Between the Sheets (2 page)

Tyler saw me holding up the wall while
watching Shel and her high school sweetheart, Chase, dance pressed
against each other like their life depended on it. Those two were
so cute at the time. They looked into each other’s eyes, smiling,
leaning in for a peck every so often, while they danced to song
after song. They wouldn’t have cared if I joined them, but watching
them was so much more fun. Or heart breaking, maybe, because I
wished more than anything to have a relationship like theirs. Maybe
it was a good thing that I didn’t. Shelly sure as hell didn’t marry
Chase today, thank you very much.

Just when I thought I might burst with
jealousy, Ty came over and threw his arm around me. Even then, he
was so much taller than I was, so I looked up into his bright happy
eyes and he lifted the side of his mouth in a soft smile. He knew I
was feeling down. He never asked me, but he knew. He pulled me into
a side hug, squeezing my shoulder and resting his head on
mine.

“
My date ditched me, Melly
Belly,” he had said, pouting his lips jokingly. “Will you save my
reputation of being a stud and dance with me?”

We walked out on that dance floor,
hand in hand, and he pretended like I was the only girl who
mattered to him. He never mentioned anything about how my asshole
date left me in a lurch. He made it seem like he was the one who
needed saving, when in reality, he could’ve had any girl he wanted
within seconds.

Instead, he was mine.

For the night.

Just like now.

But this time, I get a week before he
turns back into a pumpkin.

“
I can’t believe you caught
the bouquet and I caught the garter. Coincidence?” Ty says,
wiggling his brows up and down, as we walk to the car.

“
Coincidence, my ass.” I
tell him. “Your sister probably paid all the girls to let me get
it. And gimme a break. Did you see the bachelors out there? Those
guys are perpetual players. They’ll never get married. They ran
from it like it had herpes.”

“
I didn’t run,” Ty
says.

What am I supposed to say to
that?

No. He didn’t run. But on Sunday, he
will. What the hell was I thinking starting something with someone
who lives nine hours up the state from me? Really? What the hell
was I thinking?

Oh, I know. I was thinking Tyler is
here, he’s flirting, and he wants me. I’m single. He’s single. And
I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. As if I was going to pass
up my chance to sleep with the man I’ve only fantasized about since
I was old enough to understand what fantasies were.

So I don’t say anything. For once, I
keep my big trap shut.

Ty opens the passenger side door for
me and I slide in. He walks around to his side, hops in, and we
drive the entire way to my house without talking. Instead, he
listens to my off-key sing-along with his hand covering mine. He
turns his head to smile at me as I finish belting out a Lady
Antebellum ballad. If I rocked out to Metallica, maybe he’d join
me. Instead, he just listens to my horrid vocal skills.

I might be sucky, but I get a total
high from singing my favorite tunes.

Singing allows me to release my
emotions, stress, and it just makes me feel dang good.

If the poor guy’s ears have to bleed
so I can be happy, then so be it.

As soon as we get through the doors, I
make my way to my family room and plop myself on my sofa. I stare
at the empty dog bed in front of the ottoman and wish I hadn’t
asked my mom to dog sit. I want to snuggle with my
babies.

“
Tired?” Ty
asks.

“
Not really.” I reply. “My
feet are killing me though.” I kick off my heels, and they fall to
the floor. Then I think better of it, and reach down to prop them
up so they’re not thrown on their sides.

“
Why didn’t you tell Shel
you didn’t want to wear those six-inch fuck me pumps?” he says,
sitting next to me, and pulling my feet into his lap. I sink back
into the pillows and allow him to massage the soreness
away.

“
She didn’t pick them. I
did. I’ve always wanted some Louboutins, but would never spend the
money on them. What better excuse than being your best friend’s
maid of honor to get you to fork over the dough.” There’s just
something about those red soles that I had to have. But now that my
toesies are ready to crack off and the balls of my feet feel like
I’ve been walking on coals all day, I’m thinking I should have just
gone with some chunky Aerosoles or Crocs. I wore white Chucks under
my Cinderella gown for my first wedding so I don’t know what
possessed me to get all swanky for Shel’s big day.

“
I see,” Ty says, working
the arch of my left foot. “So what are our plans for the
week?”

I hear Tyler talking but can hardly
focus on his words while my feet are being manhandled by his big
strong hands. I gaze up at him, barely opening my eyelids, and he
grins, his eyes getting darker with desire. The look is definitely
there.

“
I don’t know about the
rest of the week, but I know what I’d like to do right now.” I
raise a brow at him. He raises one back at me.

“
I like the way you think,
Melissa.” Tyler lifts one of my ankles to his lips. The touch of
his warm mouth sends tingles zipping up and down my body. Little by
little, he works his way up my legs pushing my dress up along the
way, sucking harder on the back of my calf, dragging his tongue up
my thigh till he reaches my panties. He playfully bites down on my
center. The feel of his mouth through the material causes a moan to
slither through my lips. Or maybe more of a whimper. He looks up at
me with one of those telling grins. “Let’s get you out of this
thing,” he says, yanking on my dress.

“
I’ll show you mine, if you
show me yours.” I wink.

“
I think that can be
arranged.”

Melissa

Waking up naked next to
Tyler could easily be one of my favorite things to do. He’s still
asleep and I’m just lying here on my stomach, hugging my pillow,
watching him. It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have
to
not
snuggle up
next to him. He looks so peaceful. His angular jaw, strong and
masculine, begs to be kissed. His long full lashes fan out just
under his eyes and while his lips are thin, they are very powerful
and I want nothing more than to have them all over every inch of my
body. Again.

I focus on the little beauty mark just
below his right eye and it makes me smile. It’s so damn sexy, and
so Tyler.

I miss him already.

Ty is lying right next to me, mere
inches away and I miss him horribly.

My hand reaches out and presses
against his warm back. He’s still other than his body rising with
each breath. I take advantage of his heavy sleep to move closer to
him, running my palm up and down the soft flesh of his back. One
eye pops open and Ty’s shoulder muscles flex under the weight of my
hand. A boyish grin spreads across his mouth as he shuts his eyes
again.

I scoot a little closer and prop
myself up to lay gentle kisses along his side. Inch by inch, I
graze my lips to his skin till I’ve covered every part of his body
I can reach.

“
Well, that’s one hell of a
way to wake up,” he says, turning over and raising his arms above
his head to stretch.

I tear the covers away and throw one
of my legs over to straddle him. “And I’m just getting
started.”

So waking up next to Ty pales in
comparison to what comes after we wipe the sleep out of our eyes
and do a morning stretch. My heart still races from thoughts of our
marathon morning.

“
Why don’t we head down to
San Diego?” Ty says, coming out of the restroom with a towel around
his waist and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Seeing the cut
of his muscular V disappearing somewhere below the low slung towel
makes me drool. I want to reach out and trace my fingertips along
the lines all the way down to the promise land. Dragging my tongue
along the path sounds pretty good too. More than good, in fact.
Damn, that capital V is my favorite letter. Tyler’s capital
V.

And just like that I’m already
thinking about hopping in the ring for another round.

“
Mel?”

Huh? My eyes meet his again. He arches
a brow at me. Right, San Diego.

“
An hour ago, I would’ve
jumped on the offer, but the weather’s not looking so good. April
showers, I guess,” I say, turning down the TV. The weather report
shows light to heavy showers all throughout the week.

Ty continues brushing and
walks back toward the sink. After lazing around in my after sex
glow, I finally get out of bed so I can take my turn in the shower
… a very
cold
shower. I know by the time I get out, Ty will have breakfast
made for us and another plan for the week. I’ll let him take care
of the details. I wouldn’t mind staying home all week shacked up in
my house and tied to my bed.

Just as I suspected, Tyler has made
scrambled eggs, bacon, and crispy hash browns, just the way I like
them. He’s an expert in the kitchen when it comes to breakfast
foods. Lunch and dinner? Not so much.

“
I love having my own
personal chef when you’re visiting,” I tell him, snagging a piece
of bacon off the serving dish. The salty crunchy flavor is to die
for. “It’s like I have my very own Bobby Flay.”

“
I’d prefer Emeril,” Ty
says, shaking some pepper in his right hand. “Bam! Bam!” he calls
out, sprinkling the spices on the potatoes. “See, I’m exciting like
that.”

Standing on my toes, I tilt my head to
pucker up to him. He leans down to plant his lips on mine. “Yes,
babe. You’re more than exciting.”

“
That’s what I’m saying,”
he jokes. We each grab a plate and pile on food before heading to
the living room to eat in front of the TV. After setting down his
plate, Tyler heads into the kitchen and comes back with a cup of
coffee for each of us. I take a sip and it’s just the way I like
it—a little coffee with my milk, not very strong, and with a splash
of French vanilla sweetener. Delicious.

“
Are we really going to
watch iCarly?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.

He finishes a bite of food before
responding. “Hey, this is the butter sock episode. Don’t hate.” I’m
not hating. I absolutely love this episode. It just cracks me up
that we both watch this silliness and we don’t even have any kids.
He clears his throat, and takes a swig of his coffee. “This is your
fault, you know.” He gestures at the TV. “You got me hooked. I’d
never watched this stuff until I spent my last vacation with
you.”

“
I take full
responsibility.” We watch quietly for the next two episodes as we
finish our breakfast and drink a few cups of coffee.

“
How about Vegas?” Tyler
blurts out, as I close the dishwasher and crank the dial to turn it
on.

“
Vegas?”

“
Yeah, why not? It’s not
like we have to worry about the weather there. We can pick a good
hotel and then never leave it. If the weather is nice, we can hit
the pool or walk the strip. But otherwise, we can just hang out
inside.” He sounds like he has it all thought out. “Call your mom
and ask her if she can keep the puppies for the week. If you tell
her you’re going with me, she won’t say no.” He grins like an idiot
and I know he’s right. My mom loves the idea of me spending time
with Tyler. Loves it so much I know she’d be willing to take on my
twin Chihuahuas, Mer and Der.

“
Vegas huh?” I look up at
him, and he raises his brows with a mischievous smile that
brightens the room. He’s frickin’ adorable. Who could say no to
that face? “Alright, if you say so.”

He scoops me up into a giant bear hug
and spins me around the kitchen. I have no choice but to wrap my
arms around his neck and hold on for the ride. “Vegas baby, Vegas!”
he chants, driving me to giggle like a little girl.

By dinnertime, we’re pulling in to the
valet at Paris Las Vegas. We booked a Red Room. I can’t wait to get
up there and lounge across the sofa that’s shaped like puckered
lips. How fun will that be? My phone is charged and ready to take
multiple pictures so I can send them to Shelly. She’s going to be
so jealous. I don’t care that she’s on her honeymoon in Florida,
visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (which by the way, I’m
insanely envious), she’s going to be bummed that she’s not tearing
up Vegas with me.

It’s been less than 24 hours since
I’ve seen or talked to her, but I miss Shel already. Hell, I even
miss Matt. I’m tempted to call her, but I want to give them the
space they deserve before the honeymoon is over, both literally and
figuratively. Actually, I’m pretty certain those two will be in the
honeymoon stage for quite some time. I’ve never seen two people
more in love. It’s sickening.

“
This hotel is
breathtaking,” Ty says, gazing across the ceilings painted to
portray a sky so natural it appears like we’re still outside on a
beautiful clear day.