Ride Steady (Chaos, #3)(64)

I got warm inside.

“Does that work?” Indy asked me curiously.

“Not so far,” I answered.

“I figured,” she mumbled.

Suddenly Lee went all business. “Tack called. I’m on your gig. I’ll have results in a day or two.”

“Appreciated,” Joker replied.

Lee nodded.

“This is Lee and I’m Indy, by the way,” Indy said to me. “And these are our offspring, Callum and Suki.”

Like I didn’t know. Everyone in Denver knew them. Though I didn’t know about Callum and Suki.

“I kinda know who you are,” I admitted.

“That figures too,” she said with a not-a-problem smile.

I smiled back then did my bit. “Like Joker said, I’m Carissa and that’s my baby, Travis.”

“So cute,” Indy repeated.

“Yeah,” little Suki muttered sleepily. “Cute baby.”

I grinned at her.

Lee turned to me. “Carissa, nice to meet you and sorry to make it short but we gotta go. My baby girl needs her bed.”

So totally gorgeous.

I turned my grin to him. “Nice to meet you too.”

“We’ll leave you to it,” Lee said. “Later.”

Lee gave chin lifts, Indy waved, Callum gave a distracted hand flick (totally a mini-me), and Suki just gave a small wave goodbye.

When I was sure they were gone, I turned to Joker and hissed enthusiastically, “I can’t believe you know Lee Nightingale.”

“He’s tight with the Club.”

How cool!

“Is he as awesome as he seems to be?” I asked.

“If by awesome you mean he’s a supreme badass and so good at his job it’s kinda scary, then yeah.”

I sort of meant that.

I smiled and shared, “Bad-A is a nickel, sweetie.”

When I was done talking, I pulled in a sharp breath.

I did this because his eyes went semi-molten in a way that the banked heat in them warmed my skin.

Joker didn’t address what was behind his molten look.

He murmured quietly, “He’s mostly asleep, Butterfly. He isn’t hearin’ anything.”

“Still.”

“And a badass is a badass. There’s no other word for it.”

I had to give him that.

“Whatever,” I muttered, grabbing one final chip, dipping it into LD’s famous salsa, and eating it. I sucked back my Sprite then Joker and I did the whole packing up, carting out, loading up the vehicle drill.

But doing it, something that was just a part of life became something new that I liked, sharing the chore with Joker.

He took us home and again commandeered baby and diaper bag, leaving me only with my purse to haul up the steps, another break for which I was extremely grateful.

But I was again nervous.

Travis was out. Since the breast milk/formula change he’d turned into a good sleeper. And when he was done for the evening, in most cases, he stayed that way.

That meant he’d get a sleepy diaper change then into his PJs and finally into his crib.

After that, I’d be alone with Joker in my house with my huge couch.

Yes, I was nervous but in a way I liked the feeling.

My stomach had butterflies. My lips had a smile playing at them. My night had been great.

I hoped it was about to get better.

I just knew (like the night before) I’d have the novel feeling of going to bed looking forward to the next day.

And I was thinking all this when Joker took the last step and rounded the stairwell with me on his heels.

Suddenly I crashed right into his back because he’d stopped.

“Is everything—?”

“Company,” he growled.

His dire tone made me look around him and that was when my heart stopped beating.

Aaron, still in one of his fabulous work suits, was standing at the railing outside my door. He was bent to it, hands curled around it, but his head was turned and his eyes were to us.

I stood unmoving.

Surprisingly, this wasn’t because I thought a visit from Aaron at my apartment that he hadn’t been to for months and months was a bad omen (I did, and Tory, if you can believe, did the Travis swap with me when they returned him, and Aaron never came to my door when I brought him to them).

No, I did it because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

No again.

I couldn’t believe how what I was seeing had changed.

Aaron was handsome. He’d been a handsome young man who’d turned into an exceptionally handsome adult. He had dark hair that was thick and shiny and healthy. He had unusual colored blue eyes that were sharp and interesting. He had a strong jaw, a high forehead, and beautiful lips. And he was tall, slim, and lean, with nice broad shoulders.

He wore a suit amazingly.

I’d never tired of looking at him. Even when I wondered at some of the mean things he did or said in high school. Even when I was turning a blind eye to the things he did to me. It didn’t matter what turmoil my thoughts were in that I was pretending didn’t exist, I’d take one look at him and again fall in love.

But right then, he wasn’t close but I saw him standing there, confident, his bearing holding authority, and he did nothing for me.