Tempting Rowan (Trace + Olivia #3) (15 page)

“How’s your mom?” I asked him. I’d only met Lily a handful of ti
mes, but she was a lovely woman and had raised her sons well…especially after their dad died. She was the kind of woman I could admire. She was beautiful, but strong and independent. She didn’t take shit from anyone. “Your grandparents?”

“Mom’s good,” he shrugged. “She’s busy a lot now, running the business and all, but we have family dinner’s once a week. I always come home for them.” His eyes grew sad, and he
added, “Gramps died a few years ago…cancer. It’s been hard losing him. He became like a dad to Trace and me, after ours died. Gramps’ death has been harder on Trace than me, but I miss him every day.”

My heart broke seeing the pain in his eyes. Even two years later it was obvi
ous he still missed his grandpa and that the wound would probably never quite heal all the way. I’d only met Warren once, but he was a nice man, and went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.

“I’m so sorry, Trenton,” I whispered.

He shrugged, his lips turned down in a frown. “It was his time.”

“That might be true, but it doesn’t make his loss any easier.”

Trent nodded, cooing to Dean. I knew he didn’t really want to talk about his grandpa, and that was fine. I knew what it was like not to want to talk about things. I wouldn’t push him.

We moved the conversation to more comfortable topics, like school and friends.

I laughed and smiled easily, something I seemed to only do around Trenton. He had some kind of magical spell over me that melted my icy exterior.

He refused to let me help clean up from dinner, instead putting me in charge of Dean once more. The little boy had renewed energy after dinner and I had to chase him down. He was a quick little thing.

“Do you need to go yet?” He asked, putting food into plastic containers.

I shook my head. “I still have time.”

“Want to put a movie on?” He asked, stacking the containers one on top of the other.

“That’s fine with me,” I grabbed Dean up in my arms before he could crawl up the steps, “I probably won’t be able to stay for the whole thing though.”

“Any extra time I get with you, I’ll take,” he smiled. Pointing to the containers, he said, “These are for your brother and sister. I figured they wouldn’t like fish, so I gave them the chicken I got for Dean.”

Tears pricked my eyes. I hadn’t believed him when he said he’d have food for Ivy and Tristan. But he did. He was
remarkable.

I turned away from him
so he wouldn’t see the moisture building in my eyes and pretended to be playing with Dean.

“You can pick out the movie.” I jumped when his hand pressed against my waist.

“O-okay,” I stuttered.

He took Dean from my arms and led me to the entertainment center. He brought up something on the TV and said, “Scroll through until you find one you want.”

I gaped. I had never seen such a fancy TV. It was like a spaceship.

I was a quick learner though; so it didn’t take me long to figure out how to work the fancy remote.

“Thor?” He chuckled, when I had made my selection.

“I always did have a thing for muscular superheroes,” I winked. Oh my God. Was I flirting? I was totally flirting.

Trent chuckled. “I remember all those superhero shirts you used to wear. Do you still have them?”

“I sleep in them
.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat, causing heat to rise to the surface of my cheeks. “I like those shirts. A lot.”

“Me too,” I squeaked.

Jesus Christ, the man was making me hot and bothered just by talking about my old ratty superhero t-shirts.

The movie started and Trent turned off the lights. “You want some popcorn?” He asked before he sat down.

“No thanks.”

He picked up Dean and plopped down beside me, depositing the little boy in his lap. The couch dipped with his added weight and I slid towards him, stopping when my left side was firmly pressed against his right side. I
so
didn’t want to watch a movie right now.

I forced myself to focus on the screen, and not on the way his warmth felt beside me, or how I really wanted to tilt my head up and kiss his jaw, then his lips, then…

You knew you had it bad, when even the sight of Chris Hemsworth couldn’t distract you.

I found my eyes growing heavy, and my head fell to Trent’s shoulder.

I wasn’t falling asleep. I wasn’t. Okay, I totally was.

But he felt so good, and he kept humming, the sound calming me. Eventually I couldn’t resist it any longer, and fell asleep with my head rested on his shoulder,
and a small smile on my lips.




I was being jostled awake, rather rudely I might add. I blinked my eyes open to find Trent’s brother hovering above us.

“Trace, stop it, that’s not nice,” a female voice piped in.

“Dude, wake up,” he smacked Trent’s cheek.

Trent woke with a start. “What the—”

“Tsk, tsk,” Trace waggled a finger in front of Trent’s face,
holding Dean, “sleeping on the job, baby brother, that’s not allowed.”

“Sorry,” Trent stood, reaching his arms above his head to stretch. His shirt rode up exposing his smooth and toned stomach. I itched to reach out and have that skin beneath my hands.

Trace cuddled Dean in his arms, the child completely undisturbed, his eyes still closed and his small thumb stuck in his mouth.

A woman, who didn’t appear to be much older than me, peered around Trace. “Hi, I’m Olivia,” she reached her hand out to shake mine. Her voice was light and pleasant, and there was something so sweet about her…she was the kind of person you couldn’t help but instantly like. She was also beyond gorgeous with long dark brown wavy hair, pouty lips, and an adorably upturned nose. It was obvious this was Trace’s wife, and Dean’s mother.

“Rowan,” I replied, taking her hand and shaking it.

“Oooh,” she drew out the word, her eyes flicking to Trace. “I’ve heard about you.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Trent grumbled under his breath.

I blushed at Olivia’s words. They’d talked about me? That was embarrassing.

Olivia peered around Trace, who seemed to stand in front of her like a bodyguard, to see Trent. “We’ll get out of your way.”

“You didn’t have sex in front of my kid did you? That would be traumatizing for him,” Trace asked Trent. I knew he was teasing, but I couldn’t help the blush that only kept getting redder.

“Fuck, no.”

“Oh, so you only cuss in front of him? Good to know. Uncle of the Year award right here,” Trace pointed at his brother.

“Get out of my house,” Trent grumbled, reaching down to grab the remote and turn the TV off.

“Who pays the bills? Oh, I do, that makes it
my
house,” Trace retorted.

Olivia rolled her eyes and looked at me. “They argue all the time. I think they find it fun.”

I didn’t really know what to say to her. She was a stranger, and I wasn’t the type to make friends easily.

“Come on, Trace,” she put her hand on his muscular arm and lightly tugged. “Let’s go home. I’m tired.”

“You better not be too tired,” he grinned, letting her lead him towards the front door, “I’m not done with you yet.”

“Trace!” She scolded, looking back at Trent and I with an embarrassed smile. “See you guys another time,” she waved, pushing Tr
ace out the door.

As soon as the door was closed and the headlights of their car fanned across the front window, Trent whistled, giving me a funny smile. With his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, he said, “That was awkward.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You could say that again.”

“That was awkward,” he grinned impishly.

Noting the time, I frowned. “I have to go.”

“I know,” he headed for the kitchen, grabbing up the plastic containers. “I’ll walk you out.”

He didn’t bother putting on a coat, and as soon as the cool air greeted us Goosebumps broke out on his skin. He jumped up and down trying to keep his body moving. I unlocked my car and he handed me the food. I leaned inside to set it on the passenger seat. When I straightened, I could’ve sworn his eyes had been glued to my ass.

I raised
a brow at him and he smirked, not at all ashamed at having been caught.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, leaning in to press his lips to mine. He ended the kiss quickly, before things could progress to a dangerous level, but I was no less affected.

I got in my car and watched him jog back into his house. With a shake of my head, I forced myself to back out of the driveway and return to reality.

chapter ten

I woke up early, determined to make the kids a
hearty breakfast and spend some time with them. I scrambled eggs and made some of that microwave bacon. I popped three slices of toast into the toaster and gathered the plates. After I’d placed everything on the table I looked up to find Tristan standing there rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning,” I told him cheerily.

“That smells good,” he pointed to a plate.

“I hope it tastes just as good,” I
bent, kissing the top of his head. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. Tristan and Ivy were the only people I’d ever truly loved. Something told me though, that if I let myself, I could love Trent too. I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready for that though.

I released Tristan a
nd he climbed onto the chair. Ivy came out of the bedroom next, sniffing the air. “Mmm,” she hummed.

Based on their reactions, I was glad I had
taken the time to make them a decent breakfast. Most mornings, I either didn’t have the time, or we didn’t have the ingredients.

I sat down with them, taking the time to talk to them. Tristan was excited about learning the Alphabet, and Ivy kept mentioning a boy’s name. I was going to have my hands full with that one.

I loved these moments I had with them where we were like a family. I really hoped I didn’t have to wait much longer before I could take custody of them away from my mom.

As if conjured by my thoughts, she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Her hair stuck up wildly around her head and there were bags under her eyes. “Give me that!”

My mouth dropped open when she snatched Tristan’s half-eaten plate from him. What kind of mother takes food from her child?

Tristan’s bottom lip began to tremble with the threat of tears.

I stood slowly, glaring at my mom. “Give. That. Back.”

“What?” She gasped, not because she hadn’t heard me, but because she couldn’t believe I had spoken.

“You heard me.”

A piece of egg clung to her bottom lip. Everything about the woman was disgusting—even me, because I was a part of her. Her taint clung to me, and it was something I would never be able to shake.

She set the plate down on the counter, not in front of Tristan.

“This is my house,” she seethed, the stench of her breath threatening to kno
ck me down, “and the food in it belongs to me. I’ll eat whatever the hell I want.”

“
I
bought that food and
I
made it,” I pointed to my chest. “You have no right—”

My head snapped to the side with the impact of her hand landing against my cheek. My teeth had bitten down on the sensitive inside of my mouth and I tasted blood.

Tristan began to cry, and when I looked at Ivy her mouth hung open in shock.

“You ungrateful brat!” She screamed at me, hatred filling her eyes.

I wasn’t going to let her think that a slap would silence me anymore. I was done being passive. My mouth filled with blood and I wondered if it was possible to need stitches in your mouth. I really hoped not. “You’ve taken
everything
from me!” I couldn’t seem to stop shouting. “I’m not your little bitch anymore! I’m not going to sit back and let you rule me! I’m done!”

She seemed shocked at my comeback. I always took her s
hit and never fought back, but she had done one too many things to me in the past, and I had finally snapped.

She didn’t seem to have a comeback, so she grabbed the plate of food, glaring at me, and marched back into her bedroom. She slammed the door closed hard enough to rattle the whole house.

“Tristan,” I whispered, bending down to take his small face in my hands. His cheeks were wet with tears and I hated that I’d been part of the cause for them. “It’s okay, Tristan.”

“You-you-you,” he hiccupped, “bleedin’.”

I reached up to my mouth and my fingers came away with a slight red mark. It wasn’t bad, but to Tristan it seemed like the end of the world.

“I’m fine,” I assured him.

He shook his head, his sandy hair falling into his eyes. “Not okay. You’re bleedin’.”

I took him into my arms, rocking him back and forth as he cried. No kid should have to witness what went down between my mom and I. Tristan was probably wondering when she was going to hit him and when I’d yell at him. I had to get them out of here. I just had to.

When Tristan’s cries had stopped, I slid my plate towards him. “Here, eat mine.”

He was hesitant at first, but eventually hunger won out and he started eating what was left of my food.

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off my cheek stung and the inside of my mouth was throbbing. I needed some Advil.

I went to the sink and filled a cup with water. I used it to swish out the lingering blood coating my mouth. The day had barely begun, and I already wished it were over.



Let’s go to Griffin’s. I’ll pick you up in an hour.

The text was from Trent. A part of me felt like responding to him and telling him that I couldn’t. My cheek and mouth were still sore, and I had a headache that didn’t seem to want to leave—one that not even my prescription medicine could relieve. After I took the kids to school, I’d come back home and shut up in my bedroom with the curtains drawn. I wanted to block out the world. Leave it to Trent to make that impossible.

K
.
I typed back.

A moment later he sent a smiley face. I hadn’t done anything after the showdown with my mom, so I knew I looked horrible. I took the quickest shower of my life, towel-dried my hair, and applied more make-up than I normally would to hide the red mark on my cheek.

He said he’d pick me up in thirty minutes, so I tugged on a pair of worn jeans and gray sweater. It had dropped into the teens, so I grabbed my warmest coat, black mittens, and my infinity scarf with the words BAM! and POW! on it with drawings of superheroes. I knew Trent would like it.

The door to my mom’s room was closed. I didn’t bother telling her where I was going or checking on her. I didn’t care. I’d stopped caring a long time ago.

When I reached the front of the house and looked out the windows Trent’s black car was parked by the mailbox. I hurried outside to him, excitement filling my belly. A short amount of time surrounded by Trent was turning me into a completely different person.

I opened the car door and slid onto the warm leather seat. When I looked over at him and saw him watching me, my heart skipped a beat, just like they always talk
ed about in romance books. The sound of my breathing filled the car and I couldn’t be bothered to be embarrassed by it. Our eyes connected and neither of us moved. The silence swirled around us and I found myself desperate to shatter it.

“Why are we going to Griffin’s?”

Jesus, Rowan, of all the things you could ask him,
that’s
what comes out of your mouth? Brilliant.

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners with amusement. “I’m not telling. You’ll see soon enough.”

He turned the radio up and
Goodbye
by Glenn Morrison sounded through the speakers.

We didn’t really talk along the way. We didn’t need to. That was something else I liked about being with Trent. There was no awkward silence, only comfort.

He parked across the street from Griffin’s and hopped out to put change in the parking meter.

He opened my door for me and held out a hand for me to take. I stared at it with unease.

“It’s just a hand, Row,” he said, “you can let go as soon as you get out if you want. There’s no obligation for you to hold my hand.”

I placed my hand in his and he closed his fingers over mine. He helped me onto the curb, and went to release my hand, but I tightened my hold. He glanced down at me i
n surprise. I smiled up at him and he grinned in response, a dimple popping out in his cheek. I liked that dimple. A lot. I itched to stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to the indent, but I didn’t. I wasn’t brave enough yet. I’d take it one step at a time, starting with handholding.

Traffic zoomed by and we waited for the crosswalk to flash our turn. I itched to pull my hand away from his, but I forced myself to keep it where it was. There was nothing wrong with
this.

When it was our turn
we jogged across the street, our breath fogging the cold air. The sky was gray with the promise of snow.

Trent held the door to Griffin’s open for me and I stepped inside. It was packed and I was taken aback by all the people.

“Come on,” Trent took my hand again, reaching up to adjust his maroon colored beanie with the other, “back here.”

He pushed through the crowd and I didn’t know how he got his body to fit through such small spaces.

In the back area of Griffin’s there was a stage where musicians could perform. Someone was up there now.

A hand shot up, waving us towards a table.

I was trapped behind Trenton and couldn’t see who it was.

It turned out to be Trace and Olivia. Trace was grinning from ear to ear, and Olivia bounced Dean on her lap.

“I’m so happy you guys could make it,” she smiled, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink. There was a nervousness to her demeanor as she bit down on her bottom lip and glanced nervously at Trace.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, pulling off my black mittens and shrugging out of my coat.

She nodded. “I always get nervous before I sing.” She began chewing on the side of her fingernail. Trace grabbed her hand, pulling it away from her mouth, and twining his fingers with hers. He looked at her with so much love that even I couldn’t help but be affected…especially when I’d seen Trent look at me in a similar way.

“You’re singing?” I asked her, a bit surprised.

“We’re singing together,” Trace clarified as Olivia tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, then proceeded to cover the top of Dean’s head with kisses. She looked like she was going to be ill, poor girl.

“Do you sing?” I turned to Trent, who’d taken the seat beside me.

“No,” he replied quickly. “I’ll leave the singing to those two.”

“Are you bad?” I asked.

His brows furrowed together. “I don’t know. I’ve never actually tried to sing.”

“Maybe you should try,” I pointed to the stage.

“Um, yeah, no. If I
ever
sing, the first time will not be on a stage in front of a bunch of people,” he shook his head rapidly. “No way.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. “Would you guys mind watching Dean while we sing?” Olivia asked, holding tightly to the toddler.

“Isn’t that why you asked me to come?” Trent retorted.

“Well, yeah,” Olivia shrugged. “
We have to use you while you’re home. Dean doesn’t like to be left with anyone else, but you. Not even your mom or my mom.”

“That’s because Dean has good taste in people,” Trent joked.

Griffin appeared by our table, asking if we wanted to order anything. Trent asked for a beer, and I asked for water. This was seriously the weirdest coffee house around. I mean, how many coffee shops have menus like a restaurant, a stage, and they serve beer? I think Griffin strove for uniqueness.

“They’re calling our names. Oh God,” Olivia mumbled, looking like she might throw up.

“It’ll be fine,” Trace assured her. “
You’ll
be fine,” he reinforced, taking her face between his hands and giving her a kiss that shouldn’t be legal in public. I found myself turning away, feeling like I was witnessing something that was best kept private.

Trace stood, as did Olivia, who reluctantly handed Dean to Trent as they headed for the stage.

“Row?” Dean asked, finally spotting me. His arms reached out for me as he tried to climb out of Trent’s hold. I took the baby into my arms and he smiled goofily up at me.

I held Dean in my arms as I looked towards the stage. Trace picked up a guitar and sat down on a stool, scooting the microphone towards him. Olivia grabbed another stool and sat down. Her eyes were closed and she was taking deep breaths.

Trace said something into the microphone, no doubt charming the crowd, but I couldn’t pay attention because Dean had grabbed a strand of my hair and was currently yanking on it as he tried to shove it in his mouth.

Trent noticed and began to laugh, but he was quick to help untangle me from the tight hold. I’m pretty sure Dean ripped out a few hairs.

“That’s not nice,” Trent scolded, tapping Dean on the nose.

My heart surged with an emotion I couldn’t begin to describe. Seeing
Trent with Dean…it was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Dean held his arms out for Trent and then proceeded to yank Trent’s beanie off his head.

“He’s about to hit the terrible twos,” Trent explained. “Trace and Olivia are in for it with this monster,” he tickled Dean’s stomach.

I laughed, ruffling the baby’s hair.