Get There: (Originally Published in the Print Anthology a RED HOT VALENTINE'S DAY) (6 page)

By the time he got out in the parking lot at Lenny’s he’d lost his taste for beer, but there was no way to admit that to Ham without coming off as a total pussy, so Ty just pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and put his head down against the wind. Inside, the heat from the pizza ovens and the scent of sauce and cheese and beer hit him like a living thing. He breathed in, deep.

Ham waved him over to a booth, where their regular waitress, Tammy, had already put out a basket of breadsticks with a small ceramic bowl of tomato sauce.

“Getcha?” she asked, pen ready to scribble.

“Pitcher of the usual. Large pie, half sausage. And I want two dozen wings, hot, with extra blue cheese.” Ham grinned and turned to Ty. “What’ll you have?”

But Tammy, who knew Ham too well, had already turned to go. Ham shrugged and dug into the breadsticks. He pushed the basket toward Ty, who grabbed a few, not because he was especially hungry but because Ham tended to eat the whole basket before asking “did you want some more?”

They had food, they had beer, and they didn’t have conversation about anything more important than the score of the game on TV, the possibilities of bad weather and the tightness of Tammy’s ass, and the probability of her ever agreeing to go home with Ham. Ham thought it was a question of sooner rather than later, Ty didn’t much care, and Tammy, when asked, was of the opinion that hell would feel much like Maine did at the moment before she went anywhere with Ham.

“She’s crazy about me.” Ham said this with the same enviable confidence he’d had since high school, when he’d shot up over everyone else and had been the first to grow armpit hair.

“I can see that.” Ty’d only sipped on one beer and eaten two slices of pizza.

Ham looked at the food still laid out in front of them. “Dude. You sick?”

“No.”

“Ah.”
Ham leaned back in the booth, his hands behind his head. “Something up with Edie?”

Ty lifted his mug and looked at the circle of wetness it had left behind. He picked it up and put it down four times and made the Olympic rings. Then he swiped them into blurred ovals with his fingertips.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Talk to Uncle Hammy. She finally wise up and decide to dump your ass for some hot younger stud?” Ham reached across the table to poke Ty in the ribs.

Ty didn’t feel like laughing but it was almost impossible not to when Ham started in with the “Uncle Hammy” business. “I sold the house.”

“Great.” Ham goggled for a minute, his familiar grin faltering only when he saw Ty wasn’t joining it. “What’s the problem?”

Ty outlined the situation quickly. Ham frowned. “Sucks, man.”

“Yeah. Big-time.”

“Was she pissed off ?”

“No. That would have been better. She cried.”

Both men fell silent at that. Playboy Ham knew what it meant to make a woman cry, and even he wasn’t immune to it. Ty sipped morosely.

“A lot?”

“She tried not to, but I could tell she was.”

Ham winced. “Ouch. That kills.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Ty turned his glass in his palms until the beer sloshed. “It’s Valentine’s Day, man. The first we were able to be together for. I told her I’d make it up to her, but . . .”

“Yeah. I know.” Ham looked sympathetic. “V-Day is big shit with chicks.”

“You can be so charming.”

Ham gave Ty an unapologetic grin. “You know it, fool.”

“It’s just bad timing. I know Edie understands that. But I still feel like crap.” Ty fixed his friend with a look, daring him to mock. “I wanted to be there with her.”

Ham had shown remarkable restraint so far, but now it broke. He cracked an imaginary whip in the air, nearly clipping Tammy’s elbow as she passed. She whirled on him with a glare undimmed by Ham’s returning smile.

“I think it’s beautiful Ty wants to be with his fiancée on Valentine’s Day,” Tammy said with a sniff. “You could take some lessons, Hamilton Parker.”

Ham watched her flounce away and turned back to Ty. “What did I tell you? She wants me.”

“She wants to slap you, maybe.” Ty looked at the pizza on his plate, but didn’t want any more. “I’m going to head out.”

“Dude.” Ham didn’t reach to grab his arm or anything girly like that, but he did lean forward as Ty got up. “I’m really offended.”

“About what?” Ty frowned as he tossed a handful of crumpled bills on the table. Ham could be a pain in the ass, but he was still a friend . . . unless he was ready to give Ty shit about the thing with Edie, in which case Ty was probably going to tell him to fuck off.

But then Ham spoke, and for the first time since getting the call from the realtor, Ty’s stomach unloosened from the skein of knots it had become.

T
he flight was late. The rental car Edie had reserved had gone missing, mysteriously. Though the clerk at the desk knew she was supposed to get one and had her confirmation number and everything, the car itself could not be found. By the time they figured out what to do, she’d already spent half an hour on the phone with the realtor, trying to find a time to get the keys. The realtor had sounded as though she had a bad cold and agreed to leave the keys in the lockbox on the front door and give Edie the combination, rather than having her come to the office. By the time she got to the new house, night had fallen and she didn’t have a remote to open the garage door, so she had to park in the icy drive. All in all, it had been a pretty lousy day.

So when Edie opened the door to their new house and found herself wading through a sea of red and pink balloons, all she could do was look around in surprise. Then she laughed. A few of the balloons floated through the door and into the February winter beyond, and Edie quickly shut the door to prevent further escapes.

Her feet kicked balloons with every step down the short hall toward the kitchen. He must have had a couple hundred delivered. It was such a Ty thing to do. . . .

And then there he was, standing in their new bare kitchen, a bottle of champagne in one hand and two long-stemmed glasses in the other.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said.

Balloons flew and a few of them popped as she ran to throw herself into Ty’s arms. The glasses clattered, sloshing Moët, but Ty’s mouth on hers was sweeter than any wine could ever have been. He set the bottle on the counter as he kissed her, then used his free arm to lift and spin her. The taste of him filled her and oh, it had been so long.

“Too long,” Edie murmured against his lips as he set her down. “Oh, God, Ty, how did you get here? I thought you weren’t coming!”

“And miss our first Valentine’s Day in the new house? No way.” Ty handed her a glass from which half the contents had spilled onto his arm and shirt. “I drove. Ham’s going to road-trip the moving truck down here, and I’ll pay for him to fly back. I promised him an introduction to some starlets, though, if you can help me out with that.”

After all the long months and all the stories, having the real Ty here in front of her was almost too much to handle. Edie drew in a deep breath, willing herself not to cry. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ty took her in his arms again, settling her into that place where she fit just right. Edie closed her eyes and breathed in deep, the familiar scent of his soap and his skin. Ty’s chin rested on the top of her head and he squeezed her gently as they rocked to silent music.

“But what about the paperwork and settlement?”

“Well, as Ham pointed out to me, I could give him power of attorney, since he is a lawyer and all. He’s going to sign off on the papers for me.”

Edie tilted her head to look at him. “Wow. That’s . . . you did all that just to get here?”

“You’re not upset, are you?” he asked softly against her hair. “I could leave if you want. Go to a hotel—”

She pushed away far enough to punch his chest. “Don’t you dare!”

Laughing, Ty kissed her again. More champagne spilled when he lifted her onto the counter and stood between her thighs. His mouth, hot and wet, stole her breath as his tongue darted in to stroke hers.

“We’re making a mess of the kitchen,” Edie whispered into his kiss. “Champagne’s for drinking, not spilling.”

“I beg to differ, babe,” Ty whispered back. “Champagne is made for spilling if it means I can lick it off your body in all the places it drips.”

“I like the sound of that.” Edie’s hand went to the top button of her blouse, then the others all in a row as Ty stepped slightly back. “You mean like this?”

She tipped her almost empty glass toward her skin, bared by the open shirt. Golden liquid surged to the glass’s edge but didn’t spill out. She watched Ty’s face, his eyes glowing, tongue swiping over his mouth as though he were already tasting her.

Edie leaned back to let her shirt fall open wider. The champagne hovered at the rim of the glass. Ty, his gaze locked with hers, reached out and used the tip of his finger to bump the glass.

“Oops.”

Edie’s gasp turned to a giggle as the chilled champagne hit her skin and spattered her bra. She had a moment to wish she’d known Ty would be here so she could’ve worn the red lace demi-bra she’d bought, but in the next moment she had no more time to care because he’d bent to press his mouth to her collarbones. His tongue swiped away the champagne, and his mouth moved lower, to the swell of her breasts. He put his hands behind her, holding her so she didn’t have to support herself on the countertop.

She cupped the back of his neck, her fingers twining in his thick, dark hair. Ty’s mouth brushed her breasts softly, his tongue flickering. Wet heat pressed her through the bra’s lace, and when he closed his lips over her nipple, Edie sighed. She closed her eyes, leaning back into Ty’s steady embrace as he nuzzled her.

Ty pulled away to take the champagne glass from her and held it to her lips, then kissed her wet mouth. “It tastes better on you than from the glass.”

Edie raised a brow. “I’m going to need a shower.”

“You’re going to need a shower, anyway.” He tipped the glass for her to drink again, then drained and refilled it. He set it on the counter and touched the button of her jeans. “Take these off.”

Edie looked to the French doors leading to the deck, then to the window over the sink. “Ty, the neighbors—”

“Can’t see a thing. I stood in the yard and made sure.”

That, like the balloons, was such a Ty thing to do that Edie had to laugh. She flicked open the button at her waist and toyed with the zipper as Ty stood back and watched her. She shifted on the slick counter, but there was no way she was going to get these off without help.

She didn’t have to say a word.

Ty, his mouth anchored to hers in another scorching kiss, hooked his thumbs in her waistband and pulled so hard he scooted her entire body against him. They laughed, kissing, as Edie wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, using the leverage to lift her ass so Ty could slide the denim down to her thighs.

“Cold!” she cried when her mostly bare skin settled back on the marble.

Ty, busy pushing her jeans off her legs, looked up. “You okay, babe?”

Edie, bare legs dangling, kicked lightly at the cupboards below and spread her legs, leaning back with her hands supporting her weight. “Oh, sure. I always sprawl naked on my kitchen countertops.”

Ty tossed her jeans to the floor and kissed both of her knees. His hands circled her ankles as he moved between her legs. “I’m going to insist on it.”

“Might make for some interesting,” he kissed her, “dinner,” she kissed him, “conversations.”

Ty grabbed her ass and moved her to the edge of the counter, her satin panties making the motion effortless. Edie wrapped her legs around him again, shivering at the soft flannel of his shirt and the harder denim of his jeans as it rubbed her bare flesh. Ty’s kiss was harder this time, and when his hand fisted in her hair to tip her head back, Edie no longer gave a rat’s ass about the neighbors.

“I love it when you moan like that.” Ty nipped at her throat and licked a path over her shoulder, then back to her breasts again. With one finger he flicked open the catch of her bra and helped her shrug out of it.

When her breasts fell free, he reached for the glass and tipped it over them again. Edie bent her head to watch the champagne ease over her skin. The golden liquid diverted around her tight nipples and dripped, splashing, onto her thighs and belly.

With a mouthful of champagne, Ty bent and took her nipple in his mouth. The cool liquid sloshed around her hot flesh as he tongued her, and the overflow cascaded over her skin. He swallowed, then licked the underside of her breast, suckling again on her nipple until she writhed and moaned.

Her fingers loosed his buttons as he kissed her mouth again, and Edie slid her hands inside over Ty’s bare chest. His heart thumped beneath her palm, laid flat, and she curled her fingers slightly to dig her nails into his skin. With the other hand, she eased the fabric off his shoulders and down his arms.

Their kisses had become harder but not yet frantic. Edie tugged Ty’s belt to pull him closer so she could kiss his chest, and when he moaned, she looked up at him with a smile. “I like it when you moan, too.”

She undid his belt buckle, then the button and zipper beneath. When she slid a hand inside, Ty’s hips bumped forward. Edie rubbed the front of his silky printed boxers. “
Oooh.
Someone was prepared.”

“You like ’em?” Ty pushed his jeans down, pausing to toe off his sneakers so he could get the denim past his feet. He stood up straight, grinning, to show off the boxers.

“Kiss prints. Nice.” Edie laughed softly as she stroked the outline of his cock through the soft satin. “This is nicer.”

Ty moved between her legs again to kiss her. His cock nudged her through his-and-hers layers of satin, but that was almost as delicious as bare skin. For now.

“I wanted to make everything special, babe.”

“You,” Edie said as she kissed his throat and nuzzled just under his ear, “are made of awesome.”

“I’m not done yet.”

“Not more champagne.” It was only half a protest.

Edie watched as Ty took the glass, only a few dribbles left in it, and held it over her belly. When the champagne splashed on her skin this time, she arched into it, already anticipating the swipe of Ty’s tongue. She wasn’t disappointed. He moved over her belly, then lower, down to the satin covering her cunt. He pressed his mouth there, blowing hot breath through the fabric, and Edie parted her legs with a small sigh.