The porch lights to Mr. Casbon’s house lit up, with a squeal of laughter Grandma was pulled inside.

“Well.” Jake held out his hand. “You know what that means.”

Char put her hand in his. “We can go back to bed?”

With a growl he pulled her into his arms and kissed her roughly across the mouth. “Without having to worry about Grandma barging in.”

Biting her lip Char tilted her head. “I think I saw some whipped cream in the fridge.”

“Go. No!” Laughing, Jake helped her down the ladder as they ran back toward the house. Once they were in the kitchen Jake located the fruit and whipped cream and Char found the wine. They took the stairs two at a time but froze when they heard a low growl.

“Ah, shit.” 

“It was only too easy,” Travis said from on top of the stairs. “You see, Jake here never learned French, thought it was too feminine for his tastes. Isn’t that right, brother?”

“Travis…” Jake’s voice had taken on a warning edge. What the hell was his brother doing?

Kacey sat across Travis’s lap. A look of pure contentment washed across their faces as the dog stood blocking Jake and Char’s path to their room.

“Self-control is good for you,” Kacey said, kissing Travis’s neck. “I mean, really, we’re doing you guys a favor.”

“How’d you get rid of Grandma?” Jake asked. “No way would she leave you alone.”

Travis grinned. “Mr. Casbon. Seems he’s been feeling pretty lonely since Grandma’s taken up residence here in the hallway. One phone call and down the stairs she went.”

Jake wanted to smack the smile off his brother’s face. “Fine, you win, you possess more intelligence than a flea. Let us up.”

Kacey and Travis looked at one another as if to say, what do you think?

Char groaned behind him.

“Think of it as a team-building exercise.” Kacey finally said. “You work together to make it up the stairs and into your bedroom and we’ll ignore any cries of help in the process.”

“Why are you doing this?” Jake asked.

“We lost a wager,” Kacey said through clenched teeth. “It’s only fair that we get some satisfaction.”

“Why can’t everyone get satisfaction?” Jake wondered aloud.

“Because, it’s your fault Grandma’s singing at the wedding,” Kacey said. “Therefore, we get satisfaction, and you get…” She pointed to the white dog. “Charles Barkley.”

Travis gave her a high five as they walked out of the hall, leaving Jake and Char alone with the small dog.

“How dangerous can he be?” Jake reached his fingers out to the dog. It began to growl and then gnashed its teeth together. “He’s faking it, right? He’s not really a bad boy, are you, Charles!” He tried again. This time the dog almost took off his finger.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t stand any closer.” Char pulled him back. “He may decide to bite something else off and I’m pretty sure that would put a damper on our evening.”

Jake scratched his head. “What do we do? He’s guarding the way to our room, and the rest of the guest rooms are taken up by the wedding party.”

“We can always scream fire next to Amy’s and then lock her out of her room?” Char suggested in a hopeful voice.

“Char.” Jake grabbed her hand. “Be the bigger person.”

“Do I have to?”

“Try.” Jake chuckled and pulled her into his arms, placing a hungry kiss on her mouth. The dog, clearly agitated, began to bark.

With a growl Jake pulled back. “Stop barking!”

The dog barked louder, this time hopping on all four feet, as if he was trying to jump into the air.

“Shh!” Char pointed at the dog. “No bark!”

The dog stopped for two seconds before howling again.

“I hate Grandma,” Jake cursed.

Char stood behind him.

“Gee, thanks. How’d I go from husband to human shield?”

Char laughed behind him. “Well, we are married now.”

“Good point.”

“What are we going to do?”

The dog wasn’t moving, that much was clear, and no way was Jake going to take the risk that the dog might bite off any bigger parts of his anatomy. Stuck, he looked back down the hallway. “I have an idea.”

Ten minutes later, they were back in the tree house. Only this time they had blankets, more wine, and popcorn.

Jake reached for Char’s fingers, grasping them within his own as he looked out the window toward the river. “About your job—”

“Screw my job.” Char wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled his lap. “A job’s a job.”

“But you actually liked your job.” He peeled her arms from his neck and looked into her eyes, “You and Kacey used to do the morning news in the tree house when you were seven. Pretty sure it was your dream.”

“I liked telling stories, I liked writing…” She shrugged. “I like you more. Sometimes in life, the things we really want are right in front of us.”

Jake laughed. “Wow, am I blushing? That was a damn sexy compliment. I’m so glad you like me… Can we maybe date and then get married? Oh wait.” He slapped his hand to his forehead. “Did it kind of backward.”

“Nah.” Char touched her head to his. “Sometimes what’s backward for some is forward for others.”

Jake gazed into her eyes, promising to never let her go. “I think I like backward.”

Char smiled, her blue eyes shining in the moonlight. “I do too.”

“I may die,” Travis swore. “Just so you know, I may actually die right now. It will be on the news, people will laugh; it could get ugly, Kace. I’m just saying that right now.”

“Just in case?” Kacey threw off her shirt.

Travis’s eyes went black. “Right, just in case.”

“I see.” She stepped out of her shorts and dropped them to the ground.

“Holy shit, it’s like I’m a kid.”

“Are you trying to kill the mood?” Kacey glared, putting her hands on her hips.

Travis looked away. “Yeah, so not what I meant.”

“Care explaining?”

“A youth.” Travis grinned. “Like the first time I saw you in your bathing suit.”

“Ah, the stories of your perverted teen years. Tell me, Satan—”

“Oohhh, dirty talk. I like it.”

Kacey rolled her eyes. “What was the color of my bathing suit?”

Travis licked his lips and stalked toward her. “Pink, it was hot pink, and it was a bikini.” He pulled her into his arms and licked her ear. “It was hot.”

“Oh yeah?” Kacey whispered pulling back. “Is that why you pushed me into the pool?”

“I did say hot.” Travis nipped at her lips. “You needed to cool off… I was being a gentleman.”

“You were being an ass.” Kacey said.

“That too.” Travis ran his hands through her hair. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

Feeling her cheeks heat, Kacey looked down. He hadn’t said that to her for a week or so, which was totally understandable since they had been all but separated by Grandma. It felt good to hear it.

“Don’t.” Travis chuckled. “Don’t get shy on me all of a sudden.”

“Not shy.” Kacey met his gaze. “Just happy to hear you say it.”

Travis’s brow furrowed. “Do I not say it enough?”

“You do.” Kacey didn’t even sound convincing to herself. “Holy crap, I’m turning high maintenance. It’s because you spoiled me!” She pinched his arm and found satisfaction in his cry of pain.

“Brat.” Travis threw her onto the bed and straddled her, holding her wrists down so she couldn’t move.

Kacey thrashed against him. Damn the man, he was strong.

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes. His dark wavy hair hung over his forehead as he leaned close enough to kiss her. Instead he inhaled and did nothing.

“Um, Travis.” Kacey whispered.

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing? I thought you were dying? I thought you said you were going to go crazy without any sort of physical contact, and you’re…” She laughed breathlessly. “You’re smelling me?”