Cowboy Logic - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,56
traced Jericho’s lips, and he couldn’t stop grinning. “It so is.”
“Then let’s make something crazy. I have pizza crust and olives.”
“Let’s go for it.”
They rolled out of bed, going to wash up, and he felt younger, lighter. They laughed together so easily.
He was in so much trouble.
If he wasn’t careful, soon he’d be in love.
Chapter 15
Bailey Whitehead’s SUV drove like a cruise ship and had the turning radius of a small planet. She’d dropped it off so Jericho could pick up all the kids from school and carry the two littlest ones with him as well.
He was babysitter today while she and Anderson were at the courthouse, dealing with a series of charges against Conor Morrow.
The elementary school first, and then he would pick up Travis at the middle school. That way the littles had way less time to get into trouble. If it was just Ellie, he wouldn’t double back, because she would find a teacher to babble at, but he had no idea how Dougie and Darcy did after school.
And Ellie and Dougie together? Christ on a sparkly purple crutch. Those two were trouble. They claimed not to be all lovey, but damn, they could put their heads together and he never even saw it coming.
He sat in the mommy car line for what seemed like forever, finally coasting up to get the kids loaded. He and Bailey had called ahead, so no one had a quibble. “Hey, guys! How was school?”
“The mean man was at the school, Daddy! Miss Bailey’s mean man!” Ellie was, as always, happy to share gossip.
“What? At school how?” He got her buckled into a car seat, then checked on Doug. What the hell?
Dougie nodded, eyes wide. “We saw him at recess. In his truck.”
“We telled the teacher.”
“Told,” Darcy said.
“Told.”
He frowned. “Did you see him, Darcy?”
“No, sir. I work in the office for recess.”
“What did your teacher say?” Why hadn’t someone called him? Or Bailey? Surely Bailey would have said something when she dropped off the SUV. Logic had stayed in the rental truck, waving, but someone would have mentioned it.
“She said to come in and play in the gym. It was so fun.” Dougie was such a boy.
“I think she called someone. Like maybe the police,” Ellie added. “But we went in so we didn’t see.”
“Well, that sucks.” Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ. He needed to call Bailey.
“Are you mad, Mr. Koko?”
“Not at you guys.” He called Travis first.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, kiddo. Can you wait near the front door for me?”
“Yessir! Miss Bailey’s car, right?”
“Yep. Just… keep an eye out, okay?” He didn’t think Conor Morrow was after his kids, but they were constantly with Bailey’s children, and they’d already been collateral damage with the fence.
“Sure, Dad!” Travis sounded like he didn’t have a care in the world today, and, dammit, he intended to keep it that way.
He hung up, then grinned in the rearview, trying to keep it light. “Okay, guys. Hold on to your heinies.”
They all laughed, even baby Mason, who crowed happily and clapped his hands.
He didn’t speed. Nope. Not one bit. He drove straight to Trav’s school, sliding to a stop right in front of the doors. Nothing seemed out of place when he looked around, and he didn’t see a pickup with a single man in it. He wanted to call Bailey, but he texted instead because he refused to panic the kids.
That was fine as long as she knew. God, what a mess.
“You okay, Dad?” Travis asked, sliding into the passenger seat.
“I am. Right as rain.” He tucked his phone away. “How was school?” Jericho never failed to ask that.
“Good. Got a ninety-seven on my math test and a ninety-eight on the science project.”
“And spelling?” Spelling was Trav’s kryptonite.
“Eighty-four.” He sounded so pleased.
“Hey, not bad. A good goal is to work it to ninety.” He wasn’t going to bitch, though. Just encourage.
“I know, but I have a good average, huh? I hate spelling. Hate it.”
“I know. Maybe you should ask Mr. Logic how he got through it.” Not that Jericho didn’t know very well that Logic had excelled in all subjects. Hell, he’d taken AP English as a sophomore.
“Yeah, I will. I’ll ask tonight. I can’t wait to work on my robot.”
“I can tell.” That got him an evil look, but all he did was grin back. Travis had been talking about Logic coming over for days. “He’s taking care