Nate smiled, obviously catching on. He never was slow on the uptake. “Oh, I definitely have a little time.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

The following Monday I asked at the school for a cleaning job, but the Principal was a little reluctant to let me clean because apparently it ‘wasn’t a teacher’s place to be seen doing that’. However, he did offer to give me an extra hour and a half work each day. Instead of cleaning, I was helping in one of the afterschool clubs. It worked out perfectly because I was allowed to have DJ there for free, so I didn’t need to arrange additional childcare.

Everything was great again. Josh hadn’t called me for the last two weeks, so I was a little unsure where we stood but, from what he’d said, he still wanted to see DJ. Today was Friday, and this was his custody weekend, so I’d just have to wait and see if he turned up to collect his son or not. Nate was less than happy with him; well, ‘less than happy’ seemed to the understatement of the century. He’d insisted on being there tonight in case Josh came. I had visions of their being a stand-off and threats of decapitation if Josh ever tried to come between us again.

“Momma, look what I made for Daddy,” DJ boasted, pointing down at a piece of paper that was covered in glitter and glue.

I smiled at his effort. “That’s great, Baby, he’ll like that.”

“Can you put it up to drys? I want to take it home and gived it to Nate tonight.”

I frowned at his words. “Nate? I thought you said it was for Daddy.” I picked up his soggy mess of a picture and set it on the drying rack.

DJ smiled sheepishly. “Oops, I meaned Nate,” he corrected, nodding happily as he skipped off to the sinks to wash his hands. I watched him with an open mouth; my heart practically melted in my chest at his innocent mistake. Silently, I wished that Nate really was DJ’s dad. He already did a better job than Josh did; DJ saw that too. I felt bad for Josh, but it was his own fault. Nate had never once let DJ down, he always paid him attention, he was always interested in what he had to say. They were adorable together, and the way they interacted just made my heart ache. Nate was the complete opposite to Josh in every single way.

When the last child had been picked up, DJ and I were ready to leave. I was well and truly ready for the weekend. Nate and I had two different weekends planned – one with DJ, one without, depending on whether Josh turned up tonight or not. Either we were spending the day tomorrow at the ball park, or we were going to the movies to watch some action flick that Nate chose.

As we walked out of the school, I spotted a lone handsome figure leaning against a tree. A smile stretched across my face at the sight of him. DJ squealed and let go of my hand, running towards Nate, who grinned and picked him up, laughing as DJ hugged the life out of him. I practically skipped the last few steps to his side. His eyes locked on mine; a cocky, sexy little smile graced his lips as if he knew was I was thinking.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” I asked, leaning in and pressing my lips against his, feeling the familiar little zing zip through me that his kisses always caused.

“I have to work tonight now. Someone called in sick on the night shift, so I have to cover. They let me off early so I could get some sleep before,” he explained, shrugging, smiling apologetically.

“Well, shouldn’t you be in bed then if you’re working all night?” I asked, frowning, realising that his explanation didn’t really make sense.

He smiled sheepishly. “I’m not tired. So, instead, I thought maybe DJ would like another shot on his bike. We could go to the park with it?” he offered, raising his eyebrows at DJ, who nodded eagerly with wide eyes.

Nate had decided last weekend that he wanted to teach DJ how to ride his bike without training wheels. It was adorable to watch him running up and down the park behind DJ’s bike, both of them laughing together. It was one of the sweetest things I’d ever seen in my life.

“Yeah, I want to! Momma, can we?”

I shrugged in response, looking at Nate to see if he was really willing to do that. He really should be catching some sleep if he was working all night.

“I already brought your bike, Kid. So even if Momma says no, then we can still ride it home.” He nodded down at DJ’s bike that was leaning against the tree.

DJ made the happy little squeal again and wriggled until Nate set him down on his feet. As DJ made a dash for his bike, I stepped closer to Nate and wrapped my arms around his neck, gripping my hand into the back of his hair, just looking into his eyes. I’d never met anyone more incredible than him; I hoped he knew how special he was.

I didn’t speak, just leant in and pressed my lips against his. He kissed me back instantly, and I smiled against his mouth as one of his hands trailed around to squeeze my ass.

“Nate, I’m readys!” DJ shouted impatiently.

Nate’s lips left mine. As he smiled down at my son, it felt like a hundred butterflies had been let loose in my stomach. Just the way he looked at him made me ache inside. “Okay, Kid. Just let me kiss Momma one more time and then I’m all yours,” Nate replied, winking at him. He turned back to me and pressed his lips to mine again quickly before pulling back. “By the way, hi, Stripes.” He kissed the tip of my nose lightly, and then he was gone.

I watched as he headed over to DJ, holding the bike steady, giving him instructions on where to put the peddles so he could start off. I sighed dreamily as I watched the exchange between them; the little smiles, the sparkling eyes, the affection. All of it made me happier than I ever thought possible.

We spent an hour down the park before finally getting a McDonalds on the way home. By the time we got to my place, DJ was tired and covered in both food and glitter. Nate was covered in glitter too, because DJ had given him the picture while we ate.

When DJ went to wash his hands and face, Nate and I plopped down onto the sofa. “So, did you speak to Josh today? Is he coming or what?” he asked. His body tensed up when he said Josh’s name.

I shrugged and shook my head. “I didn’t speak to him; I don’t want to call him so I’ll just see if he turns up.”

Nate nodded. “Okay, well I need to leave about nine o’clock so I can get changed and stuff for work. I’m working until six tomorrow, so when I’m done working, I’ll head home and catch a couple of hours sleep. I’ll come back here at around lunchtime, okay? I wish I could come back here instead. I have a key; I could let myself in and come ravage you to wake you up.”

He sounded so sexy that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I’d given Nate an emergency spare key about a month ago. “I like the sound of that, but you shouldn’t come here. DJ’s noisy; he’ll keep you awake while you’re trying to sleep in the morning.” At least if he went home to his place, then he’d get the morning of uninterrupted sleep.

Nate sighed, his eyebrows knitting together in disappointment. “Yeah, I guess,” he grudgingly admitted. “I really need some bed time with you,” he whispered, pressing his lips to mine softly.

I swallowed my lust. “You only want me for my body,” I teased, knowing that statement wasn’t true in the slightest. It couldn’t be true, because no matter how hard I tried, how much I teased him, how many times I’d begged, we still hadn’t done the nasty.

He smiled. “I just miss you all the time,” he replied. DJ came skipping back in to the room then, and Nate smiled at him tenderly. “Both of you,” he added as DJ jumped into his lap.

“Are we still gonna play wars at the ball park tomorrow like you saids?” DJ asked.

“Depends if your dad comes to pick you up for the weekend, Kid.”

DJ frowned. “I don’t want to go with Daddy, I want to go to the ball park with you,” he whined, slipping an arm around Nate’s neck.

Nate’s whole face lit up as a proud smile stretched across his face. Looking at the pair of them, I couldn’t help but wish that Nate would stay here with us forever. I just prayed to God that this was my life now.

As I was expecting, Josh didn’t turn up, which seemed to please Nate. It pleased me too actually. I didn’t want to see him again after the last time I’d spoken to him and he’d told me how much DJ and I had screwed up his life. I wanted nothing more to do with him, but technically, I didn’t have any rights to stop him seeing his child – much to my disappointment. Nate put DJ to bed as per my baby’s request. I could hear them talking in the bedroom about who was going to kick who’s butt tomorrow in the ball throwing war they were planning.

Finally, Nate closed the bedroom door, grinning like an idiot as he walked up behind me where I was making coffee, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“You have a really awesome kid in there.”

I smiled and nodded. “I know. I have a really awesome man out here too,” I countered, tipping my head to the side as he nibbled on my neck.

“Yeah, I’m so great that I should have theme music playing every time I enter a room,” he joked. I giggled and rolled my eyes, pouring the hot water into the mugs.

Nate’s hand trailed under my shirt, caressing my stomach as he pressed his chest against my back, trapping me against the counter. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the attention and the feel of his body pressed against mine. I was seriously going to miss him in the bed tonight. When Nate wrapped his body around mine, I slept like a baby every time.

We watched TV for a little while, flicking through channels, not really settling on anything. I didn’t care what we did, to be honest, I was just happy to sit on the sofa in silence and hold his hand. At nine o’clock, he sighed dramatically.

“I’d better go,” he grumbled. One of his hands moved to cup my face, guiding my mouth to his gently. He kissed me softly then groaned as he pulled away. “I hate the night shift.”

Me too.

“I’ll tell you what, tomorrow night I’ll make up for two nights in one,” I promised, looking at him suggestively as I licked my lips slowly.

His body stiffened as he sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Now I’m going to be thinking dirty thoughts about your mouth all night,” he whined, his eyes locked on my lips.

I smirked at him. That had been my intention. “You keep thinking those dirty thoughts, and tomorrow night, I’ll make them into a reality for you. I want one thing in return,” I teased, playing with the collar of his T-shirt. He nodded encouragingly; it looked like I could ask for anything and I’d get it based on the expression on his face. “Bring the uniform home again,” I requested, chewing on my lip.

He grinned at me cockily. “The uniform is becoming a regular thing now; I think you’ve developed a little fetish for authority figures.” His hands tightened on me, pulling me closer.

I nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right, the other day I started fantasising about my boss…” I lied, trailing off as he practically dived on me and tickling me like crazy, making me giggle and squirm. He stopped when I was gasping for breath and squealing.

He grinned and brushed my hair from my face softly. “This flushed, breathless face is definitely being added to the dirty thoughts that are going to get me through the long and boring night.”

I smiled sadly and stroked the side of his face. “You should go. You don’t want to be late,” I whispered. He nodded, just staring down at me, unmoving. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his jaw was tight, as if he was stopping himself or something. “Go, Nate,” I prompted, when he still made no moves to get off me.

He sighed dramatically and pushed himself off me. “See you tomorrow then.”

I walked him to the front door, kissing him gently and watching as he stalked off to the stairs. I smiled to myself and touched my finger to my lips, replaying his kisses in my head. When I couldn’t put it off any longer, I closed the door and headed back into the lounge, turning off the TV. There was no point in me staying up on my own. After checking DJ was asleep, I headed into my room, changing into my pyjamas and climbing into my cold bed. Pulling Nate’s pillow to me, I hugged it until I fell asleep.

I woke to a loud incessant beeping. So loud, in fact, that it hurt my ears. I jerked up, not having a clue what it was; my heart was crashing in my chest as I struggled to understand what was going on. Was DJ doing that? I gulped a couple of times, and suddenly it hit me like a truck what that was. I sucked in a ragged breath, immediately choking as the smoke filled my lungs.

Fire.

I jumped out of the bed, panicked. The only thing I could think about was DJ. My legs moved of their own accord as I yanked open my door. Immediately, I was engulfed in smoke. I couldn’t think clearly. The flames were everywhere, licking at the walls, spreading across the floor. For a couple of terrifying seconds I just stood there and stared at it, my body not responding to my mind that was screaming and screaming that we needed to get out. I was in total panic mode as I watched the yellow and orange flames devour our home.

Then my mind seemed to flick itself back on as if snapping out of some sort of trance. The only thing I could think about was DJ. Just as I started to run towards his bedroom door, something fell down from the ceiling in front of me, almost crushing me. I screeched to a halt, jumping back as flames immediately started lashing out, scorching the hairs on my arms.

“DJ! Baby, get up, now! There’s a fire. Baby, get up!” I screamed, pressing my back against the wall, trying to inch past the burning pile of ceiling that was in front of me. DJ’s room was on the other side of the flaming mess that was part of my ceiling two seconds ago.