She took a deep breath as she settled onto the couch and the starlit white peaks came into view, inducing the melancholy that she'd been trying to fight for the past couple of weeks.
“It's a nice house, right?” she asked.
“It's a great house. Perfect, in fact.” Luke sat down beside her and slipped an arm under her knees, pulling her feet into his lap. She adjusted herself to rest her head on the arm rest. Luke draped the afghan over her and then proceeded to rub her tired feet. She closed her eyes and allowed her body to sink deeper into the plush cushions.
“This baby has stolen my brain,” Lenny confessed.
Luke's hands paused. “You noticed that, huh?”
She felt humiliation color her cheeks and she draped an arm over her eyes.
“Hey,” Luke said, carefully removing her arm. “None of that. There's nothing to ashamed of. Your body is just busy growing another human being. It's bound to make things interesting.”
Lenny frowned at him. Luke was unbelievably amazing. It never really felt real before, but now it felt even more fantastical.
“Why are you so perfect?” she asked.
He chuckled and began rubbing her feet. “I am far from perfect. That's just one of those things you've recently forgotten.”
She shook her head adamantly. “No. You're patient with me, you put up with all my crazy, you rub my feet without me even asking. I mean, I put chili powder in the cranberry relish!” Hot tears spilled from the outside corners of her eyes. “I don't deserve you.”
Luke chuckled. “I love you. You love me. As far as I'm concerned, it all balances out. Though, if you want to take a break from all the cooking, I'm not going to stop you.”
Something in his voice made her pause. She took a deep breath. “I ruined the banana bread last week, didn't I?”
Luke rolled his lips inward. “Maybe.”
“What was it?”
He sighed, closing his eyes. “You used cumin instead of ginger.”
Her eyes widened. “But you ate the entire loaf.”
His lips twitched. “Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
Luke frowned as he thought about it. “I'm not sure.”
Lenny giggled and Luke shot her a grin. She took a deep breath and let his ministrations do their trick, relaxing her entirely.
“I love you, Luke Casey,” she sighed as she felt her body and mind give into the sleep she so desperately needed.
***
Luke waited until she was fully asleep, then he carried his bride to their room, took her clothes off, and tucked her in. She was out for the count. She'd wake up again at eight, her exuberance and energy recharged, go and go until she crashed.
He closed the bedroom door, on the off chance that she could be woken up by him. Then he returned to the kitchen, briefly surveying the remaining destruction before starting a pot of coffee for himself.
While the coffee brewed, he made a list of all the remaining unruined items left in Lenny's immense stockpile. He opened his email on his phone and filtered out the recipes Kelli had sent that he could use.
Then he spent the next few hours watching tutorials, making pies, prepping a turkey, making relish, potatoes, and green beans.
At four, he put the turkey in the oven.
Then he shed his clothes and slid into the bed beside Lenny. She rolled into him, wrapping her naked body around his. He set his alarm on his phone, set it on the nightstand, kissed the top of Lenny's head, ran his hand over the soft skin of her hip, and fell asleep.
***
Lenny woke up to the most amazing smell. Something delicious was happening very nearby. She pulled in a deep breath before opening her eyes and frowning.
Sunshine streamed in through the windows in her bedroom. She had no recollection of going to bed last night. Sitting up, she found that she wasn't wearing any clothes at all.
Luke had put her to bed again.
But he wasn't in the bed with her.
Disappointment fluttered through her briefly. She rather liked the way Luke had taken to waking her up.
Morning sex was all they'd been able to accomplish in their love life as of late. The pregnancy was making her too tired later in the afternoon and by nightfall she was practically a zombie. But she was growing very fond of their new way to start the day.
Spotting the fluffy robe he'd left for her at the end of the bed, she reached for it and decided to go find him. No reason to stay disappointed.
Right after she went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth of course.
When she made it to the kitchen, her breath caught just noticeably as Luke came into view. That's exactly what she had been looking for.
Bare feet, ankles crossed, jeans hanging low on his hips, black t-shirt snug against his torso, his shaggy hair mussed from sleep and finger-combed, coffee cup raised to his lips, and those ice blue eyes lifted to hers.
He was hot. Not just a little. A lot. He was the hottest of the hotties and her mouth watered just looking at him.
His lips tugged up in a lopsided smile. “Good morning.”
She went straight to him, sliding a hand up his chest to curl around the back of his neck as she went up on her toes to plant a kiss at his jawline. His free hand curved around her back and tucked her into his side. She closed her eyes, snuggling against his warm chest.
“What smells so good?”
“The turkey, I expect.”
“Who made the turkey?”
He gasped, affronted by her question. “I did.” He set his coffee on the counter and pulled her to his front, his arms encircling her waist. “But you came around that corner looking like you were on a mission.”
“Mm-hm,” she confirmed, pressing her body fully against him. “I woke up naked and you weren't there to do anything about it.”
Luke's gaze heated and a low growl rumbled in the back of his throat. He dipped his head, letting his lips brush along the side of her neck. Her head dropped back as her eyes closed and he took advantage, moving his mouth to the column of her throat in long, slow kisses. His hands moved to the front of her robe and slid inside, lightly gripping her waist and then sliding up her ribs.
His mouth worked its way back up her neck, around to her ear. “I really, really like this part of you being knocked up.”
The gravel in his voice made Lenny shiver. “Me too.”
***
Luke reached over and grabbed his ringing cell phone off of the nightstand without opening his eyes.
“Hello?”
“Merry Christmas, brother.”
“Scott,” Luke greeted, propping himself up on an elbow in the bed, his eyes open now and flicking to the doorway of the bathroom where he could hear the shower running.
“I think we can get the plow up to you guys by late afternoon.”
Luke's lips twitched and he flopped back down into the bed. “That won't be necessary.” He chuckled, rubbing a hand down his face. “I'm happy to be trapped up here with her for days. We could use the break, honestly.”
“What about the food issue? Aren't you afraid of accidental poisoning?”
“Nah, I fixed that little problem. Stayed up all night making all of her recipes. Should be a pretty decent spread.”
“The rock star turned chef,” Scott teased. “I like it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell Kelli thanks for the tutorials she sent me last night and she can call off the rescue.” Luke ended the call and tossed his phone back on the nightstand with a clatter.
“Mom was helping you escape my crazy cooking. That's why she was adamant that we come there.”
He jerked his head up. Lenny stood before him, towel wrapped around her body, hair soaked and making little rivers of water travel down all of his favorite curves—which was to say, all of them.
“Overheard some of that?” he guessed, pushing himself into a sitting position, his back to the headboard.
The look she gave him was soft and reflective. She came over
to the bed and sat down, holding the towel around her at the front.
“Did you really stay up all night long?” she asked.
Luke nodded. “I usually do. How do you think the kitchen always get cleaned?” he asked with a wink.
Lenny frowned. “I... I guess I never really thought about it.”
Luke's lips twitched and he lifted an eyebrow.
“I'm sorry. I know I haven't really been myself for a few weeks,” she said with a sigh, hanging her head.
Luke took the hand that wasn't clutching the front of her towel and gave it a squeeze. “Hey, don't look so sad. It's Christmas.”
She lifted her eyes and smiled sheepishly. “But you're the one who made all the food.”
Luke consented to that statement with a head tilt.
“I'm a bad wife.”
His eyes widened. “What? No, you're not! Why would you even say that?” He tugged on her hand until she crawled up the front of him, giving him her weight and so he could look into her sapphire eyes. He slid the fingers of one hand into her wet hair to cup the side of her head, he used his other hand to wrap around her back and hold her securely.
“Don't say crazy things like that,” he said, his voice thick with meaning.
“But, Luke,” she whispered, “I keep ruining everything.”
Luke couldn't stop the smile that touched his lips. “So maybe you're not great at the cooking stuff right now.” His eyes trailed over her face. The face he loved with every fiber of his being. He brushed a thumb across the apple of her cheek. “This face. This is the face that changed my life.”
A tear slid out the corner of one of her eyes. “What if I become horribly disfigured, or the pregnancy makes my face swell. Because it will, you know! I read the books!”
Luke shook his head once. “Doesn't matter. It's still your face. It's not so much how it's shaped that I love. It's the expression that it carries. You wear your heart in your eyes.”
Lenny took a shuddering breath. “You're the perfect man.”
Luke barked a laugh. “No. Not even close. This is the same man who can't remember to take the garbage out on the right day and who will always drink straight from the orange juice carton.”
Her eyebrows snapped together. “Why do you do that?”
“I'm just a man, Len.” Luke shrugged.
“But you're so good to me.” She frowned, examining his face as if looking for some sort of explanation.
“I love you.”
“It can't be that simple.”
“It's not simple at all,” he said gently. “Think about all the work that goes into making an album. Until we got together, you had no idea all the steps that it took to get an idea turned into a successful enough project that would launch a tour. It's passion and dedication and long days, weird nights, complications, disappointments, the technical aspects alone are headache inducing. It's hurt feelings and compromise and being open to the possibility that it might not go your way.”
Lenny arched one eyebrow. “So you're saying that your life of a being a successful rock star prepared you for marriage?”
Luke grinned.
Lenny nodded, her smile finally reaching her eyes. “You're so weird.”
“I'm so yours.” He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers, loving the soft surrender he always found there.
***
Lenny took a deep breath and really looked at her dining room table.
Luke had done it.
He'd made a perfect maple-buttered turkey, apple stuffing, coconut crusted sweet potatoes, bacon and mustard green beans, creamy mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, cranberry relish, garlic baked cauliflower, two different kinds of gravy.
And three pies. Apple, pumpkin, and chocolate.
Her stomach growled and she nodded in agreement.
“How do you feel?” Luke asked.
She shot him a smile. “Happy.”
Luke laughed, surprised. “I thought you would say hungry.”
Lenny nodded, pulling the sweet potatoes over to her plate. “Same thing, baby. It's the same thing.”
“There Is No Divide”
Blake and Lucy
Shane and Greta
Note from Author: Dear Reader, this scene takes place during the same winter snowstorm as the previous story.
“I just don't think it's gonna happen, babe.”
Blake ground down on his teeth and pressed his laced together fingers against his lips as he leaned forward onto his knees. A light touch to the corner of his jaw caused him to close his eyes and sigh in surrender.
He sat up and reclined in his seat. Out the windows before them was a complete white-out. All planes were in the process of being grounded.
Reality had set in a couple hours ago, but he'd been unwilling to admit defeat. It was the punk rocker in him.
But the longer he went trying to end the storm by sheer force of will, the more ridiculous he felt.
It sucked.
They wouldn't be getting to Boston in time for Christmas.
“I just really wanted you to experience an O'Neil Christmas, you know?” he grumbled forlornly.
“I know,” Lucy said softly by his side. “But sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to.”
He rolled his neck to the side and felt the pop. It did little to ease the tension he'd built up there.
“Have you always been this grumpy, or is it more than usual these days?” Lucy asked, crossing her legs and drawing his eyes to the movement. The sight of her gorgeous, smooth, perfectly shaped legs did little to calm him down. She was wearing shorts.
Shorts.
In a blizzard.
“Why can't you just be a normal girl about one thing in your life and wear pants in the winter?” he asked with more of a bite than he intended.
She didn't even bother dignifying his pissy mood by acknowledging it. “You like me exactly how I am,” she muttered knowingly as she picked up her book and started reading again. Apparently they were finished with his worries.
He didn't like not being the center of her attention, so he slid down in his seat and put his head in her lap, forcing her to lift her book higher in order to keep reading. He stared up at the love of his life and felt the overwhelming urge to harass her take over.
“What are you reading?” he asked sweetly.
Her dark eyes dropped down to him and she shook her head before going back to her reading. “You're like a big cat, Blake Diedrich.”
He ran a finger under chin. “You're pretty.”
“Shh,” she said, lips twitching. “I'm trying to concentrate.”
He rolled to face away from her belly and wrapped his arms around her legs. He might complain about her not wearing pants when it was colder than a witch's tit in a brass brazier, but he wasn't about to stop her. These legs of hers... Blake sighed contentedly his face pressed against their warmth. He could spend the season right here.
Her hand came down and sifted through his hair, making this moment that much more enjoyable.
He took a finger and drew lazy circles on her calves, mesmerized by the snow outside. How much could it really snow? It had to stop eventually, right? Maybe they would never leave. Maybe they would die in a Denver airport.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he begrudgingly let go of Lucy's legs with one hand to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” asked a familiar female voice.
“What? Who is this?” Blake asked, looking at the screen and not recognizing the number.
“It's Greta,” she answered with unrestrained exasperation. “Where are you?”
Greta O'Neil, baby sister to his band mate Harrison and pretty much the closest thing he had to a little sister himself. She was probably all happy and filled with cookies sitting in front of her parents' fireplace and calling to gloat. Jerk.
“Where do you think I am, dummy?” he grumbled. “We're stuck in Denver.”
She sighed heav
ily and ended it with a chuckle. “I know. I mean where are you in the airport? We're here too. Our flight was rerouted and Ma said you were here.”
Blake sat up, eyes alert and searching. “You guys are stuck here too?”
“Yep. And Shane is not pleased,” she added in a low tone.
“Uh,” he rattled off their gate number. “Didn't you like just have a baby?”
“Hence the grumpy man with me. We're headed your way. See you soon.”
Blake hung up and raised his eyes to see his wife watching him with an arched eyebrow.
“You're smiling.”
“Greta and Shane are here,” he answered. Her eyes lit up and a small squeal escaped her. He gave her a quick peck on her cheek and stood up to look for his friends.
Maybe his excitement would be regarded as strange to those who only knew the highlights provided by the gossip rags. Technically, Shane was Lucy's ex-boyfriend.
Technically.
But, like everything in the Double Blind Study world, there was so much more to it than that.
He spotted Shane first. That guy stood out in a crowd. Tall, broad shoulders, face like thunder. Though the face like thunder wasn't his normal look. He was actually a pretty easy-going dude.
“Babies,” Lucy breathed beside him. Blake glanced down at his wife. The discussion of babies hadn't been brought up between them very often. They both knew they wanted to have a family, but neither one had vocalized any sort of a time frame to make that happen.
Greta maneuvered the stroller through the rows of chairs and weary travelers, her face bright. It seemed nothing could get her down. Not even being grounded for Christmas. She'd barely come to a stop when Lucy had her arms around her neck.
That was really it. The thing that made stuff settle between Blake and Shane. The women they loved, loved each other.
Blake lifted his chin and stuck a hand out which Shane gripped and shook once.
Into the Night We Shine Page 2