Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2)

by Adrienne Frances

  Looking down, she pushed her plate away and frowned. “I just feel bad. I don’t want to be the one to cause you any trouble with Jack.”

  “Hey,” he said softly, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “look at me. You don’t even have to see them. I’m dropping Jack off on Friday and picking him up on Sunday. You can stay back, if you want.”

  She looked into his eyes. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” she whispered. “This is your call.”

  Charlie smiled at her perfect heart, and wondered how in the world he had gotten so lucky. “Well, in that case, you’ll be with me the entire time. Where I go, you go.”

  “Is that so?” she asked with a coy smile.

  Charlie nodded as he leaned in for another kiss. He pulled her to him and snuck his roaming hands inside the sheet she was wrapped in. Her hands ran through his hair as she let out a delicate moan.

  “You can take me anywhere,” she whispered into his ear, sending chills through his body.

  “Charlie Jameson!” they heard from the front door.

  “Gah!” Lucy screeched and jumped from the stool. She gathered up the ends of the sheet and sprinted back to his bedroom.

  He watched as she flew down the hallway and slammed his bedroom door. In all of his years playing football, it was the fastest he’d ever seen anyone move, which was saying something.

  Dylan appeared in the kitchen doorway with a glint in her eyes. “Who”—she pointed down the hallway and flashed a teasing smile—“was that?”

  Thankful for the pajama bottoms he had put on, Charlie stood and smiled at Jackson who was running his way. He lifted him into the air and then brought him down to kiss him on his chubby cheek.

  “Da-yee,” Jackson said in relief, and lay his head on Charlie’s shoulder.

  It was obvious that someone had missed his dad. The feeling was mutual. “I missed you, too, buddy,” Charlie said, and ran his hand over Jackson’s back.

  “So, when I said for you to text me before you dropped him off, did you think I was kidding?” Charlie smirked at his sister.

  “No,” Dylan said, and stole a piece of cantaloupe from the counter. “I just wanted to pop in and see why.”

  “You are so nosy,” Charlie growled. “I want that key back.”

  Dylan waggled her eyebrows and slid onto the stool that Lucy had just bolted from.

  “Anyway, it’s nice to see that you’re done being so stupid.”

  “Hmm … I’m not sure if I should say thank you to that or not,” Charlie said.

  Dylan sighed and looked around. “Breakfast, too? You’ve got it bad, Charlie. Do you think Lucy will mind if I have some of her pancakes?”

  “All yours,” Lucy said from the hallway.

  To Charlie’s dismay, she was now fully clothed. He frowned and looked back at Dylan, who winked at him. She was well aware of what she had just walked in on. The rosy color of Lucy’s cheeks and her swollen lips were a dead giveaway that he had been on her all night. Simply put, sex was all over their bodies and it even swarmed around in the air. It was an incredible feeling that left him tingling from head to toe.

  “Bee!” Jackson squirmed to get out of Charlie’s arms.

  Charlie put Jackson down so that he could race to Lucy. He raised his arms and she lifted him to her without any hesitation. It was as if, in that moment, Charlie felt his heart surge to life. Other than Jackson’s birth, it was the most beautiful scene he had ever witnessed.

  “Lucy, I think you’re Bee,” Dylan, the brainiac, stated. Charlie had pretty much guessed that weeks ago at the café.

  Lucy rubbed Jackson’s nose with hers and laughed when he giggled. “What are we going to do today, huh, Jack?”

  “How about the park?” Dylan butted in. “We could pack a picnic.”

  “What is this we nonsense?” Charlie teased, and began to clean up the kitchen.

  “Lucy wants me to go, Charlie.”

  Charlie and Dylan both stared at Lucy and waited for her to confirm. After looking back and forth between the two of them, she turned her attention back to Jackson and bounced them both into the living room. It was clear that she wanted nothing to do with the sibling showdown.

  Charlie watched her escape and grinned at her back. He was lost in the image for some time, just staring at the perfect sight before him.

  Dylan cleared her throat, which made him glare at her. He rolled his eyes and continued to clean up the breakfast mess. “I guess we’re all going on a picnic,” he grumbled.

  “Yay.” Dylan beamed and clapped her hands.

  * * *

  Charlie lay on his side as he took in the beautiful day. No, strike that. It wasn’t just beautiful; it was probably one of the best days of his life. Even if the sky wasn’t blue, a monsoon had set in, or a sand storm had come rushing toward them, life was pretty amazing.

  At the other end of the blanket, Lucy and Jackson sat reading a book. Jack was enthralled by every word she uttered. She even added movements to the story. As she read about a willow tree, she raised her arms in the air and moved her hands to show leafy branches. Jackson looked up with wonder and watched her as if she were the most interesting thing on the planet. Charlie had never witnessed his son so still and so immersed in someone.

  The funniest part to the scene before him was that Lucy was pretending to read out of one of her romance novels. He was pretty certain that there were no brave lions named Charlie in that book or any talking giraffes named Dylan. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought she was pretty much making it up as she went.

  Charlie took a bite of watermelon and nearly choked when Lucy made the sound of a bug named Jonah. She buzzed her slender fingers all around until they ran into the Great Mountain of Jack. That, of course, made Jackson burst out into a belly laugh, which made Lucy giggle until she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

  Lucy loved Jack and it had never been more obvious than in that moment.

  After the story was finished and all the Mathews animals lived happily ever after, Jackson yawned when Lucy did. She put him on her chest, and rubbed his back while he said “Bee” over and over again in the most precious voice Charlie had ever heard. Within minutes, the two were both fast asleep.

  “Charlie?” Dylan said from her own spot where she, too, had been watching.

  “Hmm?” He continued to watch Lucy and Jack sleep under the warm sun.

  “I think your Lucy has just about every Mathews wrapped around her finger.”

  Charlie smiled at Dylan. “I think you’re right,” he said.

  “I love seeing you smile,” Dylan said.

  “Don’t you get mushy on me, baby sister,” Charlie teased.

  Dylan laughed at that. “I think we’re already past that point.”

  Charlie looked back over at Lucy and Jackson. “Yes, we are,” he confirmed, his heart thumping hard. “I am way past the mushy point.”

  * * *

  Lucy crept into her apartment around ten o’ clock that night. Reluctantly, she had finally pulled herself away from Charlie and climbed into her car to go home. She didn’t want to ever leave his side again, but she needed to shower and change. He had asked her to return and spend the night with him, but she wanted him to have some time alone with Jackson. That was still the most important thing to her and she knew that sometimes they needed their space.

  She leaned against her door and pressed a hand to her smiling, very swollen lips. With all the kissing, she was positive they would never go back to their normal size. It was a thought that had her soaring.

  “You look like you just got fucked six ways to Sunday,” Grace accused, flipping on a light.

  “Nice. I love it when you use idioms to describe my sex life,” Lucy sneered. “Don’t ruin this moment for me.”

  “So, you don’t deny it?” Grace’s eyes widened in surprise. “Holy hell.”

  Lucy sighed and walked over to the couch. She collapsed against the plush cushions and put her feet up
on the coffee table. With careful thought, she waited before answering. It wasn’t clear what Grace was thinking, so she decided to step lightly.

  Grace sat on the arm of the couch, which was a bad sign. If this was going to be a friendly moment of girl talk, she would have tucked herself in right next to Lucy.

  “You have grass in your hair,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

  Lucy laughed and pulled it from a long lock of her hair. “Jack and I fell asleep at the park.”

  Grace rolled her eyes. “The baby? Now you’re dragging the kid into this mess?”

  Lucy glared at Grace. She wasn’t dragging Jackson into anything. Well, at least she didn’t think she was. Was she?

  “Grace, stop!” Now she was second-guessing everything and it was all Grace’s fault.

  She should’ve stayed at Charlie’s.

  Grace stood up and took a deep breath. “Okay. Maybe I need to take a step back.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Maybe I’m coming at this all wrong. I don’t even know everything.” Grace slid down and settled onto the couch. “All I know is that you look like you were ravaged for twenty-four hours straight, but there might be more. So, explain to me what is happening.”

  Lucy shook her head and gave Grace a sideways glance. “I don’t want to tell you anything if you can’t be happy for me. I’m seriously floating right now and you are ruining it for me.”

  “I’m sorry for messing with your floaty feeling.” Grace’s mouth formed a firm line. “Please, tell me all about it.”

  As she thought back, images of them kissing in the kitchen came rushing back to her. The moment she climbed onto his bike, taking off her clothes, his lips, his tongue, the look in his eyes … it all hit her so hard that she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to trap the feeling there.

  “Nothing from the past matters anymore, Grace,” she finally whispered. “We let it all go last night.”

  “Did you tell him?” Grace asked flatly. “Please tell me that you did. All I want to hear is that you told him and now you both are moving forward.”

  Lucy met Grace’s stare. “No.”

  “Lucy,” Grace groaned into her hands. “How can you think this is a good idea?”

  “Lydia agrees with me!”

  “La la land Lydia? That’s great. You know I love her, but you’re not really taking advice from her, are you?” Grace shook her head. “She doesn’t exactly play with a full deck, ya know?”

  Lucy’s eyebrows furrowed. “That wasn’t very nice.”

  Grace sighed. “Honey, I want you to be happy. I do. I think you and Charlie are great. I see the connection between you.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that you are starting something on the basis of a big fat lie. Do you think he’s going to forgive you for this?” Grace rolled her eyes. “And there is a little boy involved who sounds pretty attached to you already.”

  “Then it’s too late,” Lucy said, tears threatening. “It’s already begun.”

  “Well,” Grace said, leaning back against the couch, “I’m not going to say any more about it. I said my piece and that’s it. I am happy for you. You’re my best friend and I want you to be loved the way you deserve to be. I think Charlie may be the guy to do it.”

  “You do? You think he could love me?”

  Grace laughed. “I think he’s got it in his head that this might be a forever kind of thing. Single parents don’t usually invite anyone into their child’s life—especially when that parent is a widower—if they aren’t serious. I think that if Charlie believes you’re good enough for his son, he’s already thinking about the future.”

  “He asked me to go to Michigan with them,” Lucy shared. It just sort of rolled out of her mouth. She snuck a look at Grace to see her reaction.

  Grace bit her lip. “Family vacay?”

  Her sarcasm was Lucy’s prompt to leave. “Something like that,” she said, and stood up.

  “Luce, don’t go,” Grace said through a long breath. “I’m sorry. I just—do you understand that if this goes bad that little boy is going to lose you? You don’t get to keep him, Lucy!”

  Lucy shook her head and retreated to her bedroom. She couldn’t sit there and listen to Grace’s hot-one-minute-cold-the-next support. It was killing the vibes she had been feeling.

  She shut her bedroom door and looked around the room. It was the same, but it felt all wrong now. It was empty and lonely; it was a reminder of who she had been the last time she walked away from it: a woman who didn’t have Charlie.

  As if on cue, her phone buzzed in her hand. She brought it up and smiled at the message from Charlie: You are all over my bed and it’s driving me insane. Please come back.

  Reactivate warm, fuzzy feelings.

  She turned her phone to the side and thumbed out a message: Let me pack for tomorrow. I’ll be there in 30 min <3.

  She didn’t even say goodbye to Grace. She just showered quickly, packed a bag that would last her a day or two, and headed out the door. She knew Grace was right, but she also wondered what the point of telling Charlie about that night was now. What would it solve? Nothing. Lydia was right.

  On the other hand, if he were to find out now, he would never speak to her again.

  Maybe Grace was right.

  She clutched the steering wheel as she drove, leaving sweat marks. Oh, God. She just wanted to be happy.

  Charlie and Jackson made her happy.

  She pulled into his driveway and saw him standing in the front door. He had been waiting for her.

  She walked up the path that led to his porch and took in the sight of him: adorable smile, bare chest, and all man. She groaned inwardly.

  “You okay?” he asked, concerned. He took the bag from her hands and set it down.

  Lucy nodded quickly. “I just missed you.”

  Charlie slipped his hand around her side and drew her into his arms. “That’s good, because I missed you, too.”

  He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his lean waist. “I’m better now, though,” she said with a smile.

  He kissed her long and sweetly before turning them both around and heading down the hallway to his bedroom. He kissed her again as he walked and then buried his face into her neck. “You smell like vanilla,” he said against her skin.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jonah open his bedroom door and then flatten himself against the wall. “Uh, sorry,” he said with a smirk.

  “Night, Jonah,” Lucy said in a singsong voice, while Charlie ignored him.

  “Goodnight, Cupcake,” Jonah answered with a chuckle.

  Charlie closed the bedroom door with his foot and set her down on the edge of the bed. He grabbed the hem of her white cami and lifted it above her head. She leaned back while he went to work on her yoga pants, leaving her in nothing but a black thong.

  As he stood above her, he pulled off his pajama bottoms and crawled on top of her. Leaning on his hands for support, he lowered his head and pressed his gentle lips to her mouth.

  “We have to be quiet tonight,” he whispered.

  Lucy considered that for a moment and then flashed him a teasing grin. “Okay, but I’m probably going to have to bite you to shut myself up.”

  Charlie sucked in a deep breath and his eyes widened. “Please bite me,” he said with a groan. “Please, please, please bite me.”

  He explored her body every way that a body can be explored; he had her so worked up that, yes, she did bite him multiple times. When they had satisfied each other to the point of breathlessness, Charlie pulled her to his bare chest and rubbed her back until she drifted off to sleep.

  In the middle of the night, she was awakened to the sound of Jackson babbling away through the baby monitor. Charlie awoke as well, and the two of them listened to him speak in the same tone that Lucy had used when she told him the story at the park.

  When he ended his babbling sentence with a high pitched “Bee!�
� and a small chuckle, Charlie and Lucy laughed so hard that they had to cover their faces to keep quiet.

  Eventually, Jack’s light chatter was replaced with the heavy silence of his deep sleep. Lucy found her eyes growing heavy once again as Charlie held her against him and ran his fingertips over her skin.

  “You were the missing piece,” he whispered so quietly she later wondered if it had been real.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lucy leaned her head against the window of the Ford Focus they had rented at the airport. It was a long trip from the Phoenix Sky Harbor, with a stop in Chicago, before they got to the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan. From there, she had done nothing but look out the window and take in the beautiful view and deep blue waters of Lake Michigan.

  Jackson had slept for most of the trip, which, considering the two-hour time change, made Charlie pretty sure his sleep schedule was going to be completely off. This was just another thing to add to Charlie’s unease about Jackson visiting the Monroes for the weekend.

  When he had expressed his worries on the plane, Lucy had squeezed his hand gently. “We’re going to be right down the road,” she had reminded him.

  “They won’t call me if there’s a problem.” Charlie had frowned. “This is going to be the longest three days of my life.”

  That had been the most that had come out of Charlie’s mouth since they’d left Phoenix. It was unsettling, really. After three weeks of nonstop laughter and lovemaking, it was quite a jolt to Lucy’s real-life fantasy to see him so dark.

  She had truly been living a dream. She practically lived at Charlie’s house. She would come home when Grace wasn’t there, collect more belongings, and leave.

  Grace had texted her once: Every time I come home more of your things are gone. If you’re moving out, maybe you should tell me.

  Lucy’s only reply was:

  If and when I move out, you’ll be the first to know.