66. Epilogue 2

My girl was thorough in her decision about which ring to choose. So much so that we were running late to the restaurant. I didn't have the willpower to tell her to get off my lap so we could go inside.

"Let's just go home and order in." Her hot mouth trailed a scorching path down the side of my neck, over my throat.

"I made a reservation."

"Cancel it."

"I can't, we're already ten minutes late."

She huffed and pouted, but returned to sitting next to me. "I can't believe you'd rather go eat than get your dick?—"

The door opened abruptly and my little sister's face filled the space. "Are you guys really making us wait inside while you fuck out here?"

"Holly!" Del screeched, practically throwing herself into our intruder's arms.

They embraced like it had been years since they'd seen each other and not three weeks. We'd just been home for Lily's first birthday.

"What are you doing here, Holl?"

"You think I would miss the celebration of you LEGALLY becoming my sister? Fat chance of that."

"Okay, Holly. Hands off my wife." I tried pulling Del back into my arms.

"She's not your wife yet." Holly held on tighter.

"She's more my wife than she is your sister."

Her face scrunched up. "Being mean makes you ugly. Remember that." She shot me a glare, but relented so I could escort my fiancée inside without further argument.

When we walked in the door to the restaurant, everyone yelled, "Congratulations!"

Our moms were the first to greet us. They swallowed Del up their arms. It was a mass of crying women, especially when my sister joined in. She just couldn't help herself.

"I knew you'd be a James one day, Delilah. We love you so much, and I can't wait to call you my daughter."

"You already do, Ma."

"Well, now it's indisputable."

I left them to fawn over Del's ring and watched them while hanging back with my dad. He put his arm around my shoulder and jostled me.

"You did good, son." My dad was always proud of me, but hearing him say it about something I felt so confident in only solidified it.

"Thanks, Dad."

He pulled mom to the side so someone else could talk to my fiancée. I stood at the bar watching Del work the room and bounce from friend to friend, smiling and laughing. I couldn't take my eyes off the way she glowed as she talked about how I proposed. I could only faintly hear her, but she also kept stealing glances my way.

"You are so fucked, big brother." Holly sidled up next to me.

"You'll get it someday."

"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes. "Like anyone's interested in dating Parker James' little sister. You scare people off with one look."

"I probably saved you some major heartbreak."

"More like you're a built in cock block, the main reason I never get any action?—"

My dad cleared his throat, walking up behind Holly. I just laughed. His timing was impeccable.

Holly's eyes went wide and she gave me a "what the fuck" look. I shrugged. "Whoops."

"Sorry, Dad. It's not what it sounded like. You know I'm an angel."

"I know you are Holl. And Parker is a good brother, watching out for you." He bumped her with his hip like he was trying to get her to speak up about something.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I was going to talk to you about it later, but apparently Dad thinks now is the perfect time."

"Alright, spit it out."

"I got a job." She was suddenly quiet. My sister was never shy, especially not around me.

"That"s great, Holly. I'm really proud of you."

"It's here, in Seattle."

"Wow, what the heck? Why didn't you tell me you were applying for jobs here?"

"I didn't want to get your hopes up, but I'm glad you're excited because I was hoping you'd let me live with you for a while. Just until I get my shit together."

"We have plenty of room. We'd love to have you. Del is going to be stoked."

"Okay, but I'm not going to be a freeloader. I'll babysit Lily whenever you need."

"That's probably a good thing because we're going to need a built-in babysitter with the baby on the way."

"Del's pregnant?" Her eyes went wide with excitement.

"Nah, but she will be." I watched the silky material of the dress flow around her body as he walked toward me, wishing it were my hands tracing her curves.

"Yeah, okay I need to go throw up now." She fled to go talk to someone else, fake gagging as she went.

"Look who showed up," Peter remarked, making all our heads turn toward the door.

"Who invited him?"

"We invited the team, and he's part of the team. We couldn't leave one guy out," Brett said, always the voice of reason.

"I mean, you could." I told Peter and Brett about my conversation with the Tempests owner. Best friends didn't count when someone said not to tell anyone.

"It's not the kid's fault. Cut him some slack."

Del overheard us talking as she walked up. "Don't be an ass, babe. He just wants to fit in. He's actually really nice."

"He talked to you?" My nostrils flared. "Okay, that's it."

Delilah pulled my arm back before I could take a step toward my competition and ask him to leave.

"Nope. You are not punching someone at my engagement party."

I heard her, but I wasn't listening.

She grabbed me by my dress shirt and pulled my mouth to hers in a deep, untamed kiss. I was lost in it until cheers rose up and I remembered where we were. Del had just kissed me like a starving woman in front of all these people in an effort to distract me.

A blush bloomed over her cheeks and she refused to look at anyone besides me.

"I just kissed you in front of all these people," she said, like she didn't believe she did it either. I was still breaking her out of her shell when it came to PDA.

"You did, baby." I took advantage of the situation and dipped her dramatically, kissing her until there were hoots and hollers all across the room.

THE END