Chapter 34

Jason did let Elizabeth out of bed – two days later. Partly because they did run out of condoms, but mostly because he knew the quicker she finished helping Lulu with the wedding, the sooner he could coax her back into bed. Being on bed rest was making him very lazy.

He blamed Elizabeth for that – he couldn't get enough of her company these days. And sure, the sex was really, really good, but nothing beat falling asleep beside her and knowing she'd be there in the morning.

He couldn't remember the last time he genuinely enjoyed a woman's company for this long, and months ago, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take Elizabeth for this long. Most days, they weren't able to stand in the same room without picking some kind of fight, and now arguing seemed to be the last thing on their minds.

Instead, they spent their time talking about her bad taste in television shows and all the places he'd visited that she'd never been. Their biggest arguments revolved around whether they wanted pizza or chinese or if they should actually get dressed. She usually won out on the food choice, and he won out on the clothing – or the lack thereof for that matter.

It wasn't like she'd stopped doing any of the things that drove him crazy. He just found himself appreciating the way she left her wet towels on the floor and left the half-eaten takeout containers on the nightstand.

Of course, it was easy to ignore such small things when Elizabeth was naked.

Grinning, he leaned back in his desk chair, thinking of the way she'd come down the stairs and straddled him before leaving to meet Lulu. Yeah, they'd broken in that chair too. Actually they'd broken in most of the penthouse, but there was still enough left for a few more lazy days.

He shook his head, trying to focus on the invoices in front of him. He'd promised Elizabeth he wouldn't work too much while she was gone, but the moment she'd left, he was antsy and just had to do something. Ritchie had been handling things since Jason got out of the hospital, and he was sure that the idiot would burn the whole business down without him. Thankfully Johnny had been helping him out and working hard to correct all the other mistakes he made, all the while managing to convince Lulu to stay in town.

Only O'Brien could handle it all with so much ease.

He dropped his pen when someone knocked the door behind him, and he couldn't stop his heart from rising in his chest at the thought of it being Elizabeth, even though he knew it wasn't. The knock was too hard to be hers. Although most of the time she burst in loudly, making the most annoying of entrances, but he may even appreciate that now.

At least he knew all the right ways to shut her up immediately.

Fuck, he'd become one of those guys – the ones where suddenly everything was about a girl, but it wasn't like anyone knew what exactly was going on in his head.

God, Elizabeth would never let him hear the end of it if she knew any of this.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, flicking the lock on the door and pulling it open to find Johnny standing in the hallway.

"Uh…hey," O'Brien said, looking nervous and out of place.

Jason knew that he'd heard him swearing on the other side of the door and that Johnny probably thought he was swearing at him. He wasn't, but he wasn't going to tell him whyo, or rather whoy, he was cursing at himself.

"What's up?" Jason asked, stepping aside and waving him into the penthouse.

"I knew Elizabeth was – was meeting with Lulu. I thought maybe we could…talk," he answered hesitantly, his handspants stuck stiffly in his pockets and his shoulders pulled tightly inward. It was like he was trying to take up as little space as possible.

"Yeah, sure," he said, kicking the door closed with his foot. He nodded towards the invoices on the desk. "I was looking over some of the paperwork Ritchie faxed over. You two have kept things in order in the last week so…thank you."

"Doing what I should," Johnny shrugged, rocking back and forth on his feet.

Jason nodded again, scratching the back of his neck, not sure what to say to him. It was strange to be so awkward with his best friend, but he was still torn between letting it all go and holding onto what Johnny had done. Except that if they were ever going to move forward, Jason didn't have much of a choice.

"Uh, look…" He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

"I know you're still angry," Johnny said understandingly, "and I know you know that I'm sorry." He swallowed hard and turned away, starting to pace back and forth across the living room. "I couldn't stand the idea of losing her. It took – it took me back to where I used to be, and I know that's not an excuse, but…"

"I understand," he mumbled seriously, trying to step into O'Brien's shoes.

Granted, Jason and Elizabeth hadn't been together for very long, but if for some reason she walked away, he imagined the first thing he would do is drown his sorrows;. tThat he'd probably try to pick up some woman to forget, though he knew he'd never actually go through with taking her to bed.

And that was where Johnny had been.

"I…I trust that you won't do anything like that again," he continued, looking his friend in the eye. "Ever."

"Never," he replied, nodding firmly as he let out a heavy sigh. "So…I, uh, I guess this means I still have my best man, right?"

"Who else are you going to ask?" Jason laughed, folding his arms over his chest.

"There's always Ritchie," he shrugged.

"Oh, fuck you," he hissed.

"You're just pissed because he's got a thing for your woman," Johnny said, slipping his hands from his pockets as his shoulders relaxed.

"I'll fire his ass," Jason muttered, walking over to the desk to gather up the invoices. "Why don't you make him finish these?"

"Drowning him in paperwork, huh?" he laughed, taking the stack of papers.

"We'll be too busy to do it," he replied seriously. "You're getting married tomorrow."

"Yeah," Johnny said slowly, knowing there was something more.

Jason reached out and clapped him on the shoulder, squeezing it hard. "We've got to have a bachelor party."

Elizabeth frowned, nibbling her lip as she stared at the hideous bouquet of flowers the florist had just sat in front of her. It was like a bad prom corsage; too much baby's breath among entirely too many pastels. Lulu, of course, loved it, and she quickly had to remind herself this wasn't her wedding.

Thank Ggod.

The entire morning had been spent swallowing what Lulu had managed to do on her own since Jason refused to let her leave the penthouse. She tried to do as much planning as possible over the phone, but Jason got so damn huffy about the attention she paid Lulu. It would have been cute that he was jealous of a wedding she was planning for someone else, if it didn't drive her completely crazy.

Okay, so everything about Jason drove her crazy.

Especially how any time she actually got close to leaving, he reminded her that he had a concussion and bumps and bruises, and while it had been days since the accident, it was enough to convince her to crawl back into bed.

Not that much coaxing was really needed – the right look from Jason would make her do anything, and she couldn't stand it. Hell, he wasn't even looking at her right now, and she wanted to do anything with him.

She hated herself so damn much. Here she was, helping Lulu and finishing up flower displays and last minute calls to the caterer, only to be thinking about Jason – naked. To be fair, he wasn't always naked. Sometimes she thought about his smile and the stupid face he made when they watched her favorite TV shows.

Son of a bitch.

She was becoming one of those women – where everything revolved around a boy. She was just like fucking Lulu.

"You don't like it?" the blonde asked timidly, nervously turning the flowers in her hand.

"No, it's…it's fine," she muttered, smiling down at the flowers, knowing that in Lulu's eyes they probably didn't matter.

It was just a bouquet; a formality required for walking down the aisle of a church to marry the man she loved. Never mind that it would end up in every single wedding photograph and haunt the poor woman for the rest of her life.

God, did Elizabeth even want to think about the wedding dress?

Lulu admitted that shopping in Europe with her mother hadn't gone as planned, but the woman had flown into town the day before, and they'd gone into the city. She just hoped Laura Spencer had more taste than her daughter.

Thankfully Elizabeth had won over the bridesmaid battle, and they'd just gone to a shop in town and she'd picked out a gorgeous red dress that looked much better than that fuschia mess that Lulu had chosen. Seriously, the woman shoulde be thankful that Elizabeth was around to save her from making this entire wedding a disaster.

She was going to hell for making fun of Lulu in her head like this.

"You hate it," Lulu argued, tossing the bouquet on the counter and shaking her head at the florist.

"No, I don't," she countered, plucking it from the florist's hands. "I just think it's a bit…much." She glanced at Lulu before she started pulling the flowers apart, lessening the floral arrangement by more than half. "It should be simple…elegant. I mean, you don't want the flowers to steal the show. You're the one that's really on display."

"Very true," she agreed. "I still can't believe how good you are at this stuff."

"Spent a lot of time dreaming, I guess," she shrugged, handing the flowers back to the florist so she could box themit up.

"Well, maybe someday soon we'll be planning your wedding," she laughed, poking her in the side.

"Uh…I don't think so," she said, stiffening when the blonde continued to jab her. "Jason and I are…"

"Oh, he adores you, and you adore him, so…"

"I guess…" She swallowed hard, not wanting to think about a wedding.

Jesus, didn't everyone realize that half of their relationship had been pretend? No, of course they didn't. Lying was hard work – though technically it wasn't a lie.? Or was it?

Oh, whatever. It's not like she and Jason we're going to actually get married. They'd kill one another for sure...or spend a lot of time naked, a thought that made Elizabeth grin widely.

"See! You want to marry him! And have the whole picket fence deal! And babies and-"

"Whoa, no babies…ever," she interrupted, holding up her hand.

God, Elizabeth couldn't even imagine.

This was precisely why she refused to have sex without a condom.

"We need to discuss other things," Elizabeth said, still trying to get past the thought of Jason and babies. "You know like…your bachelorette party."

"Oh, no," she replied, shaking her head.

She laughed, looping her arm through Lulu's. "Oh, yes."

"Jason?" Elizabeth called out, dropping a bag of food onto his desk as she came into the penthouse. Glancing around, she walked over to drape her bridesmaid dress over the back of the chair and called out his name again.

"Hey," he muttered, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Shit," she cried, stiffening against him as he startled her. "I hate when you do that."

"Sorry," he whispered, nuzzling her hair away from her neck to press his lips against it.

"Mmm, I like this apology," she said, smoothing her hands over his arms and linking their fingers together. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as his tongue snaked out and slowly worked it's way up to her ear. "Jas…I can't. I don't have time."

"Me either," he murmured, loosening their hands so he could spin her around and pull her towards him. "I have to meet Johnny."

"What?" she asked, sliding her hands around his neck as she arched her back to look up at him. "Are you sure-"

"Are you trying to get me into bed?"

"I don't have time," she replied, pouting her lip because as much fun as a bachelorette party could be, very few things beat being in bed with Jason. "I have to meet Lulu."

"Really," he muttered curiously, arching an eyebrow.

"She's getting married tomorrow."

"And…?"

"Well she needs a – oh, wait," she laughed, shaking her head. "You're having Johnny a bachelor party, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"As long as it's not at Jake's," she shrugged. "Oh, and as long as you're not driving."

"I'll take a cab home, but we're going to Jake's."

"No, because we're going to Jake's," she replied, placing a hand on her chest. "And we can't have a bachelor and bachelorette party for the same couple at the same place."

"We have more people coming," Jason argued, grinning as if clearly enjoying this.

"It's not my fault that Lulu has no friends here."

"Invite some of yours."

"Oh, is that supposed to be funny?" she asked, pulling herself out of his arms and planting her hands on her hips. "All my friends are guys...which means they'll be at Johnny's." She hesitated, working her lip back and forth between her teeth. "Though I'm sure they'd much rather come drink with us."

"Not funny," he hissed, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her against him. "It'll be fun to be at Jake's…we can sneak off."

"You have such a one track mind," she said, smacking him on the shoulder. "And you can't have them at the same place."

"Why not?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"Because you can't."

He just glared at her.

"And…because it's bad luck for the bride to see the groom the night before the wedding," she muttered, getting flustered that he was taking her spot for his stupid bachelor party. "Can't you guys go somewhere else?"

"Johnny wants to go to Jake's."

"So does Lulu."

"Which is why we can have this together."

"Or not," she sighed, wishing he would just get it.

Stupid man and his lack of appreciation for tradition.

"Fine, then go to the Metro Court."

She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath, suddenly realizing that wasn't such a bad idea. "Why not," she agreed, pulling herself out of his arms and walking back over to the desk. She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm sure Jasper will pay for our tab."

Jason's eyes darkened instantly, and she laughed loudly as she hurried out of the penthouse, knowing he'd followed right after her. She'd barely gotten the button pressed before he was on her, pinning her against the wall in the hallway and taking her mouth in his.

God, she even loved when he was jealous.

"You know I was just kidding," she murmured against his mouth, arching her back as he fumbled with the zipper on her jeans.

"Mmhmm," he whispered, tugging her jeans down before starting on his own. "I'm paying before he does."

She laughed, wiggling the rest of the way out of her pants, no longer caring that she was going to be late. "There are cameras," she reminded him, grabbing the foil wrapper and tearing it open in her hands. She slipped it over him in a hurry, and he had his arms around her, lifting her onto him.

"You don't seem to care," he groaned, pressing her against the wall.

"Not really," she admitted, sliding her arms around his neck and kissing him hard. "And just so you know…"

"Yeah," he hissed, resting his forehead on hers.

She grinned, leaning forward just enough to press her lips to his. "I can pay my own tab."