Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy)

by Erin Nicholas

  Gabe ruffled his hair. “Good job, bud. Want to play something else now?”

  Cooper shook his head. “I’m done.”

  “Then how about a snack?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Gabe! Come play dunk tank!” one of Roxanne’s kids called.

  They’d set up a mock dunk tank with one of the kids sitting on a high stool and another holding out a cardboard bull’s-eye. When someone hit the “target” with a beanbag, the kid on the stool jumped off, landing behind a piece of cardboard that was painted to look like water, pretending to get dunked. Apparently, the older kids were getting frustrated with the little kids being unable to hit the bull’s-eye.

  “Coop, want to play dunk tank?” Gabe asked.

  Cooper shook his head. Yeah, Gabe had expected that. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’ll watch you,” Cooper told him. “You’re a good shot.”

  Gabe put a hand on his head and grinned down. “Thanks, man.”

  Gabe moved over to the “dunk tank.” He joked around with the kids for a little bit, watching them play. He helped a couple of the younger ones with their shots. And then he successfully dunked Roxanne’s youngest son three times in a row. Grinning and high-fiving the other kids, Gabe turned to check on Cooper.

  And his heart almost stopped.

  Cooper was standing in front of Addison. Who was looking at him like he was an alligator about to take a chunk out of her leg.

  “Hi.”

  Addison stared down at the little boy she’d been watching all day but keeping her distance from. Who was now standing in front of her, his big brown eyes—the only thing that wasn’t the exact image of his father—peering up at her.

  “Hi.”

  “Can I sit on your lap?”

  She blinked at him. “Um. Why?” Had Gabe sent Cooper over to her? Because that sweet but serious face was definitely going to get to her.

  “I like your shirt,” Cooper told her, as if that was a perfectly good reason to want to sit on someone’s lap.

  Addison looked down at the pale-blue T-shirt she was wearing. “You do?”

  “Blue is my favorite color,” Cooper told her. “And you’re sitting still.”

  She almost laughed at that. But he was completely serious. And he had a point. All the other adults were up and moving around or engaged in games. Addison had chosen to sit near Stella but let her daughter meet the rest of the group in her own way and time. That was how they did things. Stella did her thing but with Addison close enough to help out or intervene if necessary. It was almost never necessary.

  “I guess I am,” Addison said. She shifted slightly and held out her arms. “Then obviously I’m the best choice.”

  Cooper climbed up onto her lap and immediately snuggled in against her as if they’d done this a million times. And Addison felt her heart stutter, then pound hard once, before settling back into its normal rhythm. Then Cooper reached for one of her arms and drew it around him. She did the same with the other and then worked on holding perfectly still.

  She was a stranger to him. Should he really be sitting on her lap? But he seemed to be perfectly content.

  “You don’t want to sit on your own chair?” she asked.

  “No,” he said simply.

  “Okay.” She paused. “Let me know if I squeeze you.”

  “Okay.” He certainly didn’t seem concerned. A minute passed, and he said, “You smell good, too.”

  She supposed, given all the reasons to sit on someone’s lap, that wasn’t a bad one, either. “Thank you.”

  “The way she smells is one of my favorite things about her.”

  Addison’s head snapped up, and she found Gabe standing over them. “Um, hi.”

  He gave her a knowing grin, as if he could tell that she was very uncomfortable right now. But he simply pulled a chair up next to them and settled in, not offering her or Cooper the chance for the boy to sit on Gabe’s lap.

  “She smells like ice cream,” Cooper told him.

  Gabe gave him a wink. “One of our favorite things, right?”

  “Definitely.” Cooper wiggled on her lap, but it seemed that he was just getting even more settled, resting his head back against her breasts.

  Gabe lifted his eyes to Addison’s, and his grin softened. “This is nice.”

  That warm look in his eyes was almost as potent as the sexy ones he gave her. He hadn’t sent Cooper over, but Addison could feel how pleased he was that his son had found her. “I see there are some things genetic among the Trahan men.”

  Gabe’s gaze dropped to her breasts. “Guess we like some of the same things.”

  “I meant the charm,” she said with a little eye roll, but she couldn’t help but smile.

  “Oh, that.” Gabe looked at Cooper. “Yeah, we’re pretty hard to resist, huh, Coop?”

  Cooper grinned up at him. “Look out, ladies, Trahans in the house,” he said.

  Addison laughed, and Gabe grinningly explained, “That’s one of Uncle Logan’s favorite sayings, isn’t it?”

  Cooper giggled. “Uncle Logan drinks beer and says bad words and kisses lots of girls.”

  Addison didn’t know Logan well, but from what she’d seen, she felt that summary was very accurate.

  “But kissing girls is okay,” Cooper told her, tipping his head so he could look up at her. “Dad says it’s really nice and that if you really like them and they want you to, you can kiss them.”

  Addison’s heart squeezed. Even though she was sure the conversation had been somewhat lighthearted, something about Gabe giving his son fatherly advice made her freaking heart squeeze. That was really dumb, of course. Obviously Gabe would be giving Cooper advice, of all kinds. But there was something about witnessing it. Seeing Gabe parenting. Seeing Gabe’s interactions—even the lighthearted ones—with Cooper up close. Seeing Gabe as someone who was idolized and adored and trusted completely. Yeah, it definitely squeezed her heart.

  Addison swallowed, then nodded. “As a girl myself, I can confirm that it’s okay in those instances.”

  “Do you like kissing?” Cooper asked.

  Addison grinned. “I do like kissing. Some boys. Not all, of course.” She shot Gabe a quick look, but it was very hard to decipher the expression on his face. It was that possessive-hot look again, combined with what looked a little like amazement. “But I’ll tell you something,” she said to Cooper, leaning in a little as if to impart a secret.

  “What?” Cooper asked, dropping his voice to a loud whisper.

  “Sometimes girls start the kissing.”

  Cooper giggled. “Do they drink beer and say bad words, too?”

  Addison laughed. “Nope, never.”

  Gabe snorted. “I think Addison is just like Uncle Logan, Coop.”

  “Full of beans?” Cooper asked.

  “Yep. Totally,” Gabe said, giving Addison a wink.

  “Hmm,” Addison said. “Okay, I’m going to say something, and you tell me if I’m telling the truth or full of beans.”

  Cooper wiggled in her lap, turning so he could see her more easily. “Okay.”

  “Alligators lay eggs like birds.”

  Cooper’s eyes got wide. “True!”

  She nodded. “How about this—when baby alligators are ready to hatch, they make a sound that their mom hears, and she knows she needs to uncover them.”

  “Yes! True!” Cooper exclaimed.

  “And raccoons will sometimes eat alligator eggs,” Addison added, loving the excited look on his face.

  “They do,” Cooper said, nodding. “Yes, that’s true, too.”

  “So I’m not really full of beans, am I?” Addison said.

  “No way.” Cooper looked at Gabe. “She’s not full of beans.”

  Gabe gave his son a smile. “Nope, I guess she’s not.”

  “Do you like alligators?” Cooper asked, turning back to Addison.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think they’re interesting, but they’re
kind of scary, too. But I’ve never been around one in person.” She snuck a look at Gabe and realized that, when his son wasn’t looking at him, Gabe had a very intense look on his face. If she didn’t know better, that look said he was thinking about stripping off her clothes and saying very dirty things to her. But that couldn’t be right. Could it?

  “They are scary,” Cooper said with a little frown. “Is this true or full of beans? An alligator’s jaw can produce thirty-seven hundred pounds of force per square inch.”

  Addison nodded seriously. “True.”

  “Yep.” Cooper said it with a grave look.

  “Have you met one in person?” Addison asked him.

  “No.” Cooper looked over at Gabe. “Dad said we could go on a swamp tour, though.”

  “Stella wants to do that, too,” Addison told him. What am I getting myself into? she wondered briefly. But maybe having someone with him who was also less than enthusiastic would help Cooper. Lord knew Stella would love to have someone like Gabe along who would totally get into it all and be excited.

  And dammit, those big brown eyes and sweet giggle and, yeah, the fact that he’d climbed into her lap so easily, had won her over. Just as she’d feared.

  “Is that Stella?” Cooper asked, pointing at her daughter.

  “Yes. We’re new.”

  “She’s kind of loud,” Cooper said.

  “Coop,” Gabe chastised, but Addison just laughed.

  “Yes, she sure can be,” Addison agreed. “But I promise she’s not all the time.”

  “Would she be loud on a swamp boat?” Cooper asked.

  Well . . . Addison had to be honest. “Yeah, probably.”

  Gabe chuckled at that, and Cooper even smiled. “That’s probably okay,” the boy decided. “It’s outside.”

  Addison wanted to squeeze him. And his dad. There was something about Gabe just sitting there, reclined in the chair next to them, watching them interact, that made her feel all tingly.

  “Maybe they should go with us, Dad,” Cooper finally said. “You could pet an alligator with Stella.”

  Gabe’s expression was so full of affection at that, Addison had to catch her breath.

  “I don’t need to pet an alligator,” Gabe told him. “I’m happy with whatever you want.”

  Cooper nodded. “I know. But Addison doesn’t want to pet one, and Stella does. She needs a grown-up to help her.”

  Gabe looked surprised for a moment. He met Addison’s gaze. “You don’t want to pet one, huh?”

  Addison gave a very honest little shudder. “Nope.”

  “Well, I would be happy to help Stella with it,” he said.

  She could tell that he was trying to be nonchalant about it, but there was a definite tension in him suddenly as he shifted forward in his chair to rest his forearms on his thighs. She shot him a questioning look over Cooper’s head, but Gabe gave her a little headshake that seemed to say, Not now.

  “Then you should come with us,” Cooper told Addison. “We can watch them.”

  She swallowed. Okay, so she was making a date for her, Stella, Gabe, and Cooper to spend time together. Just the four of them. This had escalated quickly. She had no idea why she was surprised by that. “That sounds good,” she told him.

  “Yeah?” Gabe asked.

  She looked up and saw that he had his hands clasped together between his knees and was staring at her intently.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Cooper! Come play Chutes and Ladders!” one of the kids called just then.

  Cooper sighed.

  “Go on,” Gabe encouraged. “For a little while.”

  “That’s a baby game,” Cooper said.

  “Well, maybe you can play one game of that and then suggest something else,” Gabe told him.

  “Okay.” Cooper turned on her lap, then reached up and threw his arms around her neck, hugging her briefly. “Bye, Addison.”

  He’d slid off her lap and was across the room at the game table before she recovered from her surprise.

  Gabe watched him go, and then as soon as Cooper was occupied, he slid his chair close, put his hand on the back of her head, and pulled her in so he could whisper against her ear.

  “It’s probably totally inappropriate, but seeing you holding my son and talking about alligators has made me harder than I’ve ever been. I would do anything to hike up this pretty sundress and bury myself inside you right now.”

  Addison couldn’t catch her breath. She simply gave a soft moan.

  Then Gabe kissed her forehead and let her go. “Swamp tour on Sunday afternoon,” he said.

  It was clearly not a question.

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  His gaze burned into hers for another long moment, then he nodded. “Okay.”

  And Addison thought that just maybe everything really would be okay.

  Chapter Seven

  The swamp-boat tour was . . . pretty much what Gabe had expected.

  It was hot and humid, the airboat was loud, and there were lots of gators.

  Stella had been in heaven. She’d clambered aboard the boat and headed for the front seats immediately, and Gabe had agreed to sit with her when the guide said kids had to be with an adult. Cooper had been equally torn between fascination and horror as he’d carefully stepped onto the boat, holding tightly to Addison’s hand, and he’d happily taken Addison’s invitation to sit with her on the bench seat in the middle of the vessel.

  Stella had bounced in her seat the entire time and peppered the guide with questions. Cooper had sat quietly, looking, watching, taking it all in but not getting too close. Besides, he’d already known all the answers to Stella’s questions. A fact he’d informed her of on the drive home.

  Stella had not only petted a baby alligator but held it and kissed it on the head. Cooper had looked like he might throw up as he watched her. Addison had wanted nothing to do with the lizards—big or small—and had looked a little green around the edges by the time they docked.

  And Gabe—well, Gabe couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend a day. The kids had gotten to know each other, he’d gotten to know Stella, and Addison seemed able to understand and make Cooper feel more secure. And Gabe had gotten to hold an alligator, too, which, no doubt about it, was kind of cool.

  All in all, it was a very successful outing in his opinion.

  Except for the fact that with their two kids along, Gabe couldn’t back Addison up against the inside of her front door and kiss the hell out of her when he dropped Stella and her at home after driving back from the bayou.

  “Stella, why don’t you take Cooper in and get some juice. And you can show him those drawings you did of the alligators last night?” Addison asked as she unlocked the front door and pushed it open.

  “Okay.” Stella started down the hall at, of course, a run.

  Cooper stepped across the threshold more slowly—though, in fairness, most people did things slowly compared to Stella—and looked around Addison’s foyer curiously. Stella stopped halfway down the hallway and looked back.

  “Do you want juice?” she asked Cooper.

  “Yeah,” he told her.

  “Then come on.”

  “I’m just looking,” Cooper told her.

  Stella put a hand on her hip. “At what?”

  “Your house.”

  She frowned. “Why?”

  Cooper shrugged. “Because it’s different from mine. And it’s neat to see different things.”

  Stella tipped her head, then came back to stand by Cooper. She looked around the foyer from his vantage point. They stood side by side, just looking, for nearly two minutes. Addison and Gabe exchanged a look and a smile but said nothing.

  Finally, Stella nodded and looked over at Cooper. “You want to see the rest of the house?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay,” she said, taking his hand. “But juice first. And in my room we have to play with Sammy for a while.”

  “Who’s Sammy?”


  Stella gave him a smile. “You’ll see.”

  That seemed good enough for Cooper. “Okay.”

  They disappeared down the hall into the kitchen, and Addison turned to face Gabe. “Wow,” she said simply.

  Wow was a pretty good summary. “They could be good for each other,” he said.

  Addison nodded. “Cooper will make sure she slows down and smells the roses.”

  “And Stella will make sure he doesn’t spend all his time just looking around.”

  Addison took a deep breath. “Want to make out while they play?”

  “Yes,” he said without hesitation.

  She laughed and took his hand, leading him down the hall. “Stella? Gabe and I will be in the family room,” she called into the kitchen.

  “Okay, Mommy!”

  Addison turned left where the kids had turned right and led him to the couch. They settled onto the cushions together, and Addison kicked off her shoes. She shifted to face him, resting an arm on the back of the couch and tucking her legs underneath her.

  “Thanks for today,” she told him.

  He faced her, also propping an arm on the back of the couch. He ran a strand of her hair between his finger and thumb. “Thank you. I had a great time.”

  She nodded, studying his face. “It was a good day.”

  “And . . . ,” he prompted, “not so bad with two kids? When you have someone else there to help?”

  “I have to admit that having someone else pet alligators with Stella was really nice,” she said.

  Gabe felt his heart give a little extra thump. That was something. “Addison,” he said seriously, “Stella will never have to face an alligator—literal or figurative—alone as long as I’m around.”

  Addison groaned.

  He smiled. “What?”

  “That was amazingly sweet,” she said.

  His smile grew. “Yeah?” He wrapped the strand of hair around his finger and tugged slightly.

  Addison leaned in. “Yeah,” she said softly.

  “It’s true,” he told her. “It’s not just about softening you up with sweetness and charm and sexiness.”

  She laughed, but her gaze was on his mouth. “I didn’t say charm and sexiness. Just sweet.”

  He leaned in until their lips were only an inch apart. “But it is sexy, right? It kind of turns you on knowing that I’m kind of crazy about your daughter.”