The Wedding Date

Tick the List (J)

Dianne was too busy laughing to realize he had led her directly into her childhood bedroom. And she was too busy being shocked to stop him from pulling her onto the bed next to him.

"What are you doing?" Dianne hissed in Joe's ear as he felt her scramble up to a seat on the bed next to him.

"Taking a nap," he replied calmly, letting his eyes close and savoring the cold air coming out of the vent directly above the bed. He'd never felt so tired in his life, the hour of running around playing football with Dianne's niece and nephew serving as the perfect icing on the cake of exhaustion.

"On MY bed," Dianne retorted.

Peering out of one eye, Joe looked up at her, holding back a laugh at her distraught face.

"We're sharing a room, remember? Your mum said you're an adult now."

Dianne shot him a look, and he couldn't help the cheeky grin he sent right back.

"Yeah, but not in the middle of the day," Dianne checked the clock on the bedside table, "What will my family think?!"

"That we're jet lagged," Joe replied, letting his eye close again. It was quiet for a few seconds before he heard Dianne speak again.

"You're really going to nap here?"

Rolling over to his side, he forced his eyes open, and took in her expression. She seemed legitimately worried, and he wasn't sure why. Her family had been more welcoming than he could have ever imagined. Sure, there was an underlying bit of tension any time the wedding or Dianne's past relationships had been brought up, but in Joe's past experiences, that wasn't all too uncommon. Daughters - especially daughters with older brothers - had to deal with a lot of schtick.

"Yes, why are you so worried?" he asked quietly. "I'm tired. Everyone here knows this is our room. So I'm going to nap here. You should too."

"I'm not tired," Dianne shot back.

Joe smirked, "So that little swoon you did outside was actually because of me, not the jet lag?"

"Oh give me a break, I did not swoon!" Dianne groaned, but Joe thought he noticed the hint of a smile on her face as she flopped back against the headboard.

He was pretty sure he'd caught her nearly fainting just minutes earlier - and whether it was because of him or the jet lag, he couldn't get rid of the strong desire to force her to rest.

"My brothers are just never going to let me live any of this down," she spoke again, her voice soft. "First getting caught asleep in the car on top of you by my parents and now this? They definitely think we just left for a little afternoon delight."

"Afternoon delight?" Joe snorted, suddenly feeling much more awake. "Your mum is right, you really are an adult now...about age 70."

"Shut up," Dianne reached over with a pillow to smack him in the face, proving that maybe she wasn't about to pass out.

"Anyway, who cares," Joe grinned, yawning as he nestled down into the super soft pillow he'd landed on. "Let them talk. It makes us seem more believable if we're that gutsy to sneak off for a little quickie--"

"Oh my God," Dianne muttered, beginning to roll off the bed, "I'm going to nap on the couch."

Joe leaned over to gently grasp her wrist, holding her in place, "Don't."

He ignored the death glare coming from her as he continued, "You not wanting to nap in the same room as me...that would really get your brothers talking. I know we just met, but you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with sleeping next to me for the next few days. At night and during the day."