Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(40)

They’d set up a mock dunk tank with one of the kids sitting on a high stool and another holding out a cardboard bull’s-eye. When someone hit the “target” with a beanbag, the kid on the stool jumped off, landing behind a piece of cardboard that was painted to look like water, pretending to get dunked. Apparently, the older kids were getting frustrated with the little kids being unable to hit the bull’s-eye.

“Coop, want to play dunk tank?” Gabe asked.

Cooper shook his head. Yeah, Gabe had expected that. “What do you want to do?”

“I’ll watch you,” Cooper told him. “You’re a good shot.”

Gabe put a hand on his head and grinned down. “Thanks, man.”

Gabe moved over to the “dunk tank.” He joked around with the kids for a little bit, watching them play. He helped a couple of the younger ones with their shots. And then he successfully dunked Roxanne’s youngest son three times in a row. Grinning and high-fiving the other kids, Gabe turned to check on Cooper.

And his heart almost stopped.

Cooper was standing in front of Addison. Who was looking at him like he was an alligator about to take a chunk out of her leg.



“Hi.”

Addison stared down at the little boy she’d been watching all day but keeping her distance from. Who was now standing in front of her, his big brown eyes—the only thing that wasn’t the exact image of his father—peering up at her.

“Hi.”

“Can I sit on your lap?”

She blinked at him. “Um. Why?” Had Gabe sent Cooper over to her? Because that sweet but serious face was definitely going to get to her.

“I like your shirt,” Cooper told her, as if that was a perfectly good reason to want to sit on someone’s lap.

Addison looked down at the pale-blue T-shirt she was wearing. “You do?”

“Blue is my favorite color,” Cooper told her. “And you’re sitting still.”

She almost laughed at that. But he was completely serious. And he had a point. All the other adults were up and moving around or engaged in games. Addison had chosen to sit near Stella but let her daughter meet the rest of the group in her own way and time. That was how they did things. Stella did her thing but with Addison close enough to help out or intervene if necessary. It was almost never necessary.

“I guess I am,” Addison said. She shifted slightly and held out her arms. “Then obviously I’m the best choice.”

Cooper climbed up onto her lap and immediately snuggled in against her as if they’d done this a million times. And Addison felt her heart stutter, then pound hard once, before settling back into its normal rhythm. Then Cooper reached for one of her arms and drew it around him. She did the same with the other and then worked on holding perfectly still.

She was a stranger to him. Should he really be sitting on her lap? But he seemed to be perfectly content.

“You don’t want to sit on your own chair?” she asked.

“No,” he said simply.

“Okay.” She paused. “Let me know if I squeeze you.”

“Okay.” He certainly didn’t seem concerned. A minute passed, and he said, “You smell good, too.”

She supposed, given all the reasons to sit on someone’s lap, that wasn’t a bad one, either. “Thank you.”

“The way she smells is one of my favorite things about her.”

Addison’s head snapped up, and she found Gabe standing over them. “Um, hi.”

He gave her a knowing grin, as if he could tell that she was very uncomfortable right now. But he simply pulled a chair up next to them and settled in, not offering her or Cooper the chance for the boy to sit on Gabe’s lap.

“She smells like ice cream,” Cooper told him.

Gabe gave him a wink. “One of our favorite things, right?”

“Definitely.” Cooper wiggled on her lap, but it seemed that he was just getting even more settled, resting his head back against her breasts.

Gabe lifted his eyes to Addison’s, and his grin softened. “This is nice.”

That warm look in his eyes was almost as potent as the sexy ones he gave her. He hadn’t sent Cooper over, but Addison could feel how pleased he was that his son had found her. “I see there are some things genetic among the Trahan men.”

Gabe’s gaze dropped to her breasts. “Guess we like some of the same things.”

“I meant the charm,” she said with a little eye roll, but she couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, that.” Gabe looked at Cooper. “Yeah, we’re pretty hard to resist, huh, Coop?”

Cooper grinned up at him. “Look out, ladies, Trahans in the house,” he said.

Addison laughed, and Gabe grinningly explained, “That’s one of Uncle Logan’s favorite sayings, isn’t it?”

Cooper giggled. “Uncle Logan drinks beer and says bad words and kisses lots of girls.”

Addison didn’t know Logan well, but from what she’d seen, she felt that summary was very accurate.

“But kissing girls is okay,” Cooper told her, tipping his head so he could look up at her. “Dad says it’s really nice and that if you really like them and they want you to, you can kiss them.”

Addison’s heart squeezed. Even though she was sure the conversation had been somewhat lighthearted, something about Gabe giving his son fatherly advice made her freaking heart squeeze. That was really dumb, of course. Obviously Gabe would be giving Cooper advice, of all kinds. But there was something about witnessing it. Seeing Gabe parenting. Seeing Gabe’s interactions—even the lighthearted ones—with Cooper up close. Seeing Gabe as someone who was idolized and adored and trusted completely. Yeah, it definitely squeezed her heart.