I’m brought out of my memories when I hear Hatchet ask me, “What do I do, man?”
“You be a big boy, pull up them britches and face this like a man,” comes from Mom.
“Uh, Mom...this is between us, we don’t need your matchmaking advice today.”
“I beg to differ, Son, I think the two of you need all the help I can give. You’re both acting like stubborn fools...do yourselves a favor, march over to that apartment and ask those girls out to dinner. I’ll watch the kids...and for goodness sakes, don’t say anything stupid and stow the crazy antics, Hatchet. Trust me, no one wants to be on a date with a clown that’s escaped the circus,” she says as she marches out of the room.
The fuck! Did my mom just demand I go on a double date? This is ludicrous, the nerve of her.
“Dude, Axe-man, did your mom just demand I go on a date with you?”
“Not with me you moron, a double-date with the girls. No wonder she referred to you as the class clown.”
“She did not! She referred to me as an escaped clown from the circus.”
“Same damn thing, Hatchet.”
“So is not!” Is he seriously pouting at me like Lily did when she was two-years old? Something's got to give here.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m taking my mom’s advice and I’m going over there and asking my girl out on a date.”
“Do we date? We’re bikers, man, don’t we just pound on our chest and demand what’s ours?”
“Jesus, Hatchet, you’re not Tarzan and DJ is definitely not Jane. Get with the times, dude. This is not a Disney movie special,” I say in exasperation as I get up and march to the front door. I turn around to see if he’s following me, I smile to myself when I see he is right behind me. He looks like a sullen child that’s being led to the library instead of the playground. Little does he know if he plays his cards right it will be the latter for the rest of his life, that is if he can pull his head out of his ass long enough to reap the rewards of what that woman could give him.
Lord only knows I can’t wait to reap my own reward. I smile to myself in anticipation, I love to play the game of love and war. Well, more the love part than the war, but I can tell you, the chase is sometimes more rewarding than the actual capture...only I really don’t want to chase and play war games with my girl...I’m impatient, and I want her now. I need to make myself so irresistible in her eyes that she doesn’t second guess what can be with me. At the same time, I need to be myself so she gets the real me. I’m proud of the man I’ve grown to become.
As I head over to Caraleigh’s, my mind drifts back to last night. By the time we got back to the complex, all the kids had fallen asleep. Mom had sent me to help Caraleigh with Luca, a task I happily took on. DJ had carried Ralynn into the guest room, telling us good night and leaving me with the woman who was quickly consuming every rational thought in my head. Carrying him upstairs, I followed her into his room and gently laid him down on his bed. She had laughed quietly, saying that once he was asleep, a nuclear blast could go off next to him and he wouldn’t flinch. I watched in amazement as she quickly got him undressed and changed into a pair of Paw Patrol pajamas. Then she tucked him in and kissed him, telling him she loved him and would see him in the morning. I wanted that for my little girl—a mom who would tell her those things even if she was sound asleep.
She had motioned me out of his room and closed his door after turning on a small night light, saying only that since his father had died, he needed one. I had followed her back downstairs and headed to the door when she stopped me.
“Braxton?” she asked.
“Hmm?” I replied, turning toward her. Fucking pretty. So fucking pretty she took my breath away.
“I wanted to say thanks again for today. We had a wonderful time meeting everyone and I know that Luca is thrilled that he met another little boy who lives nearby.”
I couldn’t help myself, I pulled her closer to me until we were chest to chest. “I enjoyed today as well,” I murmured. “I know this is fast, Cara, hell it’s fast for me too, but there’s...something between us and I want to see where it goes.”
“I... I don’t know what to say, Braxton,” she murmured, looking at me with those luscious lips. Lips I was already envisioning around my hardening cock.
“Don’t have to say anything, sweetheart,” I said, leaning in closer to capture her lips. The earlier kiss had seared her into my memory banks and ruined me for any other woman. She just didn’t know it yet.
Deepening the kiss, I let my lips and tongue tell her everything that I couldn’t put into words. Her lush, curvy body fit into mine and I wanted to groan at the contact. Her whimpers had me harder than steel and long before I wanted to, I pulled back and kissed her forehead before saying, “I’ll call you tomorrow, see what your plans are, okay?”
Breaking myself from my reverie, I realize that we’re standing in front of her door. “Well, you gonna knock or what?” Hatchet asks, giving me a knowing look.
“Fucking comedian,” I mutter as I reach up and ring the doorbell.
* * *
Caraleigh
* * *
Sitting in my kitchen being grilled by DJ about Braxton, I’m grateful for the ringing of the door-bell, although I have no clue who could be stopping by. “I’ll be right back, hold that thought,” I say before getting up and heading to the front door. Looking out the peephole, I’m surprised to see Braxton and Hatchet standing there. What in the world are they doing here...and together?
When I open the door, I’m once again struck speechless at the sheer essence of the man standing in front of me. “Hey, Braxton. Hi, Hatchet. What can I do for you guys?” I ask, stepping back to let them both inside.
“Is DJ here?” Hatchet asks.
“She’s in the kitchen,” I reply, then watch in astonishment as he walks through the living room and back to the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” I ask Braxton, who has stepped closer.
“Morning, beautiful,” he replies, leaning down and placing a sweet kiss on my lips.
It takes everything in me not to reach up and touch my lips. Or pull his head down, jump into his arms and have my wicked way with him. Right now, it’s a toss-up after the kisses I got yesterday. Graham never made my body react that way. “Braxton?” I question since he still hasn’t answered either of my questions.
“Wanted to see if you ladies would go out with us this evening,” he finally says.
“You mean, on a date?” I ask. Wait, Paisley said bikers didn’t date! What the hell is going on?
“Yeah, on a date,” he replies, a grin stealing across his handsome as hell face.
“But what about the kids?”
“Mom said she’d watch Luca and Ralynn.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I’d love to go but don’t want to put Nan out.”
“I’m positive it won’t be a problem. Now, was that a yes?” he asks.
“Yes, that was a yes,” I tell him, grinning from ear to ear.
“Great, let’s go see if your girl is onboard with that as well,” he says, grabbing my hand and leading me into the kitchen.
Once we get there I see that Hatchet is sitting next to DJ and she has a smile playing on her lips. “So, are we going out tonight or what?” Hatchet asks, never taking his eyes off my best friend.
“We are, yes,” I reply. “Would either of you like some coffee?” I’ve got to keep my hands busy or else I’ll just grab onto the handsome hunk standing next to me. Focus Caraleigh, focus!
“We’ve got time before we have to head down to the trucking company,” Braxton says, going over to my coffee pot and grabbing two mugs from the cupboard above it. I see DJ’s eyebrows raise and shake my head no. Going to the fridge, I pull out creamer and set it on the table. I’m not one for coffee—give me a diet soda or a Dr. Pepper and I’m raring to go, but my girl loves her coffee so I’ve always had a coffee pot.
“Where are we going?” DJ asks as she sips h
er coffee.
Braxton brings over the two cups, placing one in front of Hatchet, before sliding into the chair next to me after he moved it closer, that is. “I was thinking about the Barnhouse in the next town over, it has dancing, and the best steak you could sink your teeth into, if that’s good with you two?” he asks, stirring in some creamer.
“But it’s a school night,” I say.
“No, it’s a school holiday tomorrow,” he replies.
“Already?”
“Yeah, Labor Day,” he says.
“Well hell, I guess moving and getting settled got me all turned around. And you’re sure Nan doesn’t mind?”
“Nope, in fact, she’s going to bring Lily over here so if the kids get tired, they can all go to sleep and be comfortable.”
“What time do you want to go?”
“We’ll come get you around six if that’s okay?”
“That’ll give us enough time to feed the kids,” I muse.
“Don’t bother. Mom is planning to make them homemade pizza,” Braxton says. “She also informed me that you’re looking for a job?”
“Yeah, I am hoping for something part-time but the only thing out there is at the convenience store.”
His look stops me and I immediately realize that there’s no way in hell I’ll be working at a convenience store. “We need help down at the trucking company,” he blurts out.
“What kind of help?”
“Someone who can do the books, schedule the runs, make sure the shit is straight for the accountant, that kind of thing.”
“I know how to do those things.”
“Great, come in Tuesday and we’ll get your paperwork sorted.”
“Are you serious?” I ask. “I mean, I haven’t worked in years, Braxton.” I knew he was a jump into it kind of guy, but seriously a job? Without even checking past employers, or checking on what I majored in at school? Usually a potential employer likes to do reference checks...don’t they?
“Positive. It won’t take you long to get up to speed.”
“So, you got any other jobs available?” DJ asks.
“What?” I question, looking at her. She had mentioned moving closer to me but right now, I’m a bit slow so her asking that has me looking at her all crazy-like.
“You know I wanted to move closer, just need to find something and a place to live.”
“As a matter of fact, we need someone to oversee the complex here,” he tells her. “And one of the perks is a place to live. But I thought Cara said you homeschooled Ralynn, and that you wrote books?”
“Well, I homeschool her because of the area I currently live in, and I can write anywhere and any time.”
“You want to see the place?” he asks her.
“Now?”
“No time like the present,” he replies.
“Sure, why not?” she tells him, standing up. “I’ll go slip on some shoes.”
I’m sitting at my kitchen table looking at the three of them as if they’ve popped out of an episode of the Twilight Zone. How did I go from yakking with her about Braxton and how we were doing with the new move to having a job and her relocating? “You okay, sweetheart?” he asks.
“Hmm? Yeah, I’m good. Gonna go get my shoes on, be right back.”
* * *
Braxton
* * *
While we wait for the two women to return, I look at Hatchet and see a goofy grin on his face. “What’s the look for, man?” I ask him. He contributed nothing to the conversation yet is acting like the cat who caught the proverbial canary.
“Ah, just thinking that life is looking pretty good right about now,” he replies. “You done with that?” he asks, motioning to my coffee cup.
Now I’m feeling as if I’ve dropped into a parallel universe. Hatchet is a lot of things but domestic? Not in this lifetime, despite Mom’s constant ‘badgering’ at the clubhouse. “Yeah, man, thanks.”
“No, thank you. You managed to move that delectable DJ a helluva lot closer so I can see where it’ll go.”
“Does this mean you no longer want a long-haul run?”
“Nope, don’t want it...not even close.”
“Don’t fuck that up, man. She’s not your usual bang and go and if you mess that up, you might screw things up between me and Cara,” I warn him.
In the middle of rinsing out the cups and putting them in the dishwasher, he throws back his head and laughs, making me want to throat punch him. Only, should I do that to someone who is one of my best friends? Something to think about I suppose.
The girls enter the room with the kids following in their wake. “Morning, buddy,” I say to Luca.
“Mornin’, Mr. Braxton, Momma says Ralynn and I has to get our shoes on because you’re taking us to looks at anothers apartsment.”
“Sure am, buddy, seems DJ and Ralynn will be moving into an apartment of their own.”
“Possibly!” DJ shouts out. “Let’s not get their hopes up in case it doesn’t work out,” she says to me sternly. Yeah right, as if I’m not going to do everything in my power to make sure she stays here...not just for Cara, but for Hatchet as well.
“It will work out, trust me,” I tell her.
“Yesss!” Luca screams out, punching his fist in the air. Seems I’ve made someone else’s day as well. Looks like he’ll have two little girls to watch out for instead of just my girl.
We head to my apartment so I can get the master key I have to the unit I have in mind for DJ. She will be close to me and Cara instead of on the other side of the lot. It’s the only one I have left that’s close by. It’s a three bedroom, but I think it will work out well for her. I’m envisioning her using the spare bedroom for an office. Every writer needs their own space to create their masterpieces. Man, it must be hard to put yourself out there like that. I don’t think I’d personally be brave enough to do it myself. The criticism alone would be enough for me to hunt down the asshole and pummel their face until they retracted any hurtful words. Yeah—nope, I couldn’t do it...no way, no how.
As I open my front door I’m met with a bundle of energy—my daughter. “Hey, baby girl,” I say as I pick her up and give her a kiss to the top of her head and snuggle her to me for a hug.
“Hi Daddy, I misseded you.”
“You did huh, I wasn’t gone long.”
“Longs enough,” she huffs out at me causing me to laugh at her statement. My little girl is having some separation anxiety from me being on the road for so long. I hold her closer, not looking forward to the day I won’t be able to do this anymore and she will care less how long I’m gone for. It breaks my heart to even think about that day.
“I got an idea,” I tell her. “I’m taking DJ and Ralynn to look at an apartment, you wanna come with us?”
“You betcha,” she says wiggling to be let down.
“Hurry up, everyone is waiting out in the hallway on us,” I shout at her retreating back.
“Two shakes,” she yells back. Where she comes up with the stuff that leaves her mouth sometimes stuns me to the point of silence. I mean, what is there to say to that? Not even two minutes later she’s running down the hall in mismatched clothes with flip-flops in her hands.
“Did you even brush your hair?”
“No times. Let’s go, Daddy.” No time? I would’ve made time for it. Before I can say anything she’s ripping open the front door and making her way to where Luca and Ralynn are standing next to Hatchet. “Uncles Hatch!” she screams out and launches herself in the air into his open arms. She takes a few years off my life every time she does this with one of the brothers. She just expects them to catch her, never checking first to see if their hands are otherwise occupied. One day one of them won’t catch her and my fear is that she will be physically hurt.
“Always check before you jump up expecting someone to magically catch you Lily! You just scared ten-years of your dad’s life little girl.”
“Sorries, Daddy,” she says hanging her head down.
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“You’re not in trouble, you just scared me baby girl.” She reluctantly climbs down Hatchet’s body and goes over to her friends. Her dejected look is making me feel like a real jackass, but I have to make sure she thinks about her safety first—always. Anything happens to that little girl and my world would be shattered beyond repair. As my heartbeat slows back to an acceptable rate, I start walking towards the unit. I can hear the kids chatting away behind me when a hand grabs mine and fingers intertwine with mine, and I instantly calm. She does that for me, centers me and makes me feel ready to take on the world.
“You did the right thing you know? If we don’t call them out on their actions nobody else will, it’s our job as parents to sometimes be the bad guy, even if it isn’t our intention to do so. No one will ever love or look out for our kids like we will. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Braxton, in five minutes or so she’ll forget that the incident even took place. Kids are resilient you know?”
“I know, it still breaks my heart to know I’m the one that put that look on her face though.”
“Trust me, if anyone understands that feeling well it's me. Ever since Luca’s dad died, I’ve had a hard time with the discipline. I feel like I somehow owe him to be easier on him. In my head and heart though, I know if I do that he won’t ever learn. We have to stand firm with our kids and show them the errors of their ways. It’s how they grow and learn.”
“You’re right, logically I know that here,” I say pointing to my head. “But in here,” I point to my chest, “I feel like I owe her something more, with her not having a mother and all.” I stop talking as we step in front of the door, using my key I open it up and step back allowing everyone to enter before I do. This particular unit had been planned for my family, only when we needed to move in it wasn’t ready so I moved into one that was as close to a floor-plan as the one I designed for us. When you walk in, this one is more of an opened up apartment. You walk straight into the living room, the kitchen is to the left, and the first bedroom is directly to the right. You walk down the hallway and there is another door, it connects to a bathroom which is in Jack and Jill style connecting the two bedrooms. Next door on the right is the second bedroom, further down directly at the end of the walkway is the master bedroom. It’s huge and has a walk in bathroom that contains a spa tub, along with a stand-up shower with a bench. I had designed it big enough for my large frame to fit in.
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