I emptied myself inside of her, the racing pleasure like ice and fire combined as it washed over my skin.
I pressed my lips to her neck. “Please tell me I wasn’t alone there. I was too far gone to be able to tell.”
She giggled against the top of my head as she slowly melted down around me. “Not alone, Simon.”
“Not alone up here either, brother.” Came a voice from the loft area.
I stiffened under Margo. “Jesus, fuck.”
“I’m pretty sure the angels sang from where I am,” Ian said brightly. “I don’t know about my wife-to-be, but my score card is a ten.”
“Dammit, Ian.” Zoe’s voice was mortification personified.
Margo scrambled off my lap and rolled onto the couch, digging for her dress. I groaned at the loss, as well as the sudden cold that shriveled what was left of my after-sex hardness.
“You couldn’t tell us you were up there?” I rearranged my decidedly now unhappy cock back into my jeans.
“Well, we were sleeping until the end there. Couldn’t sleep through that part. Pretty sure the orchard actually heard as well. Hello, Margo.”
“Hi, Ian,” Margo said with the rueful acceptance of a woman used to no privacy.
We didn’t exactly live the bus life anymore. Oblivion was beyond that life these days, but we were used to close quarters more often than not.
Not to mention our little girl who definitely had crashed more than one intimate party over the years.
Margo zipped into the small bathroom with her dress in the semi-darkness.
“I thought you two weren’t coming in until tomorrow.”
Ian peeked over the top of the loft railing. “Safe down there?”
“Yes, for fuck’s sake.”
He came down the stairs, pulling a T-shirt over his head. “We got in early for some alone time. Sounds like you had the same idea.”
I turned on the light beside the couch and sat down again, suddenly exhausted. Instead of post-orgasmic bliss, my little brother was playing Captain Pecker, the party wrecker. How was this my life?
“Didn’t you see the bus outside?”
I sighed. “I can’t say I noticed. There’s always a bus or three on this property these days.”
Ian dragged me to my feet and hugged me tight. I winced and awkwardly patted his back. I was pretty sure this was well beyond the boundaries of brotherly affection when I’d just come my brains out.
“Can I just go clean up?”
“Oh, right. Of course.” He grinned at me. I was pretty sure Ian had been just as…relaxed as I was recently.
But where my skin was clammy with post-sex sweat, Ian looked like a kid who had just woken from a nap. His wildly curling hair was a tangle and there were sheet creases on his face.
Christ, I needed a shower and possibly a Valium.
“So, you were really up there the whole time?”
Ian’s dimple flashed. “What? I snuck in while you were mid-coitus?”
I closed my eyes. “I can’t believe Lila didn’t tell us you were here.”
Ian shrugged. “We only saw Aunt Laverne when we came in. She was so set for babysitting duty, we simply slipped away.”
Well, that explained it. We hadn’t seen Laverne yet. Me and Margo had also slipped away when Lila and Nick told us to scram. The kids had gorged themselves on McDonald’s and crashed early.
“I guess we had the same great idea.”
“Well, we are brothers.” Ian waggled his eyebrows.
He always said it so easily, even after all we’d gone through to get here. I hadn’t even known about him for the majority of my life. Resentments and a mother who did her level best to pit us against one another and still I’d somehow found myself with a brother at the end of it.
One that I’d never thought I’d let into my heart.
And here I was, ready to celebrate his impending nuptials. I should be used to the impossible being possible these days and it still surprised me.
“That’s the truth,” I said softly.
Ian looked down at his feet, blinking rapidly. He cleared his throat. “Well, go find your bride and we’ll catch up, yeah?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
My eyes stung a little and I was viciously glad Nick wasn’t here to witness the mushy stuff. He’d never let me live it down.
CHAPTER 5
Zoe
Letting Ian take the awkward brother-slash-sister-in-law moment was the first in a series of unfortunate installments in dealing with family. I should have known better than to believe we could sneak off.
Followed directly by my brothers descending on the barn twenty minutes later. At least they brought pizza and hard cider. Hayes included his latest batch of moonshine, which had Ian and my older brother Beckett singing well into the night.
Finding out my brother could sing tickled Ian. Especially when my brother had a decidedly country flavor to his voice. Ian could barely contain his excitement. He even FaceTimed with Flynn Sheppard to try and get them to collaborate.
Beckett would have to swim in the actual brewing tank to allow that to happen. Thankfully the country star was well used to my almost husband’s antics and told him to sleep it off and he’d see him for the wedding.
Oh, yeah—our wedding would be littered with rockstars and people from the music industry. Happy Acres had notoriously been their favorite hiding spot. And since it was just before the season started, we wouldn’t have to deal with a lot of strangers gawking either.
Simon and Nick were the only sober people in the room besides me. Even my cousin, Lila, had gotten tipsy thanks to a potent bottle of wine Margo had brought along for the evening.
My stomach had been iffy off and on all day and I didn’t think adding alcohol to the mix was a smart way to go. I was reheating some apple turnovers my aunt sent over with Lila. There was nothing quite like the first Ginger Golds in her flaky almond pastry.
I cut off a corner and popped it in my mouth, chasing it with a cold bottle of water.
“That looks amazing.”
I glanced up at Margo, determined not to blush my face off. “They really are.” I cut another chunk off and slid it down the parchment paper toward her.
She nibbled her lower lip and then scooped it up with her perfect, shell-pink nails. I looked down at mine with a wince. Paint and jagged cuticles weren’t cute for photos.
“We should go and get our nails done tomorrow.” She chewed and swallowed delicately. “Paraffin wax is a miracle.”
“Like you’d know.”
Margo laughed. “Violin strings are hell on the fingers.” She waggled her other hand where her nail actually had a decided slant from where it wore down from playing. “We all pay for our art.” She turned and waved Lila over.
Lila struggled out of the sectionals, giggling a little when she fell into Nick. Instead of helping her, her husband dumped her on his lap with a chuckle. Rather than being annoyed with him as was her perpetual state of being, she leaned back against his chest for a moment before wiggling free. She even planted a hot kiss on his crooked mouth.
I wasn’t sure the last time I’d seen my cousin so carefree. She was even wearing an old plaid shirt over a pair of jeans and flats. I knew for a fact those flats cost around four-hundred dollars, but the fact that it wasn’t a three-inch heel was a miracle. Lila Crandall was the second-in-command at a major record label, which meant ball busting was her specialty.