Simple Man (23 page)

She did as he instructed and he pinched her nipples hard. “Oh, God, Shane…”

He ground his cock into her, his one hand sliding over her belly to where their bodies met. He found her clit and pressed his fingers over it, rubbing up and down.

She jerked and tightened her arms around his neck. “I want you to come with me,” he whispered into the curve of her neck.

He thrust deep and bit at her shoulder. Her body writhed. Sliding his arm around her ribs, he held her to him as he fucked her, sensing his release climbing. Pinching down on her clit, he pressed into her, seeking the soft curve of her G-spot.

“Ohmygod, ohmygod!” she cried.

His cock twitched as her sex clamped down him. His muscles locked and he twitched as his release ripped through him. They both shouted as they came.

They fell onto their sides and panted, still stuck together. He was too sensitive to withdraw yet. He squeezed her tight, just wanting to hold and hug her for a while. She tightened her arms over his and sighed.

“I need another shower now.”

“
Shh
, let’s just lay here for a while.”

* * * *

When Logan woke up Shane fed him and dressed him in a pair of swim trunks and a badass muscle shirt.

“Are we going swimming?” Kate asked.

“Yup.”

“I don’t have a suit.”

“We can swing by your place on our way,” he said, applying a hearty amount of sunscreen to Logan’s arms and shoulders.

“Were are we going?”

“You’ll see. Hand me the purse.”

She frowned. “Purse?”

“Yeah, the baby purse. Right there.”

She giggled.

He self-consciously faced her. “What’s so funny?”

“Shane, it’s called a diaper bag.”

He flushed. “Oh, well…that’s a little more manly. Wish I would have known that. Hand me the
diaper bag
, please.”

She passed it to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’re adorable. Here’s your purse.”

Kate gave him directions to her place. She lived in a really nice neighborhood. Everyone had clean yards and nice cars. Growing uncomfortable the closer they drove to her place, he slowly navigated the way.

He tugged at the collar of his shirt. When he glanced at her she looked serene and comfortable.

“Turn left here.”

He turned onto a small suburban road with neat curbs and sidewalks and mailboxes at the edge of each drive. He grew up in a neighborhood like this, but no longer felt like he belonged.

“That white house over there is me.”

He pulled up at the curb. It was nice. Really nice. The siding was new and white and although it was small, it was pretty. Red shutters butted up against the two front windows and the door had a shiny brass knocker.

“Do you want to come in?”

He was curious, but feared seeing how well she lived would only embarrass him. God, she probably thought he was a total dirt ball. He glanced back at Logan. “I better stay here with Logan.”

“Okay. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

He watched as she unlocked the door and disappeared inside. Even her hedges were perfect. He sat, waiting, his cynical thoughts taunting him, reminding him he’d never measure up. When she reappeared she had a bright yellow polka dotted bag slung over her shoulder.

She wore short white shorts and a blue tank top. He could see the strings of her bathing suit tied at her neck. Big black sunglasses perched over her head like a headband and her hair was pulled up in a bun. She should have been on television she was so cute. The sight cheered him and pulled him from his pity fest. 

She opened the door and dropped her bag behind the seat. “Ready?” she asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

He nodded and pulled away.

He was taking them to a state park about an hour away. It had a free, man made beach and a calm lake. He couldn’t wait to see how Logan liked the water.

They drove in silence, only the radio filling the quiet. He fiddled with the dial, looking for something decent.

“Are you okay?”

Distracted, he quickly glanced away from the road and toward her. She was frowning. “What? Yeah. Why?”

“You’re being really quiet.”

“Just driving.”

She turned and looked in the back. “Logan looks like he’s going to fall asleep.”

Logan didn’t usually nap at this time. That would probably mess with his schedule. Maybe the water would tire him out and it would all even out in the end.

Kate played with the radio and settled on a Doors song. They drove in silence. He hoped she wasn’t disappointed with the day. He spent a lot of time thinking of something fun for them to do that didn’t cost a lot of money. He filled his tank that morning and pretty much cleared out his spending money.

They pulled into the parking lot and Kate glanced around. “A park.”

“Yup.” He parked the car and shut off the engine. When he glanced at her, she smiled.

“Is there a beach here?”

“A lake, yeah. It’s a little different than the beaches on the coast. Come on.”

He climbed out and unloaded the car seat. Logan was sleeping. He grabbed the
diaper bag
and popped the trunk. He brought a blanket, a cooler, and towels. Kate took the blanket and towels and he lifted out the cooler.

The beach was only semi-crowded. The sand was coarse and warm. They found a spot a few feet from the water and he put Logan’s seat down, facing him away from the sun.

The sun baked sand was warm under his bare feet. Kate unfolded the blanket on the sand and removed her tank top. A tangerine string bikini with little pink ruffles at the trim clung to her curves. It was fucking sexy.

She kept her shorts on, but kicked off her flip-flops. He watched as she dug in her bag and pulled out a tube of sunscreen.

Shane took off his shirt and shoes and sat on the blanket. “Want some help?” He needed to touch her.

“Sure,” she handed him the tube.

“Eighty, huh?”

“I’m Irish. The sun is not my friend.”

She smiled, but her glasses hid her eyes. Was she mad they came there? He should have brought an umbrella for her, but he didn’t own one. He was German so his skin sort of stayed tan year round.

He squeezed some of the white cream on his palm and dabbed it on her shoulders. Small wisps of blonde hair slipped from her bun and got caught in the lotion. His sticky fingers brushed them off her neck and placed a kiss on her shoulder when he was finished. This was her smell. She must wear sunblock often, because she always carried a sweet, beach like fragrance.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the sunscreen back. He rolled a towel behind his neck and lounged, making no secret of watching her as she applied lotion to the rest of her body.

She rubbed sunblock over her belly and the swells of her breasts. “I could have done that for you,” he teased.

Her lips pursed in a smirk, her delicate dimple winking at him. “This is a family place.”

“I could behave,” he pouted, poking her knee with his toe.

She looked at him. “Who says I was talking about you?”

His brow lifted. “Kate, you’re a naughty minded girl.”

“You have no idea,” she warned and lowered herself beside him on the blanket.

His finger ran over her hip, tugging lightly at the waistband of her shorts. “You keeping these on?”

“Yeah. I don’t like my butt.”

He turned his head, giving her a leveled look. “Excuse me? I happen to have it on good authority that you have a fine ass. As a matter of fact, I could spend days exploring it, maybe sing to it a little, kiss it, whisper sweet nothings to it.”

“You’re going to sing to my butt?” She laughed.

“Sure.”

“What would you sing?”

“Brown Eyed Girl.”

She shoved him. “You’re disgusting.”

He laughed and pulled her so she was half lying over his chest. She stared down at him and he could see himself smiling in the reflection of her glasses. “I’m just kidding, but I would sing to you. All of you.”

Her lips remained curved in a pleasant expression. “Sing to me now,” she whispered.

He sang the first thing that came to his mind. Her face lit up as he whispered the words of
If I Fell
by the Beatles. It was probably too soon to be using those words, but for some reason it felt right to sing songs of love to her.

When he reached the last line she lowered her head and gently kissed him. People were probably staring, but he didn’t care. His fingers traced over her shoulders.

Logan made a sound and they parted. “Somebody’s awake,” she whispered.

The moment was quiet and magic. His eyes squinted against the sun. All he could see was Kate, a white halo forming behind her. “I better get him.”

They ate the sandwiches he’d packed and took Logan to the water. The little guy didn’t know what to make of it. He seemed to like it, but the cooler than bath water temperature startled him every time.

They stayed at the park later than the rest of the beach goers. All in all it was a spectacular day. Better than any day he’d had in a long time. When they arrived back at the trailer it was dark.

Shane unloaded the car and filled the kitchen sink with warm soapy water. “I remember when my mother used to bathe me in the sink,” she said as she watched him wash the sand off of Logan. He splashed and laughed, then made a comical expression of shock when water landed on his face.

Shane couldn’t remember his mom ever bathing him, but he did have a memory of Noel sitting in the sink playing. “Yeah,” he said.

He dried him off and changed him into his PJs. Kate followed, seeming to take it all in. “Do you think you’ll ever have more kids?” she asked as he gave Logan his bedtime bottle.

Shane stared at her. “With the right woman? Definitely.” She’d be a good mom, but it was way too soon to suggest anything of the sort. “Babies are awesome.”

“How many kids would you want?”

“At least two, in case anything ever happened to me. That way they’d have each other. I’d hate for Logan to be lonely.”

“You’re a good dad, Shane,” she said softly.

His instinct was to say he wasn’t Logan’s father, but as he looked down at his sleeping face and took in all his belongings scattered around their home he realized he
was
a father. “Thank you.”

Her opinion should have mattered because she was his caseworker and as his caseworker it was
her
opinion the judge was interested in. But that had nothing to do with the warm, satisfying pride blooming inside of him. Her opinion mattered because he cared what she thought as a person. He didn’t want Kate to look at him and see a disappointment. He needed her to look at him and see a man who could be depended on, a man capable of taking care of others. Her praise meant something personal to him.

Kate spent the night and hung around until late Sunday, just before Lisa showed up to babysit. He wanted her to meet Lisa. Maybe they could become friends, but again, Kate said, until the custody hearing, they should probably keep their relationship to themselves. He didn’t necessarily see the harm in letting his friends know about Kate, but he didn’t argue.

There were only three weeks until his court date and then all of this would be over. No more caseworker reports. No more judges. No more being under the microscope. It would just be him, Logan, and Kate.

He’d have Logan forever and Kate, well…she’d be there too.

Chapter Sixteen

The next week went by incredibly fast. Lisa had gotten her class schedule and managed to work around his. She said the extra hundred bucks a week helped and she wanted to keep babysitting. That was the good news of his week.

There were other times he’d rather forget. Sims had swung by one afternoon. Shane was vacuuming and trying out his new baby backpack kangaroo pouch thing a guy from work had given him. It was the same guy who gave him the pink highchair. Unfortunately, said pouch was also pink…with ruffles…and little hearts.

He’d debated using it, but Logan was being a little fuss monkey that day and Shane was trying to get things done around the trailer. So on went the emasculator—that’s what he decided to name it—and in went the kid.

Once again Logan didn’t seem fazed by the feminine salmon bisque color. He happily hung from him like a munchkin in a harness and Shane was able to run the vacuum. 

Classic rock played on the stereo. Unfortunately,
Dream Weaver
by Gary Wright was playing when Sims pulled up in the DeLorean. Shane didn’t hear the car, or the door open.

Shane was pushing the sweeper over his dated carpet and bellowing out the slow lyrics as Logan swung from his chest, happily babbling along. He’d turned and stilled when he saw Sims standing between the stereo and the door, pie-eyed and looking a bit uncomfortable.

Not moving his feet, Sims reached over and switched off the music at the same time Shane shut down the vacuum.
Awkward…

Sims deliberately cleared his throat. “Uh, what’s up, Hazel?”

Shane glanced down at the pink kangaroo pouch and mentally cataloged what his friend was seeing. Damn it, even his hair was tied up in a bun. It had been getting in his way and making him hot.

Shane rubbed the back of his neck, cleared his throat, and used his manliest voice. “Hey, man, what’s up? I’m just getting some of this shit cleaned up before I crack open a beer.” Yeah, beer was manly.

Sims stared at him over the rim of his Clark Kent framed glasses. “Oh, okay. I just came by to see if you wanted to take a ride to the mall, maybe pick up some tampons or get your nails done.”

His eyes closed as he surrendered to the ribbing. Trying to draw his testicles back out, he said, “Ha, ha. Seriously though, this thing is pretty cool. I can do all sorts of stuff now, without having to give up one hand to hold Logan.”

Sims had shaken his head. “Dude, that thing on your chest is a lot of things. Cool is definitely not one of them.”

Shane took abuse for that afternoon ever since. He couldn’t get the damn pink pouch off fast enough and Sims had snapped several pictures of him with his phone, sending the pic out in a mass text to all their friends.
Fucker.