Take Me (Take Me 1)

Janica turned back to Lily and looked intently at her. “You look great, Lils. Have you been working out?”

Lily shook her head. “Too busy to work out,” she said, bending over to twist a towel into her unruly hair.

With a laugh she straightened up, and said, “Not like I’d need an excuse to be lazy. You know me.”

Janica ignored Lily’s dig at herself. “I know what it is,” Janica said with a sigh and a twinge of envy. “It’s true love.”

So much for not getting all lovey-dovey on me, Lily thought as she gave up her plan to dump her worries on Janica’s lap.

“Or all of the marathon sex,” Janica added wickedly.

Lily almost dropped her towel. “How do you know about our sex life?” she sputtered.

Janica burst out laughing. “I didn’t until now,” she teased. “Between you and me, how is Travis in bed?”

Quickly recovering from her sister’s trick, Lily lowered her voice and said, “Between you and me…” She made a show of looking out the door to make sure no one was listening.

“Go on,” Janica said breathlessly.

“Like I’d tell you, you little twerp,” Lily said, with a grin.

Janica groaned. “Shoot. I was just wondering how the Carson brothers are in the sack is all.”

Lily raised an eyebrow. “The Carson brothers? As in Luke?”

Janica got up and changed the subject. “I brought the most incredible dress for you to wear tonight. I’ve been working on the design since Italy.”

Lily took in Janica’s flushed complexion and decided to do some more probing later. Luke and Janica?

The thought had never occurred to her before, especially since she’d been so wrapped up in her own whirlwind romance. Guilt weighed her down, and she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, deflated.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy lately. I’m going to cut back so that we can spend more time together.”

Janica whipped around, the pretty dress floating from her fingertips. “Are you crazy? I’m so happy for you! A new business and a new husband! It’s about time you got off your butt and did something with your life.”

Guilt turned to irritation, even though Lily knew her sister was right. “Well excuse me,” she said sarcastically, starting to riffle through her makeshift lingerie drawer in Travis’s dresser. “I didn’t realize I’d been such a lump of coal in your stocking all these years.”

Lily blinked back tears. Even her own sister thought she had wasted her life. Up until a month ago she evidently hadn’t been worth much to anyone.

Janica’s giggles were the last thing she expected to hear. Lily whirled around and threw the lacy bra she had selected at Janica. It landed right across her open mouth, and this time laughter gurgled up from Lily’s throat. “What are you laughing at?” she demanded as she threw one bra after another at her sister, followed by a thong panty that sat like a hat on Janica’s dark hair.

Janica launched herself at Lily and hugged her tightly. “You’re wonderful, Lily,” she cried. “Did you see the way you stood up to me?”

Lily blinked with surprise. “I guess I did sort of do that, didn’t I?”

Janica nodded fervently. “You did. It was great. You’ve changed so much in all the best ways. I never thought I’d see the day when I would say this, but Travis is the best thing that ever happened to you.”

Lily held a fistful of panties to her chest and leaned back against the dresser. “Do you really think so?”

Janica smoothed out the dress and handed it to Lily. “Put this on. It’s gonna look fabulous. And yes,” she added, with a feline smile, “not only is Travis a changed man, but he’s made you a changed woman.” She put her chin in her hand and fluttered her eyelashes. “Ah, the wonders of true love,” she said dramatically.

Having caught Lily off guard, Janica whipped her towel off. “Now get dressed, and let’s party.”

Two hours later the party was in full swing. Travis’s client meeting had gone late, so they barely had time for a quick kiss before the doorbell started ringing. Even so, thanks to Janica’s vote of confidence, Lily felt much more positive about everything. Who knew, she thought with a smile as she refilled the wineglasses for a group of Travis’s sleek, fashionable friends and coworkers, maybe everything would work out after all. Why had she wasted so much time worrying about things falling apart?

She looked across the room at Travis, who was cracking up the circle of people around him with a story.

He looked up and winked at her midsentence, and Lily’s heart filled with love. For her husband. She couldn’t wait for the party to be over so that she could rip off his clothes and attack him. Maybe she’d tie him up again. Or maybe, she thought with a delicious shiver, he’d tie her up.

He walked toward her and wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling down at her. Reaching for a spoon from the table beside them, he clanked it on his wineglass several times. “Everyone,” he called out in a strong voice, “could Lily and I have your attention?”

Faces turned expectantly in their direction, and Lily could feel herself turning pink. “What are you doing?”

she whispered.

He kissed her on the forehead. “Just making a little announcement,” he whispered back. Squeezing her hand, he said, “Thank you for coming on such short notice to our party. As you all know, Lily and I got married in Italy last month.” A loud whooping went up in the room, and someone started a chant of

“Kiss, kiss, kiss.”

Travis grinned. “Good idea.” He pulled Lily to him, and she gasped as his lips found hers, hard, then soft, his tongue sweeping into her mouth possessively. The cheers grew louder, and she was reminded of their wedding at the festival, when all of the locals had cheered for them.

Someone yelled, “Get a room,” and Travis finally let her come up for air. She clung to him limply as he joked, “You won’t miss us for a little while, will you?” He pretended to drag Lily back to the bedroom.

Everyone laughed, including Lily. “What I really wanted to say in front of all of our friends,” he said, his expression serious, “is that I love this woman with all of my heart.” Lily didn’t hear the sighs of “ahh” and

“isn’t that romantic?” as she stared into Travis’s eyes. It was down to the two of them, and she was lost in his incredible declaration. This time she pulled Travis down to her and had her way with his sweet mouth.