Playing for Keeps (31 page)

He reached for her, burying his face in her stomach and inhaled her scent. He pulled back and
smiled. "Good stuff, eh?"

"Oh yeah." She reached for the bottom edge of her sweater, brought it over her head, and tossed it off. She ran her hands over his head and pulled him back to her. "Very good stuff," she murmured as he kissed her stomach.

His hands went behind her and unclasped her bra, letting it fall away. Maddie gasped as his kisses made their way to her breasts.

"You taste good," he murmured.

She took his face in her hands. "I want to taste you." She held him as he stood, and kissed him passionately. Maddie groaned as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth, seeking her tongue out. Sensations were spinning around her, all of them good. A thrill ran down her spine, right to her very core. He tasted of beer and cigarettes, and Maddie couldn't get enough of him. She held his face and kissed him as deeply as was possible, and he chuckled at her urgency.

"Take it easy, baby doll." He walked her backward to his bedroom, and laid her gently on the bed. "We've got plenty of time to do everything I want to do to you."

Maddie gazed up at him and shivered.

"Oh my God." Nick flopped onto the bed next to her. "Are you sure that was your first time?"

Maddie stretched and purred. "I can't believe how great that felt."

He leaned up on his side and looked at her. "You did real good, sweetness. Some women never come during sex, let alone their first time."

"Wow. Now I wonder what I was waiting for!"

"I guess the answer to that is,
me
." He kissed her lips then rolled out of bed. "I need to clean up, and you're bleeding. You might want to take care of that."

Surprised, Maddie sat up.

He smiled. "It's normal. It won't last long." He disappeared into the other room and returned quickly.

She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't look any different, but she felt amazingly different. Fantastic was not too strong a word. At the same time, she was mortified to be bleeding, and irritated that her mother never told her anything about what to expect. She had to learn it all from her first lover.

Maddie grinned to herself.
That sounds strange, but cool. Very cool.

The bleeding did stop quickly, and Maddie returned to Nick's bedroom. He was laying spread out with a smirk on his face.

"You look like the cat that ate the canary," she teased.

"Not a bad analogy." He reached for her, and she slipped into his arms.

There was a towel on the bed and she said, "Sorry about your sheets. I didn't know that was going to happen."

"Not a problem. I should have thought of it." He rubbed his hands over her arms. "So, how do you feel?"

"Really good. Like I—" the phone rang.

Nick looked at the clock. "Who the fuck could that be?" He shot her a glance. "This isn't going to be your old man is it?"

Maddie shook her head. "No way."

Nick answered the phone "Yep. Yep, she's here." He handed her the phone. "It's Ty."

Maddie took the phone. "Hello?"

Zoey said, "Maddie, it's me. I was worried about you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Maddie giggled. "I am very okay. I'm sorry, I should have called. I don't know when I'll be home."

"Tomorrow," Nick said.

"It might be tomorrow," Maddie told Zoey.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm a happy woman, Zoe. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay then. Have fun!" She hung up, and Maddie handed the phone back to Nick.

"Sorry. I should have called my roommate, I guess."

He hung up. "So what are she and Ty doing, playing poker?"

"She just couldn't believe that I was a virgin. She kept trying to get me a guy, but I told her I wanted to pick my own men." She rolled up on his chest. "If I'd have known how great
this
was, I wouldn't have held on to my virginity for so long. Shit, what's the point, you know?"

"When you're right, you're right. I hope you didn't want me to drive you home tonight, because I feel wiped. Tomorrow might be safer."

"Tomorrow is fine."

He pulled the covers up over them and turned out the lamp by the bed.

Maddie snuggled up to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Nick?" she finally whispered.

"Yep." "Was it any good for you? I was just wondering…"

He laughed. "It was very good for me, sweetness. You've got a tiger in your tank, for sure. That's my ulterior motive for keeping you here. I think we might need to take another tumble in the morning."

"Good." Maddie hugged his chest.

When she woke the next morning, Nick was sleeping soundly next to her. She slipped under the covers in an attempt to wake him. She was rewarded for her efforts by another round of raucous sex which left her head spinning.

She smiled at Nick when he returned from the bathroom with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Very nice, sweetness." He sat on the bed next to her, and patted her ass.

"Right back at ya, babe."

"I hate to say this, but I need to get to work. I suppose you should get dressed and let me take you home."

"Okay." Maddie sat up. She gathered her clothes, which she found scattered between two rooms, and carried them to the bathroom. When she came out, Nick was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, tying the bandana headband on again.

She ran her hands over the bandana. "Tough, biker man."

"Just keeping the hair out of my face. If it makes me look tough, that's a plus."

Maddie slid her arms around his neck. She gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.

He grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to him, for a deeper kiss.

"I had a really good time," she murmured.

"Me, too." He squeezed her butt again.

"Will you call me?"

"Sure," he said off-handedly, and pointed her out the door.

Maddie slipped into her jacket. It was December, and the wind was brisk and cold. "Brrr," she said.

"Yep," he answered, and started his bike.

"You ride this year 'round?"

"Yep," he said again. "I do have a truck for really bad weather. But I prefer the bike."

She climbed on behind him and grabbed his waist tightly. "Me, too." She gave him directions to her apartment, then buried her face against his back.

He pulled up in front of Buckley Hall. "This it?"

"
Yeah." She climbed off the bike. "You want to come in?"

"I gotta get to work."

She slid her arms around his neck again. "Thanks for everything, Nick."

"Thank you, sweetness."

"I'll talk to you, later."

"Yep." He winked, and drove off.

Zoey was alone when Maddie entered their room, and they talked for an hour about the previous nights' events. Maddie spared no details in the strictest of confidences, and Zoey advised her on the things she wasn't sure about. When they were talked out, Zoey suggested studying for the Psych final, but Maddie was beat and wanted to sleep. She woke up and discovered Ty was back, and he and Zoey were headed back to Lost Wages for the evening.

Disappointed that Nick hadn't called, Maddie wondered if he'd be at the pool hall since it was Saturday night. She dressed as sharply as she could, then followed Ty and Zoey there in her car. The place was packed, but Nick never showed. Maddie drank a few beers and chatted with some people she'd met the night before. After a couple of hours, she grew frustrated and called it a night. She told Ty and Zoey goodbye, and drove home. Irritated with herself for being such a baby, she cried herself to sleep.

Zoey offered to help her study on Sunday, but Maddie only wanted to sleep. She had to force herself to go to classes on Monday. Tuesday, she went to one class and skipped the other. Wednesday, she didn't even get out of bed.

Zoey finally cornered her on Wednesday night. "What did you expect, Maddie? You're a college kid, he's a grown man. Did you think you were going to fall in love and ride off together into the sunset?"

"I don't know what I expected," Maddie admitted. "But I just thought he'd call me."

"He should have called." Zoey nodded. "He's a real butthole, not to even pick up the phone."

"Please, don't knock him." Maddie put her head down on her knees.

"Someone needs to knock something into him. I'm gonna tell Ty to—"

"No!" Maddie yelled at her quickly. "Please, leave Ty out of this. If he never calls me, then I guess I know what kind of guy he is. But I don't want him to call because Ty asks him to."

"Okay, I understand. But you've got to pull yourself out of this funk. We've got one more week of class and then finals. You can't bail now."

Maddie stared at her. "I lost my virginity to a man who didn't even give me a courtesy call. I think I deserve one week to wallow. I promise to snap out of it by the weekend."

"One week. I'll hold you to that. Hey, I'm making a Slushie run. You want anything?"

"Yeah, something chocolate, and lots of it."

Zoey kissed Maddie on the top of her head. "You got it. Back soon."

Her roommate left, and Maddie curled into a ball on the bed. She cried until she was exhausted, then she slept.

Chapter Five

Maddie helped her mother take her father home from the hospital, and together, they got him settled in his bed. She knew quarters would now be too close at the house, and she needed to go home. She called and booked her return trip for an overnight flight that would arrive in
Oklahoma City at two-thirty a.m. on Tuesday. She decided to rent a car and drive home, without telling Rob. He'd want to meet her, but arranging that would be difficult with the kids. She'd surprise him. That might be fun.

She went through the dresser and closet in her old room, and packed a couple of things to take back with her. She found a bunch of silky scarves which gave her an idea, and she took them too. When she called Rob, she told him she'd be home sometime Tuesday, and that she'd let him know when.
Not exactly a lie
.

"I don't understand why you have to leave tonight," her mother insisted.

"I need to get back to the children, Mother. Rob has to work."

"It's been nice having you here, Mad." Her father smiled at her.

Her mother added, "We hope you'll come back soon. Bring the children. We'd love to have them."

Maddie chuckled. "This house isn't exactly child-proof. I'd be chasing Sam the whole time."

"You bring them, we'll make it child-proof. It's a promise," Meg told her.

"I'll think about it. I don't expect it'll happen anytime soon with
Matt so angry. I won't have my family anywhere near that."

"We'll work on Matt," her father said.

'Thanks." She went to finish packing her things.

Saying goodbye was hard, and Maddie cried on the way to the airport. It was cool and dark on the airplane, and she slept the whole way home. She was sleepy when she got to
Oklahoma City, so she bought herself a big caffeinated drink for the drive home. She loaded her suitcase into the rental car and made the drive back to Meridan.

Her house looked peaceful when she pulled in the driveway. She entered through the kitchen quietly, and greeted Bo with a hug. "Hey, buddy, I'm glad to see you." He wagged his tail furiously, and followed her from room to room as she peeked in at the children. Everyone slept soundly and looked beautiful to Maddie.

She pulled the silk scarves from the side of her suitcase, and left the bag in the front room. Slipping into her room quietly, she heard Rob's soft breathing as she approached the bed. She had to do this just right, she thought. She didn't want to scare the crap out of him. Putting one scarf over his eyes, she leaned in to kiss his cheek, then rubbed her cheek over his.

He stirred. "Maddie? What—"

"Shhh…" She put two fingers to his lips. She raised his head and tied the scarf around his eyes like a blindfold. She wrapped another around his mouth. The third scarf went around his wrists. She secured his hands over his head by tying the scarf to the headboard.

She kissed his face and worked her way down his neck to his naked chest. She heard his low moan. Maddie continued down his stomach to his belly button, and circled it with her tongue. She dragged her tongue down to the waistband of his pajama bottoms, and slowly pulled them down. He groaned again.

Maddie
smiled. Neither of them was good about being quiet during their lovemaking. She shrugged. Their door was closed and locked. Hopefully, the kids would stay asleep. She was willing to take the chance.

Maddie rolled to the side of the bed and sighed. The risky maneuver had been worth it.
Well worth it
. She reached up and tugged the scarf from Rob's eyes.

The room was dark, save a stream of moonlight shining in. He blinked to focus on her. She removed the scarf from his mouth, and he
smiled. "Hello there."

Maddie scooted up to untie his hands, and he nipped at her breast as it passed his face. When his hands were free, he grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. "I have questions for you, Mrs. Cooper. But first, I have to do this." He kissed her gently, then opened his mouth and their tongues played back and forth. He groaned again, and finally pulled away. "God, I missed you. What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me?"

She ran a hand over his face. "You shaved while I was gone."

"It was getting itchy. It's growing back already." He put his hand over hers and held it against his cheek.

"I love to feel your stubble." She gazed at him with adoring eyes.

He kissed her neck and murmured, "I know
where
you love to feel my stubble. And we'll get to that in a little bit. But first, answers, please."

She stretched and leaned back. "Dad came home, and he was doing fine. I was going stir crazy being there and not here with you, and the soonest flight I could get was overnight. I didn't tell you, because I knew you'd want to meet the plane, and that would have been complicated with the kids. I thought it was easier to rent a car and drive home. We can run it back after work tonight."

"I'm not working today." He traced a finger down her stomach. "Rosa watched the kids yesterday, but she had something to do today, so I took off."

"Oh goody." She slid an arm around his neck. "So, if we don't get much sleep, we can always catch a nap later?"

"I like the way you think. And that scarf thing? Holy shit, that was sexy."

"I tried not to scare you. To wake up being blindfolded, you might have punched me."

"Smart girl. You handled it well. I knew I was safe."

"Speaking of safe." She poked him in the chest. "How come
Bo is the only one who heard me come in? You were dead to the world."

He grinned. "Bo would have barked if it was anyone but you. Then I would have grabbed my baseball bat and headed out there."

She stroked his chest. "I'm glad he didn't bark!"

He kissed her again. "Your way was much more pleasant. Where'd you get those scarves? I might want to use them again sometime."

"They were in my drawer at home. You can use them to your heart's content. The idea of being tied up kind of excites me."

He growled and nipped at her neck, then worked his way lower. "I'll give you excitement," he murmured.

Maddie laid back and closed her eyes.

Sophie woke them up later that morning. "Maddie! Maddie! You're home!" She jumped in bed with them.

Maddie opened her eyes and smiled. "Sophie
Belle! Come' ere and give me kisses, I missed you so much." She hugged and kissed the little girl, and Sophie settled in between them.

"We missed you, too.
Stacie was sad a lot."

Maddie looked at Rob, and he yawned. "Yep. In case you think she only loves her daddy, you proved that theory wrong. She was quite cranky without her mama, especially at bedtime."

"You didn't tell me." Maddie ran a hand through his hair.

"What good would it have done? You'd have felt bad. She survived, and she'll be very happy to see you!"

Maddie pulled his head toward her for a kiss.

Sophie, used to their cuddling, snuggled happily between them.

"Mama!" Sam hollered and climbed into the bed.

"Sammy!" She reached for him and covered his face with kisses. "How's my boy? Did you miss mama?"

"Yeah!" He nodded and let her fawn over him.

Stacie squawked from her crib, and Rob threw his legs over the side of the bed. "Might as well make it unanimous in here." He reached for his pajama bottoms and slipped them on as he stood up.

"Nice buns," Maddie called after him.

He looked over his shoulder and winked. He returned with
Stacie, and the baby almost flew out of his arms into Maddie's. "Ma ma ma ma!"

"Stacie!" Maddie squeezed her tightly, and nuzzled her face. "Oh, I missed you all so much. I never want to go away from you again."

Rob slipped back into his spot in the bed. "We hope you don't have to, either. We missed you too." He put his arm around her and pulled her and Stacie close. "What do you think, Stace? Was it a toss up who missed her more, you or me?"

Stacie
pried the sheet away from Maddie's chest and looked down it.

"Yeah, they're still there," Maddie said. "They just aren't your property anymore."

Rob pulled the sheet back up and nuzzled the baby. "Sorry, kiddo. They're mine, all mine."

Maddie leaned down and kissed his neck, and they all lay in a tangled heap until someone mentioned breakfast.

"Can we have pancakes?" Sophie asked. "Please?"

"Cake-cakes!" Sam nodded his agreement.

Maddie looked Stacie in the eye. "How about you? You want cake-cakes, too?"

"Ca-cake," she repeated, her eyes sparkling.

"Alrighty then. Daddy, if you'll take them out to the kitchen, I'll be right out to do the cooking."

He nuzzled her cheek. "You do your best cookin' in this room."

"Meet you back here at naptime." She kissed him.

He picked up
Stacie and shooed the other two off the bed. "Let's go get some dry diapers before breakfast."

"Thank you." Maddie
smiled at him, and then laughed as he peeked around the corner and watched her climb out of bed naked. She wiggled her hips for him.

He shook his head and murmured, "Ummm."

Maddie shooed him off, and he went to change diapers.

I have a good man
.
She slipped into a robe and went to the bathroom.

Breakfast was pleasant and lively. Everyone was in good spirits, and glad to have mama home. Afterward, Rob helped her wash the children's hands. They sent them to watch TV while they cleaned up the kitchen. As soon as they were alone, he slipped a hand inside her robe and caressed her breast, while kissing her neck from behind.

Maddie leaned back into him. She enjoyed his attention for a few minutes, then regretfully pulled away. "The kitchen might get cleaned quicker if you let me do it alone," she teased.

"But it wouldn't be nearly as much fun." He sucked noisily on her neck.

"Hey, cut that out!" She squirmed away from him. "Do you know how long it's been since I had a hickey?"

"Too long." He chased her around the kitchen.

"Stop it!" She laughed. "If you need to give me one, do it somewhere people can't see it."

"Like in the bedroom?" He chased her around the table again.

"You're so funny." She swatted at him. "Like on my leg or my stomach."

"Oh." He pretended he hadn't thought of that. They both turned to see
Stacie toddle into the kitchen. "Hello, sugar lump."

Maddie went to pick her up then made a face. She held the baby out to
Rob. "There's some kind of lump, but it ain't sugar."

He backed up. "You've been gone so long, I'm sure you
want
to change her."

Maddie looked around the kitchen. "Do all these dishes, or change one diaper? You decide."

With a quick glance around, Rob reached for the baby. "The diaper will only take a minute. This kitchen is another story."

"Thank you." Maddie
smiled at him.

He said to Stacie, "I got to play with mommy's boobies."

Maddie swatted his butt with her dishtowel, and he scooted out.

They spent the day relaxing and enjoying each other's company, and in the late afternoon decided to take the rental car back to the airport. Maddie and Sophie drove in the car, and Rob followed in the SUV, along with the two younger kids.

They pulled up to a stoplight and waited for the light to turn green. Maddie proceeded slowly. Out of nowhere, a truck hurtled through the intersection. Maddie swerved, but the truck plowed into the front driver's side of the rental car and sent them spinning.

Terror gripped her as she realized what happened. She was dazed for a moment, before she called frantically, "Sophie!"

"I'm here, Maddie," the child answered from the backseat, voice shaky.

"Are you okay?" Crunched in her seat, Maddie couldn't turn around.

"I think so."

Rob's face appeared at her window. "Maddie! Are you all right?"

"I'm stuck," she answered.

"What? Maddie, try to roll down your window." He tugged on the door, but it was smashed and wouldn't open.

She pushed the window button and it lowered halfway.

Rob stuck his hand in and touched her face. "Oh my God, are you hurt?" He looked stricken.

"I don't think so. Check Sophie."

He ran around to the other side and pounded on the door. "Unlock it!"

Maddie hit the unlock button, and
Rob opened Sophie's door. Someone behind him suggested, "Don't move her! We called 911."

Maddie couldn't turn to look. All she could do was listen to hear what was going on. She heard Rob say, "Soph, baby, you okay? Thank God you were on the other side."