Stacked Up: Worth the Fight Series (18 page)

“Neither did you before you had her,” he pointed out quickly.

“Well, yeah, but I’m her mother.”

“And I’m her mother’s boyfriend. She’s living with me, for Christ sake. Listen, if you don’t think I can handle it, just tell me. Don’t make all these other excuses.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that…” She let out a breath.

“Stop fumbling with your necklace and make a decision. You gonna let me help or not?”

“Why would I burden you with yet one more thing?”

“Because I’m crazy about you. Because you need the help. Because you trust me. Because no one has ever had as much confidence in me as you do,” he said honestly. He gazed into her eyes, hoping that she would realize that, no matter how much she might feel she was taking advantage of him, he needed her and Belle as much as they needed him. And he needed to feel needed. Wanted. No one except his sister had ever loved him—ever.

With a tender look on her face, Penny smiled. “My daddy used to tell me that love isn’t something you find. It’s something that finds you. My first day at the Pier when you walked in, I wasn’t looking for love. Hell, I’m still not looking for it. I have so many problems, it should be the furthest thing from my mind. But you found me that first day, and, well…What can I say? My heart started its free fall. And then the day that you found me crying all alone and hugged me, that’s when I knew that one day I would look you straight in the eyes and tell you what a wonderful man you are and how lucky I am to love you. Because I do, Travis. I love you.” She kissed his lips. “And it’ll make me happy to have her at home with you. In her own bed. Safe.”

So overcome with emotion that he was unable to speak, Travis could only smile broadly. He was overjoyed by her words, even if he was scared of the intensity of his feelings for her. He tried to find the right thing to say in return, but before he could, Penny laughed and let him off the hook by asking, “You think you can handle a diaper change?”

Gratefully he took the opening she was giving him. “Only one, right? I mean how many times can a kid shit in the four hours you’re at work?”

Penny snickered. “Oh, cowboy. I hope you’re ready.”

“Okay, no more fuckin’ around.” He stood, dusted his hands against his shorts, and opened his arms. “Come on, Belle, baby. Come get a piece of this cake.”

Belle stopped what she was doing and began to crawl.

“No. No.” He handed the cake to Penny. “Hold this, momma.”

He jogged to Belle and stood her up. “Look at those kids there. You see how they move? That’s called walking.”

Penny snorted. “That’s not exactly how it works.”

“Shh. I got this.”

He held her hand as they walked together. “See, you got this. Come on, take a step.” She took a shaky step and then another.

“Told you,” he yelped. “Call me the baby whisperer from now on.” He let go of Belle’s hands. She took a step but then fell face-first and began to wail.

“You were saying, baby whisperer?”

He picked her up, gently brushed the sand off her face, and rocked her until she stopped crying. He glanced up at Penny. “Give me the fucking cake.”

“Bad words!” Penny warned, but she handed him the container. He took a bite and then fed Belle a bite until she stopped crying.

After they ate, Travis and Penny sat in the playground area so that Belle could play in the sandbox for a little while longer. But Penny did notice that she tried to stand up and take a step a few times.

Penny had spent the last four hours mixing drinks and talking to customers. She was surprised at how the nudity had stopped affecting her. She could now have a full conversation with any of the girls while they were completely naked, and it didn’t at all feel strange. And the girls had been so supportive. Once she told them her story—because, frankly, the cat was out of the bag already—they offered to take her home or watch Belle whenever she needed. They were all surprised she was living with Travis, but they only had good things to say about him.

Between customers she’d texted and called Travis to check up on him. The last time, about thirty minutes ago, he’d told her, “Stop callin’ already, Penny. You’re gonna wake baby girl.”
Baby girl
—that’s what he called Belle. It warmed her heart.

“You want a lift?” Darlene asked.

“That would be great, so long as it’s not inconvenient.”

“Not at all,” Darlene said as they headed toward her car. “God, I’m tired. I just want to get home, take a bath, and go to bed.”

“Me too,” Penny agreed. “How’d you do tonight?”

“Great. Killed it. You saw that bachelor party? They left me a four-hundred-dollar tip!”

“Wow! That’s great!”

“It is,” she agreed as she pulled up in front of Travis’s house.

“Thank you for the lift, Darlene. Good night.”

“Night, honey.”

She opened the front door of the house. It was quiet, and all of the lights were off except for the glow of the television. A Spider-Man video was playing, and Travis and Belle were lying on the carpet, both fast asleep. Travis was stretched out on his back, and Belle was sleeping with her head turned to the side, a little drool trickling from the side of her mouth onto Travis’s shirt. The sight gave Penny an ache in her chest. Was she being a bad mother by getting too attached to the man? Would Belle be okay if they didn’t last?

Penny gently bent down to pick up her daughter, but as soon as she moved her, Travis startled and tightened his grip on Belle.

“It’s okay, Travis. It’s just me.”

“Oh.” He loosened his grip. “Thought she was rolling off.”

“Good instincts, cowboy,” she whispered. Penny carried Belle to her room and laid her in the crib.

“How was she?” Penny asked when she came back to the living room.

“Great. She walked all the way from the kitchen to the living room without falling.”

“She did not!”

“She did. Well, we did a lot of practicing. She loves Spider-Man, by the way.”

“She does?”

“I told her I loved Spider-Man, and now so does she. Thank God, because that purple fuckin’ dinosaur was getting on my last nerve.”

Penny laughed. “And you? You okay? You want me to make you something to eat?”

“Nah.” He yawned. “I think I’m okay.”

“Thank you for watching her.”

He opened his arms.

“It was that bad that you need a hug?” she asked, walking into his arms.

“No, it wasn’t bad at all. Just wanted you close, is all.”

“Travis,” she whispered into his chest, “what am I going to do when you get tired of us? I think it would be the worst hurt of all.”

“I ain’t going anywhere, momma. Hurting you or Belle would kill me,” he confessed, his head moving a little lower on her neck. “You smell so fucking good.” He inhaled. “I think about you all the time. How you taste. How you feel wrapped around me.”

“Travis…”

In a low voice, barely a whisper, he said, “I bet you’re so fucking wet for me.” She looked up at him. “Tell me. Be my filthy girl.”

“Why can’t you just—” She broke off.

“What is it, darlin’?”

She cleared her throat. “Why can’t you just find out for yourself?”

“I think I will.” Then he paused. “I know I haven’t said the words, Penny. But you and Belle—this is still so big for me. I can’t imagine you two leaving, but I’m scared. What if I fuck up?”

“I’m willing to take that risk.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Belle started crying.

While Penny went to tend to her daughter, Travis looked around at what had at one point been his empty and cold house. Now there were toys neatly gathered in a corner, a blanket he’d personally bought for Belle one day draped over her bear at the end of the sectional, and noise, always noise: laughter, crying, yelling, cooing, or babble.

Aside from the whirlwind that was Belle, her mother had also left an imprint in the house. His house now smelled delicious because there was always food being cooked. Also, she’d purchased candles, which she’d placed safely out of Belle’s reach. There was also the perpetual smell of fabric softener, since Penny was always doing laundry. He was a tidy man, but his house was now always in perfect order, his hamper empty, and his refrigerator full. He never had alone time now. And that was actually very refreshing. He’d never realized what a solitary life he’d been living. Maybe it was because he hadn’t even been born alone, being a twin and all, but he loved having people around—always had.

He went to his room, which now smelled of Penny. It was funny how his cock didn’t get affected by the crying baby. He’d always imagined that having kids would be an instant mood killer. Well, that wasn’t it at all. It was more like delayed gratification. He stripped and lay in bed, his cock in his hand, waiting for his woman to come and ride him.

A few minutes later she leaned her cute little self against the door of the bedroom, not at all shocked that he was uninhibitedly stroking himself. “Sorry about the interruption.”

“Just making me crazier for you, is all.”

She pushed herself off the wall and slowly walked toward him. “I guess that’s good, then.”

“Stop there,” he commanded, one hand behind his neck, the other one moving slowly up and down. “Get naked for me. Slowly.”

“Uh…” She looked down shyly. “Not sure I know where to start.”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t picked up a few tricks from the girls at Ruby’s,” he said. “Although I better be the only one that gets to see this show.”

“Are you crazy? As if I’d ever be able to do this with anyone but you.” She kicked off her shoes first. Then she unbuttoned her shorts and slowly slid them down those long lean legs.

“You have the best legs I’ve ever seen. Did you run track or something?” he asked, sincerely curious.

“Not track, but I used to run a lot. Ran two marathons. I love to run.”

“I can tell.” He motioned with his finger for her to turn around. “Let me see that ass, baby.” She now stood with her shirt barely covering her ass. She slid her panties down her legs and cheekily threw them at him before she turned around. The minx bent over and touched the floor, exposing herself completely. “Jesus Christ,” he groaned. “Yes, that is definitely a runner’s ass,” he said, crawling over the bed to get to her. He kissed first one ass cheek and then the other. “Fuck the striptease—get that sexy ass in my bed right now.”

She pushed him away, flicking her hair like the sexy stripper she was pretending to be, but a little unsure of herself—which made it that much hotter.

“Oh, so you’re in control now?” He chuckled and lay back down. “Have at it, baby.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Do whatever you want.”

“What is your favorite thing? What do you like most?”

“It’s about you. I want you to feel good. Feel confident. I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me.”

“It makes me feel good when you feel good. Turning you on makes me excited.”

“Well, then we’re two peas in a fuckin’ pod, baby, because my favorite thing to do is have your pussy in my mouth.”

“Really? I thought you would say something else.”

“You thought I’d say that my favorite thing is getting a blow job?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Well, I’d be straight up lying if I said I didn’t love your mouth on my cock, but I’d still rather have my mouth on you. So now you have to figure the rest out. Ball’s in your court.”

She knelt on the bed by his feet. He was lying on his back, both hands behind his neck, his cock pointing straight up, waiting for her next move.

She sat up and pulled her shirt over her head, followed by her bra. Then she closed her eyes, as if she was getting the nerve to do whatever it was she was going to do. At last she stood up on the bed, put a leg on each side of his face, turned around, and then kneeled back down—her face facing his feet, her pussy on his face. Her scent and wetness were heady, and he didn’t hesitate in giving them what they both wanted. He licked from top to bottom, spreading her ass cheeks to make sure not to miss any spots. She reached for his cock, taking him in her mouth at the same time.

When he used his teeth to nibble on her clit, she almost bit off his dick. “Oh, darlin’, this ain’t such a good idea.”

“Sorry. Sorry. You surprised me. I’ll put my teeth away.” Then she took his dick so far into her throat he saw stars. “Ow!” she yelped. “Your fingers.” He was digging his nails into her ass cheeks unintentionally.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “You almost sucked my dick off, baby. Holy shit. Don’t you have a gag reflex? Do that shit again.” And she did, over and over again. It wasn’t going to take much to make him come. He put his tongue inside her and his fingers on her clit, moving them faster and harder, alternating fingers and tongue until she was moaning into his dick.

“Travis,” she cried out, stopping.

“Put my dick in your fucking mouth, baby.” He groaned as she came on his mouth and he exploded in hers.

She was so sated, she didn’t even move. She just relaxed onto him, his dick by her face. “It’s moving,” she said with a chuckle.

“It’s happy that you just did all sorts of crazy shit to it. You know your pussy’s still at tongue distance from me?”

“I know. I’ll move in a second.”

He licked it, and she jumped off. “No! It’s too sensitive,” she yelled.

He laughed, then walked into the bathroom and washed up. She did the same, and then they fell asleep, completely sated.

“I’m so nervous,” Penny said to Olivia. It was the next day and Olivia was taking Belle with her and her kids to the zoo while Penny and Travis went to the lawyer’s office to deal with Lawrence. Penny’s hands shook as she handed Olivia a small bag with Belle’s things for the day.

“Why’re you nervous, momma?” Travis asked from across the room where he was talking to Will, Olivia’s husband.

“What if he doesn’t sign? What if he does something bad?”

“C’mere.” He pulled her into his arms and held her until her heart settled. “Better?”

“Much.”

“Y’all are so cute,” Olivia remarked. “Aren’t they, Will?”

“Adorable,” the big bearded man with a round belly said with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, hush,” Olivia admonished. “They’re the cutest. Anyway, good luck today. Let’s go, Belle.”

“Twavis,” Belle cried.

“It’s cool, baby girl. Look, your friend Meg wants to play with you.”

“My Twavis.”

“How about you go with Olivia, and when we’re finished, we’ll pick you up and go to the toy store?”

“Travis! You can’t keep buying her stuff,” Penny argued.

“Don’t listen to your momma. She doesn’t understand us. Isn’t that right?” Travis said to Belle, then carefully set her down on the floor. “Go kiss your momma goodbye, darlin’.” All morning Belle had been walking. She was still wobbly, but she’d been making a lot of improvement.

“You have to let her go, Travis,” Penny laughed. Travis was inches from her every time she tried to walk, ready to catch her. It was cute and sweet, though she thought maybe it wasn’t helping Belle improve as quickly as she could. Belle took a few steps and teetered but continued to take unsure strides toward Penny. When she finally reached her, she squealed, “Mama!” Penny swooped her up as everyone else cheered her on.

“Way to go, Belle!” Will cheered.

“That’s my girl!” As Travis hugged Penny and Belle, Penny realized that everything really would be okay.

Once everyone was gone, Travis turned to Penny. “Okay, tell me the truth—are you going to be okay? You want me to go without you? I can ask if that’s okay.”

“I’m fine. Just a case of the nerves, but I’ll be okay. Plus, seeing you dressed like that—I can’t back out now, even if it’s to do something as unpleasant as seeing Lawrence.”

“I hate wearing this monkey suit,” Travis complained, pulling at his collar.

“You look great, cowboy.” She adjusted his tie.

“Thanks. And you in that suit…you look like how I picture you looked all the time in your previous life.”

“That’s exactly what it feels like—another life. You make this one so much better, Travis,” she said. “You think this looks okay, then? Olivia’s smaller than me.”

“Looks great to me. Although the best look is you in my T-shirt, your hair all crazy, wearing your glasses.” He pulled her in and kissed her hard. “You ready to go, momma?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Travis and Penny walked into the attorney’s office hand in hand. Lawrence was already there. He sat in the waiting room, his leg bobbing up and down, his hair disheveled, his tie askew. He looked nothing like the man she’d once thought she loved. Or maybe she had been so hurt by him that any attraction she’d ever felt for him had disappeared. The only part of him that she found at all interesting anymore were his deep blue eyes—the same blue eyes that Belle had.

“Does Kip know you’re doing this?” Penny asked.

“No. Let’s hurry and get this over with,” Lawrence said.

The receptionist escorted them into a large conference room. The process was relatively straightforward and quick, and it felt a little anticlimactic. The only surprise had been a clause that Travis had added that the monies would be transferred from the attorney’s escrow account only when Lawrence showed proof that he had left the state of Florida; after a quick negotiation, Travis agreed to release ten thousand dollars immediately, but the rest would be subject to that clause. Lawrence signed on the dotted line, and in about an hour’s time, he no longer had any parental rights to Belle. Basically, Penny thought, all her problems had been solved.

“Penelope, I’m sorry that things turned out this way,” Lawrence said as he got up to leave.

“I can’t forgive you, Lawrence. What you did…what happened to the pious man I knew? The one who was going to change the world through service? You aren’t the person you pretend to be, Lawrence, and I am glad you are out of our lives.”

“I’m pretending?” he asked, looking at Travis, whose arms were crossed, legs shoulder-width apart, looking as if he would knock him out at just the slightest provocation.

“This man right here,” Penny said, gesturing toward Travis, “he’s a man. A real man. He doesn’t need to pretend. He stood up and helped me and Belle when all you did was knock us down over and over.” She took a step toward Lawrence, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Travis tense, as if he feared she was going to strike Lawrence. “You’ll have this money, but when it runs out, then you will have nothing left. You will be empty. This man,” she said, reaching behind her and taking Travis’s hand, “is the kind of man I prayed for. The kind of man Belle needs in her life. He is strong both outside and inside. You are weak and vile.” She looked at Travis and nodded. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Remind me never to piss you off, momma,” he chuckled as they walked out of the building. As soon as they were by his truck, he pulled her to him abruptly and gave her a kiss. “I’m so goddamn proud of you.”

Just as Lawrence drove away in his rental car, a caravan of cars pulled up outside the attorney’s office building. “Shit,” Travis cursed. “Guess it’s better to deal with all the shit now in one shot, right?”

“What is going on?” Kip roared, emerging from his car and taking long steps toward Penny.

“It’s over,” Penny declared.

“Where’s Lawrence? What have you done?”

“He’s gone. You will not hear from him again. What else do you have for me, Kip?”

“What are you going to tell the media?” Kip asked, sounding desperate.

“Honestly, I don’t want to tell them anything. I just want to live my life in peace.”

“
I
have to deal with it! You might want to go live in your little town, sleeping with random men and getting pregnant, but I’m the one getting the blowback. I have to answer for why my daughter strayed from the flock.”

“Enough!” Travis finally spoke up. “If you think I’ll stand by and allow you to insult her, you’ve got another thing coming. Unless you want all your dirty laundry aired on HBO, you apologize right the fuck now.”

“If you leave us alone, Kip,” Penny offered, “I’ll do the same for you. You can tell the media that I fell in love and moved away—you could find an explanation that doesn’t include painting me as the town whore. But if that’s the stance you want to take, I’ll defend myself, and not because I care what people say about me, but because I don’t want Belle ever thinking that about her mother. She should never think she’s not wanted or that she was a mistake. So I’ll follow your lead, Kip. We can part ways civilly right now, or we can go to war. You pick.”

“And don’t forget I’ve got access to the media too, Kip,” Travis added.

Kip took a few deep breaths.

“The media won’t like that you sent your stepdaughter to Fresh Start. You paid for it, and there are witnesses, I’m sure. Records I can find,” she added.

He didn’t answer for a moment, then threw his arms up. “Fine!” he growled. “But if I go down, I’ll take you down with me. So you better keep your mouths shut.”

“Nice,” Penny shot back. “That something you’re teaching your congregation these days?”

“Take care of yourself, Penelope,” he snarled as he got back into his car.

“You too, Kip.”

Silently they watched him leave.

At last Travis remarked, “Jesus, he’s an asshole.”

“Tell me about it,” snorted Penny. “Hey, you want to have lunch before we call Olivia? They’re just getting started at the zoo, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, helping her into the truck.

“I’d also like to visit your sister and the babies, if you’re up to it.”

“Sounds good,” he said, looking off into the distance.

“Are you okay?”

He looked over then, smiled, and took her hand and kissed it. “Of course. I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

Since they were all dressed up, Travis took them to a local steakhouse called the Tackle Box. “This is so good, cowboy,” she said, taking a bite of her filet mignon. “One day when this is all over, I’d like to find a ranch and take you horseback riding.”

“You and your cowboys,” he laughed. “You know I couldn’t ride a horse even if my life depended on it, right?”

“I’ll teach you.”

“You want another glass of wine?”

“No, I’m good, thanks.”

They continued with their meal, but he was still unusually quiet. At last she put her fork down.

“Travis, what’s wrong? Tell me. You regret it? It was a lot of money. I wouldn’t blame—”

“No.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “How could you possibly think that?”

She played with her pearls. “You’ve been really quiet, which is not like you.”

He let out a breath. “I miss Belle. I was kind of hoping we could celebrate together. All three of us. It’s a pretty special day. Maybe not exactly a great day, since, well, now she’s officially without a father. But he was a shitty father, so maybe it’s better for her to have no daddy than to have a shitty daddy, right? Anyway, I just—”

She put her napkin down, stood up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor, walked around to his side of the table, and sat on his lap. She wasn’t a bold person, not at all. But today she didn’t care who saw. “I love you, Travis Calhoun. Every day you give me more reasons to love you. I miss Belle too, but I thought you’d prefer a quiet meal. If you’d rather be with her, then let’s get out of here.”

He kissed her hard and signaled for the check. When the check arrived, Penny took it. “Please. It’s the least I can do.”

“No fuckin’ way,” he argued, trying to get it. “Penny, darlin’, don’t make me spank you right here, in front of all these nice people enjoying their meals.” She raised a brow in defiance. “Bend over, momma,” he warned.

She laughed and dropped the bill on his lap. “But you can still spank me later if you want.” She winked.

After they picked Belle up and visited JL, Enzo, and the twins, the three of them went home and fell asleep watching
Barney
on Travis’s king-size bed.