by Lane Hart
Oh jeez, could he be Ruby’s father? He doesn’t look old enough to vote!
“We’re looking for Theodore Fuller,” Cooper says.
“I’m Theodore,” the boy says, making my jaw drop. But then he says, “You may be looking for my father, though, since I’m the second.”
“Ah, yeah,” Cooper replies with a sigh of the same relief I’m feeling. “Is your father home?”
“Dad!” the kid yells so loudly Cooper and I both wince. “I’ll go get him,” the kid says before he disappears, leaving us on the doorstop.
“It couldn’t be…could it?” Cooper whispers to me.
“I really hope it’s the father and not the son.”
Eventually, a tall, muscular man starts toward the door, wearing a blue button-down shirt that’s opened at the neck, untucked from his black slacks or possibly suit pants. He’s definitely a wealthy businessman of some sort getting ready to head into the office.
“It’s a little early for solicitors. Whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it,” he grumbles, getting right to the point without even a greeting.
“We’re not selling anything,” Cooper grits out. “We’re here about Ruby. I want you to give up your rights to her since you obviously don’t give a shit about her.”
“Who the hell is Ruby?” the man asks with genuine confusion written on his face. As an attorney, I’ve gotten pretty good at reading people, being able to tell when they’re lying. This guy has no clue who we’re talking about.
“Oh, fuck,” Cooper mutters when he realizes the same thing. “Jenna never told you about her?”
“Jenna?” he repeats with the same confused expression. Please god, do not let his son be the father!
“Jenna Higgins,” Cooper tells him. “She was an exotic dancer at Avalon. I think she worked at the Crazy Horse in Myrtle Beach before that, going by the stage name Chastity.”
“Ah,” he replies, and the red flush creeping up his neck must mean he does remember her. Glancing quickly behind him, back into the house, he lowers his voice when he says, “I didn’t know her name was Jenna. What about her? I’ve only seen her a few times when I was in town…on business. That was years ago.”
“I’m guessing it was more like thirteen or fourteen months ago,” I speak up and say.
Looking at me curiously, he lifts a shoulder and says, “Maybe. I guess that sounds about right.”
“Yeah, I think it would,” Cooper responds. “Because her daughter is just about five months old now.”
Theodore silently stares at Cooper for several long moments, before he says, “You don’t mean to say…are you implying…”
“That you’re the father of her child? Yeah,” Cooper mutters. “She put your name down on Ruby’s birth certificate.”
“No,” he says with a shake of his head. “That’s impossible. She must be mistaken.”
“I don’t think she would’ve put you down unless she was certain,” Cooper tells him.
“No,” he says again. Glancing behind him nervously, he says, “You need to leave. You shouldn’t have come here spouting all this bullshit!”
“Yeah, well you shouldn’t have put your dick where it didn’t belong, but you did, and I’m guessing you’re married and don’t want your wife and kids to know about it,” Cooper says. Removing Janet’s card from his pocket, he offers it to the man and says, “If so, you need to contact the Department of Social Services in Carteret County and sign away your rights. Then, and only then can you pretend you never knocked her up.”
Theodore takes the card and then opens and closes his mouth as if he’s trying to figure out the words to say.
“I need to talk to my attorney,” he finally replies. “And I want a DNA test.”
“Fine,” Cooper agrees. “I’m sure Janet can arrange all of that. My name is Cooper Cummings, and this is my wife Elizabeth Townsend-Cummings. We want to adopt Ruby, to give her a good home where she is loved and cared for.”
“Why?” Theodore asks. “Did the state take her away from Chastity? I mean, ah, Jenna?”
“Jenna’s dead,” Cooper responds through clenched teeth. “There was a bomb in the club that went off when she was there.”
“Oh god,” the man mutters. “She’s gone?”
“Yeah, she is.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry,” he says. “Why didn’t she say anything, before? About the…baby?”
“No clue,” Cooper replies. “But if I had to guess, either she didn’t know how to find you, or, more likely, if Jenna knew you were married, then maybe she didn’t want to cause problems with your wife.”
“Yeah, maybe,” the stunned man agrees.
“We can still keep this quiet,” Cooper says. “All you have to do is sign a few pieces of paper, and then Ruby will no longer be your problem.”
“I’ll…I’ll be in touch,” he says before he slowly shuts the door on us while his head seems to be a million miles away.
As soon as Cooper and I are back in my car, he asks, “Do you think he’ll give her up? If the DNA test proves that she is in fact his, I mean.”
“I don’t know,” I respond honestly on a heavy exhale. “Depends on whether or not he wants to admit the affair to his wife or not. If I had to bet, I would say no, he doesn’t want her to find out. He seems to have a perfect little family, at least on the outside. Bringing in his lover’s child would upset things. People like these are so concerned about what everyone in their social circle thinks of them. That’s a big boat to rock.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right,” Cooper agrees. “He’ll likely want to sign the paperwork to put all of this behind him. Then Ruby will be ours.”
“All we can do now is wait and see. And get ready in case we get to bring her home with us soon,” I tell him, excited about the idea. “What are we going to do about a crib and all of the baby supplies we need?” I ask.
“Jenna’s neighbor gave me the key to her place. We’ll need to get everything boxed up and either put it in storage or bring it back to my place for Ruby. I’ll have Cedric help me do that tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” I agree as I crank the engine and start the six-hour drive back home. We won’t get home until after lunchtime, but I may be able to go in and get some work done even though I’m exhausted. I guess I should get used to the lack of sleep if we’re going to bring home a baby in a few days.
Chapter Sixteen
Cooper
Since today is the first day that all the Savage Kings will be back in town, Torin calls a meeting at the clubhouse. I’m exhausted not only from our road trip yesterday, but from another night of tossing and turning, then getting up early this morning to start boxing up Jenna’s house. Cedric and I stored everything except for the major baby items, and now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if we get the call that Liz and I were appointed to foster Ruby.
“We finally have some good news,” Reece begins at the start of the Kings meeting. “With the help of the governor,” he says, giving a nod in Sax’s direction. “We were able to identify a man connected to Kozlov who has been spotted in town, most recently, just down the road in Morehead City.”
“You’re kidding?” Chase asks. “Who the hell is it?”
“His first name translates to Peter,” Reece replies. “And his last name, well, just as we expected, he has connections to Kozlov.”
“What connection?” I ask.
“Kozlov was his father.”
“Well, shit,” someone mutters as that information sinks in.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“We haven’t been able to pinpoint him to a specific location yet,” Reece says. “He’s likely staying on the move, using cash, being careful. But with the governor’s help, we should have his whereabouts soon.”
“What are we going to do when we find him?” Abe asks.
“That’s Cooper’s decision,” Torin says from the head of the table.
“Mine?” I repeat. “Why is
n’t it a club decision?”
“Because the club as a whole only suffered a financial loss,” Torin responds. “You got fucked up and could’ve died. And Jenna was your employee. You knew her better than any of the rest of us. You get to decide what we do with the fucker when we find him.”
“The governor is willing to look the other way,” Sax tells the group. “He was pretty pissed that the bomb at Savage Ink nearly hurt his daughter.”
After that statement, everyone stares at me expectantly.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “Can I have some time to think about it? Right now the most important thing on my mind is trying to get custody of Ruby.”
“Sure,” Torin says. “You can have as much time as it takes to locate him, but then we’ll need your decision.”
“Understood,” I agree.
“How’s the adoption going?” War asks. “Nova says the file still shows everything is pending.”
“We hit a bit of an unexpected snag,” I tell the guys. “Ruby’s father’s name was listed on her birth certificate. Reece helped me track him down, and the man didn’t know anything about her. Now we have to wait for a DNA test and then see what he decides to do.”
“Let us know if you need anything,” War says.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” I say with a grateful smile.
“So your hearing is back. That’s great,” Maddox remarks.
“It’s gradually improving,” I agree with a nod. “It’s not one hundred percent, and probably never will be again. But most is better than the ten percent I had right after the accident.”
“Glad to hear it, no pun intended,” Torin says with a smirk. “Now, let’s move on to the rebuild of Avalon and Savage Ink –”
“Before we get to that, I wanted you all to know that I’m planning a memorial for Jenna tomorrow night at eight on the pier. No one is obligated to come, but she did die in our club on our watch...”
“We’ll be there, all of us,” Torin replies with a nod, speaking for the entire group. “Even though we may not have all known Jenna, she deserves nothing less than our respect.”
“Thanks,” I say.
I’m still in the Savage Asylum parking lot an hour later when my phone rings. Janet, the social worker’s name shows up on the caller ID.
“This is Cooper,” I say when I quickly answer it.
“Good news, Mr. Cummings. The judge has granted you and Mrs. Cummings temporary custody pending the DNA results.”
“That’s great,” I say with an exhale of relief. Who the hell knows where she’s been staying and how they’ve been treating her.
“And if Mr. Fuller decides to waive his parental rights, you’ll get to keep her until the official adoption goes through. We’d like to avoid having her moved around multiple times.”
“Great. That’s really great,” I tell her. “So how? When can we get her?”
“How about I bring her by your house this afternoon?”
“Absolutely. We’ll have her bed and car seat ready to go.”
“Then I’ll see you around five.”
“Thank you, Janet,” I tell her before I hang up and then send Cedric a text message.
We’ve got our work cut out for us until five.
Chapter Seventeen
Elizabeth
I’m barely out of my car with my briefcase when Cooper appears in the open front door…holding a baby in his arms.
“Oh my god!” I exclaim, dropping my bag at my feet to rush over. “We got her!”
“We got her,” Cooper replies with a grin that’s a mile wide. It’s the happiest I’ve seen him since the bombing. “Liz, this is Ruby. Ruby, meet Liz.”
“Hi there!” I coo at the angel with brown curls and big blue eyes. “Aren’t you a doll?”
“She is, isn’t she?” Cooper says. “I can’t believe how much she looks like her mother.”
“Aw, I bet,” I say while running my hand over her soft hair. “It’s so sad that she won’t see her again.”
“The social worker said she’s been pretty fussy every night, not sleeping much. I’m thinking that’s probably because she misses Jenna.”
“Yeah, I bet so,” I agree. “Well, we’re just going to have to play with her and cuddle her so much that she is a happy girl again.”
“I have no clue what I’m doing,” Cooper whispers.
“I never would’ve guessed. You look like a natural,” I assure him. “How long has she been here?”
“Um, about an hour. I’m glad you’re here because I think her diaper is wet and she’s getting hungry. I don’t even know where to start or what to do first.”
“I don’t either!” I tell him. “But we’ll figure it out together. How hard can it be?”
“Yeah, true. I mean, War and Torin have both survived fatherhood, and I think they both want more kids. I’ll see if they can come over and stay with us tomorrow while you’re at work.”
“Good idea,” I agree when I go back over to grab my forgotten briefcase. “I’m sorry I can’t take time off to help…”
“No, it’s fine,” Cooper replies as we head inside the house. “I didn’t expect you to drop everything to be a stay-at-home mom. With the construction of the new Avalon taking a few months, I won’t have anything to do except take care of this little girl.”
“Right,” I agree, refraining from reminding him that we may not have her for months if Theodore is determined to be her father and he decides he wants to raise her. Cooper is too excited for me to bring up all that and burst his happy bubble. Besides, I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten that we might only be temporary parents.
Watching him figure out how to handle Ruby is adorable. He’s so gentle and uncertain with her, desperately trying to do everything perfectly. I don’t know what it is about seeing someone as masculine and tough as Cooper opening himself up to a baby, but it’s incredibly sexy.
While he may seem uncomfortable dealing with a diaper or making a bottle, there is no misinterpreting the way he clutches her to his chest, and the love in his eyes as he gazes down at her. Looking at him now, I truly believe he is in this for the long haul.
“We did it. We actually fed her, bathed her and changed her,” I whisper as we both stand in Ruby’s doorway, watching her sleep in her crib. Her arms are thrown up over her head as if in surrender to much needed rest.
“I can’t believe it,” Cooper replies softly. “Babies are harder to care for than I expected.”
“Yeah, they are,” I agree. “But it was all worth it.” Turning to face him, I say, “You were amazing with her.”
“You think so? I burned the first bottle.”
“So there’s a learning curve. You’ll get the hang of everything in no time,” I tell him. “And did I mention how sexy it is seeing you hold her?”
“No, I don’t believe you did,” he replies, his voice deepening as his hands come to my hips and he pulls me against the front of his body. “How sexy?”
“So sexy that I think I want you to take me to the shower and wash me from head to toe too.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
“I’ll go start getting naked,” I tell him as I run my palm down his chest.
“Good. I’ll grab the baby monitor and meet you there.”
Cooper already has the hot water running and the bathroom mirror is steamed over when I join him. Sliding open the glass door, I tell him, “I hope you don’t plan on making me stand back here in the cold.”
He grins at me. “You won’t be cold long, baby.” Cooper slides the shower door closed and pulls me close, making sure both of us get an equal share of the jets of warm water pounding down on us. As our bodies come together and lips meet, I can feel Cooper’s shaft, already swollen and throbbing, pressed against my belly.
The heat is almost overwhelming, but instead of turning down the shower, I break our embrace and then turn to face the glass shower doors, pressing my breasts into the cool glass. Holding onto the rail, I
roll my hips and rub my ass against Cooper’s cock, inviting him to line up and take me.
He responds instantly, gripping my hips and working his way inside me. I shift and widen my stance, then gasp when Cooper sheathes himself entirely. His hands run up my sides to my breasts still pressed into the glass before he pulls my back flush against his chest.
Cooper is big enough that even from this angle he has no trouble filling me. And as he begins working his hips, thrusting himself deeper and deeper inside me, I begin to tremble in ecstasy. “I’m so close, so close,” I cry out as his hands squeeze and caress me.
“I know what will get you there,” Cooper moans. Without interrupting his steady pounding, he reaches up to grab the shower wand, and brings it down between my legs. As soon as the jets of water hit my exposed clit while he is buried inside me, an orgasm rips through every muscle of my body.
“Cooper!” I scream as I grab the wand from his hand, angling it myself as his hands grab my hips and his thrusts becomes frantic. He slams into me as I spray my pussy and his balls with the warm water, waves of pleasure leaving my legs almost numb as he owns my body.
When I feel his cock swell with his impending orgasm, I hang the shower wand back up just as Cooper pulls out of me, then turn around to face him as he fists his cock to finish himself since we didn’t use a condom.
“Let me,” I order him, grabbing his cock and then dropping to my knees in the shower, water pouring down my back as I take him into my mouth.
“Oh Christ, Liz, are you sure…oh, fuck yes!” Cooper groans as I take him down into my throat, as deep as I can, just as he unloads. He’s so far back in my mouth I don’t even taste his cum as I work my mouth over him, draining him and making sure he feels just as good as I do. I hold him in my mouth as he pumps his hips, not letting him go until he steps away from me. Cooper pulls me to my feet, then picks up a bottle of shower gel and begins to lather up both of our bodies.