparkly diamond ring shining from Mel’s left ring finger.

I look at Joss, at Mel’s finger, back at Joss. His expression is confused. Then I see when he’s caught on. He takes his arm from around Mel and grabs her hand as he holds it out in front of them.

"I think the cat’s out of the bag, baby," he tells her quietly.

"Oh!" she answers as she watches me carefully.

I can feel Tammy tense behind them.

"So…" I pretend to examine the ring for a moment. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

Joss clears his throat. "Um, we were going to work up to this, but yeah. I’ve asked Mel to marry me, and astonishingly, she said yes."

"That is pretty astonishing," I tell him as I do my best to give them a scowl. "Considering what a dick you are," I finish.

Joss tenses, and Mel’s face falls. I realize that I can’t keep this up for long.

"Look," Joss says quietly. "I understand this is hard for you, and I know I don’t deserve your congratulations—"

I cut him off. "Oh yeah? So you want my congratulations?"

Mel finally speaks up, her voice shaking a tiny bit as she absentmindedly turns the ring on her finger. "We’d really appreciate it, Walsh. You’re part of our family, and it just won’t be the same if you’re not with us."

I nod my head. "Let me see that ring again?" They all look at me like I’m nuts, but Mel holds her hand out once more. I grab her hand and inspect it front and back. "I don’t know, man. He could’ve gotten another carat. I mean, he’s got a fucking boatload of money, Mel. But," I sigh dramatically, "I suppose if you’re okay with this tiny thing, I’m okay with it." I keep a hold of her hand, and her eyes grow wider.

I see the moment she and Joss both get it. She starts to smile, and I pull her to me in a big bear hug. As I reach around her and shake Joss’s hand, I tell Mel, "Couldn’t be happier for you, Little D. You made a good choice."

Mel gives a little gasp and squeezes me tighter. Joss turns around abruptly, and I know it’s because he’s overcome. I am too. To see two people I’ve loved for half of my life find happiness together is far more important than the mistakes anyone has made in the past. I can’t deny my joy for them. I only wish I’ll get the same sort of joy eventually. And with that thought, I find myself looking over Mel’s shoulder at Tammy, who is staring at the floor in utter distress, tears rolling down her face.

I release Mel. Joss turns back to us and pulls Mel into him, holding her tenderly as he kisses her hair. She buries her face in his chest, and I can see her breathe deeply then relax into him.

"Thanks," he tells me simply, his voice gravelly.

"My pleasure," I answer. "Hey, can we meet you outside? I need to talk to Tammy for a minute."

Joss looks at me carefully, and I see Mel’s eyes flash to her sister as Tammy bravely tries to fix a smile on her face.

"Sure thing," Joss answers as he and Mel hustle out the front door.

Once they’re gone, I step to Tammy and take her hands in mine. "I thought this would make you happy. I mean, you want me to be okay with them, right? You want me to congratulate them and for everyone to get along so we can all be at the wedding?"

She nods, biting down on her lip. "Yes, of course. Thank you."

"So what’s the problem? You’re obviously upset."

She pulls her hands from mine, and I instantly miss their soft heat. She takes a step to the door, head down, shoulders sagging. As she opens it, she pauses. Her quiet answer comes before she walks outside.

"I just wish you could have forgiven
me
that way."

Tammy

S
EEING MY
sister is like having a stone lifted off of my chest. One of those moments when you realize you’ve been under a burden that you weren’t even aware of. As we walk to The Bronco, Mel and I stay ahead of the guys so we can whisper to one another. She has her arm through mine, and it reminds me of days when she was a tiny child and I would hold on to her hand as we walked to the neighborhood park or library.

"I can’t believe it went so well," Mel gushes as she leans into my ear.

I nod and swallow. I can’t ruin this for her, and really, it is a fantastic moment for all of us. Something that we would never have guessed would be possible a few months ago. Joss and Walsh shook hands. No one hit anyone. No insults were exchanged. It’s more than I hoped for, frankly, but I still hurt, and my world is entirely off-kilter.

"It went great," I tell her. "So am I going to get to help with the wedding plans?" I remember my tendency to
impose myself
, as Mike says. "I mean, I’m available to help
if
you need it…or want it." I shut my mouth and hope I haven’t fucked it up.

She squeezes my arm with her hand. "Yes. I want your help,
and
I want you to be my maid of honor."

I feel the tears coming again. Fuck. I’ve never cried this much in my life. I reel it back in. "I would love that. Thank you. Thank you for forgiving me, for letting me stay in your life—and for staying in mine.”

"Oh, Tammy," she sighs. "There was never any question." We lean our heads together and stay that way until we reach The Bronco. It fills my poor empty heart.

At The Bronco, we get a table for four, and before we’ve hardly gotten in our chairs, the red-haired banshee—Marsha—is there, all smiles for Walsh.

"Well, hey there, cowboy," she drawls as she sets an O.J. and club in front of him. She knows his favorite drink too?

Before he has a chance to answer, her eyes go around the table. Her smile is firmly in place as she looks at Mel, and then her gaze reaches Joss. I see her mouth form into a little ‘o’ as her eyes get wide. She clears her throat and stands up a little straighter. Yeah, she knows who he is for sure.

Joss gets that
oh shit
look on his face, and I notice Mel trying not to smirk. I’ve got to hand it to Marsha though—she recovers nicely.

"So I see you’ve got some friends from out of town," she tells Walsh.

He gives her an amused smile. "Marsha, this is Joss Jamison and his fiancée, Mel DiLorenzo, Tammy’s sister. Joss, Mel—Marsha, my favorite waitress at The Bronco."

Joss gives her his signature rock-star smile and holds out his hand. "It’s nice to meet you, Marsha."

She lets out a shaky breath. "Likewise, I’m sure," she says, blushing. "And you too." She turns to Mel as she darts a look at me. "Your sister’s made a big impression here at The Bronco."

Mel raises a brow and looks at me questioningly. "My sister’s pretty good at big impressions," she answers.

I just roll my eyes and pick up the menu in front of me.

"Can I get a beer and some fries please?" I simper at Marsha, batting my eyelashes. I know I’m supposed to be working on the bitchy part, but give me a freaking break.

She glowers at me before turning her smile back on everyone else. "Anyone else want something to start off with?"

Joss gets a scotch, and Mel orders a rum and Coke. We decide to all share the basket of fries and a large platter of ribs.

After Marsha leaves, Joss leans back, his arm on the back of Mel’s chair as he rubs her shoulder. Walsh and I are consciously sitting as far apart as we can at the small table. No risk of an accidental brush or touch.

"Man, I thought we were going to have a Honolulu situation on our hands for a minute there," Joss says.

Walsh looks at the table for a minute, smiling softly. "Yeah, that was a mess. I don’t know why we thought we could just go hang out at a bar at that point. We’d been on the cover of
Rock Steady
the week before. Our faces were plastered all over newsstands from Tokyo to Trenton." He shakes his head at the memory.

What it reminds me of, however, is not the near riot the guys created when we went out to a club in Honolulu, but what Walsh and I did afterwards.

In the nick of time, we all ran from the mob at the bar and jumped in the back of the waiting town car. It took us back to the cluster of beach cottages we were renting, each with its own stretch of private beach. Mike made use of his with a couple of escorts he got delivered after we returned, Joss fell asleep alone on the patio of his unit, and Colin got high and ate pizza on the beach, claiming it was the way Hawaiian-style pizza was meant to be enjoyed. But Walsh and I took a blanket down to the sand.

Walsh spreads the blanket out a few feet from where the waves are gently lapping at the shore.

"Com’ere," he tells me as he sits down, an impish grin on his face.

I saunter closer and put my hands on my hips. "You think you’re going to get lucky out here in the open?" I ask.

He nods slowly. "Yeah, sweetheart, I do. Get your hot ass over here and I’ll show you just how lucky."

I walk closer until I’m standing on the blanket, looking down into his beautiful face in the moonlight. He reaches up and very slowly pulls on the strings on both sides of my bikini bottoms. They release and slide down my legs, falling onto the blanket.

"Oh yeah," he growls. "That’s what I’m talking about." He rises onto his knees as he strokes the inside of my thigh with one hand while the other reaches around and clamps on to my butt. His lips follow the path set by his fingers, and my head drops back as all the energy in my body rolls to my core and settles in a hot, throbbing mass.

His tongue explores my belly button while his other hand massages my butt and hip. Then he dips lower, flicking my clit with the very tip of his tongue.

"Oh, shit, Walsh," I gasp.

I hear him chuckle before he lifts my right leg and hooks it over his shoulder, wrapping his arm around my thigh. His hand can just reach to part my folds as his tongue and teeth dive into me. His other arm pulls me against him tighter, and I can hear him saying things as he licks and sucks.

"You’re fucking beautiful, Tammy DiLorenzo," he breathes. "I want you. Every hour of every day."

My hands settle on his head, and I dig my fingers into his thick hair. My breath is coming hard, and I can feel everything below my waist gathering into one consolidated rush. I can’t help but cry out. "God. Oh God, Walsh."

Just as I’m on the edge of falling into an enormous orgasm, he stops. I’m panting like I’ve run a marathon, and I open my eyes and look down at him.

"No. Don’t stop. What are you doing?" I whine in frustration.

He chuckles again and reaches up to untie my bikini top this time. He tosses it away in the sand and palms both of my breasts reverently. Then he places his mouth on one and sucks so hard I nearly come apart. He continues to suck while his other hand slips back between my legs and presses rhythmically against my clit. My hips roll into his hand. I couldn’t stop it if I tried. The breeze off the ocean is cool, and my skin is burning up. I can hear the water rolling onto the sand, and Walsh is moaning in pleasure as he continues to lave my breast. It’s a sensual buffet, and it flashes through my mind that I could do this, be this, feel this, forever and never tire of it.

He pulls his mouth off of me and I hear him say, "Are you about to come, sweetheart?"

"Yes. God, yes," I gasp.

"Good," he replies as his hands and body leave mine.

I open my eyes, feeling so dizzy that I’m afraid I might lose my balance. Walsh is still on his knees,, and when I look down, he’s smiling up at me. He takes my hand in his, and I notice that he has an object in his other hand.

I freeze, my mind a haze of lust and panic. "What are you doing? I’m dying here, Walsh," I whisper.

"Sweetheart," he says seriously. "I know you want to come right now, and I promise I’ll finish the job for you—but not until you say yes. Tammy DiLorenzo, will you marry me?"

I bring my hand up to my chest, covering my heart as if I’m afraid it’ll fly away in the face of this overwhelming emotion. It’s beating so hard I can hear it. Walsh can probably hear it. I feel a wave of lightheadedness course through me, and I squeeze his hand that holds mine to ground myself. I can barely get the words out as I try to answer him.

"You just proposed to me while I’m naked. And you’re holding me a sexual hostage until I agree to marry you?"