A Love Like This (6 page)

“Not really, but I’ll live. I understand,
sweetheart.”

She turned her head and kissed my jaw, her
sweet breath rushing hotly over my skin. She smelled of wine,
perfume and Julia. Utterly delicious.

“Kiss me, Ryan,” she whispered softly and my
arms pulled her closer, sliding up over the bare skin exposed by
the backless dress.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” I turned
my mouth to hers and it opened hotly underneath mine, both of us
pulling the other closer. The kiss was slow and hungry, probably
more than we should have allowed in the crowded room, but it was
dark and I hadn’t kissed her like this for several hours.

“Mmmm,” she moaned again as I lifted my head
and stroked her cheek with the back of my knuckles. “I want
you.”

“Do you, now?” I said softly as I nuzzled
her cheek with my nose. I pressed the evidence of my desire into
the softness of her stomach. “You drive me crazy with it. It never
goes away, Julia,” I whispered against her skin as I dragged my
mouth back toward hers.

“Uhhhh, Ryan. Always.” We kissed again, a
series of soft, open-mouth kisses that left me aching and hungry
for more.

“I could swear you have a room, dude! Why
the fuck aren’t you using it?” Aaron’s jubilant face suddenly
appeared a few inches away from my wife’s and mine, intruding on
the intimacy. We both smiled as we abruptly broke apart. A
beautiful blush flooded the apples of Julia’s cheeks and I still
held her close to my body. Aaron’s arm was around Jenna’s waist and
she was laughing out loud, her face flushed with happiness. She
looked every bit the radiant bride. “I thought I was the horn dog
around here, and it’s
my
wedding night!”

“Hey!” Julia moved out of my arms to hug my
brother and his new wife, wrapping one arm around each of them,
careful not to pull Jenna’s very full veil from her head. She was
beautiful, but
very, very fluffy.
So different from the
glistening, simply elegant bridal gown that Julia had worn. My
heart still skipped a beat whenever I thought about it. At times, I
was even grateful for Mike Turner because of the breathtaking
photos he’d taken of Julia and then of us together right after we
were married. I loved looking at them and I enjoyed it immensely
when I caught Julia doing so.

“Yeah? So what in the hell are you still
doing here, then?” I teased. “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

“Yes! That’s why we’re interrupting,” Jenna
took Julia by the arm and started to pull her away.

“All the women are coming up to help me
change and I want you to join, too. Will you?” Her eyes were
sparkling when Julia nodded in the affirmative.

“Of course!” The two of them had become even
closer since Julia’s accident and I was happy to see it. They’d
been friends a long time, but now they were more like sisters. “I
wouldn’t miss it!”

“Where’s Ellie? She seemed upset earlier,”
Aaron observed.

“Yeah, she was,” Julia’s face fell slightly,
before she tried to mask it; she wouldn’t want to take the sparkle
off of Aaron and Jenna’s night. “She and Harris were dancing a
minute ago. I’ll get her and meet you upstairs, okay?” Jenna nodded
as Julia took my hand and glanced at my face, an intimate smile
meant only for me lifted the corners of her full lips. “I’ll see
you a little later, handsome.” The fingers of her right hand
reached up to brush along the now slightly scruffy line of my jaw
and my own hand closed around them so I could kiss the tips.

“I’ll miss you,” I said softly and bent to
kiss her mouth softly. “Love you.”

When Julia left us to go find Ellie, I
turned to find Jenna and Aaron watching me intently. Jen’s
expression was deadpan and Aaron was shaking his head.

“What?” I knew what he was thinking, but I
pasted an incredulous expression on my face.

“
What?
Are you fucking kidding me?”
Aaron shot back. “She’s not going to the moon, dude. You’re
pathetic.”

I chuckled in response, the rush of love I
felt for my beautiful wife must have been very evident in our
exchange. “We’re still newlyweds, too, so shut it!” I retorted with
a grin and pulled Jenna into a hug and twirled her around. “You’re
looking very stunning, sister. Good thing I’m already married or
I’d have to steal you away.”

Jenna’s laughter tinkled through the air and
Aaron joined in with her. “As if!” she giggled. I sensed she was
slightly tipsy and was still holding a half full glass of
champagne. She leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my mouth.
“We’re so glad you’re here, Ryan. We miss the shit out of you.”

“Yeah, even though it is nice to have the
apartment to ourselves,” my brother nudged me and smiled before
turning to Jen. “Babe, get your sexy ass changed so we can get the
hell out of dodge.” She nodded and left us to go up to her room.
Anna and my mother were waiting at the door to the ballroom to go
with her, and Mom wrapped a hand around Jenna’s waist to lead her
from the room.

“You’re still the consummate romantic,
Aaron,” I teased. “Shit, where did I go wrong?”

“Not all of us can be sappy asses like you,
Ryan.”

“Whatever. Have you talked to Dad about
Christmas yet?”

“Yes. He knows that we may not be able to
make it since we’re taking time now to go to Hawaii. When are you
taking Julia on a honeymoon?”

We were sitting at a table and I glanced
around the room. Harris was speaking to my dad and he looked
somber. He nodded his head in agreement to something Dad said and
shook both of their hands.

“Uh…I think I’ll try to surprise her with a
trip soon.” I longed to tell my brother that Julia and I had agreed
to start a family and so I needed to get her away before she got
pregnant, or maybe on a quest to get her that way, but couldn’t
since we’d agreed to keep it between the two of us. “I could really
use some uninterrupted time with her. Don’t get me wrong, this
weekend has been wonderful, but we don’t have enough time to just
focus on each other these days.”

“You deserve to get away, but will you be
able to? It was almost impossible for me to get away and it was for
my honeymoon. The hours are just ridiculous.”

“We knew they would be,” I agreed, “but it
sucks more than I anticipated. It’s worse than med school. I don’t
know if I’ll be able to do it, but I’ll try like hell. I’d
sacrifice Christmas in Chicago for one-on-one time with Julia.”

“Mom will be disappointed if neither of us
can get there,” he stated the obvious.

I shrugged slightly. “She’d understand. She
knows we’re both working like dogs. She lived through it with
Dad.”

I was watching Harris come toward us and
both Aaron and I stood. Aaron threw his big arms around the smaller
man in a light embrace. “Glad you could make it, dude. I hear
you’re heading to Canada tomorrow.”

“Yes. Congratulations, Aaron. Jenna looks
stunning. I have an early flight so I’m going to turn in, if you
don’t mind. Have a wonderful honeymoon.”

“Thank you. We will,” Aaron said goodbye to
Harris and then turned back to me. “I should go change and say
goodbye to the parents. We’ll see you again as soon as we can get
time off, but it might be a while.”

After filling Aaron in on the conversation
I’d had with Harris earlier in the evening, I said goodbye to him
and wandered up to the room to wait for Julia,
or not wait for
her
, whichever the case may be. If Ellie was still upset, there
was a good chance I wouldn’t see her before I fell asleep. Seeing
everyone had been wonderful, but the late nights partying weren’t
helping my exhaustion. Julia was sad because her best girlfriend
was in such emotional turmoil, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she
didn’t reappear.

I loosened my tie as I entered the room and
threw it on the suitcase along with the jacket of the tux. The room
smelled like Julia’s perfume and I inhaled the familiar scent,
saddened slightly that tomorrow we were going back to the New York
rat race.

Julia had a trip to Europe coming up in two
weeks, the second in three months. She was usually only gone a week
to ten days, but combined with my work schedule that racked up our
time together right before and after, it would be more like fifteen
days without each other. I ran my hand through my hair, then
unbuttoned my shirt, pulling it from the waist of my pants at the
same time. Julia’s make-up and hair brushes were scattered all over
the vanity in the bathroom—the mess left in her hurry to get ready.
She did look amazing and I told myself once more how lucky I
was.

My phone was on the table in the entryway
where I’d left it with my keys and I heard it vibrate from the
other room.

“Hey, babe,” I answered on the third
ring.

“Hi. Where are you?”

“I just got back to the room. Are Jenna and
Aaron gone? I wasn’t there to see them off, but Aaron isn’t big on
pomp and circumstance and I’m wiped.”

“Mmm huh, they left a few minutes ago.”

“Are you still with Ellie?”

“Yes. Although I think I’ve talked her into
speaking with Harris, or at least letting him back in their room
tonight. She just called him.”

“It sounds like a fucked up mess to me. I
talked to Harris but I’ll tell you about it tomorrow on the
plane.”

“I’ll try to get back before too long. Don’t
wait up, honey. Get some sleep.”

“Will you wake me up when you get here?” I
asked softly, not able to bear the loss of any time in her
arms.

She sighed into the phone. “Ryan, you need
sleep so badly. Tomorrow night you have to work and I want you to
be rested.”

“I can sleep when I’m dead and the flight
isn’t until two in the afternoon so we can sleep in a little. Even
if it’s just to talk to you or hold you, I want you to wake me up.
Please don’t argue. Fighting is the last thing on my mind tonight,”
I murmured and I could picture the soft smile lifting the sides of
her luscious mouth. “I want to kiss you goodnight.”

“Okay.” She sighed softly.

“Promise?”

“Yes. I promise. Love you.”

“Okay, babes. Love you.”

Ellie was in the bathroom. I glanced at my
watch, wondering when Harris would come up to the room. My friend
was a disaster. There was no other way to put it. She’d worked hard
to keep the problems to herself and not let Jen or Aaron in on the
drama during this weekend, but Jenna could sense it as easily as I
could. Both she and Harris had put on good game faces and got
through it, but they were struggling and my heart was breaking for
them.

Ellie was taking a bath in an attempt to
calm down and I dug some Advil out of my purse and put it on the
bedside table with a glass of water. I also had Tylenol PM, but
since she’d had wine tonight, I decided the other would be
best.

“Julia?” she called from the other room.

I stood up from the edge of the bed and went
to the door. “Yes, Ellie? Do you need anything?”

“Thank you for being with me so much
tonight. I get that Ryan is unhappy that you’re with me instead of
him.”

I put a hand on the door. “He’s okay. He
understands and he loves you, too. He wants me to take care of you.
You’ve done so much for us, so don’t worry.”

The sound clicking as the keycard was
inserted on the other side of the door alerted me to Harris’s
arrival. “Harris is here, Ellie. I think I should go now, okay?
Give you guys some privacy?”

“Okay, Julia. Thank you. Will I see you
tomorrow?” Her voice held prevalent evidence from her tears, her
nose clearly stuffed up.

“We don’t leave until the early afternoon,
so sure. Just call me when you get up.”

“Okay.” I heard the water slosh as she got
out of the tub. I turned to see a weary Harris enter the room. My
arms opened and his folded around me automatically. He buried his
face in my neck.

“I’m so sorry for the both of you, sweetie,”
I said softly and stroked the back of his head. “I hate to see you
suffering like this, but don’t give up.”

He nodded against me and then moved out of
my arms to pour himself a drink from the refrigerator that was
hidden in the armoire below the television. They didn’t have a
suite like Ryan and I did, but the room was still very nice.

“Thanks, Jules. You and Ryan are good
friends.”

“Ellie told me you’re going to Canada early.
What time is your flight?”

“Six AM,” he said sadly. “Did she tell you
that she thinks I fucked a groupie? Because, I didn’t.”

I sighed, my heart tightening in my chest.
“I know you didn’t. She said she saw…”

“Yes. I’m sure it looked bad, but I didn’t
start it, and I didn’t encourage it. In this life that shit
happens. There are always women around but I don’t ask them to be
there. Some don’t even give a damn what band they follow around or
even know who we are. There are some that think it’s a status thing
to screw a rocker. And, I won’t lie. There are guys in my band that
take full advantage of it, but not me.”