“That’s because you’re a boy,” I explained sagely.
“Does Uncle Adam have a penis?”
“Oh yeah,” I said with a smile. Adam looked up at me and tried not to laugh.
“Does Elmo have a penis?”
“Uh, well …” He had stumped me.
“So what book do you want us to read you?” Adam interrupted.
“I found one called “Elmo Flies a Kite.” How about that one?” I asked.
“That’s a good one,” Josh confirmed. Fifteen minutes later, his teeth were brushed, he was dressed in his jammies and we were tucking him into bed. I sat down on the bed next to him and read him his Elmo book while Adam looked on smiling. Josh’s eyes gradually closed and we tiptoed out and shut off the light.
“That wasn’t so hard,” I said quietly.
“Not nearly as hard as Uncle Adam’s penis. Seeing you all maternal turned me on. Let’s go, baby,” he said taking my hand and heading for the guest bedroom.
“I’m glad it wasn’t the poodle encounter that did it.” Before we had even made to the door, a little voice called out.
“It’s dark! I want my nightlight.” Adam and I froze, looked at each other and went back in. I knew it couldn’t be that easy.
“I thought you were asleep, dude,” Adam said, sitting down beside Josh.
“I don’t like it too dark. My nightlight is over there.” He pointed and I went over and plugged in his Elmo nightlight. “Will you read me another book?”
Adam took a turn and after he read the Poky Little Puppy, Josh looked very sleepy but he was not, in fact, actually asleep. This wasn’t going well.
“Josh is something wrong?” I asked. “Are you sad because your Mommy and Daddy are somewhere else tonight?” I sat down on the other side of his bed and took his little hand in mine.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “Can I have some water?” Adam got up and went to go get Josh a drink. While he was gone I reassured Josh that his Mommy and Daddy would be back the next day and that there was nothing to worry about. Adam was back a minute later with the water.
“Here you go, buddy,” he said and Josh sat up and took a sip.
“I have to go potty,” he informed us.
“Okay,” Adam said with a sigh. “Let’s go.”
He led Josh off to the potty as I fidgeted and tried not to think about how much I wanted this kid to go to sleep. Josh was back a minute later and I read him a third book as Adam started to look more and more desperate. Finally, he drifted off. Thank God.
Adam and I tiptoed out again and headed for the guest room. We went in and quietly closed the door, pausing to listen for a moment. Silence. We smiled at each other and started kissing like starving dogs attacking a steak dinner. We hit the bed and he pushed up my shirt and began trailing kisses from my tummy up toward my br**sts while I moaned quietly. Just as he was about to shove my bra out of the way, you guessed it, a little voice spoke from the doorway.
“Does Aunt Lily have a booboo?”
“What?!” Adam rolled off of me and looked at Josh like he wanted to cry.
“She’s making noises. Does she have a booboo? Are you kissing it to make it better?”
Luckily, we packed pajamas. Otherwise, it would have been either much less comfortable, or much more awkward, sleeping with Josh between us that night. We didn’t try to sneak out to another room, as neither one of us wanted to wake the adorable little boy who was anxious about his Mommy and Daddy being gone. Besides, there was always the next day. I laid there in bed that night with my Elmo Band-Aid on my stomach, feeling tired and horny. There was a little foot stuck in my ribs and a dog snoring and farting on the floor beside me. But I had a smile on my face because I knew that Adam and I could do this, and as long as we did it together, it would be wonderful.
Hannah and Nate were back by eleven the next morning, looking very happy and relaxed. They were thrilled with how well Adam and I had done with Josh and Sparky. I just hoped that Josh didn’t mention my booboo and that the poodle didn’t get knocked up.
Our anticipation got more intense as we got closer to our place – there I said it – our place. When we got in the door, Adam helped me off with my coat and I helped him off with his pants. We spent the next few hours in bed.
“That was worth waiting for,” he said, stretching. I was snuggled up with my cheek on his chest. “Have I mentioned that you’re great in bed?” He gently pushed my hair back away from my face and tucked it behind my ear.
“You’re great in bed too. Must be all the practice. Was Abby’s roommate your first sexual experience?”
“No. I lost my virginity when I was fifteen to one of the counselors at summer camp.”
“You’re kidding. While I was busy fighting off mosquitoes and learning Kumbaya in Hebrew you were getting laid? You bastard.”
“You didn’t miss much. I think I lasted about a minute. What about you? When did you lose your virginity?”
“Freshman year of college. The Earth didn’t move but at least it didn’t really hurt very much. I guess that’s something.”
“What would you have done if I had tried to kiss you when we were in high school?”
“I probably would have kissed you back.”
“Oh yeah? And what would you have done if I had tried to feel you up?”
“I think I would have let you. Even though you acted like a jerk to me, I still thought you were hot and I was a horny teenager.”
“Really?” he asked with a laugh. “And what would you have done if we were fooling around and I asked you to have sex with me?”
“I probably would have had the best minute of my life up until that point.”
“Oh my God. I could have had you in high school? I’m such an asshole.”
“It’s okay. I love you anyway and you can have me now whenever you want.”
Chapter Sixteen
The next few weeks were much the same. Work stress was manageable, but between my mom, Adam’s mom, and Mr. Jonathan calling, I started getting more and more tense. That meant, of course, that Adam started getting more and more exhausted. The poor man was sometimes servicing me two or three times a night, and that’s apparently not easy for a twenty-seven year-old guy working a full-time job.
Both Braden and Mark noted that Adam was looking pretty worn out, and I suspected that they knew exactly why, as there seemed to be a lot of quiet joking going on. I will note for the record, however, that he was also looking very happy. He also did get a break the last week. We decided that we wanted the Las Vegas sex to be incredible, so we agreed to abstain from the Friday before we left, until the following Friday, which would be our first night there.
I found a gorgeous wedding dress, exactly the one I wanted, one that made me feel absolutely beautiful. It was strapless, with a mermaid cut that hugged my curves, a dipped neckline, and a V-cut back. It was sewn with beautiful Chantilly lace that was soft to the touch, and I matched it with a lovely veil that attached to the crown of my head and fell to the middle of my back. I remember the Saturday I tried it on at the wedding boutique. All of my girls were there, including Abby, and everyone was ‘oohing’ and ‘ahing’ as I spun around in the mirror.
“Oh, Lily,” Abby gushed. “I can’t wait to see Adam’s face when he sees you dressed in that. You look so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I said grinning like a fool.
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you out of it too,” Gab said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Don’t forget to get pretty lingerie.”
“Too much information,” Abby said making a face.
“Finally, someone who knows how I feel!” Beth said laughing.
I also found the perfect flower arrangement for my bouquet, with pale pink dahlias, dark pink roses and white lilies. I found gorgeous engraved invitations, the perfect little Lenox picture frames for wedding favors, delicious menu items, and mimosas to drink. The band came highly recommended, and Mr. Jonathan promised me that they would be able to play Hava Nagila at the reception, so that everyone could dance the hora around Adam and me. I made sure that I approved every detail that one could possibly need to approve of for their dream wedding. It wasn’t easy, but I faced down two Jewish mothers and a g*y wedding planner to get exactly what Adam and I wanted.
Time flew by. I was fully moved in and Adam was even teaching me how to cook a little. I had gotten back into the writing groove and I would have another book coming out that spring. We were planning to do some research on our honeymoon. Before I knew it, New Year’s had come and gone and the wedding was only a week away. It was time to leave for Vegas.
We met at the airport on Friday morning. One of Braden and Gabrielle’s wedding gifts was chartering a private plane for us. It’s nice to have very wealthy friends. We would spend the afternoon together and dine together and then the guys and the girls would head off separately for a few hours and meet up again later. Our family and our other guests would be following us out Sat. morning. There would be a rehearsal dinner later that night, and then, Sunday at noon … I couldn’t stop smiling.
I looked around at our group while we waited. Cam and Jess were holding hands and laughing with Bruce and Jason, who had finally gotten some time away the hospital. Mark and Beth were having a conversation with Braden and Gabrielle, who was glowing with excitement. Everyone looked so happy, and it made me even happier, if that was possible.
Finally, we were able to board and our Vegas adventure got underway. The flight was five hours long, but the time didn’t drag. We were allowed to move around the cabin, so we gathered around and had fun reminiscing.
“Adam was so put out that Lily was coming along that night to Club 51 and that weekend to my parents’ place,” Braden said.
“But I remember that night at the club,” Gab chimed in. “Adam turned around and saw Lily in that red dress and did a double take.”
“Yeah, and then he went on to say, ‘I didn’t know they let you out at night,” Mark added with a laugh. “He’s such a charmer.”
“And she said, ‘Gentlemen … Adam’,” Gabrielle went on and everyone laughed.
“I was watching him when he put his arm around her to protect her from creepy Cousin Derek,” Jess said. “He was totally loving it!”
“I never said she wasn’t hot,” Adam teased, giving me a sexy smile.
“That whole weekend was like that,” Cam said. “Even though they kept arguing, I thought they were going to hook up that afternoon when they went in at the same time from the pool. There was something about how they were arguing, you know?”
“Yeah! I thought that too,” Mark said. “I was sure Adam was in there getting laid.”
“I almost did,” Adam said smugly.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked stubbornly, crossing my arms.
“For one thing, you’ve never actually denied it,” Adam said. “And for another, we were about two inches apart and moving closer when Gabrielle came up the stairs and you fled into your bedroom.”
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t hook up at that cabin,” Cam said.
“When Jess asked you what the two of you were doing up at 3 AM the look you gave each other was classic,” Gabrielle said.
“Damn interruptions,” Adam grumbled.
‘Tell me about it!” Braden agreed enthusiastically, which made everyone laugh. Braden and Gabrielle had been interrupted many times.
“That night at K2 when Lily saw Adam with that blonde, I thought she was going to crawl out a window,” Bruce said, putting his two cents.
“Bruce,” Jason said reprovingly.
“It’s true. I almost did,” I said, cracking everyone up. “I didn’t want to see him pick up some other woman.”
“He was there to pick you up,” Gabrielle said. “She probably went after him.”
“Did Gabrielle just come to Adam’s defense?” Mark asked incredulously.
“I think so,” Braden answered.
“I came to his assistance that night,” Gabrielle said. “And I was happy to do it, believe me. He was so freaking miserable by that point that I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“Nobody in Judge Channing’s courtroom could stand it anymore, honey,” Jess agreed.
“Lily too!” Bruce said, rolling his eyes. “All she did was sit at home and make up dirty stories about him. That was her whole social life at that point.”
“Those dirty stories made good books,” I reminded him.
“Now that they’re getting married, Lily might hit the New York Time Best Seller list,” Beth said with a smile.
“Let’s sit down and rest for a while,” Adam said to me after we had chatted a little while longer. “We’re going to be busy later.” I nodded and followed him back to our seats. The others followed suit not long afterward. Adam and I held hands and stared into each other’s eyes while we spoke quietly to each other.
“When we get back home, we’ll be married.” He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.
“I know. I was thinking that too.” I smiled. “Even if we missed all those chances before, at least we’ll never miss another one.”
He leaned down and kissed me, a soft, delicious cinnamon Tic Tac kiss that became a sensual, sexy, spicy kiss. We made out for a long time, occasionally whispering either very loving or very dirty things in each other’s ears.
“Are you sure you won’t be too tired to show me a good time tonight?” I teased, smiling and sucking gently on his neck.