Chapter Thirty Two

"Good morning," Sullivan said, his voice husky with sleep.

Lucy smiled, though her eyes were still shut against the advancing morning, at the sound of his voice. She was curled up against his side in his bed, his arm slung across her back, holding her against him, skin to skin.

If you had told her eighteen hours ago that she would forgive Spencer, reconcile with Sullivan then hop into bed with him, have a spectacular time - several times - and then fall asleep in his arms, she would have laughed out loud at the absurdity of the suggestion.

And yet, here she was, she thought sleepily.

Happily, she added to herself.

"Oh god," she said after a long pause. "Brandt probably thinks I'm dead in a ditch somewhere. Or have been abducted by pirates. Or something. Have you seen my phone?"

"Where did you last have it?" Sullivan asked, not moving a muscle, too content with their present situation in his bed.

"In my jeans pocket, on the beach, I think," Lucy replied.

"Mm, back when you wore clothes," Sullivan said, his tone teasing. "Those bygone days."

Lucy thwacked him lightly on the chest, and he made an exaggerated sound of pain. "Have you seen my pants?"

"That sounds like the beginning of a particularly cheesy pick up line," Sullivan said lazily. "But yes, I believe your pants were jettisoned onto the floor sometime yesterday."

Lucy sighed. "Oh. Allllll the way over there, aren't they?"

"Over there, they are," Sullivan said in a mock-Yoda voice, and Lucy giggled. "Ah, my geekitude rises early in the morning, you'll notice."

"Does anything else?" Lucy asked teasingly, and Sullivan rolled her onto her back, lightly pinning her hands above her head.

"Saucy minx."

"Scoundrel," she shot back, and he brightened automatically.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life," he said, dutifully reciting the quote from The Empire Strikes Back, not sure if she would get the reference.

"I happen to like nice men," she said, nailing the quote perfectly and making him break into a wide grin.

She really was the perfect woman for him.

"I'm nice men," he recited, shifting so that he was laying on top of her, braced on his arms so as not to fully pin her down.

"No you're not, you're..."

And he kissed her - right on cue.

**

Spencer ambled into the kitchen, wanting to grab a quick cup of coffee to go before he headed to the warehouse, where he was meeting a new client in a couple of hours. He was greeted with the sight of a pair of strong legs sticking out from the bottom of a familiar looking oversized tee shirt, the back of some epic bedhead, and an arm outstretched, reaching for the coffee mugs on top of the refrigerator.

As she set back down on terra firma and turned to the coffee pot she spied him out of the corner of her eye, whirling around and biting back a scream of surprise.

Spencer's jaw dropped open after a long moment when he realized it was Lucy standing in his kitchen.

Wearing a tee shirt Sully had borrowed months ago and never returned.

Lucy flushed bright red and tugged the hem of the tee shirt down to cover the only other article of clothing being worn by her at the moment - her panties. "Um. Morning?" she said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Morning," Spencer said, trying to hide a leering grin. "So..."

"So," Lucy said shortly, dying to pour a cup of coffee and hustle back to the privacy of the bedroom.

This was not how she wanted to have a conversation with Spencer.

"I thought he said days," Spencer said easily, leaning against the counter and crossing his legs at the ankles and looking like he was settling in for a chat.

"Huh?"

"When Sully called and told me to flee the premises, I thought he said I might not see him - or you - for days."

"He never said it was me," Lucy said hotly.

"I knew it wasn't going to be anyone else, Luce," Spencer said happily. "This is... I'm really happy for you guys. Seriously."

"I'm happy you're happy. At the moment, however, I'm dying of mortification."

"Why?"

"Why?" Lucy echoed, giving him a massive eye roll. "Why do you think?"

"Because you're standing in my kitchen in your panties, a borrowed shirt, knowing that I know you've been sexing up my brother for the last twelve hours or so?"

"Sexing up? What is this, a Color Me Badd video?" Lucy shot back.

"That sounded a little nicer than the more colorful phrases that came to mind when it comes to what you two were doing," Spencer admitted. 

"Well, thanks, then. I appreciate that," Lucy said. "Anyway, I should..." she gestured towards Sullivan's bedroom and Spencer broke into a grin again. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Leering like that, it's creepy," Lucy said. "Especially since I'm still super pissed off at you for this whole twin pity party thing you pulled on me."

"You can't be that super pissed off."

"Why not?"

"Because, you just... Color Me Badd-ed my twin brother. No one is super pissed after being… you know,” he said, pausing. “Sexed up.”

Lucy stared at him for a long moment then straightened. "And this is why I'm dating the other twin," she said and Spencer clutched his chest playfully in mock horror.

"Ooh, burn," Sullivan said from the doorway, making them both turn to face him. Spencer glanced over at him with a wide grin, and the two of them appeared to have an entire conversation without words right in front of Lucy's eyes.

"Okay, then," Lucy said, breaking the silence after it had gone on for nearly a minute. "Can I use your shower?"

"Why bother?" Spencer asked. "You have a session in a few hours, and I'm gonna make you sweat your ass off."

"Hey," Sullivan said in mock anger. "Don't sexually harass my... my Lucy."

Lucy blushed, and then fixed Spencer with a steely gaze. "I've already had enough aerobic activity for one day, and I'm not done yet. I'm so blowing off my trainer today in favor of… Color Me Badd..." she said, flouncing out of the room, and grabbing Sullivan by the waistband on her way by, tugging him along with her.

Spencer grinned as he heard Sullivan say “Color Me Badd?” in the hallway and Lucy laughing.

He proceeded to pour a cup of coffee – then left the house in a hurry.

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