by Amelia Judd
“Your dad said Logan was leaving town next month.”
“So what?”
“So he’s a fool. If you looked at me the way you looked at him, I wouldn’t be going anywhere.”
“Uh … uh,” Kat stuttered. “John, I don’t—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he interrupted quietly. “You’re with another guy right now, and I’m going to respect that. But once Logan leaves, you know where to find me.”
Openmouthed, Kat stared at him until her father’s voice broke through her hazy thoughts.
“John, if I remember correctly you love the water as much as I do. Would you like a tour of my boat before dinner?”
John turned toward her dad. “That would be great. Thanks, Mr. Bennett.”
“Please, call me Richard.”
Kat watched John head toward the dock at her father’s side. She had to admit it felt nice knowing a good-looking, kind-hearted guy wanted to be with her for the long run.
Problem was, it was the wrong guy.
•••
A few hours past sunset that night, Kat jogged up the steps to the cottage feeling pretty darn good about herself. In the last month, she’d completed multiple sessions of self-defense training and worked out with Logan several times a week. She still felt uneasy alone at night, but at least she didn’t flip out at the thought of it anymore. She might always have a scar, but the wound was healing.
“I’m home,” she called out, walking into the cottage and spotting Logan lounging on the couch, wearing a pair of jeans and a thin gray T-shirt that stretched across his shoulders. “Miss me?”
Without saying a word, he stood up and walked straight toward her, his gaze heated and locked on hers. She sucked in a breath, and her heart kicked up a notch. The man truly was sex walking.
He pulled her close, slid a hand under her shirt, and captured her mouth in a kiss full of tongue and delicious intent. He lifted his head from hers a few minutes later, leaving her breathless and achy with need.
“Yeah, tiger. I missed you.” His voice rumbled through her, sending off a shiver of desire. He slipped her shirt over her head and then pushed her skirt off her hips to the floor. Her bra and his clothes quickly followed.
“I’ve been home for five minutes, and you’ve already stripped me down to my panties and heels.”
“No worries.” Lifting her hair away, he kissed her neck and caressed her hip with his free hand. “I’ll let you leave the heels on.”
His smile promised wicked pleasure. He lifted her into his arms, carried her to his bedroom, and set her on her feet so she faced the waist-high dresser with a mirror hung above it. He grabbed the edge of the dresser, one arm locked on each side of her. Pressing his chest against her back, he pinned her to the dresser and continued to nuzzle her neck.
Needing to touch him, Kat tried to turn around, but he dropped his hands to her hips and held her in place.
“I want you to see how hot we are together,” he murmured inches from her ear.
Mesmerized by his silky voice and wicked tongue, Kat braced her hands on the dresser, and locked her gaze on the mirror and the man reflected behind her. A slow, sexy smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he cupped a breast with one hand and sent the other on a southerly exploration.
“Taking a trip Down Under, ay?” She grinned, tipping her head to the side.
She felt him chuckle behind her. “Too right, darl.”
Her grin slipped and she sucked in a breath as she watched him toy with her nipple, pinching and tweaking the hardened peak, and then gliding his palm across her skin to deliver the same treatment to her other aching nipple. Every touch, every tease, shot off an electrified bolt of desire between her legs.
“You’re so bloody beautiful it hurts when I’m not touching you,” Logan said, his other hand sliding farther down her belly.
Her head fell back to his chest and her breathing grew heavier, but her gaze stayed locked on the mirror as his hand slipped into her black lace panties.
She cried out and jerked against him when he circled her leisurely with his finger. She closed her eyes, focusing on his touch.
He stilled behind her, and both of his hands left her body. “Look at me, darl.”
She forced her eyes open, finding his in the mirror.
“There’s my tiger.” He lowered his mouth and licked, kissed, and sucked her neck as his fingers resumed their delicious torment.
She locked her arms on the dresser and rose to her tiptoes. Her legs went rigid as she ground against his hand, desperate for release. “Don’t stop.”
He bit the sensitive spot below the corner of her jaw and rolled a nipple between his thumb and index finger. Then, with his other hand, he pushed two fingers into her.
“Don’t stop,” she cried again, throwing her head back, eyes closed, seeking release.
His hand buried deep inside of her went still. She moaned and squirmed, but his fingers didn’t move.
“Please, tiger. I want you to see how beautiful you are when you come for me.”
Kat opened her eyes and looked again to the mirror. Logan’s tanned arms were crossed in front of her pale skin, holding her to his muscular body as he teased her.
“I want you to remember how good I make your body feel.” He gave her a sexy, sinful smile and crooked the fingers in her to rub the sensitive spot deep inside. When her knees buckled, he tightened his arms around her to hold her up. He continued to circle the spot until she was breathless and begging in his arms.
When he slipped his fingers from inside her and circled the swollen bundle of nerves between her thighs, she nearly went over the edge. But he stopped moments before she fell, thrust his fingers back into her, and started the cycle over. Her gaze on the mirror, Kat thrashed wildly in his arms as he continued thrusting, rubbing, and circling.
“Come for me, tiger,” he murmured, circling demanding fingers over her swollen flesh.
She exploded in his arms. Light flashed in her eyes as waves of mind-blowing pleasure washed through her.
One hour and another orgasm later, Kat lay snuggled against Logan, her head resting on his chest. Nearly comatose, Logan was flat on his back, eyes closed and breathing deeply—the hand gently toying with her hair was the only sign he hadn’t passed out after their latest round of sex.
Logan’s heartbeat under her made her feel oddly content until she remembered how little time she had left with him. What chance did she have of ever finding someone like him again? While no statistician, Kat figured those odds to be somewhere between shitty and impossible. What if her summer fling turned out to be the mother of all frickin’ backfires and ruined her for all other men?
“What’s wrong, tiger?” Logan’s low, sleepy voice rumbled under her.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” she asked, attempting a deflection.
She felt him shrug a shoulder. “I know you.”
Sitting up, she pulled her legs under her. His gaze immediately locked on her naked breasts. With a dramatic eye roll, she snatched a blue T-shirt from the floor and slipped it on over her head. “Do I have your full attention now?”
“Darl, you had my full attention before,” he drawled.
“You mean my breasts had your attention.”
He gave her a wicked grin. “Okay, fine. Now I’m focused. What’s up?”
“I kinda realized that maybe there’s a small chance that you and your ridiculously talented abilities could have possibly set the bar too high to reach for any other guy that I might—you know—someday meet.”
Logan studied her for a long beat, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Was that English?”
Kat jumped to her feet and paced the room. She had to keep this about sex. He liked relationships simple, and she’d promised him no strings. She couldn’t renege now. “Pay attention! I’m afraid I’ll never find anyone as good at sex as you are!” she yelled, damn well keeping silent about the part where she’d never find
anyone she liked as well as him either.
“Good.” He sat up in the bed and laced his hands behind his head, looking smug and sexy at the same time.
“Good?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I don’t want you having sex with anyone else. Good, bad, or otherwise.”
“You’re leaving next month.” Kat hated to point out the obvious, but it seemed he needed a reality check.
Climbing from bed, Logan shook his head and walked toward his dresser. After pulling on a pair of boxer briefs, he turned back to face her. “Doesn’t matter,” he said running a hand through his messy hair. “Still don’t want you with another guy.”
She opened her mouth to give him some sort of flippant retort when the truth suddenly pierced her heart and deflated her anger. How could she argue when she frickin’ agreed with him?
“And I don’t want you having sex with another woman,” she snapped. In fact, the thought of him with someone else simultaneously dropped her stomach and raised her blood pressure. “So where does that leave us?”
Shaking his head, he blew out a long, slow breath. “No idea.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Talking more to herself than Logan, Kat began pacing the room. “Crashing with you for the summer was supposed to be a fun memory for both of us, not a life changer.”
As she paced by him, Logan wrapped his hand around her arm and drew her to a stop. “I’ve changed your life?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She dropped her forehead into the heel of her hand and rubbed hard, hoping that might somehow clear away her confusion. “I know that when my dad tried to hook me up with John tonight, I wasn’t interested.”
Logan’s grip tightened on her arm. “John was at dinner?”
“Yeah. My dad invited him. Obvious attempt at matchmaking, but all I could think about was you.”
“Your dad fucking invited him?”
Kat’s attention jolted to Logan. He stood stone-still in front of her, jaw locked and eyes raging with anger. She’d never seen him so ticked off. Actually, she’d never seen anyone so ticked off.
“He tells me to keep my hands off and then invites another guy to have a go at you, ay? Guess I’m not good enough.” Scowling, Logan dropped her arm.
“It’s not like that,” she said, placing her palm on his chest. “Dad knows you’re leaving next month. He doesn’t want me to get hurt, that’s all.”
“No need to make excuses for him. I’m used to it.”
“What are you used to?”
He clamped his mouth shut, and his body stiffened beneath her hand. His stubborn expression communicated that he’d rather eat a boot than talk to her, but she didn’t back down.
“Logan, did my dad do something else to piss you off?”
“Not yours.”
“Who then?” she pressed.
“I don’t have a good history with parents. Seems I’m not who they want their little girls to grow old with.” Logan gave a bitter smile. “Face it, Kat, I’m good for fun but not for the future.”
The pain in his voice and the bleakness in his eyes made her want to rip apart whatever asshole had torn Logan down in the past. “Whoever said that is full of shit. You’re amazing.” She tapped her fingertip hard against his chest. “You’ve got a great heart. Anyone would be lucky to have you in their future.”
He snorted. Whether in agreement or disgust, she wasn’t quite sure, but his expression was a little less ready-to-rampage than a second ago. She took that as a good sign.
She slid her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “You told me once that you can’t let the assholes of the world stop you from living.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So maybe it’s time you take your own advice.”
Logan didn’t react for a long beat, and then he gave a full-bodied sigh and wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss on her head. “We should get some sleep.”
They climbed back into bed, and she snuggled against his side. A short time later, Kat felt his body relax and his breathing settle into a peaceful rhythm.
Sleep didn’t come so easy for her. She couldn’t stop thinking about their conversation. She’d always assumed Logan’s commitment-free take on relationships made him happy. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder if he also used it as a defense mechanism.
And then she wondered how else his past had affected him. And then she wondered why the hell she was lying awake thinking like a frickin’ shrink. And then she was pissed at herself.
As she finally slipped into a restless sleep, one last thought grated through her mind.
When had her let’s-make-fun-memories-together-and-then-go-our-separate-ways summer fling turned into a staying-up-all-night-for-all-the-wrong-reasons relationship?
So much for keeping things simple.
Chapter 12
KAT sighed in relief as the last of the morning crowd cleared out of Fresh. Plunking into a chair, she rested her head on the cool wood table in front of her and closed her eyes. Her limbs went slack, her mind drifting into that hazy zone between consciousness and sleep.
It had been two weeks since her parents asked her to run SAS at the family dinner, and in another two weeks, she would be taking over the non-profit, moving into her own apartment, and Logan would be gone. The thought of him leaving hurt like crazy. She hadn’t a clue how or when she’d ever get over him.
She’d even toyed with the idea of asking him to stay longer. Then they’d spent a day apartment hunting for her. While she’d been grouchy about finding a new place to live, Logan had been focused and insistent on her choosing an apartment—as if he couldn’t frickin’ wait for her to move out so he could move on.
On top of everything else, she’d never been so tired in her life. Exhaustion was too mild a word for the near comatose condition she’d been fighting off the past few days. Her limited hours of sleep were hitting her harder than expected.
“You still among the living?” Hannah asked, stepping out of the back room.
Kat groaned in response.
“I saw you drink at least four cups of coffee today. How can you possibly be that tired? Have you been working late on SAS? Or is it your extracurricular activities with Mr. Hunky Roommate that’s keeping you up all night?”
Kat didn’t answer. After hours of work, they were finally alone in the café. If her sister would only stop chattering—or earbashing as Logan would say—she could get some sleep and maybe shake off this bone-weary fatigue.
Seconds from drifting off, she jolted at the sound of a chair sliding up next to her.
Kat squinted at her sister. “Do you have to be so loud? I need sleep.”
“Honey, the way you look, you need a doctor. What’s wrong with you?”
“Tired.” She settled her head back on the table. “Really tired.”
“Come on, you need a bed more than I need help in the café.” Hannah pulled Kat to her feet, then gave her a gentle nudge toward the stairs leading to her apartment. “Go take a nap before you pass out.”
“I’ll take you up on the nap, but just to be clear,” Kat said, taking off her apron, “I’m not the type of girl to pass out.” Then she took a step forward, and damn if her head didn’t spin like a cheap-ass carnival ride. She stumbled to a stop and grabbed the back of the chair to catch her balance. Her breaths came short and choppy as she fought the blackness creeping into the corners of her vision. Holy hell, she might actually faint.
“I gotcha.” Hannah wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against her side for support. “You need to sit down.”
“Not here. Too many eyes.” Kat nodded to the wall of windows.
“Fine. Let’s get you upstairs.”
Too focused on staying upright to form actual words, Kat nodded in agreement and let her sister lead her up the stairs and into the apartment.
Kat dropped onto Hannah’s overstuffed couch, propped her elbows on her knees, and held her spinning head in her hands. “Damn, I feel nauseo
us and light-headed. I must have overdone the caffeine.” She looked up at Hannah. “You should post a warning on that stuff.”
“I’m not sure it’s the caffeine.” Hannah’s concerned tone and stunned expression sent a jolt of anxiety straight to Kat’s already shaky gut. “Remember when Claire almost blacked out at the family dinner about ten years ago?”
“Yeah. Why? You saying it’s something hereditary?”
“Kinda.” Hannah cringed, her expression a mix of reluctance and apology. “Claire was early in her pregnancy with Ty. Mom told her not to worry too much about it because the same dizziness happened to her with each of her pregnancies.”
Kat’s head shot up, and she sucked in air. Warning bells and adrenaline escalated her to high-alert status in two seconds flat. “What the hell are you saying?”
“Is there any chance you’re pregnant?”
Kat shook her head in frantic denial. “We always use a condom.”
“No birth control is one hundred percent reliable. When was your last period?”
Oh. Holy. Shit. Kat jumped to her feet and started pacing circles around the room. “It’s irregular. I don’t keep track.” She threw her hands up for emphasis as her mind worked through the possibility of an unexpected pregnancy.
A baby. Could she actually be carrying Logan’s baby? She pressed her palm to her flat stomach. Her heart hammered in her chest, her fingers shook, and her breathing approached hyperventilating levels.
Hannah grabbed her arm and dragged her back to the couch. “Sit down and let’s think about this. We don’t know anything for sure yet.”
Kat dropped into the seat. Pregnant. How could that happen? Okay, she knew how it happened but still couldn’t believe it might have happened to her.
“No matter what, it’s going to be okay.” Hannah crouched in front of her and gripped her hands. “You don’t even know if you’re pregnant, so there’s no need to panic. You stay here and try to relax. I’ll lock up the café and drive around until I find a convenience-store clerk who doesn’t know me and buy a pregnancy test. I’ll get back here as quick as I can. Okay?”
