Chapter 2 #3
Cayden was getting impatient. Why hadn’t Mrs. Wynn said anything to Trixie about having Cayden look at her security system? Wasn’t that the whole point of Trixie being here tonight? And if he had to watch Victor’s eyes stray one more time to her cleavage, he was going back to prison for murder.
He hadn’t lied to her. He did prefer her in her work clothes and smelling like motor oil. He liked how rugged she’d looked, hardworking. It was a trait that made her stand out from the rest of the population.
But he really liked that top and skirt combo on her too.
Except that he wanted her to have worn it for him, not to be polite to Mr. and Mrs. Wynn.
Cayden knew she was affected by him, but not enough to make her act on it.
That was what bothered him. He wanted to grab her and kiss her, to make the claim that she was his, and pour a bucket of grease on her.
Having Victor lick his lips across the table from her as he openly stared down her shirt was pushing on the edges of Cayden’s sanity.
His notorious anger was starting to rise.
Trixie was going to be his one day. He’d see to it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but fuck someday soon. He wanted her. She was smart, stubborn, ambitious, sassy, sexy…and she loved cars almost as much as he did. What more could a man ask for?
A hand on his arm drew his attention away from Trixie and Victor’s wandering eyes.
Geordi sat on Cayden’s other side between him and Mr. Wynn.
Like Paul, Geordi was young, only twenty, but he acted younger.
From what Cayden understood from Mr. Jones, Geordi’s father had taken a baseball bat to his head when he’d been a kid.
His mother had abandoned them and his drunk of a father hadn’t liked being a single dad.
It was a good thing Geordi’s father was already dead, or Cayden would be currently sitting on death row for murdering the man after hearing his story.
Geordi was a sweet kid who just wanted to be given a chance.
He was forgetful though, and exceedingly gullible.
Unfortunately, this had landed the kid in a wannabe street gang as a lookout.
Geordi had gotten distracted and the crew had been caught.
Thankfully, the judge had been lenient regarding Geordi’s condition, and he’d only served six months with two years parole plus counseling.
Geordi might be twenty, but he acted sometimes like he was five.
The fact that the man couldn’t remember how to tie his own shoes only emphasized his condition.
Mrs. Wynn took special care of Geordi. She bought him Velcro shoes and created a chart for him so he would know where he was supposed to be at what time of day.
He worked at a florist shop, which seemed to calm him.
Geordi wasn’t ashamed of his condition. He spoke openly about it.
In the short time that Cayden had been at the house, he’d seen the others shy away from Geordi.
Whether they did this because they didn’t know how to act around him or because they didn’t want to risk Mrs. Wynn and her wooden spoon if what they said was taken negatively, Cayden didn’t know.
He liked Geordi and tried to look out for the kid.
Geordi was having trouble collecting the spaghetti on his fork.
Cayden picked up his spoon and showed Geordi how to use it to twirl the spaghetti onto it.
If his very Italian Gran saw him using a spoon, she would use it to castrate him.
But Cayden hoped she would forgive him given the circumstances.
Once he was sure Geordi had it, Cayden turned his attention back to his own plate and paused. Trixie was staring open mouthed at him. Not Geordi, him.
His back stiffened. “What?”
She seemed to catch herself and shook her head. “Nothing.” She turned back to her own plate, hesitated, and then faced him again. “That was really sweet.”
“Bikers can’t be sweet?”
Her cheeks reddened just how he liked them. He wanted to reach out and brush his knuckles along the heated skin. Damn, she was sexy when she blushed. “That’s not… I mean… I mean, I didn’t mean…”
He reached forward and touched her thigh again. Yeah, he wanted to touch her there too, and not platonically as he was now. “I was teasing.” Cayden removed his left hand from her leg and tapped Geordi on his shoulder with his right. “Geordi, have you met Trixie yet?”
Geordi, a single noodle hanging out of his mouth, shook his head.
He chewed vigorously and then swallowed hard.
“Hi, Ms. Trixie!” His deep voice did not fit with the innocence behind it.
It threw most people off, but Cayden watched the mix of emotions cross her face, from confusion to sympathy, and was pleased none of them were disdain.
Geordi had already been dealt a rough hand and didn’t deserve any more.
“What are you here for? I lost the car.”
Trixie glanced to Cayden, obviously not understanding.
He leaned in and said softly, “Geordi was arrested for being the lookout for a crew. He was supposed to stay with the car but got distracted and then got lost. The crew was caught with the stolen jewelry when Geordi wandered back towards them. If he’d just kept walking, the police would have never known he’d been involved. ”
Pity crossed her face and then she smiled at Geordi. “Hi, Geordi. I have a lot of cars, if you ever want to come take a look at them.”
His eyes widened in excitement. He whirled so fast towards Mr. Wynn that he knocked over his water glass. Cayden quickly moved to catch it, thankfully before too much was spilt. Geordi didn’t even notice. “Please, Mr. Wynn! Can I? Please, please, please?”
Mr. Wynn sent Trixie a questioning look, to which she nodded. He looked affectionately at Geordi. “I’ll take you tomorrow after work. How’s that?” Geordi nodded his head energetically. Mr. Wynn looked back at Trixie. “Around three-thirty, Trix?”
She nodded again. “Sure. I’ll text Joey now so he can remind me.”
Cayden’s spine stiffened as his fist tightened around his fork. Who the fuck was Joey?
Post dinner was interesting, to say the least. Trixie and Peggy were sitting in the living room while Cayden, Geordi, Paul, Greg, and the rest of the men cleaned up the kitchen.
Peggy had given Cayden an out because he’d helped her cook dinner, but Cayden hadn’t taken it.
Trixie was glad about that. She needed some time away from him.
The man smelled too delicious for his own good—or rather for her own good. He was as tempting as a perfectly ripe strawberry waiting to be devoured. And his mismatched eyes drew her in like a moth to the flame.
Damn it. She did not need this right now.
Peggy reached forward to take her hand. It was only then that Trixie realized she was staring in the direction of the kitchen. Shit. Had she been hoping to catch a glimpse of him? Yeah, probably.
“He’s a real sweetheart.”
Trixie flinched. That was not what she needed to hear. Why couldn’t Peggy have said he was a bastard of the first degree, selfish, and liked to kick puppies? But even if she had, would Trixie have believed it? She’d seen how sweet he’d been with Geordi.
Trixie purposefully repositioned herself on the couch so she was facing Peggy with her back to the kitchen. “Geordi is a sweetheart,” she stubbornly corrected.
Unfortunately, she didn’t fool Peggy. Instead, her surrogate aunt gave her a knowing look. “I’m worried about you, honey. You’ve closed yourself off from the world. All you do is work on those cars.”
“That’s my job, Tìa.” But she knew Peggy was right.
Cars made sense to her in a way that people never had, and never would.
She could make an engine purr like a kitten on catnip, but she couldn’t get a man to call her for a second date.
She didn’t know if that was ironic, but it certainly was sad. Borderline pathetic.
Peggy squeezed the hand she held. “I know it’s been hard since AJ—”
“Don’t.” Trixie ripped her hand out from under Peggy’s. “I don’t want to talk about AJ.” She stood up to put distance between Peggy and her, and made sure to keep her back to the kitchen too. “How about we talk about you? You’ve got eight guys staying here. That must be a handful.”
Peggy let out a low sigh before standing up from the couch and approaching her. Damn it. Why couldn’t she have just stayed on the damn couch? That way, at least the coffee table was between them.
“I know someone else who’s been having a hard time.
” Peggy gripped her by the shoulders and, with a strength the older woman shouldn’t have possessed, turned Trixie in the direction of the kitchen.
Peggy was nearly six inches shorter than Trixie, so she looped her arm around her waist instead of her shoulders.
It was the way she hugged Trixie since she’d hit her growth spurt.
“Baby, someone just needs to give that boy a chance.” Her arm tightened slightly as she added, “What if it was AJ in there? What if he needed just one person to give him a fighting chance? Wouldn’t you want someone to give it to him? ”
Trixie wanted to flinch. She wanted to deny the desire to help him. She wanted to leave this place and forget about Cayden Russo and his sexy mismatched eyes. So why was she standing there, staring into the doorway of the kitchen, praying he’d come into her view?
Geordi was putting away a dish in a tall cabinet, saw her, and waved like a little kid seeing his best friend. Trixie couldn’t not wave back.
Biting the inside of her lip, she turned towards Peggy. “That’s a low blow, and you know it.”
The woman grinned despite Trixie’s frustration at her. “Baby, of course it was. How else was I going to get you to agree to take him on?”
Trixie dropped her head into her hand. “I don’t even know if I have a position for him. And is it even legal? I mean, with his parole?”