Covered In Paint: Book Five of the Art Of Love Series

by Donna McDonald

  “She is. Brooke is really nice,” Brandon said cautiously, carefully hugging Chelsea back. He was trying like hell not to notice how good she felt in his arms. His body wasn’t cooperating.

  “Chelsea, you’ve been a great friend to me lately, but there’s something terrible I need to confess to you,” Brandon whispered. He put his hands around her waist and held on so she couldn’t move away. “I hate to tell you this…and I know you don’t think of me this way…but I’m a boy. There…I’ve said it now.”

  “This is exactly why my brothers think you’re so lame,” she grumbled.

  Chelsea’s husky laugh over his teasing set all his nerve ends dancing. Her arms tightening sent heat everywhere. When her head moved against his shoulder, he wanted to kiss the top of it. Chelsea Lansing might be the first girl he’d ever really liked.

  “I just felt like it was time for us to be honest with each other,” Brandon whispered.

  “Fine. You know this means you can’t come into my room anymore,” Chelsea exclaimed.

  Brandon grinned when he heard her sigh with great drama. And he knew what it meant. He was learning her…and liking everything he found out.

  “It’s okay. I’m getting my own place as soon as I find some work. You can visit me there instead. No one will ever know what happens between us.”

  She pulled back and looked up into his gaze. Her surprise made him smile.

  “I thought you said I shouldn’t be dating college boys…for just that reason.”

  “You shouldn’t,” Brandon agreed, tightening his grip on her. “You should be dating me instead. Want to catch a movie Friday night? Providing your brothers and Shane let me live long enough.”

  Chelsea laughed and bit her lip. “Why do you want to go out with me? Maybe you’re just feeling grateful and relieved that Brooke is okay.”

  Brandon nodded. “All that’s true, but there are other reasons. For one, I’ve never dated a girl who could kiss my boo-boos better. Since I grew up without a mother, I think I’m deprived. I really like that about you.”

  Her snort had him chuckling. “You’re still lame.”

  “Not lame. I have a boo-boo right now that needs kissing.”

  Chelsea pushed hard on his chest. He laughed at her efforts to get away from what was happening to him when moments earlier she seemed to be enjoying herself.

  “Brandon Barrymore, if that means what I think it means, my brothers won’t find enough of your dead body to kick your ass for me.”

  Brandon snorted and laughed. “Dummy. I would never talk that way to you. Look at my face.”

  When she turned her glare on him, he moved one his hands to tap his mouth with a finger. “My lips hurt. They need you to kiss them and make them all better.”

  It was nearly magical the way the anger left her gaze to be replaced with lust as she stared at his smiling lips.

  He snickered when she stretched forward and kissed the corner of his mouth.

  “Your magic must be slipping. It still hurts,” he whispered.

  Chelsea sighed. “You’re making me nervous. Don’t be a dweeb.”

  Brandon moved both his hands to her waist again, and then ran them up and down her back, stopping at her hips. It was perfectly tantalizing to think she might let him do it whenever he wanted. Maybe he was going to like having a girlfriend.

  “Now who’s lame?” he asked.

  Chelsea’s mouth meeting his firmly wiped all other thoughts away. She kissed him with complete attention to it, and he kissed her back with more enthusiasm than he’d known he had for her. It made his head spin to slant his mouth across hers, but in a good way.

  “Still lame?” he asked, as she slid from his grip to the floor.

  Chelsea took a step back from him and stumbled. Brandon laughed at her glazed over eyes and caught her hand. She shook her head and stared at him. “Well, you’re definitely a boy…I guess I don’t mind. Are we still friends?”

  Brandon chuckled at their new mutual understanding of each other and stepped away from the wall. “We are the best of friends…and now we can have benefits too…if we want.”

  Beside him Chelsea snorted. “You do not have your father’s charm.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to develop it. Can I practice on you?” Brandon asked, pulling her along with him.

  “Sure. If you can survive a movie night at my house this Friday. It’s Brian’s turn to pick one. Your reaction will probably tell me if this thing we have stands a chance.”

  Brandon laughed as they walked down the hall. “So we have a thing?”

  “We are not telling anybody yet, so keep your voice down, Lame Boy.”

  He laughed again, and then harder when Chelsea gave him a chastising look. It made him want to kiss her again. God, he was in big trouble. He liked her moods…and her reactions…and the way she kissed him.

  “Chelsea, we have a thing. You might want to get used to it. And your family is going to know soon. Brian already knows.”

  “Brian doesn’t get an opinion. He’s even lamer than you,” Chelsea said, tilting her head.

  Brandon grinned. “Will you wear those pink, pointy-toe shoes Friday night if I promise to behave around your family?”

  Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Okay. I take it back. No one is lamer than you. Not even my brothers. I don’t think this thing is going to work, Brandon.”

  Before she could make her escape, Brandon nabbed one hand and yanked her against his side. He smiled at all the Larsons staring at him in the parking lot.

  “We’re just friends…for now. She thinks I’m lame,” he yelled.

  Chelsea punching his arm had him laughing hysterically. He saw his father look up at the sky, but Brooke gave him a thumbs up sign.

  For the first time, he felt like things might actually be working out like they were supposed to.

  Chapter 19

  Shane and Reesa giggled when Sara all but skipped down the aisle of the church. They grinned as Queen Mellon quietly stepped forward in her soft yellow suit and stopping the twirling princess from twisting the red bridal carpet into a mangle mess beneath her twirling, dancing feet.

  They turned again to see a waddling Carrie rolling her eyes as she made her way slowly down the aisle. She looked huge with only three weeks to go. Michael made smoochie lips at her from where he stood beside Drake.

  “Where did Ellen ever find a such a beautiful maid of honor dress for a pregnant woman? That’s totally gorgeous. Your mother truly has a gift for this.”

  Shane nodded. “And it makes Mom happy…thank God for miracles. It keeps her occupied and out of our hair.”

  His wife’s sharp elbow in his side had him chuckling. Then everyone was standing as the wedding march announced the barely pregnant bride who could hardly walk because the nausea medicine she was taking made her loopy.

  Reesa rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe Brooke stopped her birth control all those months ago. Of course she was going to get pregnant. He can’t keep his hands off her.”

  Shane put an arm around his wife and bent down. “Well, you’re in the same condition…and for the same reasons,” he whispered.

  “Shush,” Reesa said. “No one is to know until the wedding is over. You promised.”

  Shane kissed the top of her head as he stood to his full height. He could wait a little longer to tell the world, but not too much. They had found out just when the results from Brooke’s surgery had come in. But Reesa was going to be showing soon and at her height any belly bump would be noticeable. He secretly hoped they were having a girl. Chelsea would be a great help to Reesa during the first year. Princess Sara would love being a big sister. Brian oozed enough testosterone for three boys. They were really going to have to find him some sort of outlet for that energy soon.

  As the bride glided by, Shane offered a thumbs up. Brooke must have thought it was funny because she paused her walk and ducked her head to giggle. Brandon gave him a concerned look and then gently pulled his soon-to-be
stepmother forward again.

  Finally, Brooke was at Drake’s side, and they all got to sit.

  Shane chuckled when the boy handed a weaving Brooke off to his father with relief and rushed to sit next to Chelsea. He ordered himself not to worry or to let his mind wander too far ahead to the future. They were both young. Lots of things could happen. And probably would. Brandon and Chelsea were at least being honest in their attraction to each other. They were friends too, which was why her brothers had finally backed off from torturing the boy their sister favored.

  Watching them, Shane had often wished Joe and Jillian would just give in to what they felt. After months of watching those two dance around each other and their attraction, he and Reesa were plotting behind their backs to get them to admit their interest. It was excruciating to see how sad they both were when the other wasn’t able to be around.

  Pulling his thoughts from his best friend’s love dilemma, Shane turned his attention back to the couple getting married, grinning when his stepsister stumbled against her groom and almost tripped on her dress.

  “Brooke looks like she’s about to faint,” he whispered to his wife.

  Reesa snorted and turned a disbelieving gaze on her husband. “You have no room to criticize. You did faint.”

  “No, I didn’t. I locked my knees,” Shane said.

  “And Brooke is pregnant,” Reesa said back.

  “Shush…pay attention…Ouch.” He rubbed his leg where his wife had pinched it before turning his gaze back to the couple at the front.

  ***

  “Brooke Renee Daniels, do you take Drake Elton Barrymore to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, so long both as you shall live.”

  Brooke nodded her head, snorted, and then turned her head away from Drake to laugh. “I’m sorry. It’s your name. Elton…as in John…as in Rocket Man…Oh God that’s still funny. Why would your mother name you that?”

  “It was my uncle’s name. Remember? Brooke…honey. Get a grip. Okay?” Drake sighed and looked at the minister in apology. “I’m sorry. She’s on nausea medicine for the morning sickness and I forgot to monitor…uh…”

  Drake froze, realizing he’d just announced his bride-to-be’s condition to a minister.

  He looked at his bride and winced. “Oops.”

  Brooke looked at her groom and then snuck a glance at the audience. Her mother and Will were sitting on the front row. They had both covered their faces with their hands. That was funny too. Behind them, her stepbrother Shane sat with his thumb in the air, held high enough for the entire assembly to see. Her unwed, expectant condition was nothing but a source of amusement for him.

  As she was glaring at Shane, Michael peered around Drake and grinned at her.

  “Way to go, sis. Now you and I are both equally notorious,” her other evil stepbrother said loudly.

  “And you and Shane are both wicked bastards,” Brooke declared, glaring first at Michael and then at Shane. Then she realized what she’d said aloud…in the church.

  She covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at the minister in shame. “Oops.”

  She felt her groom tighten his grip on her. Drake’s hand was trembling. Did he think she was going to run? She turned to face him. His face was twisted and flushed.

  “It’s okay. You can let go of my hand, Drake. I promise I’m not going to run. I want our baby to have your name legally.”

  Then she realized his hand was trembling because he was laughing hard and unsuccessfully trying to stop.

  “Oh dear lord, can’t one wedding in this family be normal? She not even related by blood.”

  Ellen’s outburst sent the entire bridal party into pealing laughter. The minister coughed through his outburst and pretended to be offended by all the disruptions. Brooke wasn’t fooled. He probably loved having all the crazy stories her family provided him. Otherwise, why would he keep agreeing to do weddings for the Larsons?

  She raised her bouquet high in the air and everyone in the church got really quiet. She lowered it again and smiled at her groom.

  “I love you, Drake Elton Barrymore. I want to live with you, help you finish raising your son, and enjoy any children we have together.”

  She turned to the congregation and smiled. “Yes, one is already on the way. We have medical reasons for it. My doctor said I needed to have all the children I wanted before I hit thirty-five.”

  While the audience nodded and shrugged, she looked back at her groom.

  “Given what my mother did at her wedding, I don’t know why I expected to take the nausea meds today and do any better. They make me silly. We knew that. I’m just sorry to embarrass you, especially up here in front of all these people.”

  Drake shook his head and grinned. His new wife was high maintenance. He loved every minute of it. “Want me to say something poetic and save the moment?”

  “Yes, please. I could use a hero about now.”

  “Okay. Here it is. I promise to love and cherish you, in sickness and in health. And in case of a zombie attack, I promise to step in front of you and let them eat my brain so you can escape. Oh…and to be faithful…but that’s the easy part. I’m a one-woman guy.”

  Brooke looked at the minister. “How can a woman say no to that? It wouldn’t be logical.”

  “No, indeed,” the officiate declared.

  “Okay. I’m ready now…and mostly sober. Ask me the big question again, please,” Brooke requested, smiling at their officiate.

  “Brooke, do you take this man to be your husband?”

  “Yes, I do,” Brooke declared.

  “I’m convinced,” the officiate said, turning to a smiling groom. “How about you, Drake? Do you take this woman to be your wife? I hear she’s having your baby son, but let’s get this down for the record.”

  “Yes sir, I do. I’ll even tolerate her crazy family.”

  “Right. Good man. I’ll pray for you then,” the officiate declared.

  Over the giggling audience, he raised his voice.

  “By the power invested in me by God and the State of Kentucky, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss your bride, Dr. Barrymore. She’s looks ready to bolt. That happens a lot with the Larson group. You have to nab them quick.”

  Drake pulled a giggling Brooke into his arms for a kiss that lingered way too long, but he didn’t care. He broke away to the sound of another round of applause from the crowd.

  Brooke nearly dissolved in his arms when Princess Sara clapped, yelled “yay”, and escaped Ellen’s hold on her. She giggled when the dancing girl ran out to face the congregation, her dress twirling madly. She wanted a child just like Sara.

  “Okay people. Who’s next to get married? Aunt Jillian…where are you? We need to find your prince now,” she called, scanning the sea of faces.

  “Oh no baby, no prince for me. I’m out of here,” Jillian called from the back of the church, escaping her seat to burst through the church doors before she could be stopped.

  “No wait! Aunt Jillian! I’m sure there’s another prince in my kingdom,” Sara declared, racing after her aunt to keep her from leaving.

  “Poor Jillian. Her fate is sealed. Sara is being raised by a wicked Larson,” Brooke said, grinning when her new husband laughed.

  # # The End # #

  To read the poems Drake wrote on Brooke for inspiration, look for How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “Grow Old Along With Me, The Best Is Yet To Be” which is a beautiful quote from the poem Rabbi Ben Ezra by her husband Robert Browning.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: If you enjoyed this ebook, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them. You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate you!

  Many thanks for your support,
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  ~ Donna McDonald

  Want more? Visit www.donnamcdonaldauthor.com to see a complete list of my books and keep up with the progress of Carved In Wood, Book 6 of the Art Of Love Series. Yes, Jillian will find her prince because that’s how it works in Princess Sara’s kingdom.