A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (14 page)

“You do
not
get to vet my boyfriends,” Nicole said sharply as she followed him back into the family area.

Kevin pivoted, pressing a finger over his lips to warn her to keep quiet—
ha!
—just as the dinner bell rang.

A growl of frustration threatened to escape, but she knew her family. They meant well, but they’d run roughshod over her for
her own good
if given the chance. Always had, always would. She loved them for it and simultaneously wanted to shake the lot of them.

“Everyone. To the table,” Darlene commanded with a clap of her hands. “Mike, you’re over there. Troy, you take that one beside him. Cyndi, you and the…”

Nicole slipped ahead of her brother and dropped into his chair.

“Oh, Nicole. You’re over here, please.”

Her mom indicated the space next to Chase. Nicole should have taken bets on the seating arrangement.

“No, I’m over here. I don’t get to sit beside my buddy Tyson that often,” she said with a smile just for her nephew who was already tucked into his booster seat.

It was a reasonable request, not to mention her mom couldn’t rearrange the entire table without making it obvious she was trying to seat Chase next to Nicole.

“You’re playing with fire,” Troy murmured in her ear before leaning past her to offer four-year-old Tyson a fist bump.

No
. The point was she didn’t
want
to play with fire, not after agreeing to go out with Troy. Didn’t matter how nice Chase was according to Kevin. But this was Troy’s opportunity to show his stuff, and if he was going to give up at the first sign of a little honest competition…

“You backing out on your ‘I want to date you’ spiel, Thompson?” she whispered.

Troy glanced across the table at Chase. His jaw tightened, and he twisted back to her, all the fire she’d ever need in his eyes. “Like
hell
I am.”

A shiver zipped along her skin, and a small bubble of warmth burst inside. She told herself it was because she was glad he was showing some backbone.

It also might have been that his hand landed on her thigh under the table at that exact second.

“Hey, Chase.”

Nicole ripped her gaze from Troy’s and snapped her attention to her brother, who’d ended up seated next to their new guest.

“You should see if Nic has time to show you around Traders tomorrow night,” Mike offered with an evil glint across the table at Troy.

“Traders?” Chase turned his smile on her again. “Local entertainment?”

“Great place,” Troy butted in before Nicole could answer. “Drinks and pub food, games, dancing—you’ll like it.” He stretched his arm along the back of her chair, playing with her hair as he aimed his best devil-may-care grin across the table. “Nic and I will be there by nine. If you want, we could introduce you around.”

Troy had been the center of attention before, many times.

The response he got from the collected Adams family to his not-so-casual comment was way more intense. That penetrating concentration they were known for was impressively scary when aimed all in one direction.

Especially in utter silence.

That
bit was unexpected. He didn’t think they were capable of anything less than a dull roar.

Still, fourteen faces with widened eyes and slack jaws were a tough act to follow with anything. Until—

“Lovely idea, Troy. So kind of you to offer. Now…” Nic’s mom stood decisively and clapped her hands again. “Who’s ready for dinner? We have all Dale’s favourites, since it’s his special day.”

He’d expected that. Darlene Adams was the soul of discretion and smoothed the waters because they weren’t alone. Only the
look
she gave Nic made it clear there would be further conversation, and soon.

Chase? He clued in fast enough, cracking a ready smile as he glanced between Troy and Nic.

“Can’t tomorrow night, but I’ll take you up on that sometime.” And then damn if he didn’t do his best to help ease the situation, turning his focus down the table to invite others to rejoin the conversation. “Speaking of food—how about a list of the top places in town to grab a bite, for the poor stranger who hates to cook.”

“Just keep getting invites out to dinner,” Mike suggested.

“Great idea. That takes care of once a month.”

The family banter went back to moderately normal—loud and cheerful—but the entire time there was this edge. Eyes kept darting toward him and Nic, confusion uppermost in her family’s expressions.

Not as if they thought he was an ax murderer or anything, just…concern and disbelief.

“Remind me to kick you in the ass when we get out of here,” Nic murmured as she leaned past him to grab a basket of bread.

“I look forward to it,” he returned, joining in one conversation after the other for brief moments as everyone resumed their habit of speaking at nearly the same time on a million different topics.

Somehow they got to the end of the meal without anyone straight-up coming out and asking Nic what the heck she was doing, and then there was just the gift opening and birthday cake to get through before he could steal her away.

Dale shook his present from Nic. “You got me a bunch of bricks,” he guessed.

She smiled innocently, batting her lashes at him. “Nope.”

“A rock collection.”

“I take it the box is heavy?” Brian chuckled. “I know! She baked you a cake.”

“
Dad
,” Nic complained as the family laughed.

Dale ripped his present open to pull out a bluish-coloured block about a foot square with an envelope tied to the top. “Oh, Nic, you shouldn’t have. Just what I’ve always wanted.”

“You have no idea what it is, do you?” Nicole snickered.

He was opening the envelope. “Gift certificate to Timberline Inn. Now
that
I can appreciate.” He waved the envelope at Chase. “Best steaks in town.”

“I’ll remember that.” Chase pointed at the brick. “FYI, that is a salt block. If you’ve got a place to put it, you could get your own steaks down the road.”

Dale looked confused. “What do I need with a salt block?” he asked Nic.

“You need it so your gift certificate weighs more than it should,” Nic deadpanned.

He shook a finger at her in admiration as he reached for his next present. The plain white envelope Troy had dropped on the side table stood out amongst the rest of the gaudily wrapped and oddly shaped gifts.

Dale turned to him. “From you?”

Troy nodded, leaning back to watch.

Dale ripped open the envelope and pulled out a rectangular note, his face fixed into a polite smile. “It’s a certificate from the garage for an oil chang— Wait, it’s not.” He glanced up at Troy. “It’s a gift certificate for
lessons
on how to do an oil change?”

“Ha. Now you won’t be able to get out of doing it yourself anymore,” Nic approved with a laugh, nudging Troy in the side.

“When it works for you,” Troy told him. “If you bring in your truck and Jodie’s SUV at different times, I’ll go over how to do both of them.”

Nic’s brother-in-law nodded, his expression changing to slightly more impressed. “Thanks. It’s a great gift. I’ll give you a call.”

Troy waited until the gift unwrapping was done and the cake had been served, but once they’d reached the point where people were taking second helpings, he slipped from his chair and followed Nic who had taken a load of empty dishes to the kitchen.

He caught her by the hand and pulled her with him toward the door. “Come on. It’s time to go.”

To his surprise, she didn’t offer any complaints. They slipped their shoes on and escaped out the back door, sneaking around the side of the house and into his truck before anyone was the wiser.

“I liked your present,” Nic said, twisting to face him. “Of course, your offer might come back to haunt you. Dale’s ineptitude when it comes to any kind of vehicle maintenance is legendary.”

“I’ll survive.” He was pretty proud of himself, actually, to have come up with something spur of the moment that not only was a great gift, but met the Adams family surprise requirement. He glanced at Nic. “You want to wait until we stop driving to give me hell?”

“For announcing we’re going out like that?” She shook her head. “I thought about it, and no. You basically took the first opportunity we were given.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“You enjoyed it, though, admit it.” Nicole hesitated. “I wasn’t trying to keep it secret, you know. I just didn’t get a chance to get a word in edgewise with Kevin all gung ho about…” She trailed off as if reluctant to remind him there were other more-approved candidates.

Time to set her at ease. “About trying to set you up with Chase? God, that was hysterical.”

“He meant well.” Nic tilted her head innocently. “And Chase seems like a nice guy.”

“Good-looking too,” Troy drawled.

“Oh?” She turned and looked out the front window, deliberately teasing him. “If you say so. I hadn’t noticed.”

He chuckled but didn’t go down that path. As far as the evening had gone, Troy was counting it as a win. “Are you going to get in hell for sneaking away?”

“Nah.” She shrugged. “They probably won’t notice that we’re gone for a while, what with the kids being all wired up from the cake and ice cream. And Jodie is a fanatic about how the dishwasher gets loaded, so I don’t even try to help beyond bringing the stuff to the kitchen.”

Troy thought about it for a moment before telling her the truth. “I like your family.”

An astonished stare greeted him.

“No, seriously. I like them.”

“Did you make this decision before or after you decided to drop the bomb?” Nic demanded.

“I’ve always liked them,” Troy insisted. “They live life out loud, literally, and they sometimes jump to conclusions, but they honestly enjoy each other’s company, and that’s important to me.”

Her eyes met his as he pulled the truck to a stop. She was considering his words, and it was clear she couldn’t find anything to be judgmental about. “You always have enjoyed your family.”

“Of course I have. And yours is pretty awesome, most of the time. Although we’ll probably go deaf at a young age.”

“Shut up,” she said with a laugh as she looked around. “Troy? Why did you bring me to the mill?”

He got out of the truck and came around to open her door, helping her down and then keeping hold of her fingers. “Because originally we said we’d go dancing tonight, but I don’t think I can take any more loud activities.”

“So, we’re at the mill because…?” Nic followed along at his side, her fingers wrapped in his.

“I still want to dance. And this place has the best floor space I know outside of Traders.” He led her around to the side door, where he punched in the access code, swinging it open for her to enter first.

“It’s all sorts of wrong that you know the access codes,” she muttered.

“Your father told me,” Troy pointed out. He thought a little harder. “Actually, I think your mother told me as well. And Mike, and…Cyndi? One of your sisters. As an emergency backup, or asking me to pick up things they’d forgotten.”

He’d brought her across the wide-open room with the hardwood floor to where an old boom box sat on the counter, a more modern docking station beside it. Troy plugged his phone into the power, hit the playlist he’d prepped that afternoon, and as slow music swirled around them, he caught her in his arms and pulled her against him.

The evening had worked out well, at least relatively. But that sense of frustration remained that he knew he’d have to deal with at some point.

Why was someone like Chase an acceptable prospect for Nic, when he wasn’t?

It was hard to stay annoyed, though, with Nic moving against him, her fingers threaded into the hair at the back of his head. A gentle hum escaped her lips as she accompanied the music.

They were more than comfortable together, passion rising as her breasts rubbed his chest. Troy stepped one leg between hers as he pressed a hand against her lower back, keeping their bodies in full contact.

She offered her approval. “It’s not our first date anymore.”

“Technically, it is,” he teased.

Nic dropped her forehead against his chest then sighed dramatically. “Mean and nasty, that’s what you are, Troy Thompson.”

“Never,” he swore. He tapped his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back until he could get at her lips. Brushing their mouths together softly before kissing her.

The country music playing in the background was accompanied by the soft shuffle of their feet over the wooden boards as they kept dancing while they kissed. Languid and lazy at first, Troy tasted her, soaking the flavour and feel of her into his very system.

As always, that faint flutter of attraction he constantly felt around her roared up to full-out desire between one breath and the next. His body hardened, and he pulled back to look into her eyes.

Deep-green pools of desire reflected back at him.

“I’m sorry for the grilling you’re going to get from your family about us,” he said seriously.

“You’re not really going to talk about that right now, are you?” Nic asked, shock in her voice. “Don’t you think we have something better we could be doing?”

Troy grinned, crowding her backward toward one of the tall tables at the side of the room. “I just wanted to make it clear what I’m apologizing for.”

“Apologizing?”

He reached between them and undid her jeans, both the button and the zipper, peeling the fabric off her hips as she clung to his shoulders for balance. He caught her around the knees then stood, carrying her to the tabletop so he could finish the job of stripping her naked from the waist down.

Then he leaned over her, one hand on either side of the table as he looked down her body, licking his lips as his hunger rose. “You know, I have given this a lot of thought. Us, officially going out.”

He leaned over so he could kiss the top of one thigh, smiling as she shivered under him.

“What kind of thought?” Nicole asked breathlessly.

Troy settled back on his heels as he looked up, hands slipping to the top of her knees. “Since this is supposed to be a new start, I considered trying to be less bossy regarding sex, but the more I thought about it, the less appealing that seemed.”