Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon Book #2)(65)
Her little goat mouth closed over the flannel of his shirt. “Get her off of me!” Jax yelled, trying to push Clementine away.
“Hang on,” Beckett said, opening the camera on his phone. “Okay, just hold it right there … and … perfect.”
He looked at Carter who was rolling on the ground laughing.
“Should we help?” Beckett asked.
“Yes you should f*cking help,” Jax shouted at the top of his lungs, shoving Clementine’s face away. Her mouth took a hunk of fabric with it.
“Hey, there’s kids present. You can’t use language like that,” Carter lectured.
“I’m going to f—”
“Uh-uh. Watch your mouth,” Beckett reminded him, switching to video.
“I’m going to freaking kill you guys,” Jax growled, rolling onto all fours before regaining his feet. “And I’m going to kill you too and cook up a nice goat stew,” he said, reaching for Clementine who danced out of his grip, happily munching flannel.
“She ate my shirt,” Jax said in disbelief, staring at the sleeves that bunched at his wrists, the back cleanly ripped open.
Clementine meandered toward the kids.
“Uh, Carter? Is she going to eat us?” Evan asked, ranging himself between the approaching goat and Aurora.
“She’s fine. She only hates Jax,” Carter called, getting to his feet and going to supervise the impromptu petting zoo.
Beckett followed, just to be sure Clementine didn’t suddenly develop a taste for the flesh of children.
As predicted, the goat flicked her ears and tail, charming pats from Aurora and Evan.
“She’s so funny, Bucket,” Aurora told him, her little hand patting the goat’s neck.
“Yeah, she’s hilarious,” Beckett agreed. “What do you say, shortcake? Are you ready for a snack and a movie?”
Her face lit up and she raised her arms. “Can we watch Monkeys and Pandas?”
He picked her up and swung her around onto his back. “Sure, kiddo. Come on, Jax. If you stop whining, I’ll buy you a beer out of Carter’s fridge.”
With Aurora cozied up in front of the TV, the men took turns washing the makeup off their faces before gathering around the kitchen table for a poker lesson.
Beckett took the opportunity to sit down and respond to Gia’s text.
Aurora’s on her second beer, Evan’s playing with firearms, and Jax just got his shirt ripped off by a goat. Totally under control.
She answered quickly.
Oh good. We passed a fire truck a few miles out and I was worried the kids burnt down Carter’s house already.
False alarm, he told her. We got to it with extinguishers first.
My hero.
How goes the dress shopping?
Her response had him shifting in his chair as his blood threatened to migrate.
Summer picked out some really classy pasties with tassels and hot pants with rhinestone crotches for the bridesmaids.
Can’t wait to see you in it. Gotta go teach Evan how to build explosives.
Great. BTW, blue is definitely your color. It really brings out the gray in your eyes. You look breathtaking.
“Evan!” Beckett shouted. “Get over here so I can murder you!”
“Now remember,” Summer whispered as she pushed open the front door. “Not a word to Carter about the dress, got it?”
Gia and Joey nodded earnestly, while Annette and Phoebe crossed their hearts.
“Our lips are sealed,” Gia promised.
“Thank you ladies so much for coming with me today,” Summer said. “It meant the world to me.”
“Sweetheart, we wouldn’t have missed it,” her mother said, grasping her hand. “Your father is going to get a little choked up when he sees you on the big day.”
Gia left them to commiserate in the hallway and headed back to the kitchen. It was quiet in the house. Too quiet. There should have been yelling, possibly some crying, or at the very least a few shrieks of laughter.
She found the kitchen empty, but the TV in the great room was lit up with cartoon pandas parading about. That’s when she heard the first snore.
Tip-toeing in, she spotted Jax first on the end of the couch, his feet on the coffee table. Evan was sandwiched between him and Carter, his feet on Jax’s lap and his head resting on a pillow jammed up against Carter’s side.
Beckett was sprawled out on the other couch with Aurora asleep on his chest. She felt something warm and bright open in her heart. She bit her lip.
“Well, if that isn’t the sweetest thing …” Phoebe whispered at Gia’s side.
Grinning, the two women dug for their cellphones as quietly as they could.
25
Beckett’s lunch on Tuesday magically freed up when the property he visited with his mother turned out to be a bust.
“We’re never going to find a place,” Phoebe lamented in the car after they left the rundown ranch with mirrored living room walls.
“How many properties have you looked at?” Beckett asked, gripping the handle above his door as his mother accelerated up to a stop sign. She wasn’t a bad driver per se, but she was a city driver. Heavy-footed on the gas and the brake, she took some getting used to. She’d often wondered why all three of her boys got carsick when she drove, but not when John was behind the wheel.