Chapter 4
The Cleveland Monsters had won in overtime, and Kian was slumped against Vic’s shoulder before they even hit the parking lot.
The kid had been filled with excitement the entire night.
He’d screamed, jumped, and eaten his way through too much cotton candy, and now he was completely passed out.
He was dead weight and drooling on Vic’s jacket.
“Out like a light.” Logan snorted as he unlocked the SUV.
“Your nephew knows how to play hard,” Vic said. He hoisted Kian carefully into his booster seat. He buckled the little guy in and closed the door. He headed around and got into the driver’s seat.
“I wonder where he gets it from.” Logan chuckled and slid into the passenger seat.
“He’s definitely your nephew.” Vic smiled.
The Maxwell boys had plenty of energy and were always getting in trouble. Their parents had put them in every sport they could. They had even hired nannies just to run them around to all of their practices and games.
The ride home was quiet except for the rumble of the heater and the occasional murmur from Kian.
Logon scrolled on his phone while Vic drove.
He was actually happy his brother wasn’t wanting to have a chat.
Vic’s mind was elsewhere. He kept replaying his conversation with Tachina in his mind.
Each rerun was more surreal than the last.
I want another baby. I want the father to be you.
He still didn’t know how she’d just said it so plainly. But it was just like Tachina. Once she knew what she wanted, she just went for it. No manipulation. Just truth with a straight face.
And God help him, he respected her for it.
When they arrived at his house, Vic unbuckled Kian and carried him inside. The kid was limp as a noodle with his head on Vic’s shoulder, his thumb smushed against his lower lip. Even in his sleep he looked happy.
Vic’s chest tightened.
He carried his son up the stairs to his bedroom.
He pushed open the door and left the light out.
The hallway light provided what he needed to see.
He set Kian down on the bed and swapped his jeans for his pajama pants and his Monster sweatshirt for a plain t-shirt.
He wiped a streak of the cotton candy from his cheek and tucked Kian underneath the blankets.
Kian rolled over and reached for Mr. Blankie and brought it to his chest automatically.
“Goodnight, buddy,” he whispered. Vic placed a kiss on the top of Kian’s curly head.
Kian didn’t stir.
He pulled the door up and went back downstairs. He found Logan in the den flipping through the channels like he owned the place. He’d helped himself to a couple of beers. He tossed one to Vic.
“You look beat,” Logan said.
“You could say that.” Vic kicked off his shoes and sat on his plush leather recliner. He opened the beer and took a long drag from it.
“So, she really asked you?” Logan said.
Vic had shared with his brother what Tachina had asked of him. He and Logan were extremely close, and he’d felt he needed to talk to someone about her request.
“Yep.” He took another sip and rested back in his chair.
Logan finally settled on a basketball game that was on. It wasn’t the Cavs, but it would have to do. He and Vic were huge Cleveland sports fans. It didn’t matter the sport, if it was a Cleveland team, they supported them one hundred percent.
“And you didn’t immediately suggest she go see a therapist?” Logan asked.
“No. Why would I do that?”
“Are you serious? She asked you for another baby.” Logan gave him a look. He shook his head. “Of all the things she could ask for, another baby?”
Vic didn’t say anything. It wasn’t that Logan didn’t like Tachina.
They got along fine. His younger brother was just being protective of him.
Tachina had never asked him for anything crazy.
She knew he was loaded but never took advantage of him.
Hell, what he was paying her in child support he had to practically force her to take.
She was a woman who was full of pride, and even if she were down on her luck, she wouldn’t ask him for help.
So her request was a big fucking deal.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about it.” Logan sat forward and stared at him.
“Of course I’m thinking about it. It’s Tachina asking.
” Had it been Sydney, he would have already said no.
Matter of fact, that had been one of their arguments.
She hadn’t understood why he had never wanted to discuss having children with her.
He knew she resented Tachina for Kian. She never would admit it, but Vic was good at reading people.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t do it,” Logan shot back. “She’s the one woman on earth you actually respect. Don’t blow that up because she’s hormonal or lonely or—”
“She’s not lonely,” he snapped. Hell, that was the other thing he couldn’t stop thinking about. She’d gone out on a date Friday, knowing she was going to come to him on Sunday to ask him to get her pregnant. What the hell was that about?
“Really?” Logan cocked an eyebrow.
He wasn’t going to believe anything Vic said. He glanced back at the television and found it on commercials.
“She wants Kian to have a sibling.” He exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. “She doesn’t want multiple fathers. She’s not wrong when she said it’s worked out between us. Better than anyone would have expected.”
“And you think adding another kid makes it easier?”
“I think…” Vic paused. He wasn’t sure how he could explain it so his single brother with no children could understand.
“I missed out on a lot when she was pregnant with Kian. I went to a few of her appointments, I was there for the birth and was here and there until Kian started walking. I want to experience the whole thing.”
Her pregnancy hadn’t really seemed real. She’d shared things with him. He had his copies of the ultrasounds, maybe one picture of her pregnant. Hell, he hadn’t even gone to the baby shower. He’d been away on business.
Ever since she’d brought up having a new baby, he’d been bombarded with countless imageries of couples expecting on the television, videos of men bragging about expecting with their wives, touching their bellies, getting up in the middle of the night to help their wife breastfeed.
All of that was foreign to him. It had him feeling like he’d missed a big part of his son’s life.
“What?” Logan downed the rest of his beer and eyed Vic wearily. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I want to feel the baby kick. Help her out at home when she’s exhausted. Get her whatever she’s craving. Stuff like that,” he admitted.
Logan stared at him as if he was seeing him for the first time. “Jesus. You’re in deep,” he muttered.
“I’m not in deep,” Vic snapped. He finished off his beer and set the bottle down on the floor by his chair. “I’m just saying that I missed out on a lot. All of it. By the time she found out she was pregnant, we had moved on. I didn’t get the chance to—”
“Do things that husbands or real boyfriends get to do?” Logan teased.
Vic winced at the shot. He hadn’t been either of those things to Tachina. They were two responsible adults who offered benefits for each other.
“I mean be involved with her pregnancy,” he said.
Logan folded his arms and settled his gaze on Vic. He didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Look, I get the appeal of giving Kian a sibling. We were lucky to have each other. The kid would make a great big brother. But what about long term? What happens when you meet someone else? They’ll want kids, too. Now you would have two kids with Tachina. That would be messy, man.”
“I’m not looking for someone else.”
“You weren’t looking before Sydney either…”
“That was different.” A muscle ticked in Vic’s jaw.
“Was it? You were with her for three years and nothing. No ring. No future, and believe me when I say I heard about how you wouldn’t even talk about children with her.” Logan rolled his eyes.
“Who told you that?” Vic asked.
“Our dear ol’ mother.”
Why had Vic even asked? He should have known Sydney would have run to his mother about their issues.
The two of them had been close. His mother was also disappointed in him that he hadn’t proposed to Sydney.
When he’d first shared with his parents that he was dating Sydney Bridges, they were very pleased because of Sydney’s relations.
The Bridges sat on quite a few boards of local companies, a wealthy family who’d had roots in Cleveland for generations.
Sydney was a philanthropic consultant who was polished and well connected.
According to his mother, Nancy Maxwell, Sydney would have made the perfect daughter-in-law for her.
“Well, I knew she wasn’t the one,” he admitted.
“And what about Tachina?” Logan asked quietly.
Vic didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The truth simmered between them.
“You’re considering it, aren’t you?” Logan groaned.
“I haven’t decided.”
“But you will,” Logan muttered. He stood and stretched. “And when it blows up, I’m blaming you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Vic chuckled.
“Anytime.” Logan clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow. Text me when you’re done having your midlife crisis, old man.”
Logan left, whistling like an asshole.
The house was silent once the front door clicked shut. Vic wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He stared inside without seeing anything.
Another baby.
The idea scared the hell out of him.
But it tempted him.
It lit up something inside him that he usually didn’t allow himself to feel.
He’d never admit it out loud—not even to his brother—but the moment Tachina had said with you, something in him had snapped awake. Something he’d shut down since he was a kid. Since watching his own father be cold and distant. Since promising himself that he would be different.
He wanted—no, craved—a chance to do it right.
Not just as a father.
As a partner.
And with anyone else, the thought was not appealing.
With Tachina, it felt right.
He leaned his elbows on the counter, lacing his fingers behind his neck.
His mind drifted back to a night before they’d known they were going to become parents.
He shouldn’t have touched her. She’d worked for the company he’d employed, but he couldn’t stay away from her.
She was beautiful, and her smile was inviting.
The first night when he’d invited her out for drinks and food, it had been on a whim.
He hadn’t really thought she’d take him up on the offer.
“Vic,” Tachina moaned.
He loved how his name flowed from her lips. He braced himself on top of her and glanced down. His heart pounded. He had said the one night would have to be enough. Tachina was a beautiful woman who had captured his eye the moment he’d first seen her walking through the lobby of his building.
He had to get to know her.
Taste her.
Sink into her.
Tachina arched upward, beckoning him to take her.
He reached between them and guided the broad head of his cock to her slick opening.
Her big brown eyes opened and met his. He couldn’t look away if he tried.
He pushed forward, a groan escaping him.
Her hot channel stretched open to accept him.
Her walls were slick and welcomed him inside her.
“Tachina…” he rasped. He paused and had to pray that he didn’t blow his load too damn soon. One would think this was his first time, but Vic was not an inexperienced lover. But there was something about this woman that set his body on edge.
“More,” she urged. Her fingers dove into the hair at the base of his neck. Her other hand slipped down to his lower back and farther. She gripped his ass and tried to get him to thrust.
“Wait,” he murmured.
He lowered his head and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck.
He gripped the sheets, trying to calm his damn body down.
The scent of her perfume invaded his senses.
It didn’t help one bit. His hips jerked, allowing him to sink his cock fully into her.
Their simultaneous groans filled the air.
He lifted his head and captured her lips with his.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he lost it.
The move pulled him impossibly deeper in her.
He tore his mouth from hers. “Fuck.”
“Yes,” she hissed against his lips.
Her nails bit into his shoulder and ass as he thrust. His hips pistoned of their own accord. Everything about this woman captivated him.
Her cries and his groans filled the air. Her soft skin, her curves, her breasts, ass, and her pouty mouth were perfect. He would take his time exploring her as if he hadn’t already before.
Her body was made for him.
Her pussy was made to take his cock.
This woman was addictive, and he didn’t know if he would ever get enough of her.
Vic dragged in a slow breath.
Yeah, he was done pretending. He wanted this. He wanted the experience. The closeness.
Hell, he wanted her.
He straightened and headed out of the kitchen. He flicked the lights off and returned to the den. His decision was made.
Tomorrow, he’d speak with her.
He was going to say yes.