“Oh,” Winnie muttered at my side, and I had to look down to keep myself from laughing at her. She’d brought this on herself.
“So?” Thatch asked between chews of butter and bread.
I raised an eyebrow. “So…what?”
“Where’s your kid?” he questioned before gulping down an entire glass of orange juice in record-breaking time. It was no mystery why he’d been the champ of keg stands and beer-chugging contests in college. He was a fucking bottomless pit.
“We brought our nanny, Melinda,” Winnie interjected with a smile. “Where’s the baby?”
Cassie and Thatch’s resulting laughter couldn’t be described as anything other than snickering.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, admittedly curious.
“We brought our nannies, too,” Cassie sputtered, and Thatch actually reached up and high-fived her.
As if planted there by God himself, when I looked up and out the window, Georgia and Kline strolled by, baby Ace in tow. I nudged Winnie’s shoulder and then gave a jerk of my chin in their direction.
“Kline and Georgia have him?” she accused immediately. “Is that why you called me forty times this morning?”
Cassie scoffed, and Thatch shook his head—amused. By us. They were amused by us.
“I was hoping you had some extra Preparation H,” Cassie answered far too easily. “Hemorrhoids are a bitch after pregnancy. Am I right?”
“I had my baby nearly seven years ago,” Winnie said slowly, like she was talking to a child. I was too busy blinking at the same languid speed to say anything.
“Back away slowly,” I urged, pulling her at the elbow. “Retreat, retreat,” I added, knowing full well we had to get out of their web of crazy before there was no escape. If we didn’t get the fuck out now, we’d end up stumbling around like zombies from The Walking Dead—lost, brainless, and not a goddamn clue how the hell we’d gotten to that state.
It was literally a life-or-death situation.
Winnie followed without question, and when we broke the initial barrier of the first ten feet, both of us started to run.
I could hear Thatch laughing from behind us and another smack of their hands.
“Lightweights,” he commented.
“Totally,” Cassie agreed.
“High five, Lexi Lou!” Quinn Bailey held his hand above his head and far too high for my daughter even to attempt to reach. She giggled in response and looked up at his large palm in determination.
“Come on! High five, Lex!” he encouraged in his signature Southern twang.
She glanced over her shoulder at Wes, who stood right behind her, and then back at Quinn’s hand that was still raised toward the ceiling.
I could already see the little wheels of her calculating and methodical mind turning.
She grinned at Quinn and then turned on her little feet toward Wes. She crooked her index finger for him to move closer, and he did so willingly and without a second thought. Lexi stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Wes’s ear.
He chuckled softly and winked. “Good idea, sweetie,” he whispered back.
Seconds later, Wes lifted her up, and she had no issues smacking her palm against Quinn’s, her face etched with pride and victory the entire time.
“Hey! That feels like cheating, little lady.”
“Nuh-uh,” she answered and wrapped her arms around Wes’s neck and made herself cozy in his arms. “You cheated, Quinn. You made it a physical impossibility for me to achieve the high five. You’re seventy-eight inches tall, and I’m only forty-two inches tall. And with your hand raised, it gave you additional height.”
Bailey smirked at Wes. “I guess I can’t argue with that, huh?”
“Nope. I’d say she’s got a point.”
“That was deplorable, Quinn,” I teased. “Trying to win by cheating. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Deplorable!” Lexi giggled.
His Southern grin just grew wider. “Give me three adjectives for deplorable, Lex.”
She rolled her eyes as if he had just asked her something elementary like what was one plus one. “Awful, appalling, disgraceful.”
“All right, little lady, give me a hug and we’ll call it even.” He held out both arms, and she willingly jumped into them. Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck and squeezed him tight. He happily returned the hug and then set her back on her feet.
“What are you up to now, Bailey?” Wes asked.
He shrugged in response. “Well…I guess I should probably try to get ready for the pageant rehearsal.”
“So…you’re going to the bar to drink a few beers and eat some tacos?” I questioned knowingly.
He flashed a wide-toothed grin. “Something like that.”
“Mommy! Mommy!” Lexi bounced up and down on her tiptoes in front of me, demanding my attention. “Can I have my iPad? Pretty please? I’ll go sit there and just play a game,” she begged and pointed toward a line of benches on the other side of the hallway.
“Stay on the benches, okay?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “I promise I’ll stay right there.”
I pulled her iPad out of my purse and handed it to her, and she skipped across the tile hallway toward the benches.
Once Lex was safely seated at a bench and engrossed in her iPad, I moved my gaze back to the guys and patted Quinn on the shoulder. “Thanks again for hanging with Lex today.”
He waved me off. “Anytime you need a babysitter, let me know. Hanging out with that kid makes me smarter. Next time, I’ll probably try to get her to memorize plays with me.”
Wes and I both laughed at that.
“You know, the sad thing is, she probably knows more Mavericks plays than I do, and I’m the quarterback.”
Wes nodded. “Considering she knows more about the players, the team, and the organization than I do, it’s safe to say she probably knows your plays better than you. Hell, she congratulated me on the thirteen percent increase in third-quarter revenue last week. She knew about the Mavericks’ financial achievements before I did.”
Quinn laughed and slid his hands into the pockets of his khaki linen pants. “I’m not surprised. I just spent three hours looking at and feeding sea turtles with her, and she knew more about those little fuckers than the goddamn marine biologist giving the educational lecture to the crowd.”
His gaze moved across the room to where Lexi sat, and he smiled softly in my daughter’s direction before moving his gaze to mine. “She’s special, Dr. Double U. A true gem and a breath of fresh air. I just know, one day, she’ll surprise us all with the amazing things she’ll accomplish.”
His kind words filled my heart. “Thank you, Quinn.”
“All right, well, I’m off to ‘prepare’ for the pageant rehearsal now.”
“Order the nachos,” I suggested. “They’re really fucking good.”
He chuckled softly. “It’s a done deal, pretty lady.”
“And keep your eyes off the contestants,” Wes chimed in.
“Yeah, that won’t be a problem. I like women, not girls. Women. Adults. Legal, consenting age.”
Wes grinned. “I like where your head’s at. Pass that gem of wisdom along to the rest of the team, would you?”
“You got it,” Quinn agreed and then headed toward the Lagoon Bar & Grill, where sharks and fish swam in the shallow waters around the circular perimeter. It was also known to be a prime location for a visit by one of the many wandering kittens at the resort.
I did my research before we ever left the ground in New York. I haven’t been on a tropical vacation in nearly ten years. I plan to soak every fucking ounce of it dry.
Wes wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tucked me into his side. “What do you think?”
I looked up into his loving gaze. “I think Bailey is full of shit, but I like that he’s being so valiant in his efforts to avoid acknowledging the smoking hot and far too young beauty contestants.”
Wes grimaced. “You think it’s too late to order a shitload of shock collars before the pageant?”
I giggled. “Yeah. I think you’ve not only run out of time, but it might not be worth the legal ramifications you’d face for it. I appreciate the creativity, though.”
He pulled me tight to his chest, and both hands migrated down my back until his large palms gripped my ass. He stared down at me with a mischievous smirk as he discreetly squeezed each cheek a few times. “I can definitely appreciate your creativity, Fred.”
“Is that so?”
He nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“And what creativity are you talking about, exactly?”
“You want examples?”
I nodded.
“I really enjoyed that thing you did with your tongue in the shower.”
I rolled my eyes.
“And the way you woke me up this morning. That was real fucking creative.”
“I’m noticing a theme here…”
He waggled his brows, and his heated, carnal gaze started to turn me the fuck on.
I pressed a hand to his chest. “I think we need to end this conversation before it goes any further.”
He glanced down at the crotch of his pants that was definitely looking more prominent than it should. “I think you’re probably right.” He chuckled and adjusted himself before things become real apparent. “Rain check?”