Taking It Easy: Boys of the Big Easy book two

by Erin Nicholas

“You spend a lot of time down here?”

  “I do. Love it down here. Love the city, but love getting away too.”

  “I can see why you like to hang out with these people,” she said. The whole evening had been so nice. So comfortable. It was clear that the family had adopted Gabe and Logan into their fold. It seemed anything went—you could wear, do, say, and think whatever you wanted to. They would call you on your bullshit, but they would accept you. “How did you meet these guys?”

  “The bar,” Logan said, stretching his legs out and bracing his hands behind him. “Josh and Owen came in one night and we got to talking. They came back and watched the Saints game at the bar the next weekend. They told us about their business and we decided we had to check it out. And it’s just evolved from there. They definitely know how to have a good time.”

  That was clear. And Logan fit right in. “And now Josh works for you.”

  Logan nodded. “He was working at a place over on Bourbon. He still fills in over there sometimes. And he’s been around Ellie’s place his whole life. And he doesn’t sit still or do downtime very well. So when he saw that Gabe needed more time off with Addison and the kids, he offered to help us out.”

  “He was there the night I came in,” Dana said, referencing the night she’d finally taken Logan up on his flirtatious offers of a night that would rock her world.

  And he had certainly done that. Far beyond the bedroom. She had to swallow hard at that thought. Logan Trahan had blown into her life, turned it upside down, mixed things all up, and yet…walking into his bar that night in January was possibly one of the best decisions she’d ever made.

  That realization seemed to suck the air from her lungs for a moment.

  “I remember,” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I remember Josh was over by the door when you walked in. He gave a whistle, I looked up, and I think my heart stopped for a second.”

  Dana felt her heart skip a little beat. “Really?”

  “I knew you walking in there meant something.”

  He was looking up at the stars, but Dana knew he was totally tuned in to her.

  “You comin’ to me was something,” he said, his voice a little rough.

  It was. It had been a big decision. It hadn’t been him hitting on her and her finally saying “okay.” She’d dressed up, driven down to the Quarter, and walked into the bar all with the understanding that she was initiating everything that night. “I was nervous.”

  He looked over at her then. “No way. There was no way you thought I’d say no.”

  She wet her lips, keeping her eyes on the sky, wondering how much she should admit here. She hadn’t been nervous about him turning her down. He’d kissed her under the mistletoe at the support group’s Christmas party and well, he’d kissed her. It had been clear he’d wanted her.

  She’d been nervous about something a lot bigger. Should she tell him? He was in her life now. They were involved. Very involved. What did it hurt to confess now? “Not that,” she finally said. “I knew that once I was with you, you’d be very hard to get over.” She glanced at him. “I guess I had a feeling everything was going to change.”

  Logan gave her a slow smile as he processed that. He clearly liked that admission a lot. “Guess your gut was right.”

  “Guess so.” Though, if she had to say, she wasn’t so sure it had been her gut so much as…her heart. She blew out a little breath.

  “So, yeah, Josh said, ‘if you don’t take that girl upstairs right now, I’ll never forgive you.’”

  Dana laughed at that. “Is that right?”

  “Not that there was a second of hesitation from me. But yeah, guess he knew it was a pretty big deal too.”

  They sat quietly for a few seconds. The stars were so bright out here away from the city lights. The water lapped at the edge of the shore. Crickets sang. A frog croaked here and there. And Dana took a huge deep breath. Maybe the deepest she’d taken in a long time.

  “I like that sound,” Logan told her.

  “Me too.”

  “I guess I’ve been pushing to be involved with the harder stuff, but if I can make you make that contented, happy sound, then I’m good with whatever it takes.”

  God, how could this not involve her heart? “You’re really good at contented and happy,” she said. “I know I keep saying ‘fun,’ but it’s not just that. It’s just…happy. You just remind me—everyone—to take things easier.”

  “I’m glad.”

  And she believed him.

  “So, you know how I met these guys,” he said. “Tell me how you met Chad. Is he from Lafayette too?”

  She shook her head. “New Orleans. His mom and dad relocated to Houston when his dad got a promotion, but that was after we were together. He grew up in New Orleans.”

  “How’d you meet him?”

  “Blind date. My friend was dating his cousin. She wanted me to come to New Orleans to party with them for a weekend.” Dana shrugged. “His cousin brought him along so I wouldn’t be a third wheel. We hit it off and started dating seriously right from that weekend.”

  “How long ago?” Logan asked.

  “Eleven years.” She swallowed. It seemed like another lifetime. “It was the summer after we both graduated from high school.”

  Logan was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “His mom told me that he enlisted right away.”

  Dana nodded. “He enlisted before we met. He left that August. We had about two months together before he went to basic training.” She took a breath. “I was pregnant when he left.”

  Logan shook his head. “Damn, girl, you really are the most fertile woman in Louisiana.”

  She swatted him on the arm. “You said New Orleans before.”

  “Changed my mind.”

  “Well, anyway, we got married after basic,” she said. “Before he started his specialized training.”

  “But,” Logan said, clearly working things through in his head. “That means you never really lived together full-time.”

  She shook her head. “Nope. We only knew each other two months, his plans were in motion, and of course we didn’t expect to get pregnant. But”—she licked her lips and moved her hand to cover Logan’s—“I think I’m learning that the stuff I don’t plan can turn out just as good as any plans I put together.”

  He lifted his brows. “Whoa. That’s pretty huge.”

  She loved that he knew that.

  Logan turned his palm up and linked their fingers, pulling their joined hands onto his thigh. “So he wasn’t around much. With the girls. Or really with you.”

  “He’d be home for several months at a time, but then gone for up to a year. Sometimes longer, depending on the mission. We never knew until the last minute when he would be home. And we never knew exactly how long he’d be home each time. He was Special Ops and basically on call all the time. If something came up, he had to go. So it seemed that even when he was home, the idea that he could get a call and have to go with little notice was always in the back of our minds.” She took a breath. “But he loved it. He loved what he did. It was his passion. So I never minded.” Much. It had always been hard to say goodbye. Being apart was hard. But then again, she’d never really known any different.

  “And when he was home…you made it fun. Took care of the bigger, not-as-fun stuff so he wouldn’t have to,” Logan said, his voice gruffer.

  Dana swallowed hard. So he’d figured that out. “I wanted him to be happy to be home,” she said softly. “We hadn’t planned any of what happened. We’d barely talked about us, not to mention a family and everything. He never, ever made me think that he regretted anything. He loved the girls and was great with them. And of course, we talked and Skyped and all of that stuff.”

  “But you can’t really change diapers or do hair or help with nightmares over the phone,” Logan said.

  Dana nodded. “I just wanted him to really look forward to coming home. Especially considering what he did all th
e time he was away. It was never just us when he came back. And I didn’t want him to wish it was different.” She’d known she couldn’t compete with his passion. The military always came before family and she’d known that going in. But she’d wanted to be a solid, happy plan B for him.

  Logan squeezed her fingers, and she knew that he understood she was comparing the situation with Chad to what she and Logan had going on. They sat quietly for nearly a minute.

  “Okay, so you told me some stories,” he said. “Where do you want a kiss?”

  She smiled. Nothing made Logan Trahan serious for long.

  And, honestly, she had all kinds of ideas about where she’d like his mouth. This was the perfect opportunity to make things sexy and get off of the serious conversation topics. But it only took a flicker of a moment for her to realize she wanted this to be…different.

  “On my head.” She lifted her other hand and tapped the top of her head where he often dropped kisses, almost without thinking about it.

  He was clearly surprised. “Yeah?”

  She nodded. He tipped toward her slightly, cupped the back of her head with his free hand and kissed her head. He lingered for a moment, taking a deep breath, but then sat back.

  She snuggled closer to him. “I love when you do that.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. It’s…sweet. Makes me feel taken care of.”

  “Huh,” was his only reaction to that.

  They were quiet again for a stretch. Then he said, “For the record, even though we didn’t plan any of this either, I’m very happy here. With you. Just the way things are. I don’t wish they were any different.”

  Dana’s throat tightened and she couldn’t respond. She squeezed his hand. And that was enough.

  She tuned into the night around them. The stars overhead twinkled brightly, and the air was cool but had the lingering feel of the warmer day. “It really is nice out here.”

  “Yeah,” Logan agreed. “Lots of people don’t think the swamp has much appeal, but…”

  “It’s easy,” Dana filled in. “It’s the epitome of laid-back.”

  Logan nodded. “Definitely. It’s all about the slow pace and come as you are. It’s just about the good things in life—good food, people, music.”

  “I like it.” She paused, then added, “That all reminds me of you. Appreciating life. Loving the moment you’re in.”

  Something flickered in his eyes. “I’m really glad.”

  She wet her lips. She knew she could run her hand up under his shirt, and it would be about two minutes until his hand was up under her skirt. But she didn’t move. Instead she asked, “Is your favorite color really purple?”

  He met her gaze. “I don’t know. I honestly never thought about it until she asked.”

  “Kids make you think about a lot of things you never did before,” she agreed.

  “Is blue really your favorite color?” he asked.

  She laughed softly. “Yeah. I’ve been asked that question before so I had to decide.”

  “I like purple,” he said.

  “Probably a good thing since Grace thinks that’s your favorite. You should probably expect gifts and coloring pages in various shades of purple for the foreseeable future.”

  Logan grinned at that. “I would love a coloring page from Grace.”

  And she knew he meant that. Her heart squeezed. “I didn’t know that red was Chad’s favorite color.”

  “No?”

  She shook her head. She wasn’t sure how much she should confess to Logan about Chad and their relationship. It felt a little like a betrayal to say anything that wasn’t good. And really it had been good. The big, handsome soldier had swept her off her feet. Chad had been a very loyal, dedicated, life-loving guy. In that way, Logan definitely reminded her of her husband. Chad had lived big. He’d believed in the way of life he’d known growing up and had felt strongly about protecting it. They’d had a whirlwind two months together, but it had felt right. She’d never had a moment’s hesitation telling him she loved him and wanted to be with him, even if it meant half a world would separate them a lot of the time. Sure, she’d been young and in love and a little naïve about how that would all play out in actuality. But she’d been proud of him, and she’d often thought that maybe the way things had worked out had been perfect. They hadn’t really gotten used to being together, so being apart was easier. She was naturally programmed to be independent and so she handled the separation pretty well most of the time.

  “We didn’t talk about stuff like that,” she said. “I guess we didn’t get to those basic things.”

  “How did that conversation with Grace go the other night?” he asked.

  “Okay, I guess.” She shrugged. “There are a lot of conversations like that where I’m never quite sure how they go. I don’t know if I made sense or made a point or made anyone feel better.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That it didn’t really matter what his favorite color was because the fact that she was doing something with him in mind was all that mattered. And that if black wasn’t his favorite color before, now that she’s been wearing it for him, it is now.”

  Logan nodded. “Good answer.”

  “You think?”

  He gave a soft laugh. “If that little girl asked me to make yellow my favorite color or kale my favorite food or snails my favorite animal, I’d do it without thinking twice.”

  And Dana felt a sudden stab of emotion that she was pretty sure meant she was falling for this man. Oh, boy.

  That wasn’t all bad, of course. They were having a baby together. He wanted to be around. He’d given her this night with these new people who already felt like close friends. And this was Logan. Charming, sexy, fun-loving, good-guy Logan. It was probably inevitable that she’d fall for him. She just had to figure out how that was going to work.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said. “The other night, talking to Chad’s mom on the phone, she didn’t seem surprised that there was some strange man staying with the girls. Does she know about me and the baby?”

  Dana nodded. “The girls told her right away.”

  He grinned. “I love how excited they are.”

  She did too, actually. It was going to make things, at least some of it, easier.

  “Did she take it well?” he asked, of her mother-in-law.

  Dana met his eyes. “She did. She wants me to be happy. She told me about a year ago that she hoped I’d find someone. She’s pretty great.”

  “I want you to be happy too,” he said. “I’m glad that she and I will get along on that point.”

  A prickle of surprise made her ask, “You think you’ll need to get along with her?”

  “I assume the girls see her at least once in a while?”

  Dana nodded.

  “Well, if we’re both a part of your lives, then it’s good if we get along.”

  She hadn’t really thought about how Logan would get along with the other people in her life. But the idea of him interacting with them wasn’t as strange as she would have expected. And both her mother-in-law and her own mother would love Logan. They were females, after all.

  “I like you, Logan Trahan,” she said.

  He smiled, but it was a different smile than usual. It wasn’t playful or sexy. It was…sweet. “I like you too, Dana Doucet.”

  Stupidly, she heard herself ask, “Why?”

  An eyebrow rose and he asked, “Why do I like you?”

  She nodded, feeling silly and vulnerable suddenly. But it was so obvious why Logan was likeable. Beyond his general outgoing, friendly, fun personality, he was sincere and accepting and, well, the grin. But she was…a working mom. She was more than a little bossy, because she had to be. She was never totally on top of things. She didn’t kick back very often, and she tended to be thinking an hour…or a day…ahead to be prepared, rather than really being in the moment.

  “The first time I ever saw you was at my first
of the family potlucks for the support group,” Logan said.

  She remembered seeing him the first time too. Damn, had been her first thought.

  “I showed up after Gabe and Cooper got there,” he said. “And I walked up into that little shelter thing at the park, and the first thing I saw was Cooper talking to one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. I thought ‘that’s the way to do it, buddy,’” he said with a grin.

  Dana laughed.

  “You chatting with my nephew was the perfect reason to come over and introduce myself,” he said. “And as I walked up, I heard him telling you a joke.”

  “I remember the joke,” Dana said.

  “You do?”

  “Why did the teddy bear say no to dessert?” Dana asked. “Because she was stuffed.”

  Logan grinned. “I’d just told him the joke the night before. And you laughed like you’d never heard anything funnier. And the look on Cooper’s face made me like you instantly.”

  That was sweet. She ran her hand up his arm. “Well, that’s a pretty good joke.”

  “Yeah, and then I told you a joke,” Logan said. “And you gave me a look that said you’re no way cute enough or charming enough to get me to fall for that.”

  She laughed. “Your joke was terrible.”

  “Other women had laughed at that one. And given me their numbers.”

  She had no trouble believing that. “You were using your nephew to try to get my number.”

  “And you weren’t falling for it for a second,” he said. “That’s when I got really interested.”

  “I was a challenge?”

  “You were too good for me.”

  She shook her head. “Come on.”

  “I watched you the rest of the afternoon. With your girls, with everyone else’s kids, with your friends. It was all so…effortless.”

  Dana definitely laughed at that. “Effortless. Wow, that is not a word I would ever use about the things I do.”

  “But it is,” he said. “You were standing by the food table having this conversation with Lindsey. I could tell from your expressions that it was a serious topic. You were totally focused on her. But one of Bea’s grandkids ran by and you handed him a napkin, you refilled Corey’s coffee cup, and you redid the barrette in Shay’s hair, all without any of them asking you and without missing a beat. I doubt any of them, even Lindsey, realized that you’d taken care of all of that. But you did it. You took care of everyone and you didn’t even blink.”