She blushed ducking her head quickly. “Disturbing my French class by talking in it and no, she thinks my teacher just wanted me to stay after.”
I raised my eyebrows at her in surprise at her lying to her mother. “Really? What if she finds out?”
“She’s not going to find out. Well not unless Jess or you tell her.” She kept her head down as she toyed with the bottom of her shirt. The fabric pulled down an inch and exposed that tiny freckle above her breast.
I adverted my gaze clearing my throat, thought of the perfect way to help me stay where I was at and keep my wits about me. “Just how bad do you want to go to this bash?”
She gasped and looked up at my profile. I could almost feel her eyes narrow at me. “Wha’ are ya getting at?”
I hid my smirk at the emergence of her accent. “Well, if we go and you want me to keep this from your mum, you have to do something for me.”
I could see her hand clench in her lap out of the corner of my eye. “Wha’ is it?”
I got her where I wanted her. This was a good time to have her promise to stay away from me. That was the only sane thing for me to have her do, since I obviously could not do it. With all intention of saying that, I turned to look in her eyes and immediately lost my train of thought. Those gilded flecks swallowed the rest of the light brown of the iris making her eyes almost glow in her agitated state. They were simply breathtaking.
My knuckles brushed against her cheek as I leaned down to whisper in her ear taking in the soothing scent of primrose coming from her hair. “Stay away from Hunter tonight.”
*****
I’m fucking mental. That’s all there was to it. I had the perfect opportunity to make sure we kept our distance from each other and I blew it by making her promise to stay away from… him. I slammed my hand against the lifted bonnet of Grace. Now I not only had to go to this party with her, I also had to stay sober enough to keep my hands off her and hers off me.
That possibility never crossed my mind until the ride home today. She found every little chance she could to touch me. Nothing major, just small feather-light caresses on my arm when she laughed or wanted to get my attention. The worst one was when she removed an eyelash off my cheek and licked her lips before telling me to blow it off her finger to make a wish. Yeah, that almost had me pulling over and dragging her onto my lap.
I leaned my head against my upstretched arm and groaned. This night was going to be hell. My pocket vibrated. I pushed off Grace and wiped my hands on a rag before digging my mobile out.
Beau: You’re taking Marie to Scott’s party?
I sighed and typed back. Me: She didn’t give me much choice.
Beau: Mom is okay with this?
Me: She didn’t seem too bothered by it. Could you make an appearance when you get off work and help me keep an eye on her? I have a feeling she’s going to be a handful.
Beau: Tell her no if you think you can’t handle her.
I knew I could handle her. But I doubt he wanted to know exactly how I would accomplish that. Me: I have found that it is very difficult to tell her no when she has her mind set on something.
Beau: That’s f’true! Ok. I’ll swing by after work.
Me: Ta.
Beau: Huh?
Me: Thanks.
I looked at the time. Shit, I better get cleaned up for dinner. I put the bonnet back down and grabbed my shirt off the dash before I scrambled inside. I tossed my shirt in the hamper in my room and grabbed a plain white T from my drawer. I went to the loo to scrub the grease and muck from my hands and then pulled the shirt on.
Marie was supposed to cook tonight as part of the agreement with her mother on going out, which had Charles and Luke terrified. Apparently, the last time she did most of the food was burnt to a crisp. I walked into the dining room and saw the twins looking very somber. I raised my brow at the little hellions as I took my seat across the table far away from them.
Dev ducked his head when he saw me. “I’m sorry for pranking you, Drez. It will not happen again.”
Remi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sorry.”
I nodded my head in acceptance at Dev knowing full well that Remi did not mean a word of it. “I accept your apology.” I looked around the table to make sure Eva couldn’t hear me. “Though those pranks were pretty hilarious. Kudos, mate.” Dev grinned big at me and nudged his brother who was reluctantly smiling.
Charles and Luke entered shuffling their feet as if this were their last meal. Luke grunted as he plopped down in the chair next to me. Charles took his seat beside Dev. Remi snorted at the two of them. “It’s just spasgeti. She can’t mess that up. Can she? I mean she does cook breakfast every now and then.”
Charles squeezed his eyes shut. “She burned soup last time. Burned soup. And cooking breakfast is different than making dinner.”
Dev scrunched his face up in disgust. “I’m sure she’s learned since then. Right?”
Luke mumbled under his breath. “Gawd, I hope so.”
*****
The food was not completely horrid. I mean yeah, the noodles were still a bit tough and the sauce wasn’t hot enough but the garlic bread was great. I’ve had worse meals. I helped Luke clear the table and went to my room to freshen up before I had to take her to the party. As soon as I closed the door, I heard muffled voices coming from the corner of the room by the bureau.
I walked over there to inspect where it was coming from. Kneeling on the floor, I noticed a small vent. I gently opened it and the voices became clearer.
“It’s just a party, Nate. We know the kid who is having it and Beau is going to it. I don’t see why you’re so against letting her go.” Eva’s sighs were quickly followed by the sound of leather from the chair squeaking.
“Last time there was a party, he showed up drunk as a skunk! Beau and Marie had to carry him in. I’m not sure if I can allow her to go when there is a possibility that that might happen again.” He grumbled.
“He wasn’t our responsibility then. He didn’t live under our roof and know our rules. And… well I honestly think that was a onetime thing. Give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Let’s say I do and they drink. They might end up trying to drive and get into an accident. Or they drink and end up having unprotected sex. We might end up in the same predicament that Daniel and Jamie are in with Roxy and Luke. One potential grandbaby is enough to deal with at the moment. I don’t really want to have to deal with all the….” The sound of papers rustling drowned out the rest of what he said.
Eva snorted her voice gradually getting louder as she became more agitated. “Might. There is that word again. If we all lived our lives based on mights, we’d have never made it out of the dark ages. Let them be kids, Nate, and enjoy the time they have left before they become adults and have to face the real world.”
He let out a disgruntled groan. “I can’t take that chance. Have you seen how he looks at her when he thinks no one is watching? There is a hunger there, chèr. One that I recognize all too well.”
“Fine. Then you go upstairs and tell your daughter that you don’t want her to go have fun because you think she’s going to get drunk and sleep around. It’s not like you don’t let your boys do that. Or are you forgetting the coach calling us last year to go pick up Beau because he was too drunk to get his truck out of a field? How about the phone call from Payne’s mom? Or the Teagues? If you distrust her so much send Charles with them. He can’t help but tell us what the rest of them are up to.” She ranted.
“I don’t think that, Eva. Of course, I remember all of that. I didn’t think that boy would survive to see his eighteenth birthday without one of us strangling him.” He sounded defeated as he sighed. “I trust her. I just… hell, I don’t want to see her get hurt that’s all. She’s my little girl.”
“I know, love. Still send Charles with them. He’ll give us a complete rundown of what happens.” Her voice was muffled.
“If it will make you feel better.” The sound of
their kiss made me quickly close the vent.
I got out of the floor and sat on the bed. I felt somewhat better knowing that Charles’s presence would hinder any amorous advances. Well, hopefully. It did bother me that he would assume that I would potentially threaten someone’s life by driving drunk. Given the circumstances, I understood his reluctance.
I stood up and quickly changed into a clean pair of dark blue jeans and black polo shirt. I picked at the sleeve trying to stretch it out a little so it wasn’t so tight around my biceps. I think I should let them know that I don’t do that.
I ran a hand through my hair and left the room. I stopped by the study door and knocked on it. A faint rustling sound was heard on the other side of the door. Eva opened it running a hand down her shirt to straighten it. I pretended not to notice her disheveled state. “May I talk to the two of you?”
Her brows furrowed before she took a step away from the door. “Sure, honey, come in.”
I stepped inside the study and spotted Nate sitting in his office chair. I placed my hand on the back of the oversized chair and leaned on it slightly. “Even though there is a party tonight and I’m sure there will be alcohol there. I wanted to let you know that since I’m driving I will not be drinking. There is no way I would ever get behind the wheel of a vehicle intoxicated. Any time that I have drunk anything I made sure I had a ride home or I stayed there until morning.”
Nate sat there immobile leaning back in his chair with his hand resting against his mouth. “I appreciate your honesty. Can you guarantee that she will not drink though?”
“No but I will try my hardest to make sure she doesn’t.” I said honestly. “I really don’t know the people there well enough to trust them around her sober let alone inebriated. If Beau hadn’t agreed to go, well we’d stay here.”
“You don’t trust them around her?” He leaned against his desk as Eva stepped around it to rest her hand on his shoulder.
I frowned as I thought about it. Did I really want to tell them how I really felt about the boys that were so close to their son? I slowly shook my head. “I wouldn’t trust most of them around a dog, but that could just be my prejudice against some of the team. That developed when I discovered one is hounding Roxy even though he knows Luke is with her and another is sniffing around Marie.”
“Which ones?” Eva asked softly.
“Bus is after Roxy and Hunter is pursuing Marie.” I unknowingly clenched my fist when I mentioned the ponce’s name.
Nate noticed the reaction and leaned back against the chair. “Beau told me about Michael’s infatuation with Roxy, but failed to mention Hunter. Are you sure about that one?”
My jaw clenched briefly as I nodded. “Yes, I overheard him tell Scott that he wanted her and couldn’t wait for her to come to her senses and drop me.”
Eva turned her back toward me and whispered something to him. His hand moved back up to his mouth covering what looked like a grin before he cleared his throat. “Yes it does, chèr. Marcus, thank you for easing our minds. Y’all can leave whenever you want just take Charles with you. Oh, do you need any gas money?”
I opened the door and turned back around to them. “No thank you. I filled Grace up yesterday.”
Eva followed me out and headed up the stairs. “I’ll just let Charles know to get ready and check in on Marie to see how long she’ll be.”
I stood in the foyer inspecting myself in the mirror on the wall when I heard Charles’s shout of glee. I shook my head at his enthusiasm. He bounded down the steps jumping the last few and tapped my shoulder with his fist. “This is sweet! I can’t believe that they are letting me go to one of Scott’s parties.”
I glanced up the stairs then down the hall and whispered to him. “You know they want you to spy on us right?”
He snorted rolling his eyes. “Duh. Of course I do, but what I tell them and what really happens are usually two totally different things.”
*****
It took Marie another thirty minutes and four outfit changes to get ready. Each time she had come down her mother would shake her head at her and go tell her to put some clothes on. When she finally graced us with her presence, she wore a pair of baggy jeans and a loose fitted T-shirt. I exhaled a sigh of relief. Thank god, she was wearing something that hid her tight little body.
Charles snickered under his breath and patted my shoulder. “We better go.”
We walked out the side door to the garage. Marie got halfway to Grace before she looked over her shoulder and smirked. She whispered something to Charles and ran over to the side of the house. She dug in the bushes for a moment before she pulled out an old ratted knapsack and ran back toward the car. I had already climbed in the driver seat and started it by the time she reached us.
Charles moved the seat up so she could climb in the back before he got in and closed the door. He twisted in his seat, slinging his arm over it and laughed at her. “You better hope they don’t find out you are doing this.”
She shrugged at him pulling her hair back in a bun. “Then you better not tell them. Now turn around and put your seatbelt on.”
He shook his head at her and turned around. I adjusted the rearview mirror before I pulled out of the driveway. It was already pushing nine o’clock. Hopefully by the time we get there Beau would be on his way. I glanced up at the rearview mirror and saw Marie take off her shirt.
I swerved off the shoulder, the tires bounced on the gravel testing the new shocks I put on a few months back, before I maneuvered us back on the hardtop. “What are you doing?” My voice cracked as I swallowed hard. I tried to keep my gaze on the road. I really did but the sight of her smooth flesh in the mirror kept capturing my gaze. She had on a red bra that was more lace than material and just barely covered her strawberry peaked breasts. My mouth went dry and cock twitched in my jeans. Freckles dusted her torso and back, just begging to be kissed.
“I’m changing. I am seriously not going to go to a party looking like a bum.” She pulled a red dress out of her bag and pulled it over her head before taking off her jeans. I almost slammed into the back of a hybrid when she took her bra off underneath the dress and shoved it back in her bag.
My heart pounded in my ears and I was harder than stone by the time we pulled into Scott’s driveway behind the trailer park Jess lived in. My palms sweated as I turned off Grace, exited her and walked to the front. Charles got out and shook his head at Marie when she climbed out.
My eyes widened as I saw her glorious legs shown off by that tiny dress. She had on a pair of grey heels that made them look at least five inches longer. My gaze slowly traveled up her body and I completely lost it. “Hell’s bells no. You are not wearing that in there. Sweet Jesus, it’s backless. Are you trying to kill me?”
She smirked pulling her hair out of the bun and stalked over to me. “Wha’s da matter, Shug?” She placed her hand over my pounding heart and brushed her lips against mine. I closed my eyes and clenched my hands to fists so I wouldn’t pull her to me. “You don’t like my dress?” She stepped away and spun around. The skirt of the dress fluttered up around her hips showing off her thong.
I bit my lip, looked up at the night sky and stifled my groan. “It’s nice but uh… it’s too short and it’s missing a back.”
She smirked touching her fingertip to my lips. “Shush. Just take me… inside. There is a party going on you know.” She pulled away from me laughing and sauntered up to the front door.
*****
Chapter Nine
Marie
The party was in full swing when I walked in the front door. Music was blaring, a strobe light was flashing in the corner of the living room and the hall was lined with people talking and holding red cups. Charles pushed passed me flashing me a goofy grin before disappearing into the living room and the sea of bodies bouncing to the pounding bass. I walked down the hall to the kitchen to grab a drink and spotted Jess standing next to the counter.
“Hey! Marie you made it. Damn you are
looking fierce.” Her speech was slurred as she stumbled her way over to me. I quickly caught her arm before she bounced against a couple kissing in the corner. She gave me a goofy grin and yelled behind her. “Suck it Scott I told you she’d show up. You owe me twenty bucks.”
Scott walked into the kitchen with a beer in his hand. He looked over at me and his mouth dropped open. “Sweetheart, damn. Just damn. We need to get you a drink.” He grabbed my arm pulling me further into the kitchen. “Did Drez come with you?”
“Yes, he’s around here somewhere.” I looked over my shoulder to see if I could spot him, but all I saw was a mass of bodies blocking my view.
“I’m sure he’ll find you. Here take this.” He grabbed a cup and poured in a mix of clear alcohol with some cola.
I grabbed the cup from him and downed the entire drink. Jess laughed at me. “Damn girl. Take it easy.”
I bent my head down and whispered in her ear. “I need something to give me some courage tonight. I plan on having fun by any means necessary.”
Her lips curved into her Cheshire cat smile. “I’ve got just the thing for you.” She grabbed Scott’s arm and spoke quickly to him. His shocked gaze met mine before he nodded his head and left the room. She wrapped her arm around my elbow and steered me toward the living room. “This is going to be fun.”
“What is?”
“Body shots.” Her smile increased as we stepped into the room. Scott had cleared off a table behind the couch and tilted his head to someone in the corner. Hunter and Payne walked over and listened to what he was saying. They both laughed and took off their shirts.
“What exactly is a body shot?” I asked Jess.
“Something that you are not going to do, pet.” Drez said behind my shoulder.
I spun around and met his angry glare. “What is it?”
Jess grabbed my arm and pulled me away from him. “Here I’ll show you.”
Lost in the Moment (A Savioe Family Novel) Page 19