Page 44 of Not Part of the Plan
“I think you’d like feeling the wind race over you when we lean into a corner.” His lips brushed her ear. “All that power between your legs? It’s an experience you shouldn’t miss.”
Damn if he didn’t turn her fair skin six shades of fuchsia.
She took a self-preserving step back and glared at him when he laughed.
“Friends, remember?”
“Emma, I’m feeling awfully friendly toward you right now.” Niko’s meaning was clear. He was the wolf, and she was Little Red Riding Hood. Only there was no woodsman to save her from herself.
The women, blowing kisses to their men and children, began to meander back to the barn. But Emma couldn’t quite drag herself away from Niko’s gaze. The evening air crackled with energy between them. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t into bad boys. Why couldn’t her body back her up on this?
“Miss Emma? Are you ready for me?” The shirtless Corban waved a champagne flute at her from the barn door.
Niko’s face went slack, and it was Emma’s turn to laugh. “Gosh. I’d better go. Duty calls,” she said with a wink and sauntered back to the barn.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Poker with the Pierces and a passel of kids was memorably chaotic. The handful of games he’d attended in the city had been catered affairs in private rooms with high stakes. It was an entirely different experience in Blue Moon. The twins were already in bed, and the baby monitor sat on the kitchen counter.
Franklin, who had decided to forego an official bachelor party in favor of babysitting and poker, pulled two golden bubbly lasagnas from the oven. “Vegetarian one is on the left,” he told Carter, pointing with a spatula. Jax and Beckett made appropriate disparaging remarks about vegetarians
They tried settling Aurora in the dining room with a giant bean bag, a bag of chips, and a tablet streaming a bug-eyed kid cartoon, but the little girl was much more interested in being involved in the action. She pulled her beanbag up to the table and stood on it next to her brother Evan who eyed the cards Niko dealt him like a professional poker player.
“Is Fitz coming tonight?” Franklin asked Beckett, glancing over his reading glasses.
Beckett shook his head and tossed a chip in the pot. “No. He said something about a last-minute work obligation.”
“Damn,” Franklin sighed. “I was hoping to win back some of what he took last poker night.”
“He’s a burned-out hippie who runs a used bookstore. What kind of obligations does he have?” Jax wondered.
Beckett shrugged. “I don’t ask Fitz questions, mostly because I’m terrified of the answers.”
“Cardona will be here soon,” Jax said, dropping his phone back on the table. “Some kind of riot over at the park over warring popcorn vendors.”
“I’m gonna need some background on that statement,” Niko said, picking up his cards.
“Cardona’s town sheriff. We went to high school with him. Mediocre poker player but all right guy all around. It’s movies in the park on Fridays, and there’s this popcorn vendor whose been selling for years. Apparently tonight, some enterprising kid set up a competing popcorn stand with lower prices and a white cheddar flavor,” Jax said, tossing his chips in. “All hell broke loose when the first vendor accused the second of trespassing and the second vendor accused the first of…” he picked up his phone again and read. “’Being a bourgeois fat cat capitalizing on the hungry.’”
“Cardona texted all this to you?” Carter asked, picking up his beer and clinking it against Aurora’s cup of chocolate milk.
“Huh-uh. That last part came from the Blue Moon gossip group,” Jax said.
Beckett rubbed his forehead. “I hope to God this doesn’t come up during the next town meeting.”
Jax looked at something on his phone and smirked. He handed the phone to Carter who glanced up at Niko and back at the screen.
“Have you been to a town meeting, Niko?” Carter asked.
“I have not had the pleasure. How many cards?” Niko asked Jax.
“Two. You really should go. They’re a highlight of life in Blue Moon.”
Aurora peered over Beckett’s arm at his cards. “You have a lot of faces on your cards,” she said.
A collective “crap” went up around the table, and everyone threw their cards down.
Beckett, who wore a sleeping Lydia strapped to his chest, grinned and handed Aurora a dollar. “Nice job, kiddo.”
