Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2)

by Adrienne Frances

  Lucy smiled and put her hands on his face. “I. Want. You,” she repeated with a small laugh.

  Charlie shook his head. “No … the Charlie Bear thing. Where did that come from?” He slowly released her until her feet were on the floor. “Why did you call me that?”

  Lucy shrugged and swayed. “You’re a big, muscular teddy bear. You’re gentle … and … I don’t know. It just fits, I guess. Why?”

  Charlie felt his face turn cold, washing over with white. What the hell was he doing, anyway? Adorable Lucy was wasted—wasted enough to regret this in the morning—and he was sober enough to care.

  Lucy put her hands on his chest and looked at him with confusion. “Don’t stop, Charlie.”

  He lifted one of her hands and kissed her open palm. “I can’t do this, Lucy. You’re drunk and I’m not that guy.”

  “I’m not that drunk,” she said, her mouth gaping.

  “Yes, you are,” he said, amused. That was a typical drunk statement if ever he had heard one.

  “So, you’re just going to leave me like this?”

  “Tomorrow, you’ll thank me.” Charlie stepped back and put his hands in his pockets, trapping them from reaching out to her. He shook his head and frowned. “You’re better than this, and so am I.”

  “Well, fuck you and good night, Charlie Mathews,” she slurred. She pushed past him and headed to what he assumed was her bedroom.

  He winced at the sound of her slamming door and leaned against the wall. He raked his hand through his hair and shook his head with a frustrated growl. What the hell was he doing? He should’ve known that wouldn’t end well.

  Wait … and how the hell did she know his last name?

  He headed back to her room and opened the door. “Lucy? How did you—”

  But she couldn’t answer. On the bed, she lay flat on her stomach, her back slowly moving up and down with each long breath she took. She was already out cold.

  He stood for a minute and took in the sight of her. He slowly bent down and slid off her shoes. He considered taking off her pants, too, but decided against it; he had already groped her enough for one evening.

  He walked into the kitchen and, after opening every cupboard, he found a glass to fill with water. Next to a jar of pens, he noticed a bottle of aspirin and shook out two.

  He walked back into her room and put the water and aspirin on her nightstand. After taking a few steps back toward the door, he stared at her for a few painful seconds. He wanted to crawl into that bed and tell her exactly why he couldn’t do all of the things he wanted to do to her. She wouldn’t understand in her state of mind, anyway.

  He left with his thoughts still racing.

  It was going to be a long, sleepless night after he took the freezing cold shower he needed.

  Chapter Six

  Lucy sat up and groaned at the throbbing in her head. “Ugh,” she cried out and flopped back down. She opened one eye and stared at the water and aspirin on her nightstand. “Thank God,” she said, and grabbed both with one hand. She didn’t know how they got there, but she was thankful to find them.

  “Morning,” Grace grumbled from the bedroom door. She walked in and collapsed onto Lucy’s bed. “I think I’ve barfed seventy times.”

  “Don’t say barf,” Lucy demanded. She popped the aspirin into her mouth and fell back into the fetal position.

  “Scoot over,” Lydia said, and slid in between Lucy and Grace. She turned onto her side and nuzzled up to Lucy’s back. “That little bitch called in again. Lydia’s Delights is closed today.”

  “You can’t do that,” Lucy complained. “It’s Saturday morning.”

  “I don’t care,” Lydia groaned. “I need to fire that cat-loving piece of crap.”

  “We can do this.” Lucy patted her cousin’s head. “I’ll help you.”

  “I think I’m going to die,” Grace said. “I drank like a frat boy last night.”

  As the fuzziness subsided and flashes of the night before came rushing back to her, Lucy covered her eyes and scowled. “You left me!”

  Grace laughed as she shimmied down into the covers. “You said you didn’t want to be around Charlie, so you were going to take a cab, but then Charlie didn’t leave with us; he wanted to stay with you.”

  “That certainly blew up in your face,” Lydia said with a giggle.

  “I was surprised when we got to his house and he was already there,” Grace said. “I thought for sure he’d spent the night here.”

  “Wait.” Lucy sat up and leaned against her headboard. She pulled a down pillow into her lap and tried to subdue the bile rising in her throat. “What?”

  Both Lydia and Grace burst into laughter.

  It was annoying and Lucy wanted them to explain before she killed them both. They went to Charlie’s? “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Relax,” Lydia said. “We weren’t there for Charlie. I wish I had seen him first, but he’s all yours.”

  “I hope you don’t mind, Lucy, but I filled Lydia in on the drama on the way home.” Grace cringed. “I’m still drunk, so I get a pass for having a big mouth.”

  “I don’t care,” Lucy sighed. “He hates me.”

  “Why?” Grace asked carefully. “Did you tell him?”

  Lucy thought about that for a minute, because she really didn’t know. She remembered that it had been right on her tongue at one point. “No, I don’t think so. But I did throw myself at him and literally said the words ‘I want you inside me.’”

  “Wow,” Lydia said, through a burst of laughter. “You just got right to the point, huh?”

  Lucy buried her face in her hands as the night replayed in her head. “Oh my God,” she groaned, mortified. “I made him dig the key out of my front pocket and then shoved my tongue down his throat.”

  “Nice move,” Lydia teased.

  “And he denied you?” Grace asked with shock all over her face. “That man has some serious self-control. I like him so much.”

  Lucy lifted her head and stared at her closet doors as the memory of her saying “Fuck you” came back to haunt her. “I’m never going to see him again.”

  “That’s probably a good thing, Lucy,” Grace said quietly.

  “I know that, Grace. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Lucy rested her head on the headboard and blew out a deep breath. “What about you? When did you get home?”

  Lydia and Grace snuck looks at each other and laughed. Their little inside jokes were getting under Lucy’s skin and she was about to punch them both. She hated being the outsider, especially when there were Mathews men involved.

  Grace stopped laughing when she saw the look on Lucy’s face. “We just got home.”

  “You spent the night there?” Lucy asked incredulously. “With Charlie’s brothers?”

  Lydia piped up. “Not exactly.”

  Lucy groaned and threw her hands in the air. “Today, girls!”

  “Okay!” Lydia shot back.

  Grace sighed and sat up to lean against the headboard. “We got back to Charlie’s house and hung out in the living room for a little while.” She paused to look at Lydia. “And this girl right here passed out on the couch. Like, she was snoring and everything.”

  Lydia intervened, pointing at Grace. “Yeah, and then this girl right here decided to hook up with the guy that I originally left with!”

  Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. She looked at Grace, whose face was red, and said, “You hooked up with Jonah? That is his name, right?”

  Lydia laughed. “They did more than just hook up. I distinctly recall waking up to moaning from the floor next to me.”

  Lucy tossed her pillow at Grace’s face. “Nice girl code!”

  Lydia laughed and pulled the pillow off Grace. She patted her on the head and sighed. “I don’t care. I could hardly claim a guy when I barely remember leaving with him.”

  Then it was Grace’s turn to bury her face in her hands.
“I don’t even know how it happened. All I know is that I was really happy. I remember kissing him—and some other stuff—and the rest is a blur.”

  “Where did the other brother go?” Lucy frowned and tried to count brothers. “There were two other brothers. Where’d they go?”

  “I know this one! Charlie has three brothers,” Lydia corrected with her hand raised.

  “And one sister, who’s in Boston with her fiancé,” Lucy added too quickly, sounding slightly competitive.

  “I didn’t know that,” Lydia said. “Anyway, the oldest one, Brandon, dropped us off at Charlie’s and left. I think he wanted to kill us all by the time we left that other bar.”

  “What other bar?” Lucy asked, laughing.

  “No clue,” Grace answered. “We were trying to figure that out on the way home this morning.”

  “And we don’t know where the other brother went, either,” Lydia added. “That was a mystery, too. He was there and then he wasn’t.”

  “What other brother?” Lucy asked. “You two are confusing the hell out of me.”

  “All we need to know is that Jonah has beautiful lips and he knows how to use them.” Grace sighed dreamily. “And oh, boy, does he know how to work that tongue.”

  “How’d you even get home?” Lucy asked, ignoring Grace’s tongue comment. If she was being honest with herself, she could admit that she was a little jealous that Grace’s evening had turned out so great.

  Lydia spoke up. “When I realized the sun was up, I called a cab and then woke up our promiscuous little friend over here. Her dress was around her waist and she was cuddling with Jonah next to a pile of baby blankets and toys.”

  “I’m so white trash,” Grace squeaked, and covered her face again. “We tiptoed right the hell out of there.”

  “A neighbor saw us,” Lydia added. “It was the ultimate walk of shame.”

  “Well, at least you two had some fun,” Lucy said.

  “Ladies,” Lydia began, “last night was not our finest hour.”

  “I can’t wait to do it again,” Grace said with a grin.

  * * *

  Charlie stepped into the living room and took in the sight before him. Beer bottles, empty glasses, and plates of half-eaten food cluttered the once-clean room. He shook his head and sighed. He really needed his brothers to go back to California.

  He stared down at a shirtless Jonah, who was out cold on the floor. He took a sip of coffee and kicked Jonah’s side until he grumbled in protest.

  “Stop,” Jonah finally said, and rolled over to his side.

  “Please tell me you didn’t have sex on my son’s toys,” Charlie said, and took another sip from his mug.

  Jonah opened one eye and looked at the yellow baseball bat next to his head. He sat up slowly and pushed the bat to the side. He looked from side to side, searching for something or—from what Charlie could gather—someone.

  “She left,” Charlie said, and took a seat on the couch. “I watched her run through the yard and hop into a cab with Lydia’s Delights at about six this morning.”

  “Damn.” Jonah ran his hands over his face and froze as “Old McDonald” started to play from beneath him. He pulled out a stuffed cow and watched as it lit up with colorful lights. “Jack has some weird toys.”

  “That’s actually his favorite,” Charlie said, and yanked it from Jonah’s hands. He eyed the toy and raised one eyebrow. “Do I need to burn this and get him a new one?”

  Jonah laughed and shook his head. “C’mon, Charlie. Give me a little bit more credit than that.”

  Charlie just stared at Jonah—hard. He had heard the moans. One thing about Lucy’s friend, Grace, was for sure: she’d really enjoyed herself last night and she wanted everyone within a five-mile radius to know just how much.

  “I didn’t have sex with her,” Jonah said, his arms raised in exasperation.

  “It sounded like sex to me,” Charlie said pointedly.

  Jonah grinned at that. “I mean, yeah, I definitely made her happy, but I was nowhere near Jack’s toys when it happened.”

  “Then why are you on them now?” Charlie asked.

  Jonah looked around and shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  Charlie leaned forward and said through gritted teeth, “Jonah, get off my son’s toys.”

  “Right.” Jonah laughed and got to his feet. He sat next to Charlie on the couch and met his glare. “Sorry,” he added with a sheepish smile.

  “Hugh stole the guest bedroom last night, I see.” Charlie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Your new bedroom, I should say.”

  Jonah blew out a breath in relief. “I thought I was kicked out before I even moved in.”

  Charlie cut him a cross look. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

  “No more women on the living room floor,” Jonah promised with his hand raised. He shifted his head to the side and looked at Charlie with a knowing smile. “By the way, I was surprised you came home last night. What’s her name? Lucy?”

  Charlie grimaced as the memory from the night before played out again. He sipped his coffee before saying, “I really messed that one up.”

  “She’s pretty hot, Charlie.”

  Charlie smiled and then tightened his lips. “Yes, she is.”

  “Her friend, Grace … you know … the one on the floor—”

  “I know who Grace is, thank you,” Charlie said.

  “Yeah, she was babbling away about that at States Bar. I didn’t get a lot of what she was saying, but it seems this Lucy might have a thing for you.”

  Charlie took that in and let it settle. “Hmm,” was all he could really say.

  “Hmm,” Jonah repeated, a knowing look in his eye. He wouldn’t ask any more about it, though; it was one of the things Charlie appreciated most about Jonah: he only cared about information if it was offered to him. If it wasn’t, he dropped it.

  “There’s something about her,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what it is, but I messed up last night. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Jonah sighed and nudged Charlie’s arm. “I don’t think anyone in your position would know how to do it, brother.”

  Charlie hit him back. “Thanks.”

  Jonah rubbed his arm and laughed. “You’re welcome.”

  Charlie thought for a minute. “And she knows our last name, too. I don’t remember telling her our last name.”

  Jonah shrugged. “I don’t think that’s weird. Do you pay with your credit card when you go into that café?”

  Charlie laughed at that. “Yep.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Man, I’m losing my mind.”

  “What else is new?” Jonah asked, and then dodged another hit from Charlie.

  “I’m going to the gym,” Charlie said, standing. “And then I have to stop at Lucy’s work to apologize for being an idiot before Mom drops Jack off.”

  “I don’t think it’s as bad as you think, man—whatever you did,” Jonah said, a sympathetic look on his face. “I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  “Hopefully.” Charlie slid on his leather jacket and lifted his eyebrows at Jonah, who was watching him intently.

  “You’re actually taking the Harley out?” Jonah finally asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Charlie’s jacket.

  “It’s been almost two years.” Charlie shrugged and added, “It’s a nice day.”

  Jonah stared at him for a moment, deep in thought. His lips curved into a pleasant smile, before simply agreeing, “It is.”

  Charlie hadn’t taken his bike out since before Meredith had gotten pregnant. She was the last one to sit on it with him and he had planned for her to be the only one. He did miss riding his bike, though. Among everything from his pre-widower life, his Harley was one of the things he missed the most.

  Two months ago he would only look at his Harley, though he would start it up every now and then to make sure it stayed in good condition. He even considered selling it. But now he
felt the urge he hadn’t felt in a long time; he was ready to get on it again.

  He wasn’t sure what that meant, nor did he care to decipher the meaning it carried.

  Today, he wasn’t thinking.

  He was just riding.

  * * *

  Lucy sighed as she poured steamed milk into a coffee. She still felt like death, even after eating the greasy breakfast burrito Lydia had made her. Of course, she wasn’t sure if that was due to her hangover or just humiliation.

  Either way, she wanted to die.

  “Have a nice day,” she said to her last customer of the afternoon rush. She had tried to look presentable with concealer and eye makeup, but she was positive she still looked like hell.

  “How’s it going out here?” Lydia asked as she stepped in from the back. Lucy found some satisfaction in the fact that Lydia looked like death, too.

  “Umm, well, let’s see,” Lucy began, looking around. “I’ve spilled two full cartons of half and half all over the floor, I dropped an entire plate of cinnamon rolls, and I’ve gagged three times in front of customers who looked like they were ready to run.”

  “That good?” Lydia asked, and shook her head. “I burned an entire tray of scones and I dropped the cash deposit—change included—all over the floor.”

  Lucy groaned and flopped her arms across the counter before burying her head in them. “What a disaster,” she said, her voice muffled. “No more drinking.”

  “At least we don’t have to work tonight, like Grace does,” Lydia pointed out. “We get to go to bed in a few hours.”

  Lucy only nodded against her arms.

  “Hello, beautiful man on a Harley,” Lydia announced suddenly. “Oh, please let him be coming in here.”

  Lucy could hear the roar of the engine; it was so loud it must have been right on the other side of the café window. “Please let him not. No more customers.”

  “Oh, he’s definitely coming in here,” Lydia said after a few seconds, her voice a bit funny. “Good luck, girly.”