Chapter 8 #2
“Nothing,” I denied, rolling my eyes. “Trick flirts with everybody, Molly. He winks so much I’m beginning to wonder if he has some kind of medical condition that causes his eye to twitch!”
Abby and Molly both giggled, and Ella laughed until she had tears in her eyes, while Camille just smiled and said that Trick could twitch anything he wanted, as far as she was concerned.
I was still chuckling when I glanced over at the jungle gym, only to find Trick staring at me again while he helped Ethan climb down. I looked away quickly, thankful when Sinner announced that the food was ready.
I sat with Viking and Sinner for lunch and did my best to ignore Trick, which worked well until after we ate.
The crowd had thinned out a bit by that time, with most of the club members leaving, aside from the various Morgan family members, me, Camille, Trick, and Irish.
Jagger had to leave early because he was short-handed at The Inferno – the bar the club owned – and Molly decided to go with him to keep him company.
Viking and Sinner got into a deeply involved discussion with Wrangler, King, and Lucky about a custom bike build they were working on.
Camille had apparently forgotten about her newly declared aversion to dating, and was flirting with Irish, who was flirting right back.
I studied him for a moment, taking in his large, muscular build and the tattoos that covered just about every inch of his skin that I could see.
Whether anything would come of it or not, I felt confident that Camille was safe from ever hearing the intimidating-looking biker utter the word ding-a-ling.
The prospects were cleaning up, and Ella was talking to her son, Hunter, and one of his friends who had stopped by. I was sitting with Abby, who held a sleepy Everly on her lap, when Ethan asked Abby to play soccer with them.
“Daddy and me will be the boys’ team, and you can be on the girls’ team with Aunt Mia,” he informed her.
“C’mon, baby girl,” Rome coaxed her. “Trick can hold Ev for a while.”
I tried to hide my surprise as Trick sat down next to me and made grabby hands at Abby. “Hand her over, Abs. They’re waiting on you. Come see Uncle Trick, sweet pea.”
If I expected Everly to cling to her mother, I was wrong. She was clearly used to Trick and eagerly reached for him as Abby handed her over. It seemed ladies of all ages loved him.
“Fair warning…Mia and I are going to kick your behinds, Morgan boys!”
Ethan giggled at his mother’s words, laughing even harder when Rome playfully lunged for her and swung her up into his arms as she squealed and begged him to put her down.
Trick chuckled, and Everly seemed fascinated by the low, rumbly sound as she gazed up at him. I’m right there with you, little girl, although I kept that thought to myself.
He eased her back into the cradle of his arms and looked over at me with a frown.
“No boyfriend today?”
I was confused for a second, then realized he was talking about Dustin. “Dustin isn’t my boyfriend. I know him through work, and last night was only our second date.”
“And how did that go?”
“He had car trouble, so we had to cut the evening short.”
“Are you going to give him a shot at date number three?”
“Probably not,” I admitted reluctantly, hoping he would let the matter drop.
He did not.
“That’s probably just as well since you’re crazy about me. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you can’t keep your eyes off me today,” he smirked.
“You are unbelievable,” I said, amazed at the sheer, unrepentant audacity of the man.
“Thanks, babe.” The wink that accompanied those two words almost pushed me over the edge.
“It wasn’t a compliment,” I said snippily. “You must need all those muscles to carry around such a massive ego!”
“I would make a joke that my ego isn’t the only thing that’s massive, but I feel like it’s not the right time for that,” he grinned, tilting his head down toward Everly, who was looking around with interest from her perch on his thick thigh.
I glared at him, and he shrugged innocently.
“I’m talking about my feet. Of course, you know what they say, big hands, big feet, big di-”. His voice cut off as I held up a hand to stop him.
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” I warned.
“OK, we can talk about me and my big…appendages later,” he said, suggestively waggling his brows.
I bit my lip to try to keep a smile from forming. Despite the fact that I wanted to throttle him at times, he was entertaining. If I ignored the fact that he probably flirted with every woman he met the same way, I would actually be flattered by the attention he was giving me.
“Speaking of big appendages, care to share what you ladies were talking about earlier? You know, about the d.i.c.k.s?” He covered Everly’s ears as he spelled the word, which I found oddly adorable.
“Uh, no, I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m pretty sure you know everything there is to know about that subject.”
He tilted his head and studied me for a moment, the barest hint of a smirk gracing his handsome face.
“I can’t tell if that was a compliment, or an insult, babe.”
I was saved from answering by Everly, who smacked Trick’s thigh to get his attention, then kept up a steady stream of babble for the next minute or so.
Trick nodded as if he understood every word. When she ran out of things to say, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
“That’s right, sweet pea. Now, you need a nap, or you’ll be a cranky little girl later. I think we need a sleepy time story.”
He smoothed his hand over her wispy hair, gently guiding her head back to lay against his chest.
“Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince named Jason. He was strong, and rode a horse made of steel and chrome, and everyone loved him. One day, the handsome prince heard a voice so enchanting, he was instantly bewitched. He mounted his trusty steed, Harley, and went on a quest to find the woman, discovering a beautiful maiden with hair like fire, Lady Lauren.”
I gasped softly, and he flicked his eyes my way, giving me a wink. This one was playful, rather than flirtatious, and I found myself not minding it nearly as much.
His voice was low and soothing as he started weaving an impossible fairy tale about the handsome prince, who found himself helplessly captured under the spell created by her voice.
“Alas, Lady Lauren’s uncle, a mean old man named Viking, threatened all the men in the land, including Prince Jason, vowing to rain doom upon them and their appendages if they dared to try to court his beloved niece.”
By this point, I had resorted to holding my hand over my mouth to keep my laughter at bay, not wanting to disturb the almost-sleeping little girl, or interrupt the surprisingly charming man who held her.
I was seeing another side of him right now, and I was surprised by how much I actually liked him when he dropped his playboy facade.
“Now, because Prince Jason was the bravest man of all, he –“
“Dammit, old man, you just ate the last brownie, didn’t you?”
“Ella made ‘em for me...she knows they’re my favorite.”
Trick’s story was interrupted by Uncle Bill yelling at Sinner, and Sinner yelling back, which startled poor Everly. Trick scooped her up onto his chest, resting her head on his shoulder as he swayed side to side in the chair to soothe her.
He grinned at me over the top of her head.
“How did you like the story so far?”
“It was fascinating. I’d like to meet this Prince Jason. He sounds like he might be my kind of guy,” I teased, unable to help myself.
Trick held out his hand, as if awaiting a handshake.
“Jase Patrick, at your service, Lady Lauren. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not actually a prince, and the only person who ever called me Jason was my mom.”
I studied him for a moment, charmed despite myself, then slid my hand in his. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Jase.”
“So, how does the story end?” I found myself asking, then wanted to smack my own mouth at the flirtatious tone in my voice.
“That depends on you, Lady Lauren,” he replied huskily.
A shout of excitement from Ethan as he scored a goal brought me back to my senses, only to find my hand still engulfed by Trick’s much larger one.
Everly stirred again, lifting her head from his shoulder to look for her brother, and giving a sleepy grin when she saw him doing what I assumed was supposed to be a victory dance in the middle of the yard. Either that, or a bug had flown down his shirt, I wasn’t sure which.
I pulled my hand back, shifting in my chair to hide my sudden nervousness.
Everly demanded Trick’s attention when she decided she wanted to get down from his lap to join Ethan.
According to Abby, she had started walking a few weeks ago, although she was only able to take a few steps on her own before toppling over.
Trick carefully set her on her feet, and Rome trotted over to take her by both hands and slowly led her over to her brother.
Ethan had fallen to his knees and shouted encouragement to her, and I smiled as Rome let go of her hands so she could toddle the last couple of feet on her own.
She fell into Ethan’s arms and they both giggled as they tumbled over backward.
King and Abby both had their phones out taking a video of the special moment, and I envied the closeness the Morgan family had.
“They’re sweet kids,” Trick observed quietly, and I nodded my agreement, unable to speak around the sudden lump in my throat.
I was saved from trying to continue the conversation when Lucky called Trick over to help settle an argument with Wrangler about which model of Harley-Davidson motorcycles was the best.
Viking came and sat down next to me, still grumbling about Sinner eating the last of the brownies. The party started winding down after that. I started to help with the clean-up, but King stopped me, telling me that the prospects would handle it.
“I appreciate it, sweetheart, but it’s part of their job.”