Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (20 page)

“Thanks, Lance.” Rachael giggled, patting his arm. “I’ll tell Josh how you saved me from limping with a plaster cast to the altar.”

“Might be better not to mention it.” Lance grimaced.

He was probably guessing that Joshua, being somewhat protective of his nearest and dearest, might be a little concerned that she could have broken her neck. Susan finished recording, knowing that Joshua was going to find out anyway.

“Stiddle flicks, I mean fiddle sticks.” Rachael pushed her index finger into his solid-looking chest and gave him a goofy grin. “You saved me.”

“Enjoying yourselves, ladies?” Paul asked as he stepped out from behind his brother. His gaze lingered on Sandy, who quickly looked anywhere other than at him.

Colin, who was Rachael’s cousin and one of Susan’s husbands, had told her that Paul and his brother Lance were sweet on Sandy. Over the past month, armed with only the flimsiest of excuses, they had visited the Vet Practice, hoping to have a few casual words with Sandy. They must have spent a small fortune in vet bills on stray and feral cats.

Apparently from the moment they first saw her, about six weeks ago, they were smitten. The shy little receptionist was certainly easy on the eyes, but she had a quiet, guarded way about her, and a vulnerability that Susan suspected had a story to it. At first Sandy had been polite but distant and a little nervous with the guys. In fact Susan realized that Sandy was nervous with most young men. Lance and Paul had asked her out and she had flatly refused. Susan couldn’t think why, they were nice guys. They had not pursued a date and Susan reckoned that they were hoping Sandy would become more accustomed to their presence. She mused that good hunters must have patience. It appeared to be working because now Sandy seemed a little more relaxed in their company.

“Last party as a single woman for me girl Rachael,” Shannon needlessly explained to Paul, as she slid down from the bar.

“We have one more place to go, the largest night club in town, Bronco’s.” Janet raised her voice above the noise in the bar.

“Oh, God, is it as bad as it sounds?” Shannon giggled, sounding a little light-headed.

“No, it’s worse,” Sandy muttered, blushing when Lance caught her eye and winked.

“Ah, come on, girls, we’ll rock the party, let’s go,” Janet ordered, waltzing out the door with a flick of her feather boa over her shoulder. “Last one there is first to ride the Buckin’ Bronco!”

They all scrambled after her.

Chapter 13

Bang, bang, bang.

Shannon heard what sounded like thunder to her sleep addled, aching brain.

“Hey, the door’s open, that’s not good,” a semi recognizable voice muttered.

“God damn it, anyone could have come in,” a second even deeper voice cursed. “Wait ‘til I see Rachael.” It was Joshua and he didn’t sound pleased.

The other voice chuckled. “It must have been some party the girls had last night if they aren’t up before noon.”

Noon? No way!

“Take a look at this.” Joshua sounded amused. “Colin sent it this morning.”

Shannon heard the electronic, tinny sound of music and laughter being played on...what? A phone?

“Is that...is that Rachael and Shannon belly dancing on a bar?” The first man sounded shocked and amused. She heard muffled laughter then a sharp intake of breath, “Jesus, she could have really hurt herself then, thankfully Lance was there to catch her. I’ve got to send this to Luke.” Obviously the voice belonged to James. There were more deep chuckles.

“Wait, watch this.”

There was another sharp intake of breath. “No way, not in a million years. Shannon and Rachael together on the buckin’ bronco! That’s...that’s kinda kinky actually.”

She heard a slap.

“Ow!”

Shannon blearily recalled the events of the evening. She half giggled, half groaned because it had been a lot of fun, but she was feeling the after effects.

“I think Shannon’s waking up, I’ll get the coffee on.” James spoke quietly as he entered into the cabin.

“I’ll see you later, I’m gonna get close to my woman, even if it is just to hold her hand as she leans over the toilet bowl,” Joshua grumbled.

Shannon listened to Joshua walk across the open plan lounge and enter Rachael’s room after gently knocking but getting no response. She heard the wooded steps creaking as James partially climbed the steep stair leading to the open attic area, where she was snoozing on a mattress on the floor.

* * * *

James poked his head just above the floor level and saw Shannon’s curled up body outlined under a sheet and a shock of curly, wild red hair sprouting from the end.

“Coffee, two aspirin and a glass of water please,” a little voice croaked from underneath the sheets and hair.

He grinned as his heart warmed. “Sure thing, darlin’.”

Ten minutes later he was sat on her mattress with a tray of dry toast, two mugs of strong coffee, aspirin, a glass, and a jug of water. He had experienced enough hangovers to know the drill. He tried not to grin too much as she slowly emerged from the sheet, blinking and rubbing her eyes like some fluffy critter waking out of its nest after winter hibernation. Her tresses were in turmoil; some wayward curls and frizzy waves were sticking out at unruly angles whilst another section was plastered to her head. To him she looked cuter than a speckled pup in a red wagon.

“What time is it?” she rasped, stifling a yawn.

“Half past noon. Do you think that you’ll be up to going to Luke’s parents for three o’clock?”

Shannon groaned. “I’ll be okay. I must be feeling the effects of jet lag,” she weakly joked. “Water please.” With her eyes closed she held out her hand for the glass, which he pressed into her palm. “Thank you.” She gulped it down with a satisfied gasp for air at the end. “Ah, I needed that.”

“Here, chew down some toast before you take the aspirin or you may feel sick.”

James held some toast up to her mouth. She looked at him a little embarrassed and sheepish but nevertheless took a bite and slowly chewed and swallowed. He held up more and she took another bite, a slow smile playing around the edge of her mouth. He thought that she looked beautiful, even with a hangover and in a disheveled state. It brought out a tender, protective side that he didn’t know he had and he just wanted to take care of her.

“Now here have some more water and swallow these pills,” he instructed gently, taking the time to wipe a few crumbs off the side of her mouth with his thumb.

Shannon did as she was told. She seemed too weak to put up any resistance to his pampering. When she tried to twist around to reposition her pillows against the wall, he reached past her, plumped them vigorously and propped them behind her back. She sank into them.

“Thanks, James,” she shyly murmured, looking genuinely grateful.

The expression on her face had him wanting to cosset and cuddle her. He smiled, passed her a mug of coffee, took one for himself and moved up the makeshift bed to sit next to her. He’d left his boots near the front door and so positioned his long legs straight out in front of himself on the mattress, crossed casually at the ankles, and pressed lightly against her outer thigh. When he put his arm around her she relaxed into it and snuggled closer, it felt somehow familiar and right.

“So, I guess it was a good night last night?”

Shannon chuckled, remembering. “It was. We had a blast, a ‘real crack’ as we say in Ireland, although I think that Rachael may at this moment be feeling worse than me. I managed to sneak in a few Sodas during the evening.” She sipped the coffee. “This tastes excellent. I’m starting to feel better already.”

Suddenly Rachael’s bedroom door burst open and Rachael dashed out to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth, closely followed by Joshua. Even through the closed door they heard retching.

“Oh dear,” winced Shannon.

They heard muffled curses and apologies and Joshua’s deep, consoling tones. Eventually the toilet flushed and Rachael trooped out looking miserable and a slight shade of green. Joshua headed to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water and make some toast.

“I’m so sorry,” wailed Rachael. “I’m never going to drink again.”

“We’ve all done it, more than once. Don’t worry about it, darlin’. It looked like it was worth it.” Joshua rumbled a low chuckle.

“What? How do you know?” she whimpered.

“The perils of modern technology, darlin’. Susan made a few videos with her phone and Colin sent them on.”

“Oh no. Please tell me...not the belly dancing?”

Joshua nodded solemnly. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

“And the bucking bronco?”

“’Fraid so.”

Shannon turned and saw him trying not to laugh. She blushed a pretty shade of pink.

“Oh no. You’ve seen it, too?”

“’Fraid so. I’m hoping for a repeat performance sometime...maybe a private viewing?” He grinned, living in hope.

Shannon pulled her face and ignored him. “How are you feeling now, Rach?” She called down as softly as she could, knowing that Rachael had to be feeling the wrath of grape and grain much worse than she was.

“Horrible, it feels like something is jumping in my head. It’s probably dancing at the funeral of whatever died in my mouth,” she croaked.

“Ooo,” Shannon grimaced, “that good eh?”

“Yep, but it was a fun night. How are you feeling and how the heck did we get home?”

“A little fragile but not too bad. I vaguely remember...what’s Susan’s husband name?”

“My cousin Colin or Mark?”

“Mark, yeah, Mark took us home after we ended up at Susan’s house. We dropped Sandy off on the way and Janet went to Mitch’s.”

“Yeah, Mitch called, Janet ain’t feeling too spritely either,” Joshua drawled shaking his head in mock disgust. “Colin checked on Sandy, she’s okay.”

Rachael groaned wearily. “The details are a little vague. I am going to have to lie down again, sorry guys, today is a right-off for me. Enjoy the rest of the day, Shannon.” She began to shuffle back toward her room but Joshua swept her up in his arms, dropped a kiss on her forehead and tenderly carried her there.

James wasn’t in any particular hurry to move, he was enjoying being so close to Shannon, even if he was fully clothed. At least all she had on was a skimpy camisole top and boxer shorts.

“You managed to get undressed and changed for bed. I’m impressed.”

“Auto pilot, and I hardly ever go to sleep without taking makeup off and having a glass of water, habit I guess. I must look a mess, you obviously don’t frighten easily. Thank God I actually put some pajamas on.”

Damn
, he wasn’t going to praise the Lord for that one.

“You look kinda sweet, all fuzzy and cute.”

“You make me sound like a kid’s pet when I’m actually starting to feel human again.” She chuckled, pressing into him more. “I could stay like this all day,” she sighed sleepily.

He wouldn’t mind at all. He held her close, lightly stroking her arm, feeling the heat of her back against his chest. He was simply happy to be with her, quiet and peaceful, providing some comfort and companionship. They stayed that way for more than an hour and a half, not speaking much, just lazily holding each other, relaxed and at ease. He was aware that to be like this was intimate but not overtly sexual, and was surprised to discover that he enjoyed this sort of closeness.