What's Next?

I was standing outside in the hallway at the doctor's office listening to Ashley & Alexa's conversation. I knew I shouldn't but again I didn't care. I wanted to see if Ashley would say anything to Alexa about me kissing her. I wanted to do it again and again, but I knew Ashley was naive and she didn't understand the passion between us. I was planning on exploring that and I hoped my chocolate eyed vixen agreed.

"Ashley, are you sure you can trust him?" I heard Alexa ask her. I couldn't see Ashley's face, but I needed to know the answer. It was very important that she trust me.

"Alexa, he knew. We never talked about Shannon as Sophie's mother, but he point blank asked if she was her mother. How else could he have known?" Ashley replied.

"If that's true, then I wonder if everything she told us about that night is true?" Alexa wondered. What did she say about me? I wondered if I should I be worried. Should I even care? Shannon was a wild one and I always give my partners anything they want. It was always about their pleasure.

"Lex, I really don't want to think about that right now." Ashley answered.

"Why?" Alexa asked. Yea, Ashley, why? What did Shannon say?

"I don't want to talk about it." I heard Ashley say. I could tell she was clenching her teeth.

"Oh My God! He kissed you, didn't he? Oh my God he did. What was it like? Come on girl give me details." Alexa exclaimed. I smiled to myself. I could almost picture her jumping up and down with joy.

"Lex, just drop it. He was just trying to butter me up to get information about Sophie and Shannon, that's it." Ashley responded. I could see a brown eyed little minx needed to be set straight on that. The sooner the better. I decided to break up their little jab fest so I knocked gently on the door.

"Come in." It was Alexa that invited me in so I opened the door to join to the two girls. The first thing I noticed was the pink tint of a blush on Ashley's face. I bet that was how Alexa knew I had kissed her. That small blush made my cock go to twitching, but I ignored it.

"Ladies." I greeted them with a grin. I then nodded to them both and Alexa smiled at me. I gave her a slight smile before turning to Ashley who was holding Sophie in her lap. Alexa grabbed something off the counter and turned to face me.

"Okay, Mr. Manoso, open your mouth." She told me so I opened up and she slid the little cotton swab inside my mouth. She took a few swipes before pulling out the swab and placing it back into its little container. "Thank you. The results should be in... in about a week." She replied.

"Thank you, Alexa." I said and she smiled at me. "No problem." She replied before going over to Ashley and giving Sophie a kiss. "Bye-Bye Sophie-Bug." With that said she waved good bye and walked out the door.

"Ashley, you ready?" I asked. She nodded her head and got down from the little table. I put my hand on the small of her back and she tensed up. I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Relax, Little Vixen, I'm not going to bite you." I told her and she relaxed. I couldn't help but add. "For now." Her whole face flushed with a pink tint and my cock went back to throbbing full force. I still couldn't get over how fucking hot she was. She acted like she didn't even know it. But then again, she probably didn't.

"Where to now, Ashley?" I asked her. She turned to look at me, but before she can say anything, we were interrupted.

"Lil Bit, are you ready to go?" We both turned to face Jeremy. I was already pissed. Just by the sight of him. Ashley smiled at him and my jaw tightened painfully.

"Yea, here take Bug and put her in the car seat." She stated as she handed Sophie to Jeremy and turned back to me.

"Jeremy is going to take us home." She told me. That pissed me off and she could tell. She backed up a step and I took a step forward.

"Don't run from me, Ashley." I challenged. She stood her ground. That made me a little less pissed off.

"Why is Jeremy taking you home, when I brought you here?" I demanded to know. She threw me a dirty look and I grinned.

"I have to fly to New York and Jeremy is going to watch her. Okay?" She barked at me. She started to walk away, but I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wrong, not okay. Why?" I questioned.

"Why what?"

"Why him?"

"Because he's watched her before and she knows him."

"I'm her father."

"We don't know that right now and until I do, I'm not leaving my daughter with you by herself." She replied back; smartly. Her protective mother side was coming out and I couldn't help but get turned on. Damn, I really needed to get laid!

"Fine, but you and me need to talk when you get back." I told her. I then leaned down and brushed my lips across hers once, then twice before pulling away. I leave her standing there stunned and speechless.

One Week Later-

Sophie Elizabeth Monroe is my daughter. The results were positive. There was no room left for doubt. Although I never doubted it. I always knew that she was mine. Ashley wasn't going to like it, but that was just tough. Now, I had a reason to hang around there. Being around Sophie meant being around Ashley a lot more. I wasn't going to be able to keep my hands off her. Yea, like I was even going to try to keep my hands off her. Nope, before it was over, Ashley and I would end up in bed. Should I do that? What if Ashley wanted more than just a quick fuck or even a brief affair. I couldn't give her a relationship, in fact I won't. I don't do relationships, not now, not ever.

First things first, I needed to change Sophie's last name to mine and then get my name on the birth certificate. I needed to go see Ashley and Sophie. I grabbed the paper with the results, my keys to the turbo, my phone and walk out of the apartment. I jogged down the stairs and headed to my Turbo. A few minutes later I pulled up in front of Ashley's place. I got out and walked to her door. I could hear voices but couldn't make them out. I rang the doorbell and waited. Jeremy answered the door and I couldn't help the surge of jealously, rage, and the feeling of protectiveness that ran through me.

"Is Ashley here?" I asked him. He glared at me and I gave him my blank face. Does he want me to send him to a third world country? Because I would. I didn't like him around Ashley.

"Yea, come on in." He turned around and walked off so I followed behind him. He headed to the kitchen and by the time I got there, he had Ashley wrapped in his arms. My fists clenched and my jaw tightened. The rage I was feeling was coming off of me in waves. He whispered something to her and she smiled at him. She nodded her head and he dropped a kiss on her mouth. Nothing more than a peck, but it just pissed me off more. He let go of her, nodded to me and left. I waited until I heard the front door shut before I spoke.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. I really wanted her to be okay. I didn't want her to hate me. In fact I needed her to like having me around. Her beautiful brown eyes were clouded with sadness. She swallowed hard before speaking.

"Sophie is yours." She whispered softly. I gave her a slight smile and she backed up a step. My brows furrowed together. Not the reaction I was hoping for.

"She is. I thought she was. Even though we used protection. I guess not always hundred percent effective." I admitted.

She just looked at me; completely lost in thought. She took a deep breath. "What are you going to do now?" She asked.

"Are you afraid I'm going to take her from you." I asked. I needed to get any of those ideas out of her head. Her eyes welled up with tears and I knew I hit the nail on the head. All she can do was nod.

"I'm not going to." I told her. Her eyes widen at that statement and I continued. "Under a few conditions, of course." There was always conditions; qualifiers.

"What are they?" She asked with a nervousness I knew she felt.

"Her last name needs to be changed to Manoso. My name needs to be put on the birth certificate and I want to see her anytime I want to." I demanded.

"That's it?" She sounded shocked.

"That's it, Ashley. She's your daughter too and the only mother Sophie has ever known. I'm not going to take that from you." I explained my actions. Before I could brace myself Ashley was against me with her arms around my neck and her face was nuzzled in my neck. I heard her whisper. "Thank you so much." I wrapped my arms around her waist and drew her even closer to me which lifted her off the ground. I could feel the exact moment she tensed up. She goes to pull away from me and for now I let her.

"I'm sorry I just ...thank you. I don't want to lose Sophie." She admitted to me. I ran my fingers down her cheek and she backed away.

"Can I see her? Can I hold her?" I asked. Ashley finally put that beautiful smile back on her face.

"Sure, follow me." She said as walked out of the kitchen. As I followed her up the stairs, I noticed that she was wearing a pair of black jeans with a yellow t-shirt. She looked sexy as hell. She walked into the nursery and grabbed Sophie from her crib. She changed her first and then handed her to me. I sat down in the rocking chair and began to talk to my daughter. I looked up to say something to Ashley but she wasn't in the room. Where the hell did she go?

I played with Sophie for a few more minutes before putting her in the bouncy thingie chair... I'm a man I don't know what it's called. I gave her a kiss on her forehead and walked down stairs. Ashley was standing in the kitchen with her back to me.

"Why did you leave?" I asked. She jumped when she realized I was there, but she quickly shrugged.

"You were having your first moment with your daughter, I thought it should be private." She told me. I smiled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ranger." I liked the way my name rolled off her tongue. I liked it so much, my cock started to throb. I reached my hand down to rearrange myself just before she turned to face me. At least she didn't catch me. I gave her a smile which she returned.

"There are a few more things I would like to discuss with you." I started out. She nodded.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like providing for Sophie, health insurance, and I want to be able to see her anytime I want." I explained.

"You have the pass code to the security pad and I'll get you a key. You can stop by whenever you want to see her. I have health insurance for her, but if you have better insurance than by all means set it up, but as for money... I don't need it or want it." She replied back. She agreed to some of it quicker than I thought. I'll go with that first.

"So you'll switch health insurance companies?" I asked.

"Who is your health insurance company?" She countered back.

"It's Health Service Plus." I told her. Her eyes widen.

"Yea that's the best there is and it's also expensive, so yea, Sophie is your daughter so if you want to switch her health care, I understand that."

"You're not going to argue with it." I asked and she shook her head no.

"Why would I? It's Sophie's health we're talking about. She deserves the best. They wouldn't let me sign her up because at the time she "technically" wasn't mine."

"You'll switch too." I told her. She raised her eyebrow. I grinned. Looked like I wasn't the only one that could do that now. It was sexy as hell on her.

"No, I'll keep who I have. Don't argue with me. Not changing my mind." She told me and I nodded my agreement. I just let that slide for now.

"Okay. Now you're telling me I can come anytime day or night to see her." I just wanted to make sure.

"She's your daughter, Ranger. I'm not going to stop you. Now if you come at two in the morning because you have a business trip or somewhere to go and then wake her up, you have to put her back to sleep. And make sure you don't wake me up." She gave me a grin and I smiled back at her. I found myself doing that a lot.

"Understood. Now about money, I want to be able to provide her with everything she could possibly want."

"Then give her love. Between Alexa, Shay, Jeremy, me and all of our parents put together, Sophie will never want for anything. Ever. If you want to buy her something, go for it, she is after all your daughter, but she doesn't need anything."

"Yes but I need to start providing her with the stuff that she needs." I tried explain. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, how about we leave it at the fact you provide security and her health care for now. We'll discuss everything else later." Ashley gave the peace offering and I took it. Only because I knew she was going to keep arguing and I didn't want to talk anymore. I walked around the counter and moved to stand in front of her. She backed up and hit the counter. She swallowed hard and I swallowed myself. I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers lightly barely touching her, before I could deepen the kiss however she ducked away from me and moved to the other side of the counter.

"You need to stop doing that." She demanded. I raised my eye brow. That would never happen.

"Stop doing what?" I asked.

"Kissing me. It's not going to happen." Ashley replied back.

"What's not going to happen?" I was playing dumb just to see what she would say.

"You and me... not happening." She moved her back and forth indicating the two of us.

"Why not?" I wanted to know. She took a deep breath and then another one and then two more before finally she talked.

"If I don't have sex with you, are you going to take Sophie away from me?" She asked. I wondered where she had gotten that from.

"If I was would you have sex with me then." I inquired. Her eyes narrowed in anger.

"No, I wouldn't. I would fight you for custody even if it cost me everything I own." She said and I felt content in knowing that.

"Good, because no I won't. When we have sex it will be because that's what we both want and not for any other reason." I told her. I said if not when. I knew it was going to happen. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Then leave it at that and let's be friends. For Sophie's sake." She offered and I nodded my head.

"Fine, friends." I agreed. For now.