Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon Book #2)(64)

“Selfies?” Jax asked, swallowing hard.

“Yeah, wiv your phone.”

“What are you worried about?” Beckett asked. “I gave you a really classic look. You could totally pass for a chick with that cat eye and lip stuff.”

“How do you even know what a cat eye is?” Jax demanding, crowding Beckett at the makeup mirror Aurora had found upstairs.

“It’s just something you pick up when you date women. And judging by my face, you’ve only dated blind drag queens.”

Jax smirked. “I was going for something a little more abstract.”

“Evan!” Carter called from his chair at the table as Aurora tried valiantly to secure his beard with hair ties. “Please tell me your sister takes an afternoon n-a-p.”

Evan’s head popped up from the couch where he was in a life and death battle as a knight on Carter’s big screen. “She will if you gave her enough s-u-g-a-r.”

All eyes skimmed to small pile of empty juice boxes and Twinkie wrappers. “Yeah, that should be good,” Evan said, returning his attention to his video game.

“Hey, shortcake. How about we put in your movie so you can watch it while we teach your brother to play poker?”

Evan’s head shot up again. “Poker? Seriously? Cool!” He turned off the game and wandered over to the table.

“Not yet, Bucket!” Aurora said, dancing over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Mwah!” She kissed him loudly on the cheek and skipped back to Carter’s beard.

“Oh, boy. You’re a goner,” Carter sighed.

“How could I not be?”

“She’s not getting tired yet,” Jax pointed out, as Aurora danced from one foot to the other humming and twisting Carter’s facial hair into a tail.

“I’ve got a plan.”

“You want to lock her in with Dixie and Hamlet?” Carter suggested.

“No! I’m not suggesting we lock her in a paddock with two pigs. What kind of a human being would do that?”

Carter shot Jax a guilty look.

“They were from HCAEDC, they don’t count as human children,” Jax argued.

Carter shivered. “That one got me by the beard and tried to rip it out.”

“Dats not nice, Car!” Aurora gasped, gently patting his beard. She added a sparkly butterfly clip to it.”

“Now do you see why I don’t come out here and help on daycare tour day?” Beckett asked.

“Anyway, what’s your brilliant idea here? If this goes on much longer we’re the ones who are going to be napping,” Carter grumbled.

“We’re gonna run the hill,” Beckett announced.

Jax groaned. “I haven’t done that since we were all in fall sports in middle school.”

Carter laughed, remembering. “Dad told us running up to the ridge and back down would make us better athletes.”

“Pretty sure he did it just to get us out of the house before Mom could murder us,” Beckett recalled.

“That was years ago. Are we even physically capable of this?” Jax asked.

“We’ll take turns,” Beckett decided.

“It’s worth a try,” Carter said, as Aurora spun in a circle flapping her arms.

“Hey, shortcake, want to run up a big hill outside?” Beckett asked.

“Yeah!” She darted out the side door before any of them were able to get to their feet.



Beckett was bent over trying to catch his breath and not puke when his phone signaled in his pocket.

Beckett spit in the grass and prayed his lunch of pizza and hot wings would stay down.

A text from Gianna. Everything going okay?

“I’m winning, Jazz,” Aurora squealed and she hurtled down the hill as fast as her little legs would carry her. Jax gave up running and lay down on the hillside. It was a long, slow grassy rise if you were on horseback or walking. But running? It felt like the last quarter mile of the marathon. And after a heavy, greasy lunch, it was probably the worst thing they could have done.

Aurora had successfully made the climb nine times so far. Thankfully Evan had taken pity on them and entered the rotation.

Carter was laying on his back in the grass, muttering something about “two of them.”

Jax rolled the last few feet down the slope stopping at Beckett’s shoes. “Your turn,” he groaned.

“I gotta answer this …” he waved the phone over Jax’s face. “Evan! You’re up”

“I really expected more from you guys,” the kid said, shaking his head sadly.

“I’ll pay you five bucks,” Beckett offered.

“Deal.” Evan took off with Aurora hot on his heels.

“Oh, shit!”

Beckett swiveled when he heard the panic in Jax’s voice.

Clementine, Carter’s pet goat and Jax’s full-time nemesis, loomed over his prone brother.

“Get away from me, hell spawn,” Jax said, his feet scrambling for purchase on the grass.

Clementine bleated and shook her head, brown ears flopping in the fall sunshine.

“Do you see that?” Jax yelled. “She just said ‘no.’”

Clementine bleated again and pranced closer. Jax rolled over, trying to crawl away, but the goat was faster. With a four-footed jump, she landed next to Jax and went in for the kill.