Roberto closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “All right. No more talkin’. Listen to Meg White destroy those drums. Just listen to her.”
Tali smiled at me, and I smiled back.
My room wasacross from Tali’s. Since I’d last visited, it had been converted into a kids’ room, with bunk beds and a crib. Tali peeked her head inside, laughing at my position on the bottom bunk.
“Oh my god, you look ridiculous.”
I sat up, nearly knocking my head off on the bunk bed above me. She’d washed her makeup off from the rehearsal dinner and had thrown her hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wore an old Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt and plaid boxers, her feet bare.
“You look exquisite.”
She bit her lip and crossed one ankle in front of the other. “I like when you say that. And when you look at me like that.”
I crossed the room, taking her in my arms. “I’m never going to get tired of looking at you.”
She flattened her palms on the lapels of the suit jacket I hadn’t yet bothered to take off. “I forgot to tell you how dapper you look. I’ve never seen you in a suit before tonight.”
“I don’t wear one too often.”
She pushed off my jacket and laid it on the rails of the crib before returning to me. “Tired?”
“Pretty wrecked. The DiPietros take a lot out of me.”
She smiled and worked the buttons of my dress shirt. “We are a rather in-your-face bunch, aren’t we?”
The rehearsal dinner had beenmorefood, more family, more crossed arms and hard looks. At least in the beginning. By the end, when everyone was tipsy or flat-out shitfaced, I was pulled into a rousing rendition of “That’s Amore” by Roberto’s brother and his sons.
“You are, and I like the hell out of the whole lot of you.” I caught her hands as she pushed my shirt open. “What are you doing, Stripes?”
She peered up at me from beneath those damn lashes. “Helping you get ready for bed?” My girl was a little tipsy herself. Tipsy and flirty and so damn cute, she was hard to resist.
“Where I’m going alone. And thanks to you, with a hard dick.”
She pushed up on her toes, her cheek grazing mine. “We could be quiet,” she whispered.
“Never. Not in one million years.” I gripped her hips and turned her toward the door. “Go to bed, Tali. You have to get up early and do your maid of honor thing.”
She looked over her shoulder with a little pout. “If you don’t sneak into my bed for a snuggle, I’ll be disappointed.”
I shook my head, laughing at her. “Goodnight, Stripes. I love you.”
“I love you too, Jude.”
I might go to hell for it, but there was not a chance I wouldn’t be sneaking across the hall and slipping into her bed. Not a chance.