He agreed. He'd actually agreed. I had only been able to stare at him, surprised. He'd kissed me, distracting me, and I eventually called Marie to let her know. Even now, watching him nap, I couldn't believe he'd said yes. I couldn't work out if he had said yes for me, for Lucy or for Marie. Maybe for all three. Either way, I was officially engaged- even if we were faking it. I still can't believe he just went along with it so easily.

Ensuring Lucy was close enough, in case I had to suction her, I crawled onto the couch with Nick. He was muttering, stirring as I settled on his chest. A sleepy grin told me he liked my idea, hands lazily coming to my waist. He'd lost the shirt, giving me the perfect opportunity to explore his torso, unrestricted or hurried by the need to have him inside me. He muttered some more, hands sliding down to grip my ass.

"I'm trying to sleep, babe" I could feel him hardening beneath me, despite his sleepiness.

"I wanted to say thank you. For going along with this" I thought he was asleep again, silence meeting me. Then he blinked his eyes open, trying to focus on me.

"Sweetheart, don't thank me. I'm happy to do it. I probably won't find another woman like you, anyway" I watched him drift off to sleep again, confused. I had no idea what he was talking about, deciding it must have been his sleepy mind talking. He does say weird shit when he's tired.

Settling in to have a quick nap, I reached over and rested my hand on Lucy's tray. I would have a dead arm when I woke, but she would remain entertained and let me have a little more sleep. I hadn't slept well, so I needed it. Plus, I just enjoyed lying on top of Nick.

~~~

The park was empty, no children around. Lucy didn't mind, squeeling when I sat her in the grass. I would take her on the slide later, but she'd just had her afternoon feed. She needed to sit for a little. The last thing I wanted was her throwing up and aspirating it.

"We'll go on the slides in a minute, eh? When Nick gets here. How about that?" She grinned, waving her arms with a squeal. I laughed with her, letting her shaking fingers explore the grass. Shifting, I pulled her up and crossed my legs. It took some fancy manuevering, but I managed to get her off the foam chair I had for her, and onto my crossed legs. She didn't argue, making sounds at me. Her oxegyn tubing got caught on my knee, making me flinch in guilt. It pulled on her face for a second, until I pulled it free. She didn't mind, not even throwing a tantrum.

"Ladies. How are we today? How's Lucy?" I looked up, finding a smiling Walker. He looked gorgeous today, just in a pair of jeans and a white shirt. The day's worth of growth in his face looked like it was perfectly planned. I had a feeling he may have even trimmed it to look so perfect. He sat, smiling and making himself comfortable. There was the usual space between us, but it seemed smaller. He was closer.

"We're good. Well, good enough. Lucy's out of hospital again. We're just having some other issues at the moment" his face flashed on concern, but I was disappointed when he didn't ask about Lucy's hospital stay. He was always more interested in me than Lucy, and that wasn't how I liked things. I liked all the attention being on Lucy. I hated attention, and she loved it, so it worked well.

"What's wrong? Anything I can do to help?" I smiled politely, noticing that he was defiantly sitting closer. I considered his offer, aware that he was a lawyer after previous conversations.

"No, it's alright. Thanks. I have a lawyer already. She's a friend of the family" which was pretty true, in a way, as I'd always considered Marie's family like mine- sometimes even more than my own family. Walker almost appeared hurt, that I didn't jump at his offer. There was something else there, too, that I couldn't pin point.

"Jess, you know you can tell me anything. Right? I'm here for you. I was actually thinking that we could go..." He trailed off, giving me a second to think. Was he about to ask me out? Shit. I hoped not. That would make things so awkward. I hadn't encouraged any romance, at all. Everything I had done or said was platonic. I had practically been polite most of the time. Then I realised he was staring at something, suspicion rising in his eyes and marring his perfect features.

I twisted as much as I could, finding a giant striding towards us. Nick had never looked so...determined. He's upset. I felt my heart sink, realising what it looked like. We hadn't discussed if we were in a committed relationship or not- aside from the whole fake engagement- so I didn't know where we stood with cheating. Would Nick consider hanging with Walker as cheating? It wasn't, in my books, but I felt oddly nervous. Swallowing, I smiled up at his looming figure. I didn't need to look at Walker to know he was probably shitting himself.

"Hey babe" he crouched, kissing me passionately. I startled in surprise, not having expected such a heated kiss in public. Lucy giggled, pulling at Nick. She wanted him to hold her. He pulled away, eyes still dark. He's jealous. The thought was oddly pleasing.

"Hi" he pressed another quick kiss to my cheek before sitting beside me, reaching for Lucy. I let him, helping transfer her to his legs. She started gurgling and talking, happy to have him. I hadn't realised just how much Lucy loved Nick, but she did.

"Hey, mate. I'm Nick" Nick held his hand out to Walker, arm brushing my chest as he did. I leant back, glancing at Walker. He almost looked strangled. I would have said angry, but he was too composed to look angry.

"Walker. Paul Walker. Nice meeting you" his eyes flicked between Nick and I before he continued.

"I've never seen you down here with Jess" I was surprised to hear the challenge in his voice, as if he had already staked claim. I noticed that his eyes had followed my body language, obviously noting how I had responded to Nick so far. It probably looked like I wasn't interested, rather than me just being uncomfortable with so much PDA all of the sudden. Damn it.

"I usually come down while he's at work or something" I didn't flinch when Nick brought his now-free hand to my thigh, instead placing my hand over his. I regretted wearing shorts, able to feel the intense heat coming from his hand. He was definitely staking his claim, more possessive than I ever expected him to be. He was the nice guy, and nice guys didn't get jealous.

"Oh... So, you live together?" I flushed, realised what it looked like. It probably looked like I had been stinging him along with a man at home.

"Yes. Haven't I mentioned Nick? I'm sure I did the day we met- that's when I moved in with him" Walker nodded, probably able to remember our first conversation word for word. I hadn't mentioned Nick as a partner, let alone met him.

"So your dating...?" I opened my mouth to respond, but Nick beat me to it.

"We're engaged" Walker's eyes danced down to my fingers, doubt creeping into his expression.

"No ring?"

"I hated the idea of scratching Lucy. A wedding band would suit much better" it wasn't technically lying, all truth. That was probably why I was so convincing. I'd never been a liar, and I didn't relish the thought of becoming one now.

Moose distracted everyone, bounding out of no where. He'd been playing with another dog, but I hadn't noticed him. Lucy squealed, making Nick laugh. The tension didn't break until Walker left, joking about going to the dentist. Nick and I took Lucy on the slide, avoiding any awkward topics.

We went home in silence, having something to eat and going through our usual routines. The silence didn't leave, no matter how many times I tried to draw him out and start a conversation. Slowly giving up throughout the day, I waited for him to cool off enough to talk.

We were watching a movie, again. I didn't know what possessed me to put a movie on, but I hadn't been able to handle the silence any longer. Lucy was in bed, so she wasn't there to fill the void of sound. Instead, it was just Nick and I. Marie was supposed to come over for dinner, but had bailed on us with something from work coming up. We made it halfway through the movie before I cracked.

"Why are you angry at me?" Nick didn't look at me, still staring at the screen. I waited, anxious. Had he changed his mind about the whole fake engagement thing? I watched him sigh, his massive shoulder slumping.

"No. Yes. Sort of. I'm not angry at you, exactly. I wanna throttle that jackass, though. The fucker was about to make a move on you" his eyes met mine, anger swirling in those brown depths. I loved how warm his eyes were, so deep and pulling. You could get lost in them if you weren't careful. Especially when they were spiked with emotion.

"So you were jealous" he brows furrowed, lips pursing. Now he was angry at me. It was an odd experience, something that hadn't happened yet. I'd never pissed Nick off before. He yanked me onto his lap, hands going to my ass and gripping tightly. My hands went to his shoulders, anticipation racing trough me despite his actions. He wouldn't hurt me.

"No, Jessica. I wasn't jealous. Jealous is when you want something that isn't yours. You are mine. Possessive? That's the term you want. That fucker was undressing what mine with his fucking eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to kill him. You understand?" He ground me against his already growing erection, growling when I gasped.

"He wasn't doing anything. Just-" I shrieked, surprised when he easily lifted me and moved me. My belly met his thighs, head coming to rest on the couch. Lifting it, I tried to look at him.

"Nick?"

"No. Fuck. You don't understand. We need to get one thing straight. You're mine. I'm yours. You don't fuck anyone else. I don't fuck anyone else. I don't share" I jolted, moaning when his hands travelled between my legs. He unbuttoned my shorts, pulling the zipper down. I whimpered, ready to beg. I was so turned on already, my throat tight with need. He was so sexy when he got like this, all apeman rough. I startled when he ripped my shorts down, leaving them under my ass. My underwear joined them, leaving my ass exposed.

I didn't understand what was happening until he hit me, a sharp slap against my ass. Crying out, I was shocked at how much it turned me on. Nick was spanking me. He did it again, growling when I moaned. I jerked back against his fingers when they started teasing my vagina, easily slipping inside me.

"Fuck. You're so wet. Did you enjoy that? Such a dirty girl. Maybe I should give you a clean" he curled his fingers roughly, knowing I liked it like that. I groaned, sobbing when he kept doing it. When he added two more fingers, I came loudly. He surprised me, flipping me onto my back and slipping off the couch. My shorts and underwear were pulled off, my legs yanked over his shoulders.

With anyone else, I would have been worried about my ass hanging over the side of the mattress. With Nick, I didn't care. All that mattered was him, especially when he started licking me. I resisted the urge to close my eyes, becoming obsessed with the image of his head between my legs. He bit my clit, drawing a surprising orgasm from me. I gripped his hair, riding my climax out as he kept licking. When I slumped, he reluctantly stopped.

My underwear and shorts were pulled back up, Nick leaving the room without a word. I didn't understand, momentarily panicking. When he returned, grabbing the baby monitor and my hand, I relaxed. There was a condom in his hand, silver foil catching the light. He pulled me down the hallway, letting me stop to quickly check on Lucy. She was still sleeping, out for the night. He surprised me when he drew me into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

The baby monitor went to the towel rack, Nick checking that the settings were all correct. I watched him turn the knobs in the shower, slowly pulling my clothes off while he checked the temperature. When he stripped and pulled me under the spray, I went. I let him kiss me, rolling the condom on for him and touching every inch of skin in reach. I clung to him as he lifted me, pressing me against the tiled wall and positioning himself at my entrance.

When he pushed in, it burned a little, but I didn't care. Urging him to keep going, I cried out over and over again. He kept talking to me, saying things that would have made me blush if he wasn't buried so deeply inside me. When he begged me to come, I did, the walls of my vagina strangling him as I flew into my orgasm. He followed me, pressing me tighter against the wall.

"Mine"

"Yes. Yes. Yours. Only yours. Always yours" I wanted to cry, coming to a startling realisation. I meant every word I said.

I was in love with him.