Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon Book #2)(87)

Paul jiggled her up and down, looking left and right like he was looking for a place to stash her. Beckett swooped in and pulled her out of his arms. “Hey, shortcake, do you and your daddy want to come have pizza with me?”

“Yes!” Her eyes cleared, her lip stopped trembling and now she was bouncing up and down on Beckett’s hip. “Yes! Yes!”

“Dude, you’re like the Kid Whisperer,” Paul said with admiration.

Beckett almost cracked a smile. Almost.

Paul’s phone rang again, of course it was a Led Zeppelin guitar riff.

He looked at it. “Oh, I gotta take this. Would you mind?” He tilted his head at Aurora.

Beckett looked at the bouncing Aurora. “Uh, sure. Just head over across the park to Peace of Pizza when you’re done. I’ll get a table.”



Beckett had a splitting headache after dinner with Paul and Aurora. The guy was charming, interesting even. Beckett would give him that. But holy mother of God, he should not be allowed to play a role in raising children. Not even his own. Especially not his own.

Not only had he let Aurora wander off into the night in a park by herself, he’d tried to put hot pepper flakes on her cheese pizza, let her order a soda and a chocolate milk, and then expected her to find the restroom by herself.

Instead of coloring on the placemat with her like she’d asked, he’d taken two more phone calls.

Band business, he’d mouthed to Beckett.

With Aurora leaning against his arm on their side of the booth Beckett picked up a red crayon and tried not to kill Paul with it.

Beckett ended up walking home a block behind them, just to make sure Paul took Aurora home for bed and not to a strip club or bakery.

That night, he hadn’t even tried going to bed. Sleep was for happy people in committed relationships. He was alone and he’d done it to himself.

Beckett had sat on the couch letting the tick of the grandfather clock mark the passing of the night into dawn. How had he so royally f*cked it all up? His harsh words to Gianna kept coming back to him, chipping away pieces of his heart. She wasn’t the one who owed the apology. It was him. And he was pretty sure there weren’t enough ‘I’m sorries’ in the world to make up for the things he’d said.

He had literally shoved Gianna into the arms of another man. A man who — despite the town’s stellar opinion of him — had no business raising children or being married to Gianna.

He, Beckett James Pierce, was the biggest f*cking idiot on the planet.

Ellery had taken one look at him that morning when he stumbled into the office in a fog and rescheduled all his appointments for the week. He’d putzed around doing absolutely nothing except for avoiding calls from his family until five.

And now he was having scotch for dinner.

He was sitting on the couch in sweatpants staring at the TV he’d neglected to turn on and debating a third scotch when Carter and Jax walked in.

“Shit.” Carter muttered. “He’s growing a damn beard.”

“Put down the booze and go find some shoes,” Jax ordered.

“You put the booze down and go find shoes,” Beckett snarled.

Carter threw something shiny at him. “Let’s go, *.”

Beckett stared down at his lap and picked up the key ring. He recognized it without having seen it for a few years. “You want me to kick your ass again?” he sneered. If there was anyone he wanted to punch in the face until he heard the satisfying crunch of cartilage, it was himself … and maybe Paul.

Carter remained silent while Jax stomped upstairs.

“Hey! Don’t touch my stuff,” Beckett yelled after him.

Jax returned and threw sneakers at him.

“Put ’em on or we make you put ’em on,” Carter said, arms crossed.





32





The glove plowed into his face, and this time Beckett tasted blood.

“It’s no fun if he doesn’t fight back,” Jax complained to Carter.

Carter hung over the ropes in the corner. “Beckett, put up your gloves and punch your brother in the f*cking face.”

“Maybe I want to punch your f*cking face,” Beckett said, his tone surly.

“I’m getting married in six days. Summer said if I came home with a broken nose in time for wedding pictures she’d shave my beard.”

“All the more reason for you to get in the ring.”

“Ah, there’s a sad little joke out of the sad little clown,” Jax said, jabbing him in the ribs. His younger brother, stripped to the waist, ducked and weaved, trying to draw an attack.

“You look like you’re on a damn pogo stick,” Beckett carped.

“A damn pogo stick that you can’t hit,” Jax retorted.

“If I make him bleed, can I go home?” Beckett asked Carter.

“We’ll see.”

Beckett growled in frustration. “I don’t have f*cking issues to work out by pounding on my brother.”

Jax shuffled around the ring throwing shadow punches. “This is boring!” he whined. “Carter, this was a stupid idea. He probably doesn’t even miss Gia. He’s probably happy she’s back with Pau —”

Beckett’s right cross caught him off guard enough to knock him back a few steps.