Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Z ion wasn’t sure what possessed him to ask Raven out to dinner, but he’d done it without a second thought. Now here he was, pacing near the B & B’s registration desk, waiting for her to come downstairs.
“Raven’s getting them ready for bed, and just so you know, I think she’s nervous about leaving Drew and NayNay with us,” Dorian whispered, keeping her voice low because a few guests were in the dining room playing spades.
Zion stopped in his tracks and looked over at her. “You think so?”
“Yeah, you should talk to her. You don’t want her worrying about them all night. They’ll be fine with us, and if anything comes up, we’ll call you guys.”
Zion nodded. “Okay. Let me go up and see what’s going on.”
As he jogged up the stairs, he realized he’d forgotten to ask which room Raven and the babies were using. But when he reached the second-floor landing and listened, he knew. His mother had given them one of the larger suites, and it was at the end of the hall.
He was looking forward to spending time with Raven, and if he was honest with himself, he wanted to visit the twins.
For a person who still wasn’t ready to embrace the title of daddy, he sure was acting like the babies were his. After spending the morning with them and Raven, Zion was slowly coming around to the idea. Still, he needed to know for sure before he started planning for any type of future with them.
When he reached the doorway, his gaze immediately gravitated to Raven who was standing at the foot of the bed changing Zanaya’s diaper. Zion was reminded of the first time he saw her in Vegas. Considering the hotel bar had been full of people, his attention had immediately latched on to her. He couldn’t explain how that happened because there’d been plenty of beautiful women there, including her friend Teresa.
But like now, Zion only had eyes for Raven. He vaguely heard his mother, who was on the other side of the room talking to Andrew, but Zion couldn’t pull his gaze from Raven. His eyes roamed down her shapely body, noting she wasn’t as slim as she’d been the first time they met. Probably because of having the twins, but she was no less sexy. She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her braids were in a loose bun on top of her head with a few hanging down and framing her gorgeous face. The pale-pink sweater, that stopped just above her hips, hugged her full breasts and teased his eyes. Then there were the dark-blue skinny jeans that molded over her curvy hips and butt.
She was like a perfectly wrapped gift on Christmas morning, and his body stirred as memories of their night together bombarded his mind. The hotel room. Holding her in his arms as they danced. Slowly undressing her luscious body. Feasting on her exquisite breasts.
He swallowed hard and adjusted himself as his jeans grew tighter in certain areas. That had been an incredible night when life was less complicated. Now, here they were getting ready to go on their first date. Talk about doing things backwards, but there was so much more to consider now. If by chance the kids weren’t his, would he still pursue Raven?
As he continued watching her, a “yes” screamed through his brain, and his mind whirled at the realization. What he felt for her was more than physical, and he’d known that all along. Which was why he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her after all this time.
Zion’s heart squeezed and a sudden warmth spread through his body as he took in the room. His mother might actually be holding one of her grandkids… his kid.
Just yesterday, before running into Raven and learning about the babies, he was saying he wasn’t ready to be a family man. Yet, if those paternity tests identified him as the father, his whole life was going to change.
“Oh good. I’m glad you’re here,” his mother said as she strolled toward him. “While Raven is getting Zanaya situated, you can change Andrew’s diaper. I need to run downstairs for a minute.”
She held Andrew up in front of Zion, and the baby gave him a slobbery smile while gnawing on his tiny hand and kicking his legs.
“Hey, lil man,” he said as he reached for the baby.
Zion nuzzled Andrew’s neck while talking to him and blowing raspberries against his soft, scented skin. He smelled fresh and clean with a hint of baby powder, and Zion loved the soft cooing the little guy was doing.
Still playing with him, Zion held him up high, twisting and turning him back and forth while Andrew smiled, gurgled, and continued to kick his little legs.
“Zion, you might want to be careful,” Raven said over her shoulder. “Your mom just fed Drew a bottle, and he might…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Andrew spit up on him. Shit. Zion grimaced and held the baby away from him after some landed on Zion’s cheek. As well as on his white button-down shirt.
Yuck! What the hell was it with him and people throwing up on him?
“Oh, no,” Raven said, rushing over to him with Zanaya tucked in one arm and a towel in the opposite hand. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve said something sooner.”
Instead of wiping the baby’s mouth, she used the towel to wipe the spit-up off Zion’s face. Then she started on the mess on his shirt. All the while, she kept apologizing.
“Hey. Hey. Don’t worry. It’s not that serious,” he said. “I’ll change into one of my father’s shirts before we leave.”
Her shoulders drooped, and frustration showed on her face. When she started to walk away, Zion hurried and reached for her. He wrapped his arm around her waist, tugged her back to him, and his body tightened with the familiarity of her lush body.
He wasn’t the only one affected. Raven shivered against him, and then he remembered she’d told him never to touch her again. He had done it without thinking, but when she didn’t move away, Zion held her closer.
Heat rushed through him, nipping at every nerve as he forced himself not to bend down and place a kiss against her temple. The temptation was strong, and he felt weak to control himself.
That’s just how good it felt to hold her again. To touch her and to have her hugged up against his body.
Several things hit him at once. One: her floral scent, with a hint of jasmine, smelled incredible as it swirled around him like a hypnotic elixir. Then there was how soft she felt under his touch, and he never wanted to let her go. But the thing that shook him the most was when he looked down at the baby she was holding in her arms. Zanaya.
The cutie was beyond adorable, and the way her pretty eyes stared up at him. Zion’s heart banged against his rib cage, and it felt as if he’d been gut punched. No doubt she was breathtakingly cute, but with that thought, came another. He might have a daughter… this beautiful baby girl who was looking at him with such innocence was going to be totally dependent on him for the rest of her life.
Zion swallowed hard at the realization that just seemed to hit him suddenly.
Slow down dude. Don’t get ahead of yourself, he thought.
He needed to stay in the moment because, if he thought too hard about all this, he might freak the hell out again. He had already acted like an ass last night. He was trying to be better tonight.
When his attention shifted back to Raven, she was looking down, and he only had a view of her profile. Still, he noticed her pinched expression and the way she was biting on her lower lip.
“Hey.” He shook her slightly and quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”
He maintained his hold around her waist, conscious of the way Andrew squirmed in his other arm.
“Zion, this might not be a good idea,” she said, matching his low volume. “I’ve never left them with…”
When Raven’s words trailed off, he understood the problem, or at least part of it.
He tightened his hold, and unable to stop himself, he pressed a lingering kiss to her temple. He had no right to hold her like this, let alone kiss her, but it felt right. She fit perfectly against him, like she was right where she belonged.
“Listen,” he said. “I know this is all a bit wild, and you don’t really know me or my family. But I promise you that no one will take care of the babies better than my mother. She adores them.”
Zion had a feeling that it was more than just leaving the babies with his family. This would be the first time she and he would spend any real time alone together since that night in Vegas. Though his intentions were honorable, he understood her hesitancy because right now, with how good she felt in his arm, he wanted her. Just like he wanted her that night almost a year ago.
“What can I do to make you feel more comfortable with the setup?” As he glanced down at her, he saw Zanaya was dosing off in Raven’s arms.
“I don’t know, Andrew… I mean Zion.” Again, she huffed out a frustrated breath.
“You know, if you prefer to call me Andrew, I would answer.” Heck, he kind of liked that she called him something that no one else called him by.
She chuckled. “This is… this is so crazy,” she whispered, then eased out of his arm.
When she moved away from him, he immediately felt the loss. They might not have seen each other in a while, but being with her still seemed right. There was still a bond with her that he had never felt with another woman.
“I know, baby, but hopefully after we spend some time getting to know each other, it won’t feel as strange. Would you prefer we take the kids with us?”
Zion asked the question, but he hoped she’d say no. Not because he didn’t want the twins with them, but because he really did want to spend time with her alone. Depending on what the results of the tests were, they might have to make plans about the future. The more he knew about her and what was going on in her life, the easier that would be. Because if these were his kids, he planned to be a full-time dad.
“No,” she finally said. “Zion, your mom is a godsend. I’ve only been here a good twenty-four hours, and she treats me like family. I guess I’m just a little… I don’t know. Tired. Overwhelmed. Nervous. All the above.”
“I can understand that, but maybe a night out is exactly what you need. We’re going to have a nice time, and I’m sure you deserve a break.”
When she glanced up at him, her long eyelashes accentuated her beautiful light-brown eyes, and she smiled. Zion felt it to every cell in his body, and suddenly, his goal for the evening was to not only make sure she had a nice outing, but also to keep that smile on her gorgeous face. And if he was lucky, maybe he’d get a goodnight kiss at the end of the evening.
Yeah, he was a bastard for thinking along those lines, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted this woman just as much as he’d wanted her back in Vegas.
“Let me change Andrew’s diaper, and then we can head out,” he said, suddenly remembering what his mother had instructed him to do before she left the room. He glanced around the large space until he saw a stack of diapers on the dresser.
“Wait. You really know how to change diapers?”
He turned back to Raven, aware of the shock in her voice. “What? Baby, I’m not just a pretty face. I’ve changed diapers before,” he said while grabbing one before heading to the bed with Andrew.
No way would he tell her that he hadn’t changed a diaper since his seventeen-year-old nephew was a baby. He just hoped the process hadn’t changed much.
Twenty minutes, three attempts at changing Andrew, and a quick change into one of his father’s button-down shirts, Zion was finally driving his truck away from the B & B. It wouldn’t take long to get to the restaurant that was near the lake front, but right now, he wanted to do what he should’ve done in Vegas. He wanted to get to know the beautiful woman sitting next to him, the one who he hadn’t been able to forget.
He glanced at Raven, noting she sat with her hands tightly clasped in her lap. He could feel the tension bouncing off her, and he wasn’t sure if she was still worried about the babies. Or was it that she was anxious because of being with him?
“Have you been to Chicago before?” he asked, hoping to get her to relax before they made it to the restaurant.
“Yes, before my parents died, I visited at least once a year.”
Ah hell . So much for getting her to relax.
“I’m so sorry about your parents. Was this recent?”
Zion gripped the steering wheel tighter as Raven told him that they were in a car accident when she was fifteen. She was in high school, and her mother’s only sister, the one who lived in Chicago, moved to Houston. Her aunt hadn’t wanted to pull her out of school and thought it would be better to keep her life as normal as possible. Which sounded like Raven really appreciated. Since she didn’t have siblings, her friends helped her get through the loss.
As she continued talking about her childhood, Zion was surprised to learn the parents who were killed were her adopted parents. She never knew her biological mother and father. Not only had Raven been adopted, but both her parents, the ones who raised her, had grown up in foster care. Her mother had been adopted, but her father spent much of his childhood in the State’s system.
“I miss them every day, especially since they don’t have a big extended family. I see my aunt as often as I can, but my cousin and I don’t talk as much as we used to. She had just started college when my aunt moved to Houston to take care of me, but we spent summers together. Once we both started our careers, we drifted apart. Living in different cities didn’t help.
“But now that I have Andrew and Zanaya, I have my own little family.”
Andrew nodded. “My mother mentioned you’re thinking about moving to Chicago. Is that why? To be closer to your extended family?”
After a long hesitation, and with her looking everywhere but at him, she finally said, “That’s part of the reason, but I’m also moving because... To be honest, I need some space from my ex.”
Zion stiffened as he pulled into the underground parking lot of the hotel where the restaurant was located. All his senses went on high alert and a wave of protectiveness clawed through him.
He stopped himself from saying the first thing that popped into his mind, which was— Did he hit you ?
He was already getting angry, and she hadn’t said anything about a physical confrontation with the man. Still, Zion wondered, especially since whatever was going on with her ex could affect Zanaya and Andrew. If , and that was a big if , Zion was the father, he’d have every right to know the type of people she had around his kids. And if the person was abusive?
Dude. Don’t go there. But he couldn’t help himself. One of the worst aspects of his job was responding to domestic violence calls. He hated them. They were dangerous, and they rarely ended well for all parties, including the police.
Steadying himself and trying not to jump to any conclusions, he said, “I can’t wait to hear more about this ex of yours.”