“Addy, open your eyes.”
“No.”
“Addy—”
“I can’t.” So much regret weighs inside my chest as my thick tears fall. “I can’t listen to you say goodbye. It’ll hurt too much.” I hate my mind for being so weak. My heart is so desperate for him to stay.
His warm palm squeezes tighter, and the softness of his lips covers mine. His kiss is gentle and real. I open my eyes. “I don’t want to say goodbye…”
“Get on the plane, Addy.” His smooth voice hums in my ear.
“I can’t.” I shake my head. “Phobias and all. They’re the worst.”
“Do you know how to fix those?”
“No—” His mouth falls to mine, cutting me off, and I bask in the taste of him, pressing my body to his. “I don’t want this to be the end. I’m sorry I didn’t listen and got you shot. If I could have—”
“Shhh.” He silences me, his tongue sliding past my lips.
I can’t stop the tears. “I’m so sorry I got you shot. If it helps, I got myself shot too, so I know how bad it sucks.” His lips vibrate over mine as he chuckles against my mouth.
“Baby, you didn’t get me shot.”
“I did! I saw the blood. I didn’t listen because I never listen, and I messed up your whole undercover sting operation. What if something worse had happened? If you died?”
“I’m very much alive and kissing you right now.” His lips press harder over mine, and I burst out into more tears as my resolve cracks in two. Not a cute cry either, but a heavy, embarrassing cry
“Addy, open your eyes.” This time, his voice is demanding, the deep growl I know and love.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No,” I whine. Because when I do, this ends. He pinches my butt cheek, and I yelp. My eyes shoot open, and I smack him in the arm. He grunts, and I realize I hit his wounded arm. “Oh God, sorry!” I work on focusing on him through my swollen eyes. God, he is so beautiful. I can’t imagine never being able to see him again. I inhale a weak breath and prepare for the goodbye that’s going to break my heart. “So, this is goodbye, huh?”
He slowly shakes his head.
“But—Agent Bishop told me you have to go off the grid?”
“I do.”
“So then…”
“Addy, it’s best you don’t know all the details. But Jake is right. Vincent may no longer be a threat, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who will instantly fall into his place. People who will want to avenge his death. Come looking for me. Certain things went down during the raid, and I’ve…decided to turn in my badge.”
“You’re quitting?”
“More like taking a long leave of absence. It’s for the best.”
He wipes at my falling tears. “Where will you go?”
“Well, that’s up to you.”
Another statement I’m unable to decipher. “I don’t understand.”
“Are you willing to get on that plane?”
Ugh! My heart rate picks up, and I take a quick peek over his shoulder. “I’m good, but feel free. I can find another ride out of here.”
Logan chuckles. “No, Addy. You’re not understanding my question.” He wraps his good arm around my waist and pulls me snuggly against him. “Let me break it down. In my lifetime, I’ve done a lot of crazy shit. I’ve witnessed a lot of bad, and I’ve seen a lot of good. These past two years have been tough. A job most are not cut out for. I took it because I didn’t have anything to lose. I was at the top of my career, yet I felt invisible. But two weeks ago, that changed. I was thrown into a situation I hated. It messed up my game, and, frankly, it pissed me off. I found myself attached to a witty girl with a mouth on her that revved me so badly, I wanted nothing more than to take her over my lap and spank the shit out of her. But that mouth also made me want more of it. Her smile, her laughter, her moans.”
My cheeks blaze crimson, hoping Agent Bishop got bored of us and isn’t standing directly behind me.
“I’ve valued my job. My life being alone. But now? I can’t imagine it without that girl. I know I might be crazy because she’s a damn handful, but I’m pretty sure I’m in love with her.”
My lips part. I hadn’t been expecting that. “Oh, wow. She must be something.”
His lips break out into a cheeky smile. “She is. And I know I messed up her life by claiming her attention that night. If I had to do it over, I’d ask her her name. Take her on a real date. But cause I’m a jerk, she now, has to fly off to a new life and start over.”
“If you want to make it up to her, maybe you shouldn’t make her get on that plane.”
His laughter is so infectious, my knees wobble. “That’s the thing. She deserves a life where she’s worshipped every single day. From the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. I’m a selfish man, and I want to be the one who gets to bask in her beauty. To scoop her up and carry her off. Leave this crazy shit behind and find our own little nook in the world. But to do that, I would need her to get on that plane.”
Oh, God! Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? I pinch myself. “Ow.” Not dreaming. “You really want to be together? With this girl you speak of, I mean. Leave everything?”
He slowly nods.
“And you’re sure there’s no other way to this little nook than on that thing?”
Just as slowly, he nods again.
Shoot!
“Okay. I’m going to take a leap here and hope this girl is me—and I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. Because I have no filter, and as you know, my listening skills are…well, nonexistent—and oh God!” Is this really happening? My heart is pounding out of my chest. “It all sounds really enticing, but I have a stipulation.”
His eyes light up with humor. “And what’s that?”
“I think you’re my person, Logan Broderick. And so long as I have my own space in this so-called nook I can escape to when your grumpiness becomes too much, I’d say you have a deal. And I’ll see your ‘I think I’m in love with you’ and raise you an ‘I already know I am.’ No doubts.”
He lifts me up with one arm and fuses his lips to mine. He kisses me with such intensity, my toes tingle. I wrap my good arm around him and chuckle. “What’s so funny, baby cakes?”
“We’re like twins. Together, we have one set of working arms.”
“Sexy, tell me more.” He parts my lips.
“I love you. I think this is the worst idea because we’re going to fight a lot and disagree. Will they have pizza where we’re going?” I close my eyes as his teeth graze down my neck, sucking on the flesh along my collarbone.
“You’re making me hard as fuck, keep going.”
I chuckle, loving the feel of his mouth and wishing we weren’t in the open so I could beg for his tongue to be in other places. “I would if we were alone.”
“And what would happen if we were?” He sucks at my skin harder, a low moan working up my throat.
“Maybe we can do that thing…with your tongue—oh, my God, can we not talk about this with Bishop right here?”
“Right where?”
I open my eyes, but when I turn around to look at Bishop, he’s not there. Nor is the outside. “How did you…?”
“You just needed a little distraction. I gave it to you.”
It suddenly feels like just yesterday, I was standing in line, my heart beating heavily inside my chest at the mysterious man behind me. And now, as I stare at Logan, on the inside of a darn airplane, I know that even though I may pass out and possibly vomit, this is where I am meant to be. “I know, don’t think too much about it, right?” I throw back his line.
“Oh no, you should be thinking a lot about it. Because we have a long flight, and I have a long list of priorities that require your undivided attention.” My brows perk upward. “Let’s just say you’re in store for an Oscar-worthy performance starring my tongue.”
And that’s a wrap, folks.
He carries m
e to the back of the plane. No phobia is going to stop me from enjoying the award-winning performance.
One year later…
I can’t stop pacing. I look at the time. It’s been less than a minute since the last time I checked. I pull back the shade, peeking out the window again. “Stupid, mailman. Where are you!” I grunt, making my way back to the kitchen to pour myself a tall glass of water. Drinking the whole thing will take me maybe three minutes. Then I’ll go back. He’s always here by mid-morning.
I only make it halfway through before I scurry back over to check the door for packages. “Oh, come on! I could have walked to get it myself, it’s taking so long!” My eyes scan the time. Only two minutes have passed.
The urge to pee interferes with my mailman stalking. I forgo another round of looking out the window and use the bathroom. The second I sit down, the bell rings. “I knew it! Gosh dang it!” I pull my underwear back up, thankful I’m in a thin summer dress and throw myself out of the bathroom. My hands shoot forward and I almost trip over my own two feet as I race to the door. Throwing it open, I startle the poor mailman. “Hey, Rico! Anything?”
“Aloha, Addy. It came in this morning.”
I snatch it out of his hands, my own hands buzzing as I feel the package under my fingertips. “Thank you so much!” I throw myself in his arms, and he stumbles backwards. I give him a big kiss on his cheek. “I have to find Logan! Mahalo!”
I race down our walkway, and through the gardens barefoot. When you live on a small island in Hawaii, shoes are never required. Just as Logan promised one year ago, he scooped me in his arms and whisked me away to a hidden nook in the world, one we’ve made ours—a place where we don’t have to hide from the bad guys, and we can just be us. Addy and Logan. Two people who met not by chance, but by fate. He showed me how to be a warrior, and he says I helped him learn how to breathe. I laugh every time he claims to be the gentle giant because there’s nothing gentle about him. He’s fierce and moody and all man.
I have my hideaway spot, as promised, for when his grumpiness gets the best of me. It’s called our bedroom because he doesn’t believe in me walking away. He wants me to fight it out with him. For the record, fighting is just his version of make-up sex. I won’t complain, though. We both end up winners in so many ways.
The only thing I miss about home is my parents. I’ve video chatted with them a few times over the last year, and it’s broken my heart. My mom seems sad, but my dad is more along the lines of angry. He argues they should have never sent me to Chicago. Logan says they’ll come around one day, and I have to believe him. It will be a year next week that we’ve been in seclusion. We got the news just yesterday from Agent Bishop that the trial is wrapping up and we may be able to come home. My mood plummeted after hearing it. I thought I would be happy to go home and see my parents and get back some of my life—our life. But if I’m honest, I’m happy here. I love our nook. And if it were up to me, I’d never leave. Logan, though…he’s tight-lipped. He didn’t share his thoughts and spent the evening preparing the boat for a deep-sea fishing trip in the morning. What if he wants to go home?
The sand squishes between my toes as I run across the beach, my hand trying to block the sun in search of Logan. I see the boat in the distance and keep going, even though my calves are on fire and the sun is blazing down. I may drop dead before I make it to the shore.
“Logan!” I call for him, waving my hand. “Logan! It came!”
He sees me and shakes his head, jumping off the boat and running toward me like a god with nothing on but his swim trunks. “Jesus, Addy, what the fuck are you doing! It’s hotter than fuck out here.”
“I know—but I wanted to show you—it came.” I’m dying to catch my breath.
“Dammit,” he growls, then twists around to yell toward the boat. “Will, grab me a water. Hurry!” He turns back to me. “You should have waited for me to get home.”
“I know, but I wanted to open it. With you.” He cups my cheek and wipes away a drop of sweat rolling down the side of my temple. “It’s heavier than I expected,” I say.
“Well, as usual, you had a lot to say.”
I smack his chest. “Shut it. God, I’m nervous.”
“Want me to open it—?”
“No way!” I almost bite his head off. Oops. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. “Sorry. I just want to do it.” I take a deep breath and pull at the parcel tab. The package opens, and the book slides into my hands. One year in the making, and it’s finally here. I gave up my life as a journalist. It was a hard pill to swallow because it had always been my passion. But Logan showed me that my talents were endless, and I didn’t have to give up anything I loved—I just had to switch gears and tell my stories another way. So, I took his advice. I wrote a memoir.
“Wow.” It’s all I can say.
“Proud of you, baby.”
“Thanks. I mean, I just can’t believe I actually did it.”
Logan leans in and places a kiss on my lips. “You okay?”
This book, the single copy in my hands, is all it will ever be. “Yeah. I know what happens if I publish it. Kinda blows our whole incognito life.”
Logan laughs and tucks me into his chest. “You wrote an amazing book. And maybe one day, people will read it and know how crazy and badass Atticus Finch is, and how she risked her life to save the world.”
I rest my head against his chest. “Yeah. Maybe after I’m old and long gone, we can have our son or daughter publish it. Donate it to a library or school for research.”
He bends down and presses a kiss to the top of my nose. “You’re going to live forever, but yes, one day. Now, let’s get you out of the heat. If you weren’t nine months pregnant, I’d take you back to the house and spank the shit out of you for being so careless.”
I allow him to walk me back. I’d argue he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but the last of my spunk fizzles out and he scoops me in his arms and carries me the remainder of the way. “Spankings won’t hurt the baby, you know.”
His chest rumbles. This is the third time this week I’ve tried to coerce him into some sexy time. But he’s too afraid, no matter what the doctor says, of hurting the baby or me.
“Nice try. The only thing you’re getting is a cool bath and a foot massage.”
I grumble and moan at the same time. A foot massage sounds glorious, but so would a naughty spanking that leads to hot sex. “You know what else can use a massage?”
“Addy,” he warns.
“Fine. I don’t want to do the nasty anyway. I’ll just sit around, as fat as a house, until this baby pops out. Then I guess we’ll just go home, and who knows.” Here come the out-of-control hormones.
Logan opens the door, walks us in, and gently sets me down on the lounge chair. He kneels in front of me while I cross my arms over my chest, but since there’s no room because I’m a balloon, I toss them back down. “Addy, do you want to go home?”
I want what he wants. I want us to be forever. If he wants to go home, I’ll follow, but…
“Addy, answer me.” His voice is soft but demanding.
“No. I want to stay here and be us. Continue to live this perfect life we’ve created. I know you want to go home, so I will—”
His finger presses against my lips. “Stop. I need you to stop. I know I reacted to the news last night wrong. I should have stayed and talked it out with you. That was wrong of me. But…I don’t want to go home. I want this too. Us, our baby. I got upset because I was worried you wanted to go home.”
“I don’t. I want you. Only you.”
He leans up to press his lips to mine. “I love you, Atticus Finch. With everything I have. Stay with me forever in our nook and let me love you ’til our time’s up. And then let me love you more.” He leans to the side and opens the end table drawer. “I was waiting to do this ’til after the baby, but now seems perfect.” He pulls out a black velvet box and my mouth parts. “Addy? Will you be my person forever?” It tak
es me a second for my brain to kick in, and I burst into tears. “Shit. See? This is why I was going to wait. Your hormones—”
I throw myself at him, almost knocking him over. “Shut up. Just shut up.” Fusing my lips to his, I kiss him deeply, unable to ever explain the love I feel for him. He’s become the air I need to breathe. Everything essential in my life starts and ends with him. He’s not just my person. He’s my one. “Yes,” I mumble against his lips.
Sitting up, he takes the ring out of the box and attempts to slide it on my pregnant sausage finger. “Another reason…”
“I don’t care. I love it. And I love you. I want to stay here forever with you. And our son or daughter—”
“Son.”
“Daughter.”
“It’s a boy.”
“It’s going to be a girl, and she is going to be blessed with two amazing parents. Because we’re amazing. And good kissers. Well, you’re a good kisser, I just follow your lead. That thing you do with your tongue, it really makes me hot and horny—”
“Knock it off.”
Quitters never win, so I don’t. “God, yes. I can almost feel you between my thighs. Yes, yes!”
“Addy, I’m serious. Knock it off.”
“Sucking on me. Pinching my needy cunt—”
The naughty words get him every time. A growl, fierce and sexy, reverberates up his chest as he stands up and hauls me down the hallway to our cozy little bedroom. “You’re gonna pay for this.”
“Oh, yes, I hope so!” I squeal as he pinches my butt. “Tell me just how much.”
“I swear to God, if our son comes out with an impression of my cock indented into his head, I’m not gonna be happy.”
I burst out into a fit of laugher. “Okay. Got it. And yeah, it would look super odd for our daughter to come out with a mushroom stamp on her forehead.”
He lays me on the bed. “Shut up, Addy.”
“Yes, my sexy sea captain.” Logan shakes his head, his chuckle lost as he demands my lips and kisses me with the passion of a million promises that bind our forever.
The End
Celebrity Dirt: A Fake Relationship Romantic Suspense Standalone Page 21
