Need You Now (Martha's Way Series Book 2) (25 page)

“Like
tonight.”

“Like
tonight,” Minka confirmed.

“The two
of you
have been together for a year now. I think he
sees you and loves you as you are. Jason is in love with everything about you.
Not just your ass.” She teased her friend. Normally tight-lipped, Minka once
slipped and told her about Jason’s obsession with her
backside. “You do have a nice rump.”

“You’re
killing me,” Minka groaned. “Jason and I got into a fight. I said some nasty
things.”

“Like how nasty, on a scale from one to fifty.”

“One
hundred,” Minka admitted in a brittle voice.

Lily
cringed. “Should I da
re ask what you said and why?”

“I
questioned his love for me. And I didn’t use the kindest words.”

The
sadness in Minka’s voice ripped along Lily’s heart. She clasped her hand over
Minka’s.
“Oh, hon.”

“What if
he wakes up one day and realizes he can do bet
ter
than this?” She waved a hand over her body.

“Minka,
I thought you were over all of that.”

“I
thought so too. But…”

“With
days to go, the fact that you are about to marry this hunk of a man is too
real.” She understood Minka’s anxiety. She was about to
sign a contract of vows that should never be broken, it was normal for
insecurities to creep up. “You deserve all the happiness that you and Jason
have found. Don’t let anything screw that up. But if you are having doubts, we
can make a getaway tonight.”

“
I love him.”

“I know
you do. And he loves you. Why don’t you call him and tell him to bring his ass
back home where he belongs?”

“I’m
scared.” Minka’s voice shook on the words. “Just a little, but scared
nonetheless.”

Minka
turned to face her. Her eyes lea
ked with
insecurities, uncertainty. Lily felt the tears well up again. She really needed
to stop crying, but shit, this was her best friend. “You’re going to make me
cry. I can’t cry anymore tonight.” She let out a chuckle and touched the corner
of her eye
s. “Damn it, I’m crying.”

They
fell into each other’s arms, and cried a river, with ragged currents flowing
down their cheeks onto the wilted collars of their shirts.

Minutes
later, emotionally drained, they fell back on the sofa, wiped their eyes and
let
out a shaky laugh.

“I love
you, Lily.”

“Ditto, my friend.
Do you feel better?”

“A little.”

“Good.”

“I know
Jason loves me,” Minka said with a little more certainty.

“It’s
okay to doubt.” She understood doubts. Only a week ago, she questioned her
relationship with Adam. It felt like eternity. “Call your
fiancé and remind him how much you love him.”

Minka
nodded. “I will. Sorry for calling you so late
. I could have called
Keely but—
” Minka shook her head.
“Still work in progress there.”

The
sisters
had made a ton of progress on building a
stronger relationship. However, after years of resentment, specifically from
Minka, it would take time to mend something so fragile.

“We are
closer and no more jealousy from me anymore, but…” She paused. “I hurt her
for so long, you know.”

Lily
touched her friend’s shoulder. “Keely doesn’t hold grudges. She loves you.”

“I know.
And I love her. I will get there one day.” She exhaled and smiled at her
friend. “What’s going on with you and Adam?”

“He told
me everything
tonight.” It wasn’t her story to share,
regardless how close she was with Minka.

“Is he
okay?”

She
nodded. “I think so. I still have questions.”

“Are you
okay? I mean so much has happened to you in over a week.” She let out a deep
breath. “That was pretty
selfish of me to text you so
late.”

Lily
waved a dismissive hand. “Technically, I’m at your service this week. This is
your wedding week. And I’m o
kay. The baby is well protected
and fine.” She patted the
small roundness of her stomach.
“Just
a lot to proc
ess.”
Lily chewed her bottom
lip. “I’m so in love with him.”

“So
you’ll marry him then?”

“Is it
that simple to marry someone? I mean, you and Jason are in love. You’re not
settling. I can’t say I wouldn’t if I were to marry Adam.”

“He
loves you, you know.”

“He
cares for me. I know that. But love, I don’t think he’s there.”

Minka
smiled. “He’s there. You’re just not looking close enough.”

Maybe.
But she was looking now at his
vulnerability, his trust in her. The front door opened, indicating Jason had
return
ed home. Lily glanced at her friend. Swollen
eyes smiled at her and Lily relaxed. Everything was going to be okay.

Jason
entered the living room, looking as handsome as ever in a casual dark blue wool
jacket, blue plaid shirt and faded blue jeans. His daun
ting blue eyes settled on Lily and he nodded. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better.”

“Adam
sent me a text to tell me you were heading over.”

Lily
smiled. “Yeah, I was just leaving.”

“I’m not
kicking you out but…”

As
always, he looked in total control. He
glanced at
Minka and their eyes locked.

Lily
stood up. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

Minka
rose to her feet. “Jason…Oomph!”

He
pulled Minka against his chest and crashed his lips against hers. Minka’s arms
quickly wrapped around Jason’s neck and welcomed him back home. Heat ignited
between the two. Feeling her temperature rising, Lily fumbled through her purse
to find her keys
and tried her best not to stare, but
she looked and she saw an ardent love, passion, trust, respect and lots of
fucking heat.
Jason’s feelings raw
on his face, hiding nothing from Minka.
All the things she had
with Adam.

It hit
her then. Adam loved her. In
his own cautious way, he
loved her. And he showed that to her tonight by showing his vulnerability and
opening himself to greater possibilities. He trusted her. It scared him, she
could tell. Because trusting her meant he was giving her ways to hurt him,
still he laid down his armor.

“I’m in
love with you. Don’t ever doubt that
,
Minka,” Jason said once they finally
broke for air, bringing Lily back to reality. And right now she felt like a
peeping Tom.

“I’m
sorry,” Minka apologized.

“Show
me,”
Jason
said
,
his
lips on Minka’s neck.

Oh boy.
Lily cleared her throat. The sound fell on deaf ears. “Um…I’ll see my way out.”
Jason was now nibbling on Minka’s ear. “Well, yeah…Um…okay. Have fun.”

She
slipped out of the room, walked down the hall and made her way into
the Maserati. Once in the car, she pulled out her phone
and texted Adam.

Why tonight? Why did you tell me everything tonight?

His
response was quick.

You want all of me. I’m giving you what you want.

She blew
out a breath and brushed her bangs to the
side.

Because of the baby?

She
pressed her eyes closed and waited for her phone to vibrate again.
Please say no
. This time his response
took a second or two. When her phone finally buzzed, her heart kicked. Slowly,
Lily read the words.

No. Come home.

Lily
counted to ten as slowly as she could to calm herself down. Never mind she was
alone in her car, in the dark, in Jason’s parking lot. And Adam couldn’t see
how giddy those words just made her.

When her
heart finally settled, somewhat, she answered.

A
sk me to marry you again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Family is like underwear
…
. Some crawl up your ass
…
Some get a little twisted
…
And some actually do
cover your ass when you need them too.”

Anonymous

Two days
later, hand in hand, Lily and Adam walked
outside
Peter’s office at the only hospital on the Vineyard. Once in the hallway, she
tugged on his shirt and he pulled her into his arms for one of those
heart-racing kisses. Adam’s hands instantly circled her waist and held her.

“What
was that about?” he
asked once they finally stopped
for air.

“I can
officially have sex.” She grinned. “That means we can have sex.” She glanced at
her watch because her family was due to arrive in a couple of hours. The way
she was feeling fifteen minutes would do. Hell, t
he
quicker, the better. “Like right now.”

He
laughed,
a soothing, light and
easy sound.

“If we
go back to the house, you’re not seeing your family today.”

He
hadn’t proposed again, but he’d only just returned from Boston helping Jason
with last-minute wed
ding stuff. Another chuckle came
from him with a twinkle in his eyes. Since their conversation two nights ago,
they seemed to be laughing constantly, touching more, smiles, jokes. The way
they were when they first discovered each other, but hotter now, mor
e in sync, more connected.

She
pressed closer to him. The evidence of his words poked her. “Just to be clear,
we’re over the no-sex thing, right?”

“Totally.”
To prove how totally serious he was, he
squeezed her ass.

“Oh, hi
guys…”

Lily
froze, she
recognized that voice. Gwen. Straightening
herself, she tried to pull out of Adam’s embrace. He kept her in his arms,
though removed his hand from her ass.

“Good to
see you again, Gwen,” Adam said warmly.

Yeah.
They totally used to be bed buddies. She coul
d tell
by the way Gwen tucked her hair behind her ear. Which only meant one thing…Adam
had rocked her world.

Lily
wriggled her body, Adam tightened his hold.

The
pretty nurse smiled at them. “Feeling better?”

“Yes,”
Lily answered as warmly as she could; on
ly she was
plagued by jealousy. Not that she should. Hell, she’d slept with other men
before Adam. Two others to be specific, but whatever, there were others. “My
arm is bandage-free.” She extended the arm she scraped during the fall. She
hadn’t needed sti
tches, just something to protect the
cut from infection.

“That’s
wonderful.” Gwen smiled brightly, a little too bright. Lily squirmed. Adam held
her still. “Well, it was nice to see you both. I need to check on a patient.”

They
stood in silence until Gwen
made a left turn and
disappeared. “You totally slept with her.”

“Is that
a question?”

She shot
him a look. He smirked. Not that she was jealous or anything. “Just for my
sanity, in case I ever make this place my home…I mean just in case you ever ask
me to
marry you.” Oops, she didn’t mean to bring the
M word back up.
Especially since he
hadn’t acted upon her request for him to ask her again.
“I mean…”

“My past
doesn’t matter,” he said somewhere deep in his throat.

In other
words—
yes, we rolled around naked
once
or twice.

Yeah.
She was officially jealous.

“I
haven’t wanted anyone else since the first time we kissed on the beach.” He
leaned a little closer and brushed his lips on her ear.
“Just you and me.
No one else matters.”

Lily
felt her knees giving in to
the weight of his words.
One hand went up and clung on to Adam’s steely bicep.

“You’re
okay?”

She
nodded.

“Good.
Let’s go find something to do before I meet your family. Do I look
presentable?”

His tone
told her he was teasing. Probably because he already
knew he looked good enough to eat. Dressed in a
plaid shirt tucked under a
long-
sleeve grey Henley and toasted brown slim fit khakis, with
a two days scruff, he looked relaxed, casual and as if he just stepped out of a
magazine. No,
presentable
wasn’t the word to
describe how Adam looked. She could think of other words.
Strong, delectable, delicious, yummy.
But presentable.
Nope, he was too
dangerously sexy to ever look presentable.

“You
already know you look so good it’s a sin. Why do you think
I want to jump you all the time?”

“I
thought it was my charm.”

Well,
that too. Once she saw past
the
I
’m an asshole
façade, he was quite charming.

Adam
laughed and slung his arm over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

At
exactly two in the af
ternoon, Lily sat in the
Maserati beside Adam in the Martha’s Way parking area. Her eyes immediately
spotted Rafa’s black Land Rover. Her heart sped up. She scraped a hand through
her hair.

“Breathe,
Liliana.” Adam took her hand and brought it to his lips.
“If you want I can stay with you the whole time.”

She
shook her head and flashed him a smile. He had to go run some errands with the
other guys for part of the afternoon. Which worked; it would give her time to
really talk to her parents. She closed her e
yes and
took a calming breath. This was it. Time to tell her parents they were going to
be
Abuelos
.

“Ready?”

She
nodded. “Yes.” But her voice shook. Damn it, her nerves were getting the best
of her.

Adam ran
the pad of his thumb over her cheek, her lips.
“You
and me, we’re in this together. I’ll cancel with Jason.”

She met
his eyes and saw the determination, the stubbornness. He had her back. No
matter what…just like she had his. “No need to cancel. I’m ready.”

* * * *

From the
outside, Lily appeared in
total control, but Adam
sensed her nerves. She held his hand a little tighter and her smile was a
little too quick. This side of Lily was new to him, and he wished he could take
away the anxiety he knew was eating her inside. Instead, he squeezed her hand
back and headed to the large sitting area where laughter
and busy chatter could be heard down the hall. He recognized the voices of his
friends Blake, Jason, and Forrest, all there welcoming Lily’s family. Minka and
Claire were in Oak Bluffs picking up the
ir parents.
Claire was due back on the island today as well and Jason had sent the inn’s
car service to pick her up.

Voices of other men reverberated in the room as well,
strong, masculine voices, similar to his own and his friends, but belonging to
Lily’s
brothers.
He felt her tense next to
him and his gut tightened. Not out of nerves, but for the first time in a long
time, he felt helpless. This was one of those moments; Adam wished superheroes
truly existed and that he had superpowers, at least telepathi
c, so that he could transmit thoughts to her family. They
entered the room, all eyes turned on them. It became as quiet as a graveyard in
the night.

Adam
took a quick survey of the room. His friends stood by the bay window, circled
in a group with three ot
her men. Her parents stood by
the fireplace a few feet away. His eyes fixed on an exact replica of Lily. Her
mother looked like a version of Lily from a different time, before she cut her
hair. The woman’s peaceful beauty gave him a glimpse of what Lily mi
ght look like as her age.

The
Musketeers, as Lily fondly labeled them, resembled their father more. Bronzed
and standing around six foot plus, they had their dad’s hair coloring in
various lengths. One was sporting a military buzz, muscles straining his sh
irt.
Zander.
Adam noted. He was the
SEAL, the second oldest. He glanced at the second one. He was leaner, in
low-slung, fitted black jeans and a vintage black T-shirt. His hair tousled.
Maximus, or Max as often referred by his sister. The youngest of the b
rothers, just a little over a year older than Lily. Then
his eyes clashed on the oldest of the Serrano brothers. He had sun-kissed brown
hair, his mouth compressed to a hard line. Rafael. None of them gave him a
welcome vibe, but Rafael, or Rafa as Lily of
ten
referred to him, looked the most pissed-off with lots of attitude.

Their
eyes went to Lily’s hand, the one Adam was holding. Then at Adam’s face, their
sister, then back at him. Yeah, they wanted his head on a platter. Too bad, he
wasn’t ready to be
anyone’s dinner unless that person
had long, tanned legs and was named Liliana.

Adam
squared his already broad shoulders, silently sending them a message. You want
a fight, come get it. With Lily at his side, he ignored the boys and walked
straight ahead t
o her parents. Like hyenas, they
continued to watch him.
Assholes.
He continued to ignore them…on purpose.

“I’m
Adam Aquilani,” he said to her parents, extending his free hand. “I’m going to
marry your daughter.”

“What?”
That came from Zander.

Adam
didn’t
even flinch. He caught the surprise on her
parents’ faces. Their gazes went to their daughter, then back at Adam.

“Oh fuck
no!” That was Rafael.

“Rafael.”
Their mother scolded without even looking at her son. The strength in her
accented voice surprised Ad
am. “Sorry about that.”
She smiled warmly at Adam. “My boys can be a bit…”

“Rude,”
Adam finished just for kicks.

All
three muttered something under their breaths. Adam was able to make out the
words break and neck. He held back a smile.

“This is
my husband
, Raúl.”

“Mr.
Serrano,” Adam acknowledged the older man. The two shook hands.

“How
long have you been dating my daughter?” her father asked, like his sons, there
was concern in his eyes and not as much warmth as his wife. Adam didn’t blame
him. He’d react
the same way, or worse.

“A little over a year.”

Raúl
looked at his daughter, then back at Adam.
“A year.
That’s a long time. I can’t say we ever
heard of you, Mr.…”

“Adam.
Call me Adam.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.”
Rafa approached them.
“They haven’t been dating. They’ve been going at it like two fucking
teenagers.”

“Rafa,
watch your mouth.” Their father scolded the angriest of them all.

This
time Adam even heard Zander and Max snicker.

“She’s
pregnant,” Rafa contin
ued, ignoring his parents’
words. He glared. “He got her pregnant and now he’s trying to do the honorable
thing.” He laughed. “At least you’re not as much of an asshole as I imagined.”

“Jesus,
Rafael,” his mother said sternly. “Sit down.”

Rafael
let out a
long slow breath then slumped into a chair.
Adam almost laughed. He caught a glimpse of his own wolf pack trying very hard
not to laugh.