Page 32 of Trick or Treat

Macy chose that moment to return with their food. She placed their plates down, pulled a bottle of ketchup and some napkins from her apron and was off to serve someone else.

“Did you ever want to be anything else?” He reached for the ketchup and waited for Lindsey’s answer.

“You’re going to laugh,” she chuckled at herself.

“No, I won’t.” When she hesitated, he said, “I promise.”

“Yes, you will.” She cast him a doubting glance, took a deep breath, then spit out, “I wanted to be a ballerina.”

Trick choked on his beer. Of all things he had come up with in his mind—lawyer, doctor, CEO of a business—ballerina was not one of them. “What?”

“I told you you would laugh,” she swatted at his shoulder. Her pretend pout was cute. So cute, he leaned in and dropped a quick kiss on her lips.

“I’m sorry, but ballerina? I’ve never known anyone who wanted to be a ballerina. Were you any good?” He took a drink of his beer, then shoved a couple of fries in his mouth.

“Actually, I was really good. My mom was pushing for me to apply to several dance schools and I gave it serious thought, but after being exposed to kids crazy about learning, I was hooked. No going back.” She took a bite of her burger, chewed and moaned with her eyes closed. “Oh my God. This is amazing,” she spoke around a mouth full of burger.

“Told you they were amazing.” Trick took another bite of his burger, wiped his mouth with a napkin then asked, “Was your mom disappointed that you didn’t go into dance and become a professional ballerina?”

“She never said she was, but I know she had to be at least a little considering how much money she spent on dance classes, costumes and competition fees.”

An upbeat .38 Special song came on that had Lindsey dancing around in her seat while feasting on her burger. He didn’t think she even realized she was doing it. For some reason, he found it hot as hell watching her body move to the beat.

“Since you work with kids all day, has it turned you off the idea of having kids of your own one day?”

“No. Not at all,” Lindsey replied without hesitation. “I love kids. I hope to have a few of my own someday.”

Why her answer pleased him, he had no idea. He just knew that it did. He might wonder about it later, but right now he chose to finish his dinner.

“I’m so glad I didn’t have any kids with Doug. Having to deal with him until each of them turned eighteen would have been hell.” She popped a couple of fries in her mouth and wiped her fingers on her napkin.

Trick snagged a couple of fries from her plate. She didn’t seem to mind. “Yep. I can testify to that.”

“Were things always this hard with Keegan’s mom?” She wiped her mouth, pushed her mostly eaten burger away and took a drink of her beer.

“You gonna finish that?” He nodded toward that last 1/4 of her burger.

“No. Help yourself.” She waved at her plate.

Trick picked up what was left of her burger and finished it off in two bites. He chased it down with what was left of his beer, then waved to get Macy’s attention. She came over to take their plates and he asked for another round of drinks.

“Things weren’t always like they are now with Michelle. I got her pregnant and thought marrying her was the right thing to do, especially after her parents kicked her out of their house. At first, things were good between us, then different things started adding up until all we did was fight.” Macy dropped off their beers and moved on. “The first thing to come between us was when I decided to prospect for the Sons of Redemption. When you’re a prospect, you’re on call 24/7. She didn’t like that and I can’t blame her considering we were starting out newly married and as new parents. She started resenting all the time I spent with the club and all the time she spent at home alone with Keegan. Then her sister didn’t help things when she kept throwing it in Michelle’s face that while Patty was out having fun, going to parties and fucking around with anyone she wanted, Michelle was stuck at home with dirty diapers and spit up. We ended up getting a divorce after three years of marriage.”

“If you divorced after three years of marriage, how did Reagan come to be?” Lindsey asked.

“We happened to end up at the same place at the same time. We were both drunk off our asses and we ended up fucking in the storeroom of a bar. Nine months later Reagan came along. That’s when Michelle really went off the deep end at being a bitch.” God help him, he wouldn’t change a moment of it either. The woman might hate his guts, but she did give him the two most precious things in his life. Keegan and Reagan. Just like every time he thought about them, his heart swelled with such love and pride, he thought it might burst from his chest. Corny? Probably, but he didn’t give a shit.

A slow song came on and Trick couldn’t resist. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Dance with me?”

Never in a millionyears would Lindsey have ever guessed that she would be sitting at a table at a bar named Crooked Dick’s with Trick O’Malley sharing a burger and a beer. When he’d asked if she wanted to go for a ride on his bike earlier, she thought he’d drive around for an hour or so, bring her home, then take off to spend the rest of the night at the Sons of Redemption clubhouse.

Imagine her surprise when he pulled in here.

He’d been right. Crooked Dick’s had hands down the best burger she’d ever eaten and the ice-cold beer went down so smooth, she was surprised to find herself on her second one so soon.

“You wanna dance?” Trick whispered in her ear.

She turned to see if he was serious. His soft, full lips were mere inches from her own. She could feel his breath on her face and her heart rate sped up at the heat she saw in his eyes. She nervously licked her lips, drawing his attention back to her mouth. He moaned deep in his chest at the action, one hand going to his chest. “You’re killing me, Linds.”

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