Wild Irish Envy (Copperline #2) (24 page)

Maybe just on paper, but, for now anyway, she was mine.

We slept in the same bed, even though we tried to stay as far apart as we could possibly get. I woke one night spooned up against her, breathing in the warm, fresh scent of her hair, and almost fell to the floor in my rush to back away. She had felt so good – too good – and I lay awake for the rest of the night, not trusting myself to keep from pulling her into my arms while I slept.

With marriage papers in hand, it hadn’t taken too much to get through customs as we left Dublin. A short delay while they pulled us into separate rooms to ask some questions, but we seemed to be rather convincing as there were Americans in that queue who were kept longer than the two of us. Like the poor lady who was trying to bring home black pudding for a souvenir.

We had an overnight layover in Denver, so we got a room near the airport. It ended up being a double queen, and, in spite of being so overly exhausted that I found it hard to fall asleep, once I did, I slept like the dead. For the first time in days, I didn’t have to worry about rolling into her soft body and letting my own urges take control.

But it would be back to one bed when we got home, a thought that both excited and unnerved me.

I’d called Brannon from Newark to let him know I was on the way home, and he said he’d meet me at the airport. I told him to tell the guys because I had some news to share that would kind of affect them all.

“News, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“What kind of news?”

“Big… big news.”

“You’re not dying or something, are you?” he asked cautiously.

“No,” I chuckled, “although it could be seen as a fate worse than death.”

Our plane touched down in Butte in the middle of the night, and we disembarked to see Brannon and Sophie standing there waiting. Their eyes grew wide as I reached back and grabbed Fliss’ hand, guiding her over to them. Brannon recognized her almost immediately.

“Felicity?” he murmured. “Holy shit.”

I realized Fliss was literally shaking beside me, for whatever reason I had no idea, but she suddenly looked sort of terrified at Brannon’s awestruck voice. Sophie stepped forward, towards her, glanced down at our intertwined hands, then smiled.

“I’m Sophie,” she said, offering her hand.

“I’m Felicity,” Fliss softly replied.

Brannon tore his gaze away from Fliss and locked onto mine. “So this is your surprise? You and Felicity hooked up in Dublin.”

“Well,” I began, “actually, Fliss and I got married in Edinburgh.”

I could’ve easily knocked Brannon over with a feather, he was simply that shocked. He was the only one who had the slightest clue how I’d truly felt. I’d spilled my guts a bit one night while consuming a massive amount of whiskey after Trent had died.

Sophie gave a little squeal.

“Married? Oh, Denny, I’m so happy for you!” She quickly looked back at Fliss. “And you, too. He’s a wonderful guy. He’s been an amazing friend to both Brannon and me when things got a little rocky between us.”

Brannon just kinda stared at Fliss, but slipped his arm around Sophie as she hugged him in her excitement.

“So, I’m guessing you’re both going to your place?” Brannon asked as he lifted the last suitcase into the trunk of his Cougar. Sophie was climbing into the back seat with Fliss, allowing us guys to sit up front.

“Right,” I replied. “Hopefully the guys are up and around so I can tell them all at once.”

“I’m a little curious how this came about myself, but we can have that discussion a little later.” He closed the trunk, and I gave him a nod of agreement as we got in the car to head home to Ophir.

“Felicity?” Drew gasped when we stumbled into the house at just after one in the morning. “Holy shit, it’s been a while.”

She gave him a tired smile, weary from the long trip home, but seeming less unnerved than she had been with Brannon. “Hey, Drew.”

His eyes darted back and forth between her and I in obvious confusion.

Brannon had followed us in with a couple of our suitcases that he set beside the stairs. “I’m gonna go ahead and get Soph home,” he said, stepping forward to me, “but it’s good to have you home, Denny.” He clapped me on the back in a sort of bro-hug type thing, then turned to nod cordially, albeit a bit reserved, to Fliss. “Welcome back to you too, Felicity.”

“Thank you, Brannon,” she quietly replied, and I tucked my arm around her as we watched Brannon head out the door.

“So, Drew,” I looked back over at my roommate, “are the other guys up… or even home?”

“Cody’s here,” he replied warily, “but Justin’s not home yet.”

“Sounds about right,” I muttered. I really needed them all here for this. “Well, I have a little something to tell yas. Would you want to snag Cody while I see where Justin’s at?”

Drew’s pierced eyebrow lifted, and he looked long and hard at Fliss again, then seemed to jolt a little as he caught sight of the ring on her finger. Standing there beside me. I could see him adding up all the little details in his head.

“Drew,” I said, “just go get Cody for me, eh?”

He nodded slowly and headed up the stairs.

About ten minutes after I texted him, Justin pulled into the driveway and joined the rest of us in the great room. Fliss and I stood leaning against the kitchen counter while the guys sat around the breakfast bar facing us.

I was about to lie to my friends, the guys who were closer to me than brothers, but I couldn’t admit the truth. Not even to them. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to tell Brannon, who knew all my deepest, darkest secrets. If things went bad, Fliss and I had decided we didn’t want to make anyone else an accomplice in our deception. There was an awful lot at stake, and I didn’t want the guys going down for me if we got caught.

“So, surprise,” I smiled weakly, “Fliss and I are married.”

Drew exhaled deeply, having seen the ring and having had a little more time to process Fliss’ presence in our home. Cody was simply gobsmacked.

Justin froze for a moment and then laughed like a loon.

“It’s true, ya eejit,” I said, but he laughed even harder.

“Bullshit,” he continued to chuckle, “you don’t even like Felicity.”

Fuck, had it been that obvious?
Here I’d been trying to hide my feelings that whole time, and apparently I’d gone a bit overboard.

Fliss dropped her gaze to the floor, reminding me that she’d thought the same thing, and I tentatively slipped my arm around her shoulders to pull her close against me. Telling myself it was for the roles we were playing, not because I wanted to comfort her, even though I did want to comfort her.

She slipped her arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder.

“No, Justin,” Drew murmured, shaking his head from side to side, “I think you may be mistaken. I’m thinking Denny does like
Fliss
after all.”

“How did this happen?” Cody asked incredulously. “You’ve been in Ireland for months.”

“Fliss happened to be there, too,” I nuzzled my face into her hair, “like it was destiny or some shite.”

“Fuck, Denny,” Justin scoffed, “you’re not going all girl on us, are you? Destiny? Really?”

“Feck off,” I shot back.

“Is she pregnant?” Drew asked.

“No. Jaysus, why does everyone think that?” I asked in exasperation.

“Because ever since Trent introduced us to Felicity, you’d disappear whenever she’d show up.” Justin replied. “You hated her.”

“Justin,” Drew said, “chill out a little.”

“We’re just kind of trying to figure out what changed,” Cody added.

Knowing Cody had picked up on it worried me even more. Cody was kind of the dumb blonde of the Mofos, always the last to get a joke and the first to buy into a tall tale. The guy was as gullible as the day is long.

“It just did,” I tried to explain without really explaining. “Something changed in both of us. We just knew.”

“So are you planning to move out?” Drew asked, always the planner, the one who managed the rest of us and kept us in place.

“Well, would you guys mind it much if she moved in with us? At least for a while.”

Fliss looked up at the guys, warily studying their reactions to my request.

Drew glanced at the other two and spoke for them. “I think it’d be alright, right guys?”

Cody nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, no problem here.”

Justin was a little slower to respond. “Just as long as she doesn’t chase any tail away, we should be okay.”

“I’ll try not to cock-block you, Justin,” Fliss offered with a tremulous tilt to her lips. Then, as though the words triggered it, she yawned in exhaustion.

“Here,” I said, releasing her and grabbing her carry-on in one hand and her suitcase in the other, “I’ll show you up to my room… er, our room, I guess. You look about ready to drop.” Looking back at the band, I nodded to the stairs. “I’ll get her settled in and come back down for a bit.”

“I’ll grab the whiskey,” Justin said, heading to the cupboard.

“‘Night, guys,” Fliss murmured as she followed me up the stairs. She took a few steps, then turned back to look at the group. “And thank you, for letting me stay.”

Flicking on a low light by the bed, I pushed Fliss’ bags up against the wall.

“Well,” I murmured, “that went about as well as it could have, I suppose.”

“Yeah, they didn’t seem to ask too many questions.”

“That was likely for your benefit,” I shrugged. “I’m liable to get a few more when I get back down there.”

I watched Fliss walk around the room, taking in the surroundings as she hung her coat over the back of a chair. Saying I wasn’t much of a decorator was a bit of an understatement. I’d had this room for a couple years, but had barely done a thing with it. My large bed with a thick black and blue plaid coverlet and black flannel sheets sat positioned beneath the wide windows, as I liked fresh air while I slept. A tall, dark mahogany dresser sat in the corner with the random-looking chair alongside it. Two small tables, each holding a simple lamp, rested on either side of the bed. My old acoustic guitar propped up in another corner.

“I halfway expected Jimi Hendrix posters, pot plants, and a mattress on the floor,” Fliss said with another wide yawn as she wearily sat on my bed.

“I’m not much of a decorator,” I murmured. “Not even pothead chic. You can do whatever ya want in here while we’re… while this is…”

It was hard to put into words what I was trying to say without actually saying it aloud.
While we’re married. While this is your home, too.
It still seemed surreal and strange.

Which is exactly how it should have felt since it was a temporary thing. It wasn’t going to last but a year or so, just long enough to get my green card.

“So, the, uh… the bathroom is the middle door in the hallway,” I said. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

“Aren’t you sleeping in here?” she asked, her brows pulled together in confusion. “If we’re not telling them the truth about why we’re married, it might be a little odd if we didn’t stay together.”

“I’ll be up in a bit. You just look pretty knackered,” I shrugged. “I figured I’d let ya get some rest, and it might be easier without me in here. This will all take a little getting used to.” Tossing what I hoped looked like an easygoing grin over at her, I continued. “I’ll just go down and have a drink with the fellas. Face the questions that they didn’t want to ask with you there.”