ELLE
Zodiac was so damn sexy that I could be forgiven for ignoring his many flaws. His hair felt soft against my cheek as he sucked at my throat. Soaking in his affection, I couldn’t deny the benefit of staying the night.
His hand left my stomach and slid up to my breast. It would be so easy to let him have what he wanted since I’d get to feel good in the process.
That’s what I did the night we made our baby. But I wasn’t currently drunk, meaning I couldn’t check out long enough for a man to rattle my leash.
“If I stay here tonight,” I said and removed his hand, “and you get on my nerves, do you promise to sleep on the couch?”
“No,” he said as his lips left my throat long enough to speak.
“Here's what happens next,” I said and wiggled free of his grip. Sitting up, I smiled at an annoyed Zodiac. “I’m going to call the people I love and explain how I’m staying the night.”
Assuming his erection might make thinking difficult, I paused to give Zodiac a chance to catch up to how he had won.
“But I have expectations,” I said, winning an eye roll from the sexy biker. “I want tortilla chips and spinach dip. Is that something you can provide me?”
“I can get whatever you want.”
“Then get those chips and dip plus the almond milk.”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Wilbur has cravings,” I said and stroked my belly. “And I indulge my children. So, you go ahead and get those snacks for me while I make my calls. Then, we’ll finish watching the game. Afterward, we might come back in here and see if you can get my clothes off with your eyes closed.”
“Why with my eyes closed?”
“I’ve heard many great things about you. Now, you need to prove your talents.”
“Ah, so you want me to perform like a dancing monkey.”
“I drove down here to surprise you. I’m the one staying here rather than going home to my comfy bed. You could at least offer to dance a little for me.”
Sitting up, Zodiac ran his hands through his thick blond hair. “I’ll get your snacks. You hurry up on the phone. I’m missing the game.”
Once he left the room, I rang up Sutter for a video call. My boy answered immediately and frowned.
“Have you been crying?” he asked immediately.
“No, but I am a little gassy.”
Sutter gave me an amused eye roll. “Is he being nice to you?”
“Not really. Zodiac’s got foster kid damage.”
“Do you want to come home?”
“A little. Are you going to sleep upstairs with your grandparents tonight?”
“No.”
“Won’t you be scared all alone down in the basement?”
“I’ll have Hobbs.”
“Well, he is a notoriously badass guard dog.”
Sutter smiled warmly at me. “Don’t let him be mean to you.”
“I won’t. I just want to know him a little better before the baby gets here. I’ve never had to share my son with his father before.”
“I’ve never had to share you with anyone before. We’re both learning new stuff.”
My heart felt too full hearing Sutter’s sweet words. I often felt like I couldn’t do right by my boy because he was so much smarter than I’d ever be. But in the end, he just wanted to be loved.
After I promised to call Sutter before he went to bed, I dialed up Sabrina.
“I’m staying the night.”
“I know. You’re a weak woman, so we’ve already booked a room.”
“I ought to apologize, but I don’t feel guilty, and you don’t like lies.”
Sabrina snickered. “We’ll pick you up at eleven tomorrow. Have your pants on by then and good luck with the asshole.”
My cousin hung up, leaving me with a choice. I could keep calling people, or I could face Zodiac.
Shay would offer kind advice, while Ford would remind me how Zodiac’s knee was a tender spot if I got in a fight with the biker. I always felt my parents nearby. They raised me to hear their voices whenever I was in doubt.
I walked to the living room to find Zodiac with his arms stretched across the back of the couch. He eyed me with suspicion.
“I’ve realized this baby wasn’t an accident,” he said in a menacing tone.
Snickering at his accusation, I sat on the other end of the couch. “You’d have to be a moron to think that.”
“Isn’t it a little convenient that you got knocked up from a single fuck?”
“Everyone gets knocked up from a single fuck.”
“Sure, but I think you plotted this thing out to trap me.”
“Number one, I didn’t choose the date of the party at the clubhouse. If I wanted to arrange a time to get knocked up, I’d make sure I was in the fertile part of my cycle. Number two, I wouldn’t have spread for you just once if I were looking to make a kid. Number three—”
Putting up his hand, Zodiac muttered, “I get it.”
“No, no, you started this. Number three, if I wanted to trap you, I’d come to you right away and share the news. The point was to trap you, right? Why not get you attached to the baby idea? That way, if I miscarried, you might want to try again.”
Glaring at me, Zodiac spat out, “I’d never purposely make a kid.”
“Sure, sure. Number four, what would be my endgame here? Like, you’d find out I was pregnant and, what, move into the basement with me at my parents’ place?
Like, what exactly would I get out of making a kid with you rather than using one of my club brothers to play sperm donor?
There are plenty of attractive men in my circle who would be happy to have a solid baby mama. ”
“Your response has been too calculated. You were ready for me to accuse you.”
“If that were true, I would have shown up today all teary-eyed and weepy. ‘Oh, Zodiac, do you think you could ever love the baby?’ I’d say something dipshitty like that. You’re so stupid to think I planned this. Just a big dumb dummy.”
Zodiac’s narrowed gaze relaxed when he heard me imitating Rowdy’s habit of calling everyone dumb dummies to get a rise out of them.
“I don’t trust you.”
“I don’t trust you, either,” I said and got comfortable on the couch. “Who’s playing?”
“I blame myself.”
“I blame you, too,” I said instantly. “Now, what exactly did you fail at?”
“I shouldn’t have made my interest so obvious.”
“It’s true that you drooled over me enough to turn a room into a flood zone. Probably should have kept your boner better hidden, too.”
Zodiac’s dark expression cracked, and he offered me a grin. “I saw your picture before we met. You were spank-bank material, obviously. But you’re something else in person. Can you really blame me for the boner?”
“No, I get it. I see myself naked every day,” I said and smiled at him. “When will my snacks arrive?”
“Soon. I have a guy picking them up.”
“He won’t lick my food, will he?”
“Not if he wants to keep his tongue.”
Scooting a little closer, I murmured, “I like how you’re scary. My dad is the same way.”
“But not Clint?”
“No, because I knew him when he was a little boy. None of the guys in my club are scary. When I look at them, I see their little kid versions.”
“You can no longer ride with your club.”
“Okay,” I said, going along with his bossy bullshit. “Is there anything else I should change about myself to please my second baby daddy?”
“You need to stop wearing revealing clothes.”
“Sure. Will a muumuu work, or are we talking a nun getup?”
“You’d be mighty fucking hot dressed as a nun.”
“Well, I guess we know what my costume will be for the Sorority House’s Halloween party.”
Zodiac eyed me with suspicion again. “I can see how your club would benefit from you purposely getting knocked up with my kid.”
“Oh, so now I baby-trapped you as a favor to my brother?”
“We’ve been aligned for less than six months.”
Reaching over, I patted his powerful thigh and admired how it flexed under my touch.
“I did offer to seduce you to get inside info. But Clint said it wouldn’t work since I couldn’t do it sober. Also, Exile claimed you’d never fess up your secrets.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Lame,” I replied, balking at how he wasn’t entranced enough by my hot bod to betray his club’s inner workings. “Exile made me think seducing you was pointless.”
“He’s very helpful that way,” Zodiac muttered. “I wonder if he was protecting you or me.”
“Likely me, but he didn’t know about my crush on you. I hid that well.”
“Crush,” he muttered and shook his head. “You aren’t planning to talk through the entire game, are you?”
“I know how to watch sports, dumbass. My dad and uncle got me into football, baseball, and basketball. I got them into soccer and tennis.”
“I don’t want to watch tennis.”
“Well, you have the remote, so you don’t need to worry about watching something you don’t want.”
Zodiac studied me like I was a threat. Despite my hormones, I didn’t take his behavior personally. The guy grew up with a shitty family and foster homes. He didn’t know how to trust people outside his club.
I didn’t know if I had the magic to make him chill out and let me close. But I knew if I didn’t give this thing a shot, we’d always have unfinished business between us.