All In: Playing to Win (Gambling With Love Book 5) (17 page)

I can't help my gasp of surprise. There's also a sharp sting of jealousy that he could have a baby with another woman when he might not ever be able to do that with me. And whoa, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. But going back to his statement...

"Wait, what do you mean 'might be a father'?"

"There's a twenty-five percent chance I'm the father of her baby."

I thought through that statement several times and it still didn't make any sense to me. "I don't understand."

"I'm one of four potential fathers. Shit, that sounds bad," he says, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Lacy...she's a lot like you actually, only...younger and...wilder. She and her current boyfriend like to...ah, share their bed. Not with me!" he says quickly when I must’ve looked like I was freaking out. "I mean, I admit I've had threesomes but not with them."

"Anyway," he continues and I try really hard
not
to think about the threesome comment he just made. "Lacy had an argument with her boyfriend and another guy she'd been sleeping with so she moved here to Charlotte to get away from them. A few weeks later her mom died suddenly. We sort of got back together temporarily during that time until she made up with her boyfriend and the other guy, who is like her best friend. She forgot her birth control with everything that was going on. So now, there are several possible fathers, including another guy they, ah, share with."

"Wow."

"Please don't say anything to anyone. If it got out that the baby might be mine the media will lose their shit, then everyone would figure out that Lacy's been with several guys. I don't even think her father knows."

"So when?" I ask.

"When will I know?" he asks, and I nod. "After the baby’s born in February."

"Holy shit."

"I never really thought about kids before, but in a way, I want this baby to be mine. It's crazy and illogical, and probably mostly just egotistical to want a bunch of little Zacks running around, but like you said, the idea of holding my own child? Yeah, I think I want that someday."

My chest seizes up and I can't get any air. "Then you...you shouldn't waste time with me," I tell him, pushing my palms against his hard, unmoving chest trying to escape before I break down in front of him.

"Natalie, no...that's not...God, woman! I want to be with you and only you! Quit trying to find reasons to push me away!"

Zack grabs both of my hands and holds them above my head on the pillow with one of his. "I'm not going anywhere," he says before he nips at my bottom lip. "I sure as hell don't deserve a second chance with you, but I'm taking it anyway."

Using his lips and tongue, he silenced me for the rest of the night, until we fell asleep together with all of our clothes still on.

...

The next night when Zack came over I decided he should be rewarded for his patience with me. After I give him a kiss hello, I shut my apartment door before I drop to my knees and reach for his zipper.

"Whoa! Natalie, what are you doing?" he asks in surprise.  

"I'll give you three guesses," I say quoting his line from a few weekends back when he went down on me. Now it was time for me to finally return the favor.

"You don't have to…" He groans when my lips seal around the tip of his cock. He wasn't hard when I pulled him out of his pants, but that changed real quickly. “Oh, fuck!”

Holding him around the base I lean forward to take as much as I can, knowing it won't be his entire long length. Keeping him in my mouth, I work up and down his thick shaft, stroking him in my fist at the same time to make up for what I can't swallow. 

"God, Natalie," Zack mutters, his hands reaching down to move the hair from my face. I look up into his chocolate eyes and see his lids lowered as they watch me. "I'm not going to…
oh shit
…stop."

I grab his ass with my free hand, showing him I'm not going anywhere. A few more trips up and down his shaft, sucking him hard and cupping his balls, he comes with a shout of nonsensical curses. When he finishes he leans back against the door, breathing heavy with his jeans and boxers still around his ankles.

God I want to see him naked so bad it hurts.

I stand up and push his Wildcats' coat down his arms, then pull his sweater and undershirt over his head in one swift motion while he gives me a sexy, crooked smile. I run my hands along his unshaven, golden jaw, then over his broad shoulders, down his biceps, across his pecs, and lower to his chiseled abs.

I go to my knees again and pull off the first shoe and then the other to get rid of his socks, pants, and boxers. Running my hands up his legs, around his powerful thighs I stand, feeling small and delicate in front of so much masculine strength packed into one amazing man.

"You're beautiful," I tell him.

"You're gorgeous," he replies, with a smile spreading across his face.

I lean against his chest and shake my head. I was once one of those shallow, self-absorbed girls. Back in college I knew I was attractive and that men wanted me, but now…now I'm damaged goods.

I don't have any more time to mope in my pity party before I'm hefted into strong arms.

"You look like you need to relax," Zack says with a devious grin. "Let me help you with that."

He heads for my bedroom, laying me down gently and pulling off my pajama bottoms and panties, without my protest. He presses kiss after kiss on my sex, his warm breath teasing me until I'm ready to explode and beg him for more. Finally his tongue snakes out and licks my flesh, making my hips bounce off the bed.

"Oh shit!" I exclaim unable to stop the words. I feel Zack's answering chuckle rumble through my body before he goes back to work. It doesn't take long before he sends me soaring.

I blink my eyes open when the mattress shifts, and then I watch his incredible backside walk out of my bedroom. What the hell?

Thankfully he comes back a second later, rolling on a condom.

He climbs on the bed with the purpose and determination of a man on a mission. That mission being getting inside me as soon as possible. He wedges himself between my thighs, spreading them wider to accommodate his big body.

"This okay?" he asks from above me, holding most of his weight up on his forearms. My shirt and padded bra are still on and I'm glad he hasn't tried to remove them.

"Yes," I reply, and then his mouth crashes down on mine. His hard length pushes forward, seeking entrance.

My hips rise to meet his, then he's sliding in, thick and hard, completely filling me. 

"God, Natalie," Zack groans before pushing his chest up. His muscles are tight and tense and I'm pretty sure he's holding back with his thrusts, trying to be gentle with me for whatever reason.

"Take me," I urge him.

"You sure? It's gonna be hard and fast."

"Yes."

Suddenly I'm being pulled across the bed. Zack stands at the edge, raising my legs straight up against his chest before he pounds into me. I'm so tight it feels like his thick shaft is even bigger than usual.

"God, yes, Zack," I moan as the pleasure grows again to astronomical proportions. "So close…fuck me harder."

I hear his answering growl and then he's slamming into me, sending me over the edge.

"Fuck, Natalie," he curses when he stills inside of me.

Breathing heavily, he pulls out and my legs fall weakly over the edge of the bed. Zack heads for the bathroom and my heart stops as I watch him leave and return naked. I'm unable to figure out what a gorgeous man like him is doing here with me.

Zack tugs me up to the pillows with him until I'm lying across his broad naked chest while we both recover.

"You're so smooth," I tell him as my fingertips make rounds on every available inch of his upper body.

"Requirement for the underwear ads," he replies with a chuckle.

Holy hell, I'm with a man that is so hot people pay him to take pictures without his clothes on.

"I bet it's not easy, having to turn down all the woman who are constantly trying to fuck you."

His chest rumbles with his laugh. "It's a tough burden to have to carry. That's why I like being with you."

"What?" I ask.

"Why do all those women want to fuck me? Because I'm rich, famous, hot? Any or all of the above? I can be a complete asshole and it doesn't matter to them, because they're after my money, or fifteen minutes of fame, or bragging rights. It gets really fucking old after a while."

"How do you know I don’t just want those things?"

"Because you've never asked me for anything of monetary value, you hate having the spotlight on you, and even if you do think I'm hot, it wasn't enough for you to put up with me being an arrogant asshole."

"Yeah, I guess all that is true," I agree.

"So who was that guy?" he asks.

"At the game? That was Dr. Blake Andrews, Rachel's friend from high school and her eye doctor. The hussy threw me under the bus, asking him if he wanted what was supposed to be her ticket to the game."

"And you went out with him Friday night, too?" Zack asks.

I push myself up to look at him. "How'd you know about that?" 

His eyes cut away before he answers, like he's embarrassed. "I may have come by here that night at the same moment you were leaving with him."

"Oh." He'd come by? He'd wanted to see me even after I blew him off? I couldn't help my smile.

"Don't look so damn smug," he says, pulling my head back down against his chest, and kissing the top. I keep silent but my smile remains in place. "I thought you'd stopped seeing me for that fucker."

"I went out with him to try and forget you. It didn't work," I reply truthfully.

"Did you fuck him?"

"No."            

"Good," he says, squeezing me tighter to him.

I've wondered the same thing, and even though I'm almost certain of his answer I ask him anyway.

"Did you...I mean it's okay if you did since we weren't together..."

"No. I swear I didn't fuck anyone else. I couldn't stop thinking about you," he replies, surprising me. Maybe I really do mean something to him.

"So can I stay here again tonight?" Zack asks. "I like sleeping with you, and getting to see you in the mornings."

"Sure. On the condition that you have to remain naked," I tease.

"Oh, baby, that's a given after what we just did. There's no way I'm going to let you sleep all night without having my way with you at least one more time."

I shiver from the instant influx of arousal just a few words from him can cause.

…

Zack asked me to come over to his place the next night, and surprisingly, camera crews were still set up all along the gated entrance of his neighborhood.

Lovely.

I guess now they'll know we do more than kiss.

"Hey, sorry about the front," Zack says when he opens one of the double doors of his two-story, European style, stone mansion. From the outside it looks like two beautiful houses were crammed together to form one gigantic one.

"It's okay. No more secrets," I say with a shrug as I walk in and look around. After a second I realize the foyer I'm currently standing on is actually made of marble, which doesn't seem all that out of place with the expensive and artsy light fixtures, wall hangings, and stone columns. "Nice place. It's just a little bit bigger than my Polly Pocket apartment." Like ten-thousand more square feet.

"Thanks," he replies, sounding distracted.

"Have you watched any of the coverage on TV?" I ask when we enter a living room. There's a huge tan and brown plush sectional containing a dozen pillows or more and one massive leather recliner positioned in front of the biggest flat screen television I've ever seen. Everything he owns makes me feel tiny.

"No, but my manager says it's been great. The media loves you, of course. Everyone's surprised I've settled down, for real this time," Zack tells me, his back to me while he faces a wall of windows. Windows that look out into a beautifully lit backyard, complete with an inground pool and hot tub.

"That's why the paparazzi is out front. They keep following me around everywhere I go, hoping to catch me with another woman since they aren't convinced that I've given them all up. I never did when I was with Lacy," he says and then he turns back around to face me, his thumbs hooked casually in the front pockets of his loose fitting jeans. Barefoot and dressed casual, he looks mouthwateringly good. I don't feel worthy of being in his presence.

"This is all still hard for me to believe, too," I tell him honestly.

"I have given them all up," he says. "You know that, right? I don't want anyone but you. I'd be a fool to want anyone but you."

"I know. I trust you," I assure him with a smile.

He takes three of his giant steps forward and grabs my face with both hands to kiss me softly. "Come to bed with me?" he asks when he pulls back.

"Okay," I exhale nervously.

Leading me by my hand, Zack takes me up the gorgeous suspended spiral staircase until we finally come to an enormous, high ceiling bedroom with an equally large wooden sleigh bed in the center.