Daisy Does It All (Clover Park, Book 2) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (16 page)

She lifted Bryce off the blanket and carried him upstairs to settle him in his crib, her lips still tingling from that unexpected kiss.

She stopped short when she got inside Maggie’s room. “What the hell?”

The crib was gone.

Trav! That presumptuous, smug, irritating man. No way in hell she was making tonight that easy for him.

~ ~ ~

Trav sprinted upstairs, knowing what Daisy would find.

She was pacing Gran’s bedroom, eyebrows furrowed. He shut the door behind him.

She turned. “There you are! Where is it?”

“I moved it to Shane’s room,” Trav replied.

She looked to the ceiling, clearly reaching for calm. She leveled her gaze at him. “Which room?”

He led the way. She gently deposited Bryce into the crib and shut the door quietly behind her. She gestured for him to follow her back to Gran’s room.

He knew he was in for it, but he followed her anyway. Once she got used to the idea, she’d thank him. He shut the door behind them.

She lifted one finger. “First of all, poor Shane! You know Bryce wakes up at three a.m. every night!”

He crossed to her and put a finger near her lips. “Shhh.”

She smacked his finger away. “Don’t you shush me! Now I’m going to have to sneak into Shane’s room in the middle of the night to get Bryce back to sleep, and poor Shane’s going to be up for no good reason!”

He pulled her across the room and into Gran’s closet, shutting the door behind them. It was a small closet, and Gran’s clothes pushed at them from both sides. It was also pitch black.

“What the hell, Trav?”

“You’re just too loud. Do you want Jessica to hear us fighting? The closet at least puts us behind two closed doors.” He inhaled her citrusy scent. She was so tantalizingly close. He could feel her heat and one breast pushed into his arm, but he didn’t dare touch her in her current mood.

“Second of all…” He imagined she had two fingers in the air, but he couldn’t see a damn thing. “We told Jessica we practice attachment parenting, that we have his crib in our room so we can respond to his cries immediately. What’s she going to think when she sees his crib two rooms away and hears him wailing in the middle of the night?”

“She won’t see his crib. I’ll keep the bedroom doors shut and show her directly to my old room.”

“Which one is yours?”

“First one on the left.”

“Right across from where the baby is?” she exclaimed, way too loud.

He clamped a hand over her mouth. She bit his palm.

“Ow!”

“I cannot imagine a less appealing seduction scene, which I know is what’s going on in that testosterone-polluted brain of yours, than to have Jessica Larsen down the hall, along with your brother and my ex-husband.”

“And Rico.”

“Yes! And Rico. Not to mention our baby, who’ll wake the entire house, wondering why Mommy is taking so long to get to him.”

“It won’t take that long,” Trav said. “Just down the hall.”

She jabbed him in the chest. “You’re getting up to get him. And you get him back to sleep and put him back in Shane’s room. Think you can handle all that?”

Bryce hadn’t yet spent the night with him, since Daisy usually nursed him back to sleep at night, but Trav would do anything to get Daisy alone in bed.

“Absolutely,” Trav replied.

“Fine. Can we get out of the closet now?”

“I would love to see you come out of the closet,” Trav joked.

“Keep it up, Mr. Stand-Up Comedian.”

“Something is standing up.”

She groaned, opened the closet door, and slipped downstairs.

He stayed behind to wait out his hard-on. That could’ve gone worse. He congratulated himself on winning round one.

Chapter Fourteen

Daisy returned to the living room to find a radio blaring “Copacabana” and Maggie pulling a stiff Jessica out of her beloved host chair.

“Come on, honey, we’ve got to loosen you up,” Maggie was saying.

Jorge danced in the center of the room, doing some kind of box step involving jazz hands. Rico and Shane watched from the loveseat. Max sat on the floor, looking amused.

“I’m loose!” Jessica exclaimed.

“My kind of woman,” Rico said under his breath.

“You either need to dance or get busy between the sheets,” Maggie said. “When was the last time you were with a man? Honey, do you at least have a vibrator?”

Jessica’s eyes bulged. Daisy stifled a laugh.

“I thought so.” Maggie took both Jessica’s hands and moved them side to side. “Nice and slow.”

Jessica moved stiffly side to side.

“Try a little shimmy. Shake those shoulders.” Maggie demonstrated.

Jessica gave a little shoulder shake while staring at the ceiling.

Maggie stopped moving. “I can see this is gonna take a little more than just a dance for you. Come with me.”

She grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled her into the kitchen. Daisy almost felt sorry for Jessica, but she couldn’t wait to see what Maggie did next.

“Help me make room,” Jorge said to Rico and Shane. They pushed the furniture to the side to create a makeshift dance floor.

Rico bobbed his head in time to the music and wiggled his fingers at Daisy.

She giggled and joined him. Rico danced like he was born to it. Daisy pulled Shane over and danced with both of them.

Jessica returned holding a martini glass. “Cheers! Maggie made martinis! Who needs olives?” She drained the glass.

Maggie set two bottles of vodka on the mantel along with some glasses. “Anyone else for martinis?”

Jessica, Rico, and Max rushed over. Daisy didn’t drink hard liquor since she was nursing, but was more than happy to let Jessica get plastered. The less observant she was, the better. She kept dancing with Shane, who did an awkward shuffle, nearly bumping into her.

A short while later, everyone but Daisy was martini-happy. They all danced to “Funkytown.” Maggie was dancing with Jessica. She boxed her in with her hands while Jessica did a sensuous wave. Shane must’ve hit the vodka too because now he was flailing like a demented Muppet.

Trav came downstairs and shook his head. “Leave the room for five minutes and there’s a mosh pit.”

Rico and Shane started smashing into each other. Trav joined in with a chest bump to Rico. Rico went down and popped back up.

Daisy laughed. Trav headed straight for her, tucking his shoulder low, catching her at the stomach, lifting her up. She put her arms up in a V, feeling very prima ballerina as he spun her around. He set her down and danced with her slow and close even though the beat was fast. His hands were sliding lower on her back, pressing her closer, and she was torn between swatting his hands away or climbing him like a fire pole.

Jessica started dirty dancing with Max. Shane sang into a pretend microphone that was his thumb, with Rico occasionally stepping in to share the mike.

A Hello Kitty bra flew through the air.

“Gran!” Trav scolded. “Put that thing back on!”

Jorge picked it up and started dancing with it between his teeth. Maggie giggled. Not to be outdone, Jessica whipped out her bra and flung it around Max’s neck. He threw it to the side.

Trav looked to Daisy. “Your turn.”

“That’s not happening.”

He spun her and dipped her. “It will.”

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”

He pulled her up. “I would.” Then he sank his hands into her hair and kissed her breathless.

The song changed to Janis Joplin’s “Bobby McGee.” Trav pulled her close for another slow dance while everyone danced wildly around them.

He kissed her neck, and shivers ran through her.

“Don’t think you outsmarted me with that crib,” she said.

He moved up to her ear, and her knees wobbled a bit. “Never,” he replied.

“We’re not…” She trailed off as his mouth moved to her jaw, coming closer and closer to her lips. “Rushing this,” she breathed.

He kissed her gently and nipped her lower lip. “We’ll go so-oo-oo-oo slow. You’ll be begging for fast.”

Her mouth dropped, temporarily at a loss for words.

Trav smirked.

So damn smug
.

“I will never beg!” she hollered over the song that had just ended. Her voice rang across the room. Her cheeks burned, and she couldn’t bear to make eye contact with anyone.

“You tell him,” Maggie said. “Unless it’s sexual, then begging is fun.” She looked around the room, nodding at everyone.

Daisy groaned.

“Who wants to have sex with me?” Jessica asked in a loud voice.

Rico raised his hand.

“You got it!” Jessica exclaimed. Then she jumped on Shane’s back and rode him like a cowgirl.

Maggie grabbed the two empty bottles of vodka off the mantel. “My work here is done.”

~ ~ ~

After they’d worn themselves out dancing, Gran and Jorge left, and Trav found some cards for poker. Daisy had just gone upstairs to get ready for bed, so Trav played one more round to give her time to get ready, because once he got up there, he didn’t want to wait for anything. He lost the round despite the fact that Shane had the worst poker face in history and always gave away his hand. His mind just wasn’t on the game. He couldn’t wait to share a bed with Daisy tonight. His seduction plan was working. Daisy seemed happy, and she’d been so focused on him, she hadn’t given Max a second glance.

He faked a yawn. “I’m beat. Let me set you guys up in your rooms for the night before I turn in.”

“Omigod, what is it, nine o’clock?” Jessica asked.

“Be nice, Jess,” Max said.

“Yeah, it’s nine,” Trav replied calmly. “I still have to take care of the generator, put out the fire, and set you guys up, so let’s move it along.”

“I’ll take my old room,” Shane said.

“We know, Shane; you’re all set up,” Trav said. Why did Shane say that? He just wanted to move this night along without any more questions or slipups.

Jessica pounced, still sharp despite pounding back the vodka. “Your old room? Did you used to live here? Is this where you grew up?”

“He means he stays with us a lot,” Trav answered for Shane.

Shane nodded.

Jessica poked Shane in the chest. “Why would you spend the night when you live so close?” She leaned into his chest and looked up at him. “Hmm? Answer that, Red.”

Shane smiled down at her goofily. “It’s Shane.”

“He babysits,” Trav said simply. “Shane, can you show them their rooms while I refuel the generator? Put Jessica across the hall from you.”
The furthest from Gran’s room
. “Rico, you got the sofa.”

“That little thing?” Rico asked. “I’ll take the floor. Good for the back.”

Shane gestured for Jessica and Max to go ahead. “After you.”

Jessica and Max shared a low conversation on the stairs on their way up.

Shane called down to Rico. “I’ll toss down a pillow and blanket for you.”

“Thanks,” Rico said. “Trav, you need any help?”

“Yeah, actually, can you put out the fire while I do the generator thing?”

Rico saluted. “You got it,
jefe
.”

“What’s the word for ‘insolent employee’ in Spanish?” Trav asked.

“I do not know this word,” Rico said with a straight face.

Trav chuckled and fetched his jacket. He grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen and headed into the icy cold, thinking only of the warm, sexy woman who awaited him upstairs.

~ ~ ~

Daisy scoped out the bedroom she supposedly shared with Trav. She hadn’t taken a good look at it before because she’d been so focused on Bryce and, later, her shock that the crib wasn’t where it should be. Okay, this was beyond awkward. This was…
bizarro
. An iron four-poster bed with pink silk scarves tied around one post. She didn’t even want to think about what Maggie and Jorge did with them. A floral comforter, with matching shams on the pillows, and several knitted throw pillows with Santa and his reindeer going across them, even though it was February.

She glanced at the nightstand. No, that was snooping.

Maybe just one peek.

Strawberry-flavored lube, pink fuzzy handcuffs, foam rollers, and a shower cap. Daisy shut her eyes tightly, working to erase the vivid images tumbling through her mind of senior citizen nooky.
Rainbows, unicorns, sparkle fairies
. Not working.

That’s what you get for snooping.

She was too restless to lie in bed.

Trav would be coming up soon, with all his expectations. She didn’t like the way he assumed she’d sleep with him just because they had a baby and were getting married. She snorted. She was being ridiculous. What was the big deal? Sleep with your future husband. It’s what people do. A shot of adrenaline ran through her, and she fought the urge to run.

She moved on to the closet and swung open the door. No wonder she’d been squished up against Trav in here, it was jam-packed with clothes. She wondered where Jorge kept all his clothes. If anyone from
Mornings with Jessica
had looked in the closet, they would’ve seen right away that it wasn’t Daisy’s house. The clothes were way too small for Daisy’s five foot six. From the one light on the nightstand she could just make out the miniskirts (super mini on Daisy), blouses, and, though she hated to say it, old lady housedresses, that all but screamed Maggie.

Daisy smiled as an idea formed in her mind. A very naughty idea. She gathered the things she’d need and headed for the bathroom, giggling to herself.

Chapter Fifteen

Trav walked into the bedroom, already stripping out of his thermal Henley. He got close to the bed and realized Daisy wasn’t in it. Must be in the bathroom. She’d left the light on the nightstand on. He took a moment to check out the bed they’d sleep in—Gran’s bed. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Santa and his reindeer had to go. Tonight they’d be on the naughty list for sure.

He stripped the bed of the Santa pillows, weird flowery pillow covers, and flipped the comforter over so it was on the plain white side. That was better. An image of Daisy’s golden hair spread over the pillow, looking up at him, had him stripping out of his jeans. He dove under the blankets. The heat was on, but it was still cold, the old house drafty. He couldn’t wait to see what Daisy wore to bed.