“He likes you too,” she says with a smile.
“No, he doesn’t.” I can’t even fathom that this gorgeous man could be into me. He could have anyone he wants and I’m just… well, I’m just a runaway waitress working in a busted up biker bar in a small crappy town. I’m nobody worth liking.
She raises her eyebrow at me and it makes my heart pound. “I know my Uncle J. He’s got it bad for you. He didn’t take his eyes off you all day.”
“I think that had to do with my tight jean shorts,” I say with a laugh. “Doesn’t mean he was into me.”
“Yes, it does. Do you know how many girls have tried to get with Jaxon and gotten nowhere instead?”
“We shouldn’t be talking about your uncle this way,” I say. She is only ten years old. But five seconds later, I can’t take it anymore. “How many girls?”
“A lot! My teacher tried to hook up with him and she is gorgeous.”
This time it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “How do you know they didn’t?”
She lets out a quick snorting laugh. “Because I got a C in participation. If my uncle was shagging her I would have gotten at least a B minus.”
We paint each other’s toenails in silence for a minute as thoughts race through my mind. Is he really interested in me? Could it work? There did seem to be something there…
“My uncles might come across as a little wild,” she says as she carefully paints my pinkie toe, “but they’re good men. Who else would temper their outlaw lifestyle so they could take in their ten-year-old niece?
“After my mom died, I thought I was going to have to live in an orphanage,” Nixie says after a long pause. “My dad is in a state penitentiary. When he gets out, I’ll be twenty-four years old. I was all alone at the funeral, feeling like my world was crumbling to pieces when Jaxon picked me up and promised he would always be there for me. Beckham came and wrapped his arms around the both of us and said we were a team now. He said we’d always be together. And we have been ever since. Ah, you’re crying.”
I embarrassingly start wiping my eyes with the back of my hands and they come away wet with tears.
“Don’t be sad,” she says as she playfully squeezes my toe. “You have a great guy chasing you. You should be happy.”
“I am,” I tell her with a sniff. “It’s just… that was beautiful. I don’t have anyone like that in my life. Someone who loves me and looks out for me.”
She grins. “Something tells me you will soon.”
“If only I could be so lucky. Whatever happens with your uncle J, you’ll always be welcome with us. I’m looking to join a happy family, not tear one apart.”
She sticks out her foot and spreads her toes apart. “Pinkie promise?”
I wrap my little toe around hers and nod. “Pinkie promise.”
It’s dark out and Nixie is asleep on the couch when there’s a soft knock on my door. I quickly fix myself up and then open it to find Jaxon and Beckham standing in the hallway.
Jaxon is leaning against the doorframe as he checks me out in a brazenly shameless way. My body shivers with heat as we drink each other in. He looks just as gorgeous as he did this afternoon, even more so now that I’ve been waiting desperately for him for a couple of hours.
“Sorry, we’re late,” he says in a deep voice that seems to light every nerve ending in my body on fire. “Troy needed us back at the club.”
I know better than to ask about club business, and the truth is, I’m just glad he’s here.
His brown eyes are fixated on me as I just stand there, holding the door like a goof.
“Are you going to invite us in?” he finally asks with that panty-melting grin.
“Of course,” I say with a gasp as I get ripped out of my happy daze. “Come in.”
They both fill the doorway as they step into my apartment. These men are huge. They’re built like oil tankers and I barely come up to Jaxon’s chin.
“Nixie is sleeping on the couch,” I tell them. “We painted each other’s nails and bonded.”
I laugh nervously as Beckham silently walks over to the couch. He bends down and picks her up so gently that he doesn’t even wake her up. She just moans as she curls into his big chest and falls deeper into her slumber.
It’s amazing to see such a strong and feared man be so gentle with the ones he loves. It’s going to be a lucky girl who bags Beckham for a husband. He’s the strong silent type who would kill a dozen men before he lets one hurt you.
But I’ll leave Beckham for the next girl. I already have a crush. A big one.
On his brother who can’t seem to take his eyes off me.
“Nice place,” he says as he looks around at my tiny apartment. I suddenly feel very self-conscious with his eyes on my things. I’m embarrassed. I feel like it’s not enough. The last tenants left the yellow stove and there’s duct tape all over the hinges of my fridge that won’t stop buzzing. I don’t have the nicest things, but I take care of what I have and make it as nice as I can.
Jaxon walks over to the pot of flowers I have growing on the counter and smells one. “They’re beautiful,” he whispers as Beckham carries Nixie to the door, “just like their owner.”
Jaxon walks over to me and seeing such a big powerful man in front of me, giving me that look… oh, it’s making me so wet.
“Thanks for taking care of Nixie,” he says in that rough dominant voice. He cups my jaw and gently runs his thumb
