9. Dragon #3
I closed my eyes and gripped my fork. What was he doing? Of course, the whole point of my bringing him here was so that my mother could meet my husband and pretend father of my unborn child so she didn’t kill him.
“We aren’t getting a hotel,” I said in a low growl that got everyone’s attention.
“My husband is sleeping in my bed. And you’re going to deal with it.
If he has to deal with his team members getting shot, you can deal with my husband in my bed.
” I stabbed into my Caesar salad and took a savage bite out of it instead of my mother.
Her lips pursed as she studied me, considering. “Are the rumors true? Are you pregnant?”
The whole room was silent as death. I took a drink of water, cleared my throat, and then nodded. “Ten weeks.”
The whole table blew up in excited chatter, my mother loudest of all.
It was too much. Was I going to start screaming, crying, or both?
Horse stood up, pulled out my chair, grabbed my hand, and the next thing I knew, we were out on the landing, headed for the elevator.
I held back. “I don’t want to get a hotel.”
“Okay. But maybe we can take a walk until things cool down. That’s a lot of chaos. And you kind of look stressed out. Also, we were cooped up on the flight and could use a walk to stretch our legs.”
He gave me a sweet smile and pushed the button.
I hesitated and then walked into him, pressing my face against his neck as I inhaled. He smelled so good, masculine, woodsy, but with a hint of floral that made me want to lick him.
The elevator dinged, and I pulled away, nodding at him. “A walk would be good.”
We walked down the bustling streets, the smell of flour and exhaust somehow comforting. I stopped at the corner drugstore, glanced at him, and then went in and ordered an ice cream. Peppermint and cookie dough. It was the combo I always got, the one Marco called an abomination.
“Trixie O’Hara? Is that you?”
I didn’t look up from the counter. Horse was at my side, close enough that it was obvious we were together.
“It is you! I almost didn’t recognize you without your coveralls. Are you still a mechanic? Who’s your friend?”
I held up my left hand. “Husband. You can tell all the people I don’t care about that you saw Trixie with her husband. What will you have to gossip about now?”
Horse chuckled and put a hand on the small of my back. He kissed my cheek and slid his hand around my waist until I was tucked against him. He felt so good.
“I heard that you got knocked up!” another girl piped up.
Marie? I turned to look at her. She tended to come at you from behind with something sharp or heavy.
She looked like she’d swum from New Jersey, sheer tight top, shorts that let her butt hang out. She’d gained a few pounds since the last time I’d seen her, so there was a lot of butt.
I nodded at her. “Yeah. Any advice? You’re on number three, right?”
She snarled at me and reached for the nearest object that might be considered a weapon. Was that an insult? I was trying to bond. Clearly nailed it.
Charlie grabbed Marie and hauled her behind her, scowling at her friend. “Keep it calm. You know that Lucas doesn’t want anyone making problems with the family.”
My extremities went cold. Ice cold. Lucas.
The last time I’d seen him was in my rearview mirror as I drove out of town.
He’d been with a girl. The one he’d liked so much better than me.
Because my mom, right? That’s what he said; he couldn’t date me publicly because of my mom, but that didn’t stop him from being with her.
I’d never gotten a good look at her, maybe because when I saw Lucas, he had all my attention.
“Here’s your ice cream,” the guy behind the counter said, sliding over my peppermint and cookie dough, and Horse’s green tea.
I nodded, passed over a few dollars, and then left the place, heart pounding uncomfortably.
“Trix?” Horse growled, grabbing my elbow and spinning me around to face him.
I blinked up at him. “Horse?”
“Who’s Lucas?”
I stared at him while my stomach did weird things. “A guy,” I finally said.
He frowned. “She made him sound like a mob boss.”
I looked back inside the large glass windows of the drugstore, through the bars where Marie and Charlie were looking out at us. “They did make him sound like a mob boss. I wonder what happened to Uncle Ni?o.”
He sighed heavily and then took a bite out of my ice cream cone.
“Hey!” I put a hand protectively over it.
He grinned and licked his lips, a slow roll of pink tongue over his silky lips. “Hey. If you don’t mind sharing the same tiny bed, how could you mind sharing your ice cream? Cookie dough and peppermint is an abomination.”
“And green tea is for yoga moms.”
“And yoga dads. Do you want to do yoga some time?”
I hesitated and then leaned over and took as big a bite out of his ice cream as I could. I let the sweet, cold deliciousness melt on my tongue and then nodded. “I could do yoga with you.”
We ate our ice cream and walked through the city, and with Horse, things started to settle. It was going to be okay. No, it was okay. Whatever madness my mother came up with, he’d be the sturdy, reliable Nate who could handle chaos and liked messes. And he was wearing my ring.