FIVE #2
“You know me, Lo, you won’t miss it.”
So she liked to think. But they weren’t always in the same room, the same state, the same country! Video calling was one thing, and they’d got good at it, but it was no substitute for looking into his eyes and breathing him in.
“I missed it before,” she said. “I tell you not to call when these things happen because it pisses me off if you think I’ve been hurt by a lie.
I know it’s a lie. You never have to justify these nonsense stories.
Since way back when. Don’t insult me by assuming I don’t know you. Of course I know they’re lies.”
“I know you do.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t call if they hurt you.”
“I got the girl, Lo,” he said, plain and simple. “I got the girl.” And that completed his world? She completed his world. Mmm, ditto. “Am I going to lose the girl?”
Her smile flourished; he knew the answer. “Not a chance, Party Boy, I signed that certificate in permanent ink.”
“That’s what I thought. So, tell me, why does Crosby’s tablet matter? You wanted to check out what he has that’s us related? Lies or truth, give it a few days and we’ll read about it in the papers.”
A whisper of laughter left on her next exhale. “You just don’t like it when I brew capers.”
“I love whatever you brew, baby,” he said. “Especially when Toria’s not in the room. Though… I doubt Roux’s any safer on that score.”
“You’d still bail me out.”
“Sure, ‘cause I don’t want to spend our wedding night alone. What happened the night we got married?”
“I got arrested. You bailed me out.”
“Yes, and I will always be around to bail you out whenever, wherever.”
“My romantic Scroogey. I thought this whole marriage thing was so you could invoke spousal privilege if you end up in tax court or something.”
“Well, that too. What’s mine is yours, that includes secrets.”
“I’ll take them to my grave, Casanova.”
“I’ll be there waiting for you on the other side.”
“You won’t die first.”
“I won’t hang out here without you,” he said. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“With your cock in retirement…” which they’d previously discussed, “I don’t imagine there will be much. Remember what I said about your exchange student.”
“We getting to the, ‘til death do us part, bit?”
“I can’t wait to hear your vows, I’m excited.”
“I can’t recycle the old ones?”
“No! They’re old, I’ve heard them. I need to hear new vows. Shiny new ones.”
Not like he had any trouble with words or the charm. Regardless of the day or the occasion, he always said the right thing.
“Okay, I can do that,” he said. “Just let me check the tapes of Kintyre’s wedding.”
“I was there, Skippy. I heard those vows. They’re not shiny new.”
“Not his latest wedding, his first one.”
Her mouth opened wide in silent shock. “To Julietta?” Affronted, she sat up. “His evil, duplicitous ex? You wouldn’t dare!”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, I doubt Julietta got an invite to our wedding. She’ll never know.”
“I’ll know. Oh, you’d be in so much trouble…”
“Worth it for the boob shot.”
Glancing down, her bare body was on show to the phone that had slipped a little further down the pillow. “Never gets old?”
“Never gets old,” he confirmed. “When you coming home, Lo?”
“I have Hatfield tomorrow.”
“Blow him off.”
“Thank God I heard that last word, or you’d be burning so much money getting married to a skank.”
“Ah, damnit, I already married her. Stuck now.”
“Roux wants to go to London.”
“To get away from Rourke? Not sure that’s far enough.”
“There’s guys over there she wants to sleep with,” she said, aware he’d know it was part of the couple’s game. “And she thinks it’s unfair you’re having a series of bachelor parties.”
“You party every night, babe.”
“Yeah, but not with strippers,” she teased.
“I’ll come take my clothes off for you any time, Lola Bunny.”
Another laugh, and she lay down again, scooping up the phone to hold it above her face.
“Oh my God, can you imagine? Jane would never make it to the altar, she’d have a heart attack and die right there.”
“Have as many parties as you want, baby. I love it when you party.”
“You love it when I’m happy.”
“I do.”
“Ten days too early for those words.”
“I’m practicing.”
“Doesn’t it feel stupid to have a series of bachelor parties when you’re not even a bachelor anymore?”
“Whose fault is that?”
“Uh, yours. Our marriage wasn’t my idea.”
“You announced it on Talk at Sunset .”
“Our engagement, not our actual wedding. You and Ballard brewed that up on your own. I’m not the only caper brewer.”
“Ever sorry we did it that way?”
Licking her lips, her joy shone through. “I asked Roux that question about her marriage tonight.”
“Shit, I’m glad Rourke did it that way.”
“Because it gives us the opportunity to deflect if anyone finds out about our sneaky nuptials?”
“Because it would be a hostage situation, they’d have like a vow-off or something.”
Exactly what Roux said.
“What if you look so hot in your tux at the altar, I need to have you there and then?”
“Baby, if you don’t make it back here before that day, I’ll be coming up that aisle to you.”
“So many things I could do with that statement… Good luck getting through all those layers of tulle, buddy.”
“Didn’t you have them put in an emergency access?”
Emerg—God, he was hilarious.
“Unfortunately, all my head space for dresses went on making sure they get Jane’s right, Casanova. You know, the dress she’s never seen let alone worn. Probably the biggest, most important, decision of Jane’s life so far.”
“And it’s in your and Toria’s hands. Big gamble.”
“Worth it if we get it right.”
“That’s what Knox says.”
The heaviness of his eyes reminded her of the hour.
Rolling onto her side, she propped the phone up on the vacant pillow by hers. “I’m going to close my eyes now,” she said. He’d never ring off first, not that night. The only way to get him to rest was to do it herself. “Want to watch me sleep for a while?”
“You know I do.”
“Perv,” she played. “You’re a voyeur.”
“You’re a provocateur.”
“Sex pest.”
“Love of my life.”
The sincerity of that truth lightened her every atom. Oh, he always won when it came to saying the right thing at the right moment.
“It’s rude to call people names, Casanova.”
“You started it.
“And I hope it never ends,” she said, opening her eyes just for a blink long enough to see his one last time. “I love you, Scroogey.”
“I love you too, Lola. Sleep.”
And in the morning, she’d call again, or he would. They may spend time apart, but they were never without each other. He was her everything. Always.