Bliss Series Boxed Set: The Whole Damn Harem (112 page)

We lose track of time, neither one of us caring about where we are or whatever is going on around us. It’s about the two of us, sharing this moment.

Until a throat clears beside us and we both pivot our heads to find Mac with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“As much as you guys might be enjoying sucking face like a pair of teenagers outside prom, Zoe, you need to come with me to the limo so we can go get our photo taken ten million times and Noah, you need to put
that
thing away, because you’re in charge of entertaining Kate and Zander’s families until we get back. And as much as I bet Zoe’s mom likes you right now, I’m guessing she won’t be as appreciative of your
asset
as her daughter obviously is.”

Zoe sniggers and I smirk at Mac, unable to get mad at her smartass comment when she’s one hundred percent right.

Looking back to Zoe, I kiss her again softly before stepping back. “She’s all yours. For now . . .”

“Right. I’m sure Zander will be most appreciative,” she retorts wryly. “Maybe try to keep it in your pants until after the reception?”

I give her a mock salute and hand Zoe her purse before giving her one last sneaky kiss before watching the two of them walk around the corner and out of sight.

Two hours and a few beers later, we’re asked to stand to welcome the bridal party as they enter the reception.

First Mac walks in with Daniel, Jared and Riley holding each of their hands. All of the women in the room let out a collective ‘aww’ when they see the two mini-monsters, Jared looking smart in a small tux and Riley wearing a mini version of the bridesmaid dresses. Even a non-clucky asshole like myself can admit that they’re cute.

It’s not that I don’t want kids, because I do. I come from a two-child family with a stay-at-home mom who went to every school play, fundraising event, and sports fixture Matt and I were involved in. I want that for my own kids, with someone I love.

Someone who could very well be Zoe, if things keep going as well as they have been.

I feel a buzzing in my pant pocket again and I remember that I forgot to give Zoe back her phone. Pulling it out, I see there are now ten text messages. Either my girlfriend is more popular than I give her credit for, or something is seriously wrong. Besides the fact her family is all here at the same place, I can only hazard a guess that it’s a friend in need.

I look up to see Zoe, Zach and Mia walk in, Zach escorting the two Roberts’ sisters down the makeshift path between the dining tables and toward the large table where we’re all going to be sitting.

As Julie explained to me, Zander and Kate felt it was unfair to have the family split up between tables so the bridal party plus Julie, Danika and myself are sitting in a large table to the side of the dance floor.

When Zoe reaches my side, I gently place my hand on the small of her back and kiss her cheek, earning a sexy telling look for my efforts.

“Now put your hands together for the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Zander Roberts.” The room erupts with loud applause when Kate and Zander come into view, Zander scoops her up, forcing Kate to squeal loudly as he carries her over to the dance floor.

“And at the special request of the groom, the happy couple will now share their first dance because, in Zander’s own words ‘who knows how drunk those girls will get after dinner’.” Laughter takes over the sound of clapping and Kate whacks her husband on the arm playfully before dipping her head into his shoulder to hide what I can only guess is bright red cheeks.

“Never Seen Anything ‘Quite Like You’” by The Script starts playing and I run my fingers in light circles on the bare skin of Zoe’s shoulder as we watch the bride and groom slow dance together, their eyes focused on nobody else.

“After you, sweetheart.” I gesture as I pull out Zoe’s chair and she beams up at me before carefully taking her seat. I do the same for Danika and then Julie before taking my place at Zoe’s side. I hook an arm around the back of her chair and lean in, holding out her phone.

“Did you check your phone? It was going nuts with texts before I gave it back to you.”

She turns to me with a gasp and snatches the phone from my hand, her eyes wide with some unreadable emotion. Quick as it appears, it is gone and it’s like the shutters fall back in place, a bright smile plastered back on her lips as she drops the cell in her lap and places her hand on my thigh.

“Thank you. It’ll just be a friend of mine,” she murmurs, her voice uncharacteristically flat.

I turn to whisper in her ear. “You sure you don’t wanna check it now?”

She tenses and shakes her head, then rests her head against my shoulder as we watch the dance come to an end. Kate’s dad walks onto the dance floor and cuts in, spinning Kate around the floor to “Maybe I'm Amazed,” by Paul McCartney. Zander walks toward our table and curls his finger at Julie, a huge smile on his face as she shakes her head at him.

“Julie, Julie,” the table chants, and she laughs before standing up and taking her son’s now outstretched hand and letting him lead her over to join Kate and her dad.

“I’m looking forward to dancing with you later,” Zoe says quietly.

I dip my chin and kiss her hair. “Definitely makes up for the last wedding we were at together.”

She starts giggling and lifts her head up close to mine. “Well maybe this time I won’t need to go home and take care of myself.”

Cue my choking/coughing fit, which draws almost everyone’s attention to me. I hold up my hand to signal I’m okay and grab the glass of water in front of me and gulp it down until my throat loosens, and I look at the woman I love to see her smirking at me.

“Giving me a taste of my own medicine, I see,” I muse.

“Fair’s fair.” She shoots me a knowing grin and fuck if it doesn’t make my dick twitch—again.

“You’ll keep.”

“Isn’t the punishment half the fun?” she adds with a wink before turning toward Mia sitting on the other side of her.

Trust me to fall for the biggest cock-tease on earth. And the dirty minx knows exactly what she’s doing to me.

“Smooth, brother,” Daniel says, thankfully breaking the sexual tension.

“Seems I have a side job providing entertainment at weddings.”

“As long as that’s the only job you’re getting at weddings, you’re forgiven.”

“If only you knew, Winters.”

“And that’s my cue to dance with my wife.” He stands, lifting Riley up into his arms and ushering Mac and Jared to the dance floor.
More like the cue for exploding the ovaries of every fertile woman in the room.

Glancing again at Zoe, I find her sneaking a look at her phone under the drape of the white tablecloth. “Who was it?” I ask casually, not meaning anything by it but getting suspicious when she jumps in her seat and quickly locks her screen.

“It’s nothing. Just an old friend, like I thought.”

Maybe I’m just being overly suspicious, and unfair to her. But when a woman goes from open and honest—brutally sometimes—to all of a sudden acting cagey and unusually jumpy, alarm bells start to ring.

Unlike before when I was simply curious, now I really
need
to know who is texting her.

And more to the point, why?

∞
∞
∞

We get home well after midnight and having fallen asleep in the car, I know Zoe is exhausted after being on the go all day, but this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach over those text messages hasn’t gone away.

I lock up the house behind us and lead her upstairs to my bedroom. Sitting on the bed, I pull her down to sit in my lap and start pulling the hundreds of clips out of her hair.

“Zo?”

“Yeah,” she replies groggily.

“Who were the texts from?”

Her body tenses but then relaxes again just as quickly. “No one important.”

“I thought you said it was a friend.”

“An old one. It’s nothing.”

“Relax, sweetheart. I noticed you looked uncomfortable when you looked at your phone so I’m just concerned.”

“I’m okay. Everything is okay,” she says softly.

“Is your ex still bothering you?”

She doesn’t answer me straight away and after a while, I even look over her shoulder to see if she’s still awake. Her head drops and she stares at the floor. “It’s nothing, Noah. I’m just really tired. Maybe I’ll just sleep with my hair up.”

She tries to pull away. I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my chin on her shoulder.

“You can talk to me. I hope you know that.”

“Of course,” she says. “As I said, I’m just tired. It’s been a big day.”

“It has. But just answer me this.” I loosen my arms and pull her sideways, gently turning her face toward me with my hand. “You’d tell me if he was still bothering you, right? Because when I said I loved you, I meant it. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“He’s harmless. He just wants me back.” She drops her head to my shoulder and nuzzles into my neck in what I suspect to be a diversionary tactic.

“He can’t have you. His loss, my gain,” I murmur against her temple.

“Mmm hmm,” she hums before her mouth opens and her tongue touches the skin below my ear.

“Don’t start something you don’t want me to finish.”

“Never,” she says, her lips smiling against my neck.

“Then I better get you undressed and in bed, especially if I’m going to fuck you senseless.”

I watch as she starts pulling off her dress in an extraordinary boost of energy that has my dick hardening and my blood pumping—mostly south.

I launch myself at her and pull her down onto the bed beside me, covering her body with mine and kissing her speechless. Then I proceed to really wear her out, making a point of ending this wedding in a much better way than the last.

“Jealous”

Zoe

“Stop fidgeting,” Noah tells me from the driver’s seat. We’re in his SUV on our way to his parents’ Fourth of July party. It’s been two weeks since Zander and Kate’s wedding and they’re due to return back from their honeymoon next week.

“I’m nervous.”

“Fuck knows why. It’s just my parents,” he replies nonchalantly.

“
Just
your parents? Hello! I’ve never met them before. Did you even tell them you were bringing me?”

He turns his head to me and narrows his eyes. “Of course I did. My mom’s already planning our engagement, wedding, and first child’s christening.”

“You’re joking?” I breathe, my heart thumping in my chest at the mere thought.

He reaches his hand over the center console and grabs mine, gently squeezing my fingers. “Of course I’m joking. She’s still stuck at the engagement stage.”

“You’re not helping,” I reply snarkily, snatching my hand from his but being thwarted when he tightens his grip, refusing to let me go.

I glare at him and he just smirks at me. “You’re not nervous now though, are you?”

“Still not helping.”

It’s been two weeks since Zander’s wedding. Two weeks since I told him I loved him and he shocked the hell out of me by saying it back. Since then, we’ve gone from strength to strength, and Noah continues to surprise me with his attentiveness.

If he’s worked a long shift, he has made sure he calls me whenever he gets downtime. During the days we were both at the hospital and he wasn’t in surgery, we’d share lunch in the cafeteria.

We’ve also been out on a few—more successful—dates. Once to the movies, a few dinners, a baseball game, and then nights together at either my apartment or his house. I’m still having nightmares, but I’ve been really careful not to disturb him if he’s with me. There hasn’t been a day where we haven’t ended it or started it together, in one way or another. If I’m being honest, I’m the happiest I have ever been. He’s shown me over and over again that there are many layers to the great Noah Taylor, and every new side he shows me just makes me love him even more.

But not so much this cocky smartass one right now.

“So tell me about your ex.”

“Whoa. Where did that come from?”

“Well you said her parents might be here. So I figured, why not ask about her. All I know is that the girls call her Satan and she used to sleep with both you and Daniel.”

“At different times,” he mutters.

“Yes, at different times, I know. Now spill.”

“Whhyy?” he asks slowly, suspiciously.

“You haven’t really talked about her. Like at
all
.”

“Because she’s not worth talking about.” His voice is dismissive and flat.

“Were you with her a long time?”
Please say no. Please say no.

“We were never
together
together. She was Daniel’s ex-girlfriend.”

I can’t help but do an internal fist pump. I know he loves me, but somehow it makes me feel better. “Daniel and Nikki used to go out in high school, and then briefly when we got back from college.”

“Then he met Mac and the rest is history?”

“Something like that,” he replies dryly.

“So how did you two hook up then?”

“Usually in bed, and that was it.” His voice is flat, like he’d rather be talking about anything else in the world.

“Didn’t need to know that much,” I mumble.

“You’re jealous now?” He asks.

“No! But no woman likes to hear about her boyfriend sleeping with another woman, ex or otherwise.”

“Duly noted,” he murmurs as he brings the car to a stop at a red light. He turns to me and pulls my hand, grabbing my attention. “She was just sex. I thought I wanted more, but she was getting what she could out of me while waiting for her next big fish to grab on to her hook. The way I feel about you . . .” He brings our joined hands to my face, flipping them over to run his knuckles down my cheek, “I never felt even an ounce of that for her. That is why you have
nothing
to be jealous of, because you are ten times the woman she is and ever will be.”

Boom!
Just like that, my heart explodes inside of my chest. He definitely wins all the prizes for swoon-worthy speeches today.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re pulling into a wide circular driveway in front of a house with four huge pillars holding up the front of it. “Holy crap!” I whisper, my eyes bugging out at the ginormous mansion in front of me.