Chris kissed my earlobe, then gave it a playful little nip with his teeth. “I was marking you. That way you’ll remember who you belong to for the next few months.”
I wanted to correct him. I should have corrected him. Except all I did was stand there and smile like the idiot I was.
20
Chris
For some reason, Belle insisted that I bring someone else with me when we went to pick out tuxes for the wedding. For some other reason, Belle also didn’t accept my answer that I already had several perfectly good tuxes. Apparently, it was important that my tux actually matched her dress.
So I brought Damon’s wife, Chelsea, and Luna. I guess I should’ve started thinking of Chelsea as my “sister-in-law,” but that was weird. It still felt like a few weeks ago when I was sure my stick-up-his-ass of a brother would be forever alone.
Chelsea and Luna were both dressed in tennis gear, and Chelsea had apparently taken it upon herself to bring her friend, Milly as well.
I met them all inside the shop before Belle arrived.
Luna hugged my leg, and we did our usual routine where I got on my knees and started play punching her in slow motion. She blocked like I’d showed her, then surprised me with a vicious uppercut that I sold like a professional wrestler.
I was on the ground cupping my chin in mock agony when Belle walked into the store. She paused, looked down at me, then turned her focus to Chelsea. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not,” Chelsea said. The women all made introductions while I got off the ground and dusted myself off.
Luna was staring up at Belle with her hands on her hips. “If you and Uncle Chris get married, will you be my mom?”
Chelsea had that age-old look of a mother who didn’t have enough left in the tank to tackle the hundredth strange question of the day. I decided to jump in and save her the trouble.
“When Belle and I get married, she’s going to be your aunt. That’s if I let her out of bed long enough to do the job, I mean.”
Milly and Chelsea both gave me the eyeball equivalent of kicks in the shin.
“You’re going to make her sleep?” Luna’s face was scrunched while she tried to process what I’d said. She turned to Belle. “I hate naps, too. Mommy always says ‘I’ma knock you out if you pop out of that room one more time little missy!’”
Chelsea went a little red. “Mommy says that jokingly, you should add.”
Luna just shrugged.
Belle cleared her throat. “We should go ahead and start picking out tuxes.”
“All business today,” I said. “That’s a change of pace from yesterday.”
My comment drew curious looks from Chelsea and Milly.
Milly took me by the arm and pulled me aside. She was Chelsea’s best friend and an aspiring tennis pro. She had freckles dotting her upturned nose, which was currently scrunched in annoyance. “Chris. I know you’re not playing with a full deck, but you’re obviously making that woman uncomfortable. Would it kill you to take it easy?”
“I can’t control who gets uncomfortably aroused when they’re in the same room as me.”
Milly didn’t even glare, which was probably a sign that she’d been forced to endure me enough to build up a tolerance. “You’ve already corrupted Luna enough. Maybe try modeling a healthy adult relationship for a change?”
I spread my palms in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll try to behave.” More, at least.
One of the employees at the store took a liking to Luna and whisked her and Chelsea off so Luna could try on any dresses small enough for her.
Belle and Milly shadowed me as I browsed the tuxes.
“Okay,” I said after running my hand along a row of them. “So what will match your dress best? Black, or black? Or maybe something with a little touch of black would be nice?”
“It’s not even worth trying to explain it to you, is it?” Belle asked.
“It’s really not,” Milly said. “I’ve learned it’s easiest to deal with him if you just pretend he’s a giant, cute puppy.”
A few minutes later, Belle held a tux up to me, conferred with Milly, then nodded. “Go try this on.”
I took it and headed into a dressing room. She was trying to play it cold after last night and the incident with the spider. Honestly, I felt bad for the spider. Belle had been so horny she’d thrown the poor guy in the line of fire. What if I hadn’t listened and whacked him with a shoe? What would you even say at the funeral? Thanks for sacrificing yourself so momma could get that dick she needed so desperately.
But still, I had to admire the length’s she’d gone to for a little piece of action from me.
If she thought I was going to let things continue like nothing had happened, well… Then she really didn’t know me well enough yet.
I could hear her muttering with Milly about something outside the dressing room.
I stood there, racking my brain for some elegant, subtle way to let her know that I knew she still couldn’t stop thinking about me. But what was the perfect move?
That was when it hit me. Minus the subtle, elegant part, at least.
21
Belle
It felt like it had been too long. Milly was giving me tips on picking out shoes that wouldn’t hurt my feet—a subject she was apparently very passionate about. That was when I heard Chris at the door of the dressing room.
“Uh, Belle? Can you come in here a sec?”
Milly and I exchanged a look. We both must have assumed he just wanted help with a button or something, and Milly followed me in as I pulled the door open. We froze before we’d taken a step into the room.
Chris Rose was standing with his fists on his hips, naked as the day he was born. His proud smile faded when he noticed Milly was beside me. There was also a bowtie neatly done and tied to sit just above his...
Both our eyes went down to his extremely erect penis. I rushed forward, using my body to cover him from Milly, who appeared too stunned to react.
“Oh,” Chris said. “You should at least wait until she’s not in the room.”
Of course, in an effort to cover him up, I’d pressed myself against his naked body—and his erection, which was digging into my belly.
Milly started laughing hysterically just as I turned my head and saw Chelsea round the corner. Thankfully, they probably couldn’t see much anymore with me in front of him, but I could only imagine what Chelsea must’ve thought at the sight of us.
The door swung shut before Luna could get a glimpse, and I heard hushed, harsh whispers along with Luna’s little voice and a million questions.
I pushed off Chris, then gave his chest a little shove. “What the hell are you doing? Did you lose your mind in here?”
“I didn’t ask for Milly to come with you,” he said, chuckling. “Shouldn’t my wifey have a little more natural possessiveness than to let another woman into my dressing room?”
I threw his pants at him, which he thankfully held over himself, even if it wasn’t with much shame. I could still see way, way too much, and this was about the last place in the world I wanted to get all hot and bothered. I used my usual trick of looking above his head, hoping my peripheral vision wouldn’t absorb too much.