by Jessie Cooke
Zack did chuckle at that. “Man, we could be poster children for dysfunctional families. How is Tommy, anyways?”
“No change. He’s still in a coma,” she said. He didn’t care for Tommy any more than he did Randall, but his heart hurt for Tammy.
“I’m sorry, Tams. But look, now that my dad is out of the picture and Randall is president, no one would dare lay a hand on you. You don’t need me in Texas. I can’t even fathom the idea of having to see my mother again so soon.”
“Damn it, Zack! I do need you. Gunner can’t go with me for obvious reasons. I need some backup here. You told me a long time ago that no matter where we were in our lives, I could call you if I needed anything. Did you not mean that?”
“Shit. So, putting you and your boyfriend up for months wasn’t enough?”
“Give me a break. You got as much out of that as we did. I hope you’ve given up gambling, by the way.”
He rolled his eyes. He hadn’t honestly thought about gambling since he met Nicole. His thoughts and energy had been elsewhere. “I haven’t placed a single bet in months.” He sighed then said, “When are you going to Texas?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Shit. No. No way. I’m not going tomorrow.”
“I’ll come through Tennessee on my way, so I’ll be there on Wednesday.”
“Tammy…”
“See you then.” She hung up. He stared at the phone for a few seconds wishing he could reach through and strangle her. She could pass through Tennessee if she wanted to, but he wasn’t going back to Texas. The thousand or so miles that separated him and his mother was hardly enough. He’d done his duty by letting Dax know what was going on, and he was going to wash his hands of it. He got off his bike and walked up to Nicole’s apartment door, still stewing about it. He started to knock, but Nicole pulled open the door before he did.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She smiled at him, but her face looked stressed. “Hey, come on in. I was just fixing Liam a bottle.”
He stepped inside. Stacey was sitting on a blanket on the floor with Liam. Zack said hello to her and rubbed Liam’s soft little head before following Nicole into the kitchen. She had her back to him, filling Liam’s bottle with formula. He could see her hands shaking. He went over and put his arms around her from behind and kissed the side of her face. “What’s going on? Did Spider show up today?”
She shook her head. “No. He hasn’t come around at all, thank goodness.” She turned in his arms and put her head against his chest. “But he served me with custody papers today. We have a hearing next week.”
“Okay,” he said, brushing his hand through her hair. “That’s okay. You can beat this. He’s got nothing to offer. I mean, in the eyes of the court, he doesn’t even have a real job, right?”
Nicole pulled back and picked up the envelope off the counter and handed it to him. Zack opened it and pulled the papers out. The first page listed Spider, or “Michael Lee Johnson III,” as the petitioner and Nicole as the respondent. He read through what Spider was asking for, full custody and visitation in the meantime. Rolling his eyes, he turned to the next page. That was where it listed their places of employment and next of kin. Nicole’s was listed as the bakery and there were a Ken and Mary Swafford in Clarksville listed as next of kin. Zack had never heard her talk about her family or where she came from. He realized, with a guilty pang, that he’d never asked her.
Underneath Nicole, “Michael Lee Johnson III” was listed as “lead mechanic” for Johnson Motors in Memphis. Zack knew Johnson Motors. His club did a lot of business with them. They did bike customizations and the more technical electrical work on the bikes that their own mechanics might not be able to handle. “He works for Johnson Motors?”
Nicole’s eyes filled with tears as she said, “His father owns the company. Spider is a trust fund baby.”
“You’re kidding…right?”
“I wish that I was. He and his father don’t get along, but his mother runs that family and what Spider wants, he gets. He usually stays away and he treats her like shit, but when he does call, she jumps. It’s why he’s never been charged with a crime. He’s been arrested dozens of times, but they always cut him loose thanks to his family money and their high-powered lawyers. I’m pretty sure it’s why his club keeps him around. None of them really like him.” Zack understood that. There was nothing to like. He realized that he’d met Spider’s father once and he seemed like a nice guy. If he didn’t know a little something about bad DNA himself, he might wonder how the man spawned the son of Satan himself. Nicole went on to say, “I was delusional to think he’d let this go. I just convinced myself that he didn’t want to be a father, he was just using Liam to get at me. I’m going to lose this, Zack. I’m going to lose my baby.” Her voice cracked and Zack took her into his arms. He wanted to promise her that it was going to be okay…but suddenly, he wasn’t sure that was a promise he’d be able to keep.
22
Zack woke up early the next morning. Liam was in his crib and Nicole’s long, tan legs were wrapped around Zack. His arms were around her waist and her hair was in his face. He’d always been uncomfortable sleeping with anyone in the past, but waking up with Nicole just felt right. Most days he’d love nothing more than to lie there and hold her while she slept, but everything she’d told him the night before was swirling around in his head and he was restless. He kissed her softly and rolled her on her side. She didn’t even flinch. He lay there for a few minutes longer, looking at her face. She looked at peace while she was sleeping. He hated that as soon as she woke up, the reality of the situation she was in would set back in. With a sigh, he rolled out of his side of the bed and pulled on his pants. It had been hard sleeping with her and not attacking her. Even when he was stressed, Zack was up for sex, but he had enough respect for Nicole to know that what she needed from him last night was just to be held.
He picked up his t-shirt and stopped next to Liam’s crib to put it on. The little guy was staring up at him when he looked down into the crib. “Hey, little man,” he whispered. “What are you doing awake so early?” Liam babbled and sat up. He reached for the side of the crib to pull himself up. Zack looked back over at Nicole. She looked like an angel and he hated the idea of waking her up so early. “Alright, little guy, I’ll get you out of your prison, but don’t be expecting me to change that soggy diaper…or make breakfast.” He lifted Liam up and as soon as he held him against his shirt, he realized the baby was soaked. “Aw, man, have you no self-control? I’ve been shot at, stabbed, punched, kicked – I even had one chick try to throw battery acid at me…” Liam made a noise and Zack said, “Long story, man, but my point is, I’ve never been pissed on before.” Liam seemed unconcerned by it. He smiled as slobber ran out of his mouth. Zack couldn’t help but wonder why he liked the kid so much. Things were always coming out of one end or the other, and that wasn’t cool. He looked back at Nicole and sighed again. “Fine,” he told Liam, “we’ll try the diaper thing…but only if there’s nothing in there but piss, okay?” Liam smiled – mischievously, if anyone asked Zack. He held the baby up and smelled him. He didn’t smell anything other than the pee.
He picked up Liam’s bag next to the crib and carried it and the baby into the living room. He found a blanket and laid Liam down on top of it and then he started to strip his footie pajamas off him. Liam promptly flipped over onto his belly and tried to crawl away. Zack caught him and flipped him over again; this time he held onto him with one big arm while he finished pulling off the pajamas. He made a face as he ripped open the Velcro on the diaper Liam was wearing and pulled that off too. “Man, you’ve got to put down the bottle at night. I only piss this much after a hard night of partying.” Liam laughed like he understood him. Zack shook his head and smiled at the naked baby. “Stay put, okay?” Liam looked up at him innocently as Zack let go of him and reached for the bag. The second Zack’s arm was off him, Liam flipped over and took off again. The next ten minut
es was a battle to get him to stay still long enough to get the dry diaper on, and Zack was almost ready for a nap by the time he did. He was proud of himself, though, when he looked at the job he’d done. The diaper was slightly crooked, but it was on. “I’m going to make some coffee, kid. You want some?” Liam was distracted with the colorful plastic blocks he found on the floor. “Milk, maybe?” Liam still didn’t show any interest. “Alright. Stay put, I’ll be back.” Zack pulled off his wet shirt and put it with Liam’s pajamas, and then he lifted the soaked diaper with distaste and carried it with him to the kitchen. He deposited it in the trash and watched Liam with one eye while he made a pot of coffee. It was just beginning to brew when Nicole came out of the bedroom, wide-eyed. As soon as she saw Liam, her face visibly relaxed.
“Good morning.” She turned at the sound of his voice and smiled. Her hair was mashed in the back and sticking up on one side. She had no make-up on and she was wearing a Nashville Roller Derby t-shirt with cutoff sleeves, and a pair of black bicycle shorts. Zack thought he’d never seen anyone so beautiful.
“Good morning. I’m so sorry I didn’t hear him wake up.”
“Sorry? Don’t be sorry. We were having guy time. He’s just waiting for his coffee.”
She laughed and went over and gave Zack a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.” She looked back at the baby. Liam was on his belly again, crawling toward something he spotted on the other side of the living room. One whole butt cheek was hanging out of his diaper. He could tell that Nicole was trying to keep a straight face as she said, “You changed him too – you’re so sweet.”
“It was my first diaper.”
She bit back another smile and said, “I would have never guessed.” He grabbed her around the waist and tickled her.
“Okay, smartass, but I bet your first diaper didn’t look that good.” She was giggling and trying to squirm away, but Zack was too strong. He held onto her and tickled her until she was out of breath and then said, “You want me to stop?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
“Then admit it. My first diaper was better than yours.”
She giggled again. “Much better,” she said, still out of breath. He tickled her one more time, making her squeal louder. That got Liam’s attention and he crawled toward them. Nicole bent down and picked him up and planted a kiss on his chunky cheek. “Aw, you were coming to save Mommy, weren’t you?”
“Tough guy,” Zack said. “But you’d be taken more seriously if you didn’t have half your butt hanging out and slobber all over your chest.”
While Nicole went to fix up the baby, Zack poured them each a cup of coffee. By the time Nicole and Liam came back out, Stacey was up. Zack sat in the living room with Liam while Stacey and Nicole made breakfast, and he marveled at how just a month ago, the idea of that wouldn’t have appealed to him in the least. Yet here he was, bragging about changing a diaper and making coffee for a woman. He looked over at Nicole in the kitchen, laughing at whatever Stacey was telling her, and he resolved to do whatever it took to keep that smile on her face…even if it meant going behind her back and doing something that would take Spider, and the threat of her losing Liam, out of her life for good.
After breakfast, Zack had gone outside to take a phone call. Nicole gave Liam his bath and fixed him a bottle. He had eaten a lot at breakfast, so he didn’t take much of the bottle before he fell asleep. She took him into her room and put her back into his crib. Peeking out the blinds, she saw that Zack was still on his phone. She smiled as she thought about him getting Liam out of bed and trying to change his diaper. It was the most incredibly adorable thing that she’d ever seen. Zack Leoni continually surprised her, and mornings like this, he made her forget that she had any problems at all. She turned away from the window and caught sight of herself in the dresser mirror. She saw herself blush when she realized how bad she looked. It was a wonder Zack hadn’t made a run for it. Shaking her head at herself, she went into the bathroom and closed the door softly before turning on the shower. She stripped out of her t-shirt and shorts and then adjusted the water before she stepped in and pulled the curtain closed behind her. She stood underneath the warm spray and let it run across her shoulders and down her back before ducking her head underneath it and wetting her hair. With her eyes closed, she reached for the soap and was startled when it was handed to her. She used one hand to push her hair back out of her face and opened her eyes to see Zack standing there grinning at her.
“Well, hello there.”
“Hope you don’t mind. I heard the shower and…well, we both know I’m a pervert, so I won’t try to make things up.”
Nicole smiled. “Care to join me?”
Zack was already unbuttoning his pants. “I thought you’d never ask. Scoot over, baby, I’m coming in.”
Nicole poured shampoo in her hands, and she was lathering her hair when Zack stepped in with her. He took her by the waist and turned her to face away from him and then he took over, massaging her scalp, seductively. The feel of his fingers gently massaging the shampoo into her hair went straight through her, and her pussy gushed with hot moisture. “There, now you can rinse,” he told her, spinning her around again so that her back was to the spray. She rinsed the soap out of her hair while he watched and his erection grew.
He reached behind her for the body wash on the wire shelf suctioned to the tile. He opened it and poured some into one of his hands before rubbing them together and making a rich, creamy, lather. Then while he kissed her, he began to run his soapy hands across her shoulders and down her arms. She loved the way that he touched her. He was always in control, but he always made sure that her needs were met before his. He was so unlike what she’d thought he would be when she first met him.
Zack reached her breasts and moved his palms in circular motions as he washed them, pressing his hands into her hard nipples and making her moan. He took a long time cleaning them, but Nicole wasn’t complaining. After guiding her underneath the water to rinse them off, he gave each one a sexy kiss and then proceeded to lather his hands back up. When he had that done, he pulled her up against him and let his soapy hands run from her shoulders down her back and to the swell of her butt. Like he had with her breasts, he began to massage her cheeks with his big hands, rubbing the creamy soap into her skin and occasionally tracing the crack with one finger and making her body convulse with delight. He washed down each leg next and his finishing touch was to wash her pussy, slowly and thoroughly, paying extra close attention to her protruding clit. Once again, after he rinsed her off, he dropped down and used his tongue as a final finish. He licked and teased her for several minutes before getting back to his feet and saying, “Okay, you can wash me now.”
“Oh, I can? Lucky me,” she said and smiled.
“I was just going to say…” Zack grinned at her and held his arms out at his sides. “I want to give you full access.”
“Thanks,” she said and laughed. She soaped up her hands and began her erotic exploration of his hot, hard body as she washed every part of it, saving that hard, throbbing cock for last. When she reached it, she used both hands to clean him, stroking him from base to tip as she did. Zack groaned and pushed her into the tile wall behind her. His body was underneath the spray then and he kissed her as he let the warm water cascade over him and rinse him off. Once he was rinsed, he reached down and lifted one of her legs, bringing it up so that her foot rested on the side of the tub, and just like that, he entered her. “Oh God, Zack, you feel so good.”
“I feel good inside of you, baby, and you feel good wrapped around my cock. Fuck…I love the way you feel.”
“Mm, I love the way you feel me,” she said. She held onto the silver bar attached to the tile and Zack used his leg muscles to thrust his cock up into her and then pull it out, and then do it again and again. Meanwhile, his hands were exploring her body and she had hers pressed into his hard chest. He fucked her like that for several minutes before pulling out of her and spinning her around
to face the tile wall. She pressed her hands into it and he entered her from behind. He reached around and used one hand to play with her clit and the other to pinch and pull on her nipples while he fucked her. Nicole pushed back against him each time she felt him thrust into her. The top of his cock was striking her g-spot with every thrust, and she almost forgot Liam was in the other room and screamed. It felt so fucking good. It didn’t take long for her to come all over his throbbing cock, and he followed shortly thereafter. He used his hold on her to guide her down to the bathmat in the tub. They kissed and played with each other’s bodies until the call of Nicole’s number one man split them up.
Zack watched as Nicole climbed out of the shower and began to dry off. She had goosebumps racing down both arms, and a glance in the mirror told her that her hair was an even wilder mess than it had been before she got into the shower. She wrapped it up in a towel and finished drying off. He turned off the water and stepped out behind her. She looked at him in the mirror and the look in his blue eyes almost made her blurt out those three little words that she’d only said to one man before. But she stopped herself. Even if Zack was feeling the same thing that she was, now was not the time. She had to stay focused on Liam and the custody hearing. She felt a lump in her throat when she thought about that, but fought it down. Spider wasn’t taking her baby, even if she had to kill him herself.
23
It was late afternoon the next day and Zack was lying on his belly with no shirt on, barefoot, on Liam’s blanket when there was a knock at the door. Nicole came out of the kitchen and smiled at them. “You two carry on, I’ll get it.” Zack winked at her and added a block to the tower he was building. As he had already three times, Liam knocked it over.
“Little shit.” Nicole stopped at the door and gave him a stern look.
“Sorry. Little turd.”