Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon Book #2)(79)

He responded a minute later.


I’m being practical here. We can’t all fit in your tiny little clown car.





To him, it was practical. To her, it was a path straight to her heart. Gia found it oddly easy to look giddy for the rest of the morning.





29





Beckett hit send in one window, print in another, and spun his chair around to neatly tuck a stack of papers inside a large envelope. He was an efficiency machine these days. By day, he was filing papers with the courts, structuring trusts, and smoothly sailing the tricky waters of pre-nups.

And in the evenings, he and Gianna eased into playing house. He’d taken to visiting Evan and Aurora on the nights when Gianna was at class. Last night, after a spirited game of laser tag in the yard, Evan had made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Beckett reciprocated by sneaking them out for dessert at Karma Kustard.

He and Gianna still did some sneaking of their own. Off to bed whenever either of them had a free hour in the mornings or afternoons. He wished they could spend the night together — nothing beat waking up to Gianna Decker wrapped around him — but they had decided that for the sake of the kids, they’d table the sleepovers for now.

She still stunned him. Not just with her beauty, though that hadn’t ceased to affect him, but with the way she moved through life.

Grace, strength, and compassion were her hallmarks. She could never remember if she locked a door or recall where she put her phone, but Gianna could recite entire family trees of her students and always remembered to ask Evan about his friends and teachers.

Everything she did was garnished with an easy physical affection that baffled Beckett. She used her hands to guide her students deeper into poses and to express an unconditional, abiding care for her kids. And for him.

Beckett found himself getting out of bed with a smile every morning. It stayed fixed in place through Ellery’s smug questions about his new tenant. It even held fast — for the most part — when Carter and Jax started speculating how long it would take Franklin to propose to their mother.

Life was good.

He was debating texting Gia to see if she and the kids wanted to come over for grilled chicken that night, when Ellery appeared in his doorway.

“Mr. Pierce?”

With her inky black braids and full-skirted dress, she looked like a 1950s goth Barbie.

“Mr. Pierce?” he repeated.

“Yes, sir. You have a gentleman to see you.”

“I do?” He frowned, trying to recall an appointment on his calendar.

“Mr. Evan Decker,” Ellery said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Evan to see me?” Understanding her game now, Beckett grinned. “Please show him in.”

Ellery gave a mock curtsy. “Of course. Mr. Decker? Mr. Pierce will see you now.”

Evan strolled into the office in what Beckett assumed was the kid’s version of meeting casual, chinos and a rumpled button down with a striped tie. His hands were shoved in his pockets.

“Come on in, Evan,” Beckett said, gesturing toward his visitors chairs.

“Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Decker?” Ellery offered.

“I’m fine, thanks,” he said. “Unless you have Coke?” He darted a glance at Beckett to see if he would argue.

“I think that can be arranged,” Ellery winked. “Anything for you, Mr. Pierce?”

Beckett hid his grin. “I’ll take a Coke, too.”

He waited until Ellery had shut the door behind her.

“So what brings you to the office, Evan?”

The boy leaned forward in his chair. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”

Beckett’s interest was piqued. “What kind of a proposition?”

Evan interlaced his fingers on the desk in front of him. “As you know, I go to Blue Moon Middle School. What you may not be aware of, is that the school doesn’t have a debate team.”

Beckett, pursed his lips. “I was not aware of that.”

“The high school has one, but that’s a few years away. Some fellow students and I thought it would be a good opportunity to start a middle school team so, by the time we get to high school, we already know the basics and can focus more on competition and fine tuning our tactics.”

Ellery returned with heavy tumblers of ice and soda.

“Thank you, Ellery,” Evan said politely.

She grinned, a dark burgundy lipstick smile. “You’re quite welcome.” She left them again and closed the doors, wiggling her eyebrows at Beckett.

“So, you want to start a middle school debate team,” Beckett recapped.

Evan nodded. “Yeah.”

“And there’s something standing in your way?”

“Just one small obstacle. We need an advisor.”

“And your teachers …”

“Already have their activities. And if we don’t find an outside advisor now, we’ll have to wait until the next school year.”

“I see.”

“So, I thought, given your background on the high school debate team and your current prof —”

“How do you know I was on the debate team?” Beckett asked.

“Carter let me look through his old year books. You were president of the Debate Club.”