Grandma soon located them. “Hurry up! We have pictures in two hours and cocktails before the wedding at four!”
“Yup!” Jake said in a strained voice as he continued pulling Char up the stairs. Finally, when they reached the bathroom, he slammed the door behind him, double-checked that he’d locked it, and turned on the shower.
“Uh, what are you doing?”
He shrugged off his shirt. “Taking a shower. The way I see it, we have to get ready at some point; might as well be now.”
“But we have—” Char shook her head. “What am I saying? Why would I argue?”
Jake laughed. “Now take off your clothes before I rip them.”
“Say please.”
“Hell no.” Jake pushed her against the counter and grabbed her head. “I don’t say please, but you can damn well say thank you.”
“For what?” Char pushed against his chest.
“You’ll see.” He bit down on his lip. “It’s more of a ‘thank you in advance, Jake Titus’…”
“Not until you say please, Jake Titus.”
“I like it when you say my full name.”
Char reached for his pants and undid the buttons, slipping his jeans from his waist. “I can tell.”
He groaned. “Fine, please.”
“Louder.”
“That’s my girl.” He took her mouth in for an aggressive kiss. “Please.”
She pushed him away, this time hard enough for him to take a few steps back, but it was worth it. Damn, but it was worth it to see her strip in front of him. Would he never tire of the way she responded to him? The blush that stained her cheeks or the way her tight little body fit perfectly with his?
“Open the door, son!” Wescott yelled. “I know you’re in there! Aunt Petunia saw you and, and…” His father swore. “Char, and son, it’s not right. Things gotta change around here; you can’t just go—” His mother said a few muffled words to his father. “As your mother says, just leave the poor girl alone, you’ve given her enough grief, what with—not now, Bets! I’m trying to have a talk with my son about his prodigal ways!”
Jake leaned back against the wall, arms folded, waiting for the ball to drop.
“Son!” His dad banged on the door again. “Not now, Bets! Can’t you see I’m busy? We can’t have him ruining Travis’s special day with his—”
Everything went silent.
And then there was a lot of sputtering, swearing, and God bless her, Grandma’s loud whistle.
“ ’Bye, Dad!” Jake called.
“Uh, Son.” And that was it.
A scantily clad Char stared at Jake, her entire demeanor joyful. “So now that everyone knows we’re in here together you still want to—”
He didn’t let her finish. Instead, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her into the shower, lingerie and all. He didn’t care; he’d buy her whatever the hell she wanted. But for now, he wanted her exactly as she was: water dripping slowly down her body, and his
, all his. Damn if he even cared his own father knew he had fallen in love and was taking a shower with his wife. Hell, he’d post it on Facebook, he’d call Good Morning America. In fact that wasn’t a bad idea. He wanted everyone to know he was taken—because it had taken a remarkable girl to finally get him to understand what he’d been missing this entire time.
She wasn’t just his other half, or his soul mate; those words, in his mind, seemed like the type of thing guys told girls when they were trying to be romantic or were trying to get laid.
No, maybe he really was losing it, but as he touched her, tasted her, felt her—he realized it wasn’t just someone completing him, it was the added compliment of having her near. He hadn’t known what he was missing until he’d experienced Char as a whole person, and now that he knew, he realized one thing: he’d die before letting her go. She was a partner in crime, a best friend, a lover, a fighter, and she was all his.
Chapter Fifty-seven