"Look, I'm sorry if any of that stuff bothered you. I didn't mean to hurt you, Ash."
She could see that, and it was a huge relief. It wasn't Jason's fault they had never talked about this before. He couldn't have known it bothered her if she never said anything. And she had always loved her brother, known he cared about her. "I believe you, Jason. It's okay."
"You were always so popular, so good with people. I never had any of that. My only friends were Lucas and the guys in the chess club." Jason grinned. "They all thought you were so hot. When we were in eighth grade and you were a junior, they all paid me five bucks to walk through your bedroom and touch your cheerleading uniform."
All the fuzzy warm feelings she'd been having evaporated. "What? Jason Andrews! That's horrible." She threw her pillow at him and turned to glare at Lucas.
He held up his hand. "Don't look at me. I didn't pay five bucks to touch your pom-poms."
"Nah. I let him do it for free."
"You didn't!" Ashley gaped at Lucas, who looked painfully guilty.
"I didn't actually touch anything, I just sort of walked around your room." He scratched the whiskers sprinkling across his chin and shot Jason a dirty look.
"Oh, my God. You're both twisted." Ashley shifted on the bed, a little stunned that she had been the object of Lucas's teenage fantasies. "Now, Jason, can you get out so I can get dressed? And please go find the key."
"Sure." Jason snorted and started to turn.
"We're getting married, Jason," Lucas said, his words arresting her brother.
How come no one heard her when she had said that?
Jason turned back around, looking horror-stricken. "Very funny." He gave a forced chuckle. "You had me for a second there."
"I'm serious."
They locked eyes. Stared each other down. Jason's gaze shifted to her. "Is he shitting me?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm in love with Lucas." Geez, it was so exciting to say that out loud. It felt so right, so real. Like it had always been there, and she hadn't known it. Ashley's cheeks grew hot, even as Lucas squeezed her hand, kissed the top of her head.
"Oh. Oh. Well." Jason shuffled his feet. "Marriage, huh?" Then his face split into a grin. He crossed the room and punched Lucas in the arm, gave him a half hug, with thumps on the back. "Dude, we'll be brothers for real! That's so cool."
Put out at being neglected, she said, "Hello… big sister here, planning a wedding, going to wear white… where's my hug?"
Jason spared her a glance. "You're naked, Ash. I'm not hugging you. And you might want to rethink the wearing white thing. Not very believable since you handcuffed yourself to a guy."
Idiot. "Lucas is naked too," she pointed out.
Jason jumped back. She grinned in satisfaction.
Lucas laughed at the mischievous look on Ashley's face. She knew how to rile up her brother.
For that matter, she knew how to rile him up too, but in a different way altogether.
Knowing he was grinning like the village idiot, Lucas wrapped his arm around Ashley and pulled her to him for a kiss. Her mouth was swollen, soft, her morning taste earthy, her curls tousled, her cheek still bearing the imprint of her pillow.
He was going to get to wake to this sight every single day for the rest of his life. He couldn't imagine how he'd gotten so damn lucky.
"If I find the handcuff key will you still go golfing with me?" Jason called from the living room, his lingering presence extremely unwanted.
Lucas did have to admit it was cool to think that Jason was going to be family now, officially. And he wouldn't have to worry about liking his wife's relatives. He already knew them all, and thought of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews like a second set of parents.
He would prefer to stay and roll around in some peach powder with Ash, but he had made the plans with Jason first.
"Do you mind, Ash? We've had this tee time booked for a couple of weeks." Lucas didn't want to leave her, but she might want to actually get some real sleep. "I can come over later and help you pack up the dildos." He owed those dildos a huge debt. They had brought him to Ashley's apartment last night. The least he could do was pack them in bubble wrap.
"Go golfing. I feel so good, this calls for shopping. But first, I have to visit my mom and my friends and every person I've ever met in my life and brag that I'm marrying the sexiest, smartest, most amazing man in existence."
"Do I know him?" Lucas joked, kissing each of her eyelids.
"Lucas," she sighed. "I do love you."
"I feel exactly the same. I've loved you for forever." It was perfectly logical, the smartest thing he'd ever done- falling in love with Ashley.
"Hey, guys? I'm not finding any key," Jason called from the other room. "But I did find some things I want to buy. This sex sling has potential."
Ashley rolled her eyes, groaned. But she was laughing. "He's never going to leave, is he?"
Lucas grinned, lay back down on the bed, and pulled Ashley over top of him. "I don't think so."
"We should get dressed."
"In a minute." Or a year.
"Ashley, what's a Mr. Right Now?" Jason yelled.
With an exasperated groan, she turned and called to him over her shoulder, "Why?"
"Well, these papers all sort of fell on the floor, and I was picking them up and I accidentally saw Hope's order form. She bought a Mr. Right Now."
"Accidentally?" Ashley snorted.
Lucas figured Jason's peek was as much of an accident as him making love to Ashley over a fan. It was more taking advantage of an opportunity than an accident, and he didn't think he could fault Jason for that.
"So what is it?" Jason asked again.
Ashley glanced down at Lucas and gave him a wink. Then she said, "There's a brochure sitting on the table. Read the description."
Lucas grew somewhat curious, his mind starting to spin possibilities for what could be given a title like that. "What is it?" he murmured, suddenly very aware of the press of Ashley's firm breasts against his chest. Her warm, moist sex resting over his cock.
"Use your imagination."
They were under the sheet, sticky and close, and Lucas had a very active imagination.
Jason's head popped into the bedroom. "Here's the handcuffs key." He threw a key dangling from a leopard striped plastic key chain in their direction. "We'll go golfing another time, Lucas. I just remembered something I need to tell Hope."
Lucas just bet he did. Then Jason was gone, and Ashley grinned at him.
"Worked like a charm," she whispered.
"Smart girl."
Ashley wiggled appealingly over top of him, and winked. "Now let's have our own Pleasure Party."
Hell, yeah. He could do that. Lucas planted his hand on her backside. "Sell it to me, Ash. I'll buy anything."
Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy sold her first book to Kensington Brava through author Lori Foster's website contest in 2002, and has since sold an additional nineteen contemporary romances and novellas to Brava and Berkley Publishing. Her debut, BAD BOYS ONLINE, was a Romantic Times Top Pick, and BAD BOYS IN BLACK TIE was a USA Today bestseller. Erin lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
