“Thank you for coming,” Lyla said and the neighbor whose hand she was shaking began to guide her toward the house like they wanted to be walked out through the building.
Trick had been impressed by his wife’s fortitude loads of times, but just when he thought she couldn’t do any more, she surpassed herself.
Far as he could tell, the cookout had been a good idea. It seemed to be a success and it had turned into an impromptu celebration of the life of the man he wished he’d had time to get to know better.
Standing at the edge of the yard, Trick scanned those who were still seated around the tables and made sure no one looked to need anything. The kid at the end of the table closest to him noticed him looking and averted his eyes.
Hmm, interesting.
The kid was Lyla’s cousin, Todd. She’d said he was thirteen, not a great age. The kid was just starting his journey to adulthood. Trick decided he’d have to stay away from the teenager, make sure not to have any negative impact on the boy who was probably a good kid.
Todd glanced at him again, and Trick slipped his hands into his pockets.
The neighbors had fallen into two categories that he was familiar with. The ones who did everything they could to be as near him for as long as possible, and those who were terrified to get within twenty feet of him. He’d thought he’d done ok with the family. It was important that he did given that he’d be seeing a lot more of them, but the kid seemed nervous.
As he considered what he might have done to scare the kid, Trick saw Todd rise from the table and start toward him. Good, ok, so he wasn’t scared, that was good. But why the hell did he look so shifty?
“S’up?” Todd asked when he got to him.
Ok, so they were just two cool dudes hanging out, Trick could do that without corrupting the kid. “Nothing,” Trick said. “How you doing, kid?”
“Good… I’m cool.”
Trick didn’t want to smile, but the kid was really trying his best to be gangsta. Grabbing his shoulder, Trick gave him a shake. “Don’t try so hard, man,” he said, laughing and punching his arm. “I’m the one trying to impress you, ok? And we’re family now, right?”
Todd did seem to relax; he smiled at least, so Trick took that as a good sign. “So you’re… you’re sticking around?”
“Sticking around?” he asked. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Joy says you’re only here ‘cause of the show, that you and Ly aren’t really married.”
Great, everyone had an opinion. Taking a mental breath, Trick reminded himself that these were just kids. “I’m sticking around. I love Lyla, I’m in this for the long haul.”
He had respect for the kid trying his best to step up for his cousin, even if there was fifteen years between them. If it ever came to it, Trick would let Todd kick his ass for hurting Lyla, not that he ever planned to, but if he did, he’d let the kid do his worst and wouldn’t fight back, just ‘cause it was the right thing to do.
“But Lyla’s so… plain… that’s what everyone says.”
Backtracking, Trick folded his arms and frowned. “Really? Who says?”
Todd blinked and took a half-step backward as he blanched. “I… I love Lyla, but she’s… she never had guys around. Mom says she’s got high standards.”
Trick smiled. “Then she married me and you realized they were bullshitting you?” Damn, it was hard not to swear. He put an arm around the kid’s shoulders. “Listen, man, most women fall into a category, some of them you’ll know already, some of them you’ll learn. But once in a while, like once in a blue moon, a woman comes along who doesn’t fall into a category… Your cousin Lyla is one of those women. She’s smart. Headstrong. Modest. Kind… And the sexiest woman I ever met. You want to find yourself a woman just like her and don’t settle for anything less than a woman who grabs your heart so tight you feel it in your balls, you know?”
The kid’s eyes were wide for a second, then he blinked and looked away like he had at the table. “And how do you… get her to like you back?”
“Kid, you’ve got time, plenty of time to…” Todd looked to the table, and then away again. When Trick followed his gaze, he saw a freckle-faced redhead steal a look at them and he couldn’t stop his grin as he cajoled the kid with a shake. “Hey, man, you’ve got one on the hook.”
Todd’s face went bright red and Trick turned them away from the table to huddle. “What’s her name?” It better not be Joy who thought his girl was plain.
“Stacy,” Todd mumbled, looking at the grass beneath their feet. “She’s Joy’s twin, like me and Avril.”
Nodding, he gave the kid’s chest a pat. “Good, something in common, good springboard… You talk to her? You hang out?”
Todd shook his head. “Joy asked me to the Halloween boy-girl dance.”
Sisters. Interesting. Complicated. “But you want Stacy?”
Todd’s head shot up. “I want to go with Stacy. I don’t want… I don’t want Stacy.”
“Right,” Trick said, “my mistake.” Apparently, there was a difference, he was out of practice with teenage lingo. “Did you ask her?” Again, Todd shook his head. “There’s your problem.” Slapping the kid between the shoulder blades, he grinned. “Go ask her.”
He might as well have suggested the kid run for President, Todd managed to look terrified and bereft all at the same time. “I can’t do that! I can’t… I can’t just… ask her.”
“Sure you can,” Trick said. “Joy asked you. Just do it like she did.” He frowned. “You did say no to the sister, right?”
“I… I said I’d think about it.”
Ok, that was better than agreeing, but worse than a flat no. “That’s ok,” Trick said, giving him a pat. “That’s ok, we can pull this back.”
“We?” Todd asked, searching his eyes.
Trick had never seen anyone look so grateful and hopeful in all his life. “You need help with homework, call Lyla… You want advice on women…” Trick winked. “You call me.”
“I can… I can call you? Like… on the phone?”
“Sure,” Trick said. “Like I said, we’re family.”
Glancing over the kid’s head, he saw Stacy looking at them again. The kid was fine. He had this. That girl was already his; he just didn’t have the confidence to claim her. But as Trick was about to reassure the kid, he saw Cece in the shadow on the back porch waving at him, but trying not to draw the attention of the rest of the guests.
“I don’t know how to get her to like me,” Todd said.
“Lesson one,” Trick muttered, worried by how frantic Cece looked. “Make her laugh.”
“What? How do I do that? Is that how you got Lyla?”
Trick took a step away and smiled, trying to be as relaxed as he could, so as not to draw Todd’s attention to whatever issue that must have risen. “Lyla fell in love with me when I took her shoes off,” he said. “Have a think about it. Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Walking backwards, Trick eyed the girl then winked at Todd. Yep, great way to get into the family, keep the teenagers away from the drama. Todd turned away and seemed to be wracking his mind.
Good, if Todd was thinking about pussy… or girls, whatever teenagers thought about, he wasn’t paying attention to his aunt.
Vaulting up the stairs, Trick found Cece just inside the sliding back door. “What’s wrong?” he asked her as he put an arm around her shoulders.
“Earl is at the door.”
“Earl?” he asked.
“The twins’ father. We haven’t seen him for five years. We can’t let the kids see him. Lyla is trying to—”
Trick put his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve got this. Go out back, keep everyone away from the front of the house.”
Cece exhaled and managed a smile. “I’m sorry this has been so difficult. I hope we aren’t scaring you off. You haven’t had much time to adjust to your role, have you?”
“My role?” he asked, thinking about his wife alone with this Earl guy.
“Head of the family,” she said. “You are the most senior male we have now.” Trick was still absorbing the idea when she touched his cheek. “You’re good for our Lyla. You’ve been a godsend today. Thank you.”
She turned and left him still thinking about how he’d ended up as head of a family.
“No!”
Lyla’s call from the front of the house took him out of his daze and he turned in a snap to march toward the front door. Trick had taken on all kinds of roles for his career, but he’d never had one more important than this.
“I said no, Earl,” Lyla said and stepped into his path again.
She was so pissed off that he’d made it over the threshold. But she’d do this dance with him all day if she had to. All she had to do was out-wait him. As Earl took a step left, she took one right, getting in his way, keeping him trapped between the front door and the bottom of the stairs.
“I have a right to—”
“I don’t think so.”
Lyla heard Trick before she knew he was there. As threatening as his words were, he said them with a smile, so maybe he was going to try diplomacy, meaning there really was a first time for everything.
“Trick!” Earl said. His hostile manner quickly faded in lieu of a smile. “Hey, man! I’m a big fan!”
“Shame,” Trick said. “I usually pride myself on being nice to fans… Excuse me, sweetheart.” Trick took her shoulders to move her aside gently. He took one stride past her to grab Earl by his shirt. Throwing him against the wall by the door, Trick pulled the shorter man to the tips of his toes and got down into his face to snarl at him. “You’re not welcome in this house. You’re not welcome at the funeral. You’re not welcome in this family. Come back again, talk to, or try to contact anyone even remotely related to this family and we’re gonna talk again. In private. Understand?”
Earl might have been thinking about objecting, but when he glanced past Trick’s shoulder at her, Trick pulled him forward and slammed him against the wall again. “You look at my wife again and I’ll rip your eyeballs out of your skull with my bare hands,” Trick growled. “Now I’m gonna open this door and toss you out on your ass. If you don’t run away back to whatever hole you came from and stay there, me and my boys will have a lot of fun chasing you down and stringing you up like a piñata.” Trick’s sinister smile sloped his lips. “And if you’re a real fan, I don’t have to tell you how good I am at party games. Do we understand each other?”
Nodding, Earl swallowed. Trick reached past him and opened the door. Dragging him forward, he did exactly what he’d said and threw Earl out the door. He went after him and Lyla kept an eye out the glass panel in the door to see her husband standing on the porch, watching Earl run away down the path and across the street until he was out of sight.
Trick stayed out there another minute before coming back inside. Closing the door, he brushed his hands together and grinned. “I love taking out the trash.”
Considering him for a minute, Lyla tried to imagine how she’d have handled this if he hadn’t come into her life. “Why did you do that?” she asked.
His grin fell. “He upset you and your mom… you didn’t want me to do that?” He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder. “I can go get him back.”
Trick was the only person in the world who probably could threaten a guy with physical bodily harm and then chase him down thirty seconds later to charm him into being his best buddy. Inhaling, she went to him and lifted her hands to his shoulders.
“I love you, Nairn Strickland,” she sighed and pulled him down for a kiss. “He upset me and my mom, that’s really why you did that? You don’t even know the full story.”
“Don’t need to,” he said, touching her hair. “Anyone who upsets you deserves a beating. He got off lightly.”
“Trick,” she whispered and pulled him down for another kiss.
The man surprised her every minute. Opening her mouth wide, she edged backward and kept her arms tight around him as she lowered to sit on the stairs. He made a noise of surprise, but it didn’t make her release him. Tightening her arms, she tilted her head. Kissing him deeper, she slanted back and opened her legs wider to curl them around his thighs.
When the confidence of his mouth took over the angle of the kiss, and his hands slid up to start pulling pins from her hair, she guided his hips back to start unbuckling his belt.
“Am I getting lucky on the stairs?” he panted against her mouth. She ripped open the buttons of his jeans and slid her hand inside to tighten her fist around him.
When he groaned, she grinned, Lyla loved pleasuring him, teasing him, being with him. Kissing him again, she shook her head, rubbing their lips together as she did. “I am.”
“Perfect,” he grumbled and a breath later he yanked his pelvis from hers and rose to push her legs together.
“Trick—”
“Shh,” he said and put his hands up her skirt to pull her panties down her legs.
When he had them off and hooked around his thumb, he kissed her once and winked. Oh, that wink, he was thinking of mischief.
Bumping his feet down to the bottom of the stairs, he lifted her skirt and stuck his head up underneath, tossing the fabric down his back. Oh God, that wasn’t what she’d meant! She’d meant that she was the lucky one to be with him, not that she wanted him to…
“Trick!” she called and grabbed for his shoulders, which were under her skirt.
He forced her legs apart and licked the length of her pussy before driving his tongue into her.
Laughter left her lips as the sensation of pleasure warmed her from within. “Mm, Malloy, I’ve missed your taste.”
“Trick,” she whimpered when he sucked her clit hard. Her body arched and as she exhaled another moan of pleasure, she lifted her head. There was a knock at the door. Oh! Whoever was on the other side of the door hadn’t looked through the glass, until now. “Oh, Trick.”
“Yeah, baby,” he hummed.
“No,” she said, trying to close her legs and push him away as the two women beyond the front door made eye contact with her and waved. “Trick, there’s someone at the door… watching us.”
Lyla lifted her hand in a pathetic wave as Trick pulled her skirt from his head and turned to lean on an elbow to look out the glass, his body still between her thighs.
“Oh, well that’s crappy timing,” he said and vaulted onto his feet to march over to the door. “That’s sick, weird, and twisted. Don’t sneak up on a guy like that. I was busy!”
Oh no! How could he be so annoyed and shouting at these poor women?
“Trick!” Lyla called and leaped up to run down the stairs. It wasn’t until the women stepped forward that she realized who they were.
“Discretion is a thing you know,” the younger woman said as the older one stepped forward.
“Yeah, Jose, whatever,” Trick sneered at the speaker before ducking toward the other woman. “Hey, mom.”
Lyla bounced between him and his mother, giving him a shove back with her body. He really couldn’t kiss his mother right now, not when his mouth had just been…
“Oh, Lyla, sweetie,” his mother said and pulled her into her arms.
The emotional shift that this required kept Lyla frozen for a few seconds. “We brought everything you asked for, Trick,” Josie said.
“Thanks, sis,” he said.
Just like that, they were friends again. Maybe that’s what it was like to have a sibling. When his mom let her go, Lyla stepped back, but his mom kept hold of her arms and was smiling at her. “How are you holding up, sweetie?”
“Uh…” Lyla said and tipped her head back. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be talking to his mother, he’d wanted them apart at the wedding. “Trick?”
“Right, uh, Ly, this is my mom, Andrea, everyone just calls her Drea, and this is Josie,” he said and held up a hand to indicate his sister who was still behind his mother.
To her horror, Lyla saw her panties there, still hanging on his thumb, now swinging between her and Drea.
Reaching up, Lyla grabbed them down and balled them in her hands. “Uh, it’s very nice to meet you,” Lyla said and pushed Trick back to turn and welcome their guests inside. “Everyone is uh, outside in the back yard. There’s, uh… There’s still food, I think… and, uh… you should feel free to, uh… you know… uh—”
“Head out back, we’ll be there in a minute,” Trick said.
Yes, she was freaking out, but did he have to sound so damn amused? Josie was grinning, even Drea was smiling, great, so she was the butt of the family joke already.
The women headed through the house and Lyla did her best to stay upright until they were gone. “Oh, God,” she said, crumpling into a crouch as soon as the women were gone. Covering her face with both hands, she let her palms slide up over her head so she could squeeze her skull.
“Babe, I can’t get to your pussy from this angle… I guess unless I just…”
His voice was right behind her and when she pivoted in her crouch, she ended up cross-legged in front of him. “Trick!”
“Usually you’re calling my name after I’ve done the job.”
Smacking his shoulder, Lyla couldn’t even figure out how he was so casual about this. “How are you still thinking about sex! Your mom just saw you… she saw… and my underwear!”
Holding up the offending item, she was too embarrassed to look at it, but Trick took it from her and shoved them into his back pocket. “Baby, it’s no big deal,” he said. “She doesn’t care… she’s probably happy.”
“Happy?” she screeched, wondering if they were having the same conversation. “On what planet—”
“I’m a considerate lover, I take care of my woman… not every guy does that. You’re very lucky, sweetheart,” he said and combed his fingers through her disheveled hair that had to be in disarray, half-up, half-not.
“Trick!” she called grabbing his hand to pull it down, but before she could object anymore, he leaned forward and kissed her.
Some of her mortification dwindled as the beat of his heart increased against her palm. Oh, his chest was so solid, her pillow, her comfort. As long as she had this heart near her, everything else went away.
Pushing him, she put him on his ass on the floor, against the wall, and climbed into his lap. His hands slid under her skirt and cupped her naked butt as she rubbed her clit against the bulk of his erection.
The urgency of her want built and she dragged his shirt up to stroke his chest. “Babe, I’ve got a rubber in my wallet,” he murmured just beneath her ear.
But she mumbled without making words and shook her head as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Why?”
“I brought it to the party, in case you showed up,” he said, caressing her back, spending extra time around the area of her bra clasp without actually popping it open.
“No, I…”
She couldn’t remember her name, or what was going on as she looked at his lips. All she knew was that she needed to kiss this man under her.
Grabbing his face, she forced her mouth over his and silently begged him to stay with her always.
Trick took her into his arms and stood up, carrying her through the house and kissing her every step of the way. He even managed to maintain the tangle of their tongues as he descended the stairs and took her into her basement bedroom.
When she was on her back, he left her and she cried out, grabbing for him before he could get off the bed. “I need to get protection,” he said, curving his hand around her cheek.
Trying to breathe in and out in the right order, she shook her head. “Don’t need it.”
He frowned. “Baby, I love you, but kids, right now—”
“I’m on the pill,” she said and he blinked away his frown. “I… went and got it, the day we got back from the team-building course… Before you found me in the canteen, that’s where I was… why I never had time to make lunch at home.”
Coming back down on top of her, Trick was grinning as he stroked his fingers from her cheeks into her hair. “You didn’t say anything.”
“I… was going to, but I… it takes seven days to work, so I… I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Oh, baby,” he groaned and pressed his nose and forehead to hers.
“I kept taking it because I… I wanted to be ready for you.” Ready for him because she’d always belonged to him. “I was always too scared to… Declan never wanted to risk it… What I’m saying is, I… I’ve never had sex without a condom…”
He kissed her and slid his hands down her body. “Until today.”
“Should we wait?” she asked and was amused by his petulant scowl. “Until tomorrow… on your birthday.”
“It’s my birthday today.”
Smiling, she hugged him. “It is not.”
“I’ve got the best present in the whole world here under me right now. Alone in a bedroom with my wife… no cameras. No audience. Just us alone… I’d say this is better than every birthday I’ve ever had.” Being with Trick made her so happy, but as she stroked his body, her focus fell to his throat. “Babe?”
“I… I’m so happy with you… but I’m devastated about my dad, I… it’s a difficult juxtaposition,” she whispered, still stroking him. “I feel like I need you, now, more than I’ve ever needed you… maybe more than I’ll ever need you until…”
“Until?” he asked. “We lose someone else?”
“Or gain someone,” she said and stole a look at him. “We’ve never really talked about what we want from the future…”
“Kids,” he said. “Are you asking about kids?” She nodded. “Do you want kids?”
“I was always content that I wouldn’t have them because I didn’t want to mess up my life. I was happy alone. But now… you’ve changed so much about my outlook, Trick. I don’t really know that I can see myself as a mom, but… I think you’d make an incredible father and I know it would be an honor for me to…”
“Get knocked up?”
Always making jokes, but it was nice of him to lighten a heavy moment. “Nicer than that, but… yeah.”
“It’s funny, ‘cause I’d have said it the other way around,” he said. “You’ll make an amazing mom, but I don’t know what I could teach a kid. Given my past, how could I say no or discipline a kid when every mistake I’ve ever made is recorded… with pictures.”
But none of that changed her opinion. “Doesn’t that make you smarter? Think of the wealth of experience you have to pass on to kids, you could guide them away from those mistakes.”
“Yeah, but my kids will be smart-ass little pricks who’ll call me a hypocrite.”
“Mine won’t,” she said, scratching her nails on his throat.
He kissed her. “You know, we should have kids, a bunch of them. I guarantee they’ll worship you and hate me.”
“We’ll adore you,” she murmured. “All of us. The girls will never be allowed to have boyfriends and their brothers will beat on any guy who looks at them sideways.”
He laughed. “That’s exactly how I’d raise them.” After another kiss, he got that far off look in his eyes as he searched hers. “You’d really have kids with me?”
“Maybe not tomorrow, but… yeah. There isn’t a man alive I’d rather procreate with.”
He failed to fight against the curl of his lips. “I’m actually jealous of whatever dead guy you’re thinking about right now.”
Squeezing her eyes closed, she tipped her head back and squealed. Because as soon as she’d said that she recognized the distinction it implied too. “God, I hate that you can see inside my brain like that.”
“So, who is he? Huh?” he asked, licking her throat, then kissing her chin. “A king? An emperor? Some fancy scientist, brainy guy?”
Shaking her head, she ran her fingers into his hair, and pretended to really ponder the possibilities. “If every man who ever lived was lined up right now, alongside every man who will ever live…?”
“Yeah, who’s on the list?” he asked. “Who’s your number one for the baby daddy spot?”
“One name,” she said.
“One?”
“Only you, my love… When we’re ready, if we decide it’s right… I want to have your babies, Nairn Strickland.”
Sinking down, he found her mouth with his. “Well, wife, there’s something kinda hot about that request… but let me make one of my own.”