Taking It Easy: Boys of the Big Easy book two

by Erin Nicholas

  “Is it weird?” Lindsey asked after a moment, her voice quieter, more thoughtful.

  Dana focused on her friend. “Is what weird?”

  “Having someone there…in Chad’s place?”

  Dana pulled in a breath. She had to be honest with Lindsey. “No. Not weird. Because…I didn’t really think about it until the other morning. He isn’t really in Chad’s place.”

  “Isn’t he?” Lindsey asked. “He’s sleeping with you, getting the girls ready for school, picking them up.”

  Dana gave a little laugh that wasn’t really amused. “But Chad wasn’t really there doing those things,” she said. “When he was home, he did. But it wasn’t ever permanent. None of us got used to it.” She sighed. “This, with Logan, just feels like having someone extra helping. Like when you help me out. Or my mom comes over. Or when Chad was home. It’s an extra, temporary person.” She shrugged. “There isn’t really…anything to replace.”

  There. She’d said it. Logan being there and doing hair and going on ghost tours was new, so that wasn’t a replacement for anything. And him being there to pick the girls up was a little thing that other people could, and had, done for her.

  She gave Lindsey a small smile. “Does that sound extra bitchy?”

  Lindsey looked a little sad, but she shook her head. “No. Because you’re right. It’s like…having a nanny.”

  “Well,” Dana said, needing to lighten the mood. “Having a really hot nanny who I can have amazing sex with.”

  Lindsey, thankfully, laughed.

  “Of course, I’m also really hormonal, so maybe that’s not really Logan either,” Dana added.

  “You weren’t the first time with him,” Lindsey reminded her with a knowing look.

  Dana couldn’t deny that. “Okay, the sex is amazing. But that’s not a replacement for Chad either.”

  Lindsey smiled, though there was a touch of sadness in her eyes. “But you can have it on an ongoing, booty-call-him-whenever-you’re-in-the-mood way with Logan.”

  Yeah, there was that. And that was no small thing.

  “I’m glad about all of this,” Lindsey said. “I really am. I do want him helping you, though. With real stuff.”

  “Trust me—making my girls happy, making them giggle, making them okay with just being them even when it isn’t ‘normal’ or like everyone else—that is a ton of help. I don’t want them sad or focused on doing everything right. I want them to remember Chad and everything, but I don’t want them to have a hole in their lives where he should be.”

  Lindsey looked surprised. “You think Logan could be a real step-dad to them?”

  “Oh, I won’t dump all of that on him,” Dana said quickly.

  “Dump?” Lindsey said, clearly offended on Dana’s behalf. “He’d be lucky to have you and your girls full-time.”

  Dana shook her head. “I don’t mean that. But the finances and legal stuff. The everyday boring, blah stuff. He’ll be a very positive adult male for them to look up to and have fun with.”

  “They have fun with you,” Lindsey said loyally.

  “Eh.” Dana waved that away. They did. The girls laughed with her too, of course. They had days at the park, going to the aquarium, reading under the covers with flashlights, movie marathons with chocolate chip cookies. Of course they did. “But I also discipline and harp and make a point of making Chloe’s hair perfect and forget treat day.”

  “You mean, you’re a mom.”

  “Exactly. And Logan is…a fun uncle.” He really was. The girls were lucky to have him around. When he was around. She’d told him initially that he couldn’t just be that. That being a dad would require more from him. But truthfully…she hadn’t realized how great and important that fun uncle could be. And he was just so damned good at it.

  “He won’t discipline or ever do any of the hard stuff?” Lindsey asked with a frown.

  “I’ve got that covered,” Dana insisted. “I mean, Matt doesn’t do that stuff.”

  “He’s not here,” Lindsey said. She seemed a little frustrated.

  “And Logan’s not their dad. He’s good at green slime and ghost stories. The girls need someone doing that stuff. And he’s happy doing it. It all works.”

  “You think the serious stuff would scare him off?” Lindsey asked.

  “Well, tantrums and projectile vomiting and explaining racism and dealing with self-esteem issues in a ten-year-old all scare me sometimes. I wish I could just go home after the barrettes and green slime is done.”

  Lindsey finally sighed. “Yeah, I hear you. But I’ve got you. We’ve got each other.”

  “The best BFF-mom-dad combo ever, right?” Dana asked, putting her arm around Lindsey and squeezing.

  “Yes. You definitely have me,” Lindsey said, squeezing her back.

  And Dana knew she did. The mom gig wasn’t easy.

  But having a fun uncle in the wings was definitely making it better.

  “Hey, babe.”

  Dana pivoted in her seat quickly to see Logan standing in the row of seats behind her in the school auditorium the following Tuesday.

  “Hey!” She hadn’t expected to see him tonight. It was her night with the girls—school pickup and all—and he was supposed to be at the bar. “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s dress rehearsal.”

  She took in his grin and tipped her head. “Yeah, it’s dress rehearsal.”

  Chloe and her team had regional competitions starting soon, and they were rehearsing in a couple of the costume options to see which looked and moved best.

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  “You work on Monday nights.”

  “Not when it’s dress rehearsal.”

  Dana pivoted fully in her chair. “Do you know what a dress rehearsal is?”

  “Of course.” He frowned. “Why are you so surprised to see me here?”

  “Because…” She gestured toward the stage where twenty little girls were milling around in pink leggings. “It’s dress rehearsal.”

  “And why do you keep saying that?” he asked.

  “Because—”

  “Logan!” They were interrupted by Amy Morris, one of the other moms. She approached with a huge smile. “Oh, hi, Dana,” she said as she came up the middle aisle. “I didn’t think you’d be here tonight.”

  “Hey, Amy. Why not?”

  “Well, it’s dress rehearsal.”

  Dana felt her eyes widen. Did anyone understand that term? “Right. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Oh.” Amy glanced at Logan. “I just thought when Logan was here, you weren’t.”

  That was true. That was how this thing was supposed to be working. Logan was here when she couldn’t be. When she could…well, then she was here. And at home. And wherever else she needed to be. “Yes. Because Logan’s been helping me out,” Dana said. She glanced at Logan but he just shrugged. “But, obviously, I’d be here for dress rehearsal.” For fuck’s sake. This was Chloe’s first year with this group and she was the youngest of all the girls. They were going to Baton Rouge for a weekend competition in two weeks. Dana had to know any changes or tweaks to the costumes and the hair and even the travel plans.

  “Well, great,” Amy said. “I’m glad you’re here. And I’m really glad to see you,” she said, turning a bright smile on Logan.

  Dana watched the slow, easy grin spread across Logan’s face. The grin he couldn’t seem to help but give females of all shapes, sizes, and ages, in all situations.

  “I’m ready.” He held up a hairbrush.

  “Awesome,” Amy practically gushed.

  “I already did Chloe’s hair,” Dana told him.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “I can redo it.”

  Dana frowned. “Redo it? But—”

  “Come on, everyone’s waiting,” Amy said, starting back down the aisle.

  Logan glanced at Dana. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  “But— What’s going on?” she asked.

>   “It’s dress rehearsal,” he told her with a wink.

  And over the next fifteen minutes, Dana watched with a mix of amazement and, if she was honest, lust.

  The guy was doing hair. All of the hair. All twenty little girls’ hair. In some crazy twist…with lots of barrettes.

  Dana had no idea what was going on.

  Logan was here for dress rehearsal and was, evidently, the hair guru.

  She looked to her right as Amy came into her row and took a seat three chairs down. “Thank goodness I finally figured that out,” she said with a little laugh.

  “Figured what out?” Dana asked.

  “How to do that hairstyle.” Amy pointed at the stage. “Logan was practicing on my hair last week so I never really saw him do it, you know?” She lifted her hand and touched the back of her head as if remembering Logan’s hands in her hair.

  “Logan practiced that on you?” Dana asked, feeling a stab of jealousy. And that was stupid. No way his playing with Amy’s hair had gone the way playing with her hair had.

  Still…she didn’t love the idea of his hands on another woman. She also didn’t love that it bothered her. A lot.

  “Yeah, while we watched rehearsal.” Amy laughed. “He wasn’t very good at it, but he kept doing it over and over. It started the night with all the barrettes in Chloe’s hair. He wanted to get better at it, but then at the end of the rehearsal, Chloe told him that everyone wanted to do a style with lots of sparkly barrettes.”

  Dana shook her head. Of course it had turned out that way. Was there anything Logan Trahan could do to a woman, of any age, that she wouldn’t think was absolutely amazing and magical?

  “So you and Logan are together?” Amy asked, looking away from the side of the stage where Logan was finishing up the last couple of hairdos.

  Dana gave her a big smile. And remembered that Amy was single. “We are,” she said firmly. In fact, she and Logan were going to have a talk about whose hair he did from here on out. “Very together.” He was at her house every single night that she wasn’t. And he stopped by on some of the nights she was. And stayed over.

  “Lauren told me that Chloe said you’re having a baby,” Amy said of her daughter.

  Dana nodded. “Yep. Me and Logan.”

  Amy gave a little shrug. “Well, I had to ask.” Her eyes went back to Logan.

  Dana’s gaze followed. She almost hoped their baby would be another girl. Logan had a magic touch with females. Maybe they’d get through the teenage years with no drama. Maybe with all three girls.

  Dana swallowed. She shouldn’t think about Logan and her girls long-term. Sure, he’d be around, in and out, because of their baby. But she couldn’t put a bunch of expectations on him with Chloe and Grace. She shouldn’t make plans. Not making long-term plans was something she was pretty good at.

  Of course, the more fun he had with all of it, the more likely he was to be around more often, she thought as she watched him laughing with the girl he was styling. Dana found Chloe off to the side, watching. With a smile. She looked…affectionate, and maybe a little proud. Dana felt her chest tighten. She’d love if her girls loved Logan. He was a really good guy and, well, there weren’t going to be any other men in their lives. She was having a baby with Logan. She had no interest in juggling a relationship—whatever that ended up looking like—with him and someone else.

  But if her girls fell for him, she’d really need him to stick around. At least, he’d need to be consistent. If Chloe and Grace came to expect him to be around for birthday parties and a weekend a month at the zoo or the occasional ghost tour, then he needed to keep up with that. So Dana would keep the boring or not-as-fun stuff—like dance dress rehearsals, parent-teacher conferences, and homework projects—and would let him have the fun.

  When everyone’s hair was appropriately twisted and pinned up, Logan came back up the aisle.

  She watched him, acutely aware that he was incredibly good-looking and that her body responded to that damned grin of his, just like every other female on the planet. She was not immune. Nor did she really want to be.

  “No playing with other women’s hair,” she said, as he slid into the seat next to her.

  He looked over at her. “They’re little girls.”

  “I mean Amy.” She gave him a look.

  He chuckled and reached for her hand, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. Then he said, as if they were talking about the weather, “You’re the only woman I want riding my cock after I brush her hair.”

  Dana was hit by a sudden streak of heat and had to clear her throat.

  He laughed and put her hand on his thigh, covering it with his. She knew she should expect him to talk like that, whether they were in the middle of a school auditorium or not, but he had a gift for catching her off guard.

  They watched the girls line up for the first number, and Dana noted that Chloe looked a little nervous.

  “You didn’t have to come tonight, you know,” she said, leaning in closer to Logan, but with her eyes still on the stage.

  “Of course I did,” he said. “I’m the Hair Honcho.”

  She glanced at him. He gave her a grin. “Get it? Hair Honcho? Instead of Head Honcho?”

  She snorted. He was such a goof. And she really wanted him to stick around. That thought jabbed her in the chest and she fought to keep the smile on her face. “You know Head Honcho would still kind of apply,” she told him. “Hair is on heads, after all.”

  He gave her a little smile. Like her teasing pleased him. “Or I could just go for it all and be Head Hair Honcho.”

  She laughed and tightened her hand on his. “I still can’t believe you came and did this tonight. You could have told me. I would have done the hair.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. But I wanted to come.”

  “You’ve seen this routine probably eighty times by now.”

  “That’s okay.” He settled into the seat, still holding her hand, his eyes on the stage.

  “But really, Logan. You shouldn’t have to be here. I’ve got tonight.”

  “I know you do. But I wanted to be here.”

  She sighed. Geez, she was trying to let the guy off the hook here. “I thought our deal was to take turns. You help out when I can’t be there, but when I’m around, you’re free.”

  He looked over. “I’m free?”

  “Yeah.” Dana shrugged. “You’re off for the night.”

  The music started and the girls started going through their routine, but Logan was still watching Dana. He ran his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. “I thought it would be fun to do this together. When we’re taking turns with the girls we don’t see each other much.”

  She laughed. “You saw me two nights ago, as I recall.”

  He lifted a brow. “You mean the booty call? Where you called me while I was at work and said some really delicious dirty things and made me come over and pleasure you?”

  Dana felt her cheeks heat, but…yeah, that was pretty much how it had happened. “You saw quite a bit of me that night.”

  He gave her one of those slow, naughty grins that made her panties practically melt off. “Yeah. But not what I’m talking about. We haven’t really talked, or just hung out, or anything.” He leaned in. “And saying ‘I love your cock’ and ‘harder’ is great, but not what I mean by talking.”

  She felt her blush deepen even as she laughed at the “great” description of the naughty things he got her to say when they were together. “You made me say those things,” she reminded him.

  He sat back in his seat with a cocky smile. “Yeah. And you were a good girl about it.”

  Her pelvic muscles clenched.

  “But, still not what I mean by talking,” he said.

  She shook her head. He really wanted to just talk? Logan Trahan? After months of pursuing her for a fling, he was now telling her that he wanted to spend time doing other things?

  “Well, that’s kind of how this goes. How it will go with the baby,” she
said. “We take turns. One of us does kid duty while the other gets other stuff done.”

  “Do you want to go?” he asked, turning his gaze back to the stage. “I’m staying, so if you have other stuff to do, go.”

  Did he sound a little irritated? Did she have other things to do? Always. At the top of the list was getting reports together for the conference call her bosses were doing with Beijing on Thursday. At the bottom was cleaning her oven. And there were at least forty things in between those. Which meant that her oven wasn’t going to be getting cleaned. Again.

  “I’m just saying that I thought this was what we’d worked out,” she said. “We take turns. I do the sitting around, waiting, organizing, routine stuff, and you do the fun stuff.” She’d dropped Grace at a friend’s house to play for a couple of hours while she came to Chloe’s rehearsal because Dana wasn’t the type to traipse around a cemetery. “And I don’t mind,” she said quickly. “But I don’t want you to think you have to do all of this. It’s boring to watch this over and over, but I can work on paperwork or answer emails while I wait.” In fact, she’d sent the reports for Thursday over to the printers from her phone just thirty minutes ago and she’d pick them up on her way home.

  She could have sworn she saw Logan clench his jaw before he said, “I knew you’d be here tonight. I didn’t feel like I had to come, Dana. I wanted to. I wanted to help with the hair and I wanted to see you.”

  Dana swallowed. That was nice. It really was. But how long would it last? “I just don’t want you to get burned out before—”

  He looked over. “Before what?”

  “Before the baby even comes.”

  He didn’t say anything to that. But she was certain his jaw clenched this time.

  “Babies are more work than the girls,” she said. “I just want…I want you to be around for a lot of the baby stuff and if you get tired of all of this…not as fun stuff…then…” She trailed off as his fingers tightened around hers.

  “Tired of it?” he asked. “Is that what you think will happen?”