by J. L. Perry
“I’m fine. I can’t avoid him forever, and he did save my life.”
I stopped walking and put my hand under her chin because I wanted to look into her eyes. “Only if you are sure, baby. Don’t rush it if you’re not ready,” I said in a concerned tone. I really didn’t want her to do anything she didn’t want to.
She brushed her lips across mine. “Thank you for caring, but I’m ready.”
As we got closer to his room, her grip on my hand tightened. I knew she was doing this for me, but I didn’t want that. If it was going to upset her, I would rather she didn’t because she had already been through enough. “Please, Brooke,” I pleaded. “If you are doing this to make me happy, don’t. I don’t want you upset!”
She bumped me with her shoulder. “Stop mothering me. I’m fine.”
I bumped her with my shoulder and replied, “I am not mothering you. I’m just concerned, that’s all.” She poked her tongue out at me like a child, and we both laughed.
We walked into his room and I was surprised how well he was looking. He was sitting up, reading a book. His face lit up when he saw that Brooke was with me. He put his book down and removed his reading glasses. “Brooke, I’m so happy you are here, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”
“I am good,” she replied. “How are you doing?”
“I’m feeling more and more like my old self with every passing day,” he said.
I walked over and shook his hand, but I noticed Brooke stayed close to the door. I pulled the chair over and asked her come and sit down. I made sure I put it far enough away from the bed so she would still feel comfortable.
We’d stayed for over an hour, and I noticed my uncle spent most of the time looking over at Brooke. She was quiet and didn’t say much, but she wasn’t being rude. She only talked when she was asked a question.
When the nurse came in to check on him, I thought this was our cue to leave because I didn’t want Brooke to overdo it. My uncle was a good man, and she would grow to love him. I could almost guarantee it.
After I told my uncle that we were going to head out, Brooke stood up. I walked over to the bed and shook his hand again. I was surprised when Brooke walked over and kissed his cheek. The smile on my uncle’s face was priceless. It made me smile. We said our goodbyes, then left.
Once we left the hospital, Brooke asked, “So, what do you want to do the rest of the day?”
“Well, are you up for a bit of shopping and then maybe some lunch?”
“That sounds great,” she said with a smile. It felt good to be able to take her out, now that the threat of Jake was longer hanging over us.
I also had my reasons for taking her shopping. When I had gone to the hospital with Mike to visit my uncle the other day, I noticed a billboard advertising some famous ballet that was touring Australia. It was in Sydney next week so I immediately called Claire and asked her to get me two tickets. They were performing at the Opera House, and I wanted to surprise Brooke. The tickets were for Tuesday night, but I needed to buy her a nice dress to wear first. Claire told me the perfect boutique to take her to and when we arrived, her eyes lit up.
“Why are we here?” she asked.
“I want to buy you a nice dress to wear on Tuesday night.” Her face lit up, but before she had a chance to ask me where we were going, I put my lips to her ear. “It’s a surprise,” I whispered. “So pick anything you want and go try it on.”
She walked up to one of the racks and looked at the price tag. “This dress is over three thousand dollars,” she said in a shocked voice. “I am not letting you spend this much money on me.” She stood there staring me down, arms crossed over her chest. I think she was daring me to defy her.
Challenge accepted, Miss Ryan!
“I can afford it, Brooke, so stop worrying. It’s only the best for you, baby,” I said with a smile. She still refused to move. If she thought that was going to stop me, she was seriously mistaken.
I started walking through the boutique, picking dresses off the rack as I went. As I walked around the shop, I asked her opinion. “Do you like this one? What about this one?” After I had about a dozen dresses in my hand, I told the sales assistant she would like to try them on. Brooke was glaring at me now, and I found her to be incredibly adorable when she was angry.
I sat down on the chair in the waiting room because I wanted her to model them for me. Of course, she looked amazing in all of them. Actually, she looked so good that I could already feel a bulge growing in my pants. The effect she had on me was still surprising. When she came out in the red dress, I think my heart skipped a beat.
“We are definitely buying that one,” I said with a smile. She looked amazing in red with her dark hair, big brown eyes, and beautiful tanned skin. She made my mouth water, and it reminded me of the first night I saw her.
I asked her which one she liked the best. “The black one and the blue one,” she replied sweetly. “I can’t decide which one I like better.”
I stood up and kissed her before she walked back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes. I wanted to follow her in there, but the sales assistant wouldn’t take her eyes of me. She kept giving me a flirty look, and even fluttered her eyelashes at me a few times. Sorry, sweetheart, not fucking interested!
Brooke brought the dresses back out and we made our way over to the register. “We’ll take the red, the black, and the blue one,” I told the sales associate.
“No way,” Brooke hissed through clenched teeth. When she realised she was making a scene, she whispered in my ear, “Just buy me one. Please, Logan. I’m begging you. They are too expensive.” I ignored her and handed over my credit card. When the sales assistant said that will be twelve thousand, six hundred dollars, Brooke’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Once we were outside the shop, Brooke angrily asked, “Why did you do that?!”
I just smiled at her. “Because I can.”
She bumped me with her shoulder again and said, “I’m so angry with you right now, but thank you.”
I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. “I am going to spoil you for the rest of your life, princess,” I whispered into her ear. “So get used to it. Now, let’s go and get you some shoes.”
“You are not allowed to buy me shoes!” she snapped. “I can buy my own goddamn shoes!” I just smiled at her. I would let her think that for now, but there was no way I was letting her pay for her own shoes.
Brooke must have tried on over fifteen pairs of shoes and, personally, they all looked great. I had never paid much attention to what girls wore on their feet, but watching her strut up and down the shops in those heels had me incredibly turned on.
Christ, even her fucking feet are sexy!
Once she had picked out the shoes she wanted, we walked up to the counter to pay. She only chose two pair. I wanted to buy her the whole fifteen, but I knew she wouldn’t let me. When we were standing at the counter, Brooke pulled her wallet out of her bag. I quickly snatched it out of her hand and held it up high in the air so she couldn’t reach it, then I passed the sales assistant my credit card. I was shocked when she elbowed me in the stomach, but I had to laugh. “Angry Brooke” was totally turning me on.
When we exited the shop, I passed her back her wallet. She tried hard to look pissed off, but I just found it adorable. “That’s it, Mr. Cavanagh,” she snapped. “You are officially banned from coming shopping with me for the rest of your life.”
I put my arm around her as I laughed. “Come on, baby,” I said. “The rest of my life? That’s awfully unfair!”
“You’re not fair,” she replied, elbowing me again. “And yes, the rest of your life!” It just made me laugh harder.
After our little shopping expedition, I took her to the revolving restaurant at the top of Centrepoint Tower. “Wow, the view from up here is amazing,” she squealed. “I can’t believe I have lived in Sydney all my life and have never been up here.”
We had a few glasses of w
ine with lunch and she started to relax. I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Are you still mad at me, baby?” I asked sweetly.
“No,” she replied with a sigh. “I love you too much to stay mad at you, but the ban still stands.” This time, we both laughed.
We had such a great day together. She was so fun and easy to be around. Spending all this time with her over the past few days has been amazing. Leaving her to go back to work tomorrow was going to be hard.
Brooke
Once we arrived back at the penthouse, I went straight up to the bedroom to hang up my dresses. They were so beautiful and like nothing I had ever owned. I still felt terrible that they had cost so much. We didn’t have money growing up, and I honestly didn’t think I would ever get used to this kind of lifestyle.
Money was so tight when I was younger that spending over ten thousand dollars on three dresses just seemed like a frivolous waste of money.
Logan came into the bedroom. “Are you okay, baby?”
“Of course I am,” I said with a smile. “I enjoyed being with you today, and I’m going to miss you tomorrow when you go back to work.”
He came over and sat down on the bed next to me and grabbed hold of my hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing each of my knuckles. “I am going to miss you, too, baby. The last few days with you have been wonderful.” He almost sounded sad so I put my arms around him.
“Thank you for buying those dresses for me today,” I said. “I love you so much. You are so good to me.” I leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
“I love you, too, baby,” he replied with a smile. “You deserve everything I buy for you because you make me so happy.”
He buried his head in my neck and started kissing me under my ear. I could feel that familiar ache between my legs. “Please stop,” I whispered. “Otherwise, we will never make it to your mum’s house for dinner.”
“Shit!” he groaned. “I completely forgot about that.” He stood up and pulled me into his arms. “We will continue this later,” he said and winked at me.
I brushed my lips gently against his before I whispered against his mouth, “I look forward to it, hot stuff.” As he turned to walk out of the room, I slapped his butt. He looked at me and chuckled.
****
We arrived at Logan’s parent’s house and his mum greeted us at the door. She kissed and hugged us both, then asked us to come into the kitchen. Logan’s dad was sitting at the table again. He stood up to shake Logan’s hand, then pulled me in for a hug.
“Sit down, honey,” his mum said to me.
Before I did, I said, “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Oh, thank you, sweetie, but everything is already done.” She got a bottle of wine out of the fridge, bringing it and two glasses over to the table. Then she went back to the fridge to get two bottles of beer for the men.
Logan poured his mother and I some wine. He then opened both beers and passed one to his father. Before dinner, we all sat around the table and talked.
I stood up when Logan’s mum did because I wanted to help her set the table for dinner. Logan stayed at the table talking to his dad about a few big court cases that were coming up.
Dinner was lovely, and I really loved Logan’s mum. His father was alright, too, and not as bad as I’d imagined. Logan helped his mother clear the table, and I sat and talked to his father. I was surprised when he told me that he could remember my mother from all those years ago.
“She was extremely smart, and good at what she did,” he explained. “That’s how I remember her so well,” he added. “She would have made a great lawyer.”
I put my hand on top of his. “Thank you, Mr. Cavanagh. That means a lot to hear you say that.”
He smiled at me before clearing his throat. “Please, call me Robert,” he replied. I quickly changed the subject because I could feel a lump in my throat. Talking about my mother was always hard.
“You’re cabin is lovely. I enjoyed staying there.”
“You are welcome to use it anytime. Do you like fishing?”
“I’ve never tried fishing before. I suppose that is an activity you would do with your father or brother. Unfortunately, I had neither growing up.” Again, thinking of John made me angry.
Quickly, he said, “Next time you go to the cabin, get Logan to take you. The lake is full of fish.”
I smiled. “I’ll do that.”
Logan
Mum and I stood in the kitchen watching my father and Brooke interact. We couldn’t believe how human he was being tonight. I could tell he really liked her because he was never usually this friendly with anyone. It was nice to see because I’d been worried about her meeting him. He could be such a pompous arsehole sometimes, and I was glad that he wasn’t tonight.
On the way back home, I said, “My dad really likes you. He is never that nice to anyone.”
“I like him, too.”
Hopefully it stays that way.
It was late when we arrived back at the penthouse so I told Brooke we should go to bed because I had an early start in the morning. Being away from the office for most of the week meant there would be a mountain of work to catch up on tomorrow.
Brooke said she was going to take a bath, then she would join me. There was no way I was letting her take a bath on her own. I walked into the bathroom behind her and I started to strip my clothes off.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a smile.
“I am joining you,” I replied as I raised one of my eyebrows at her. “Got a problem with that?”
“Not at all,” she said. “I would like nothing more than for you to join me.”
We washed each other like we always did, and I loved it. Actually, there was nothing I did with Brooke that I didn’t love. She brought so much happiness to my life. She was straddling me when she snaked her arms around my neck.
“I had such a great day today,” she said, bringing her lips down to mine. God, I loved the way she kissed me. It sent shivers coursing through my body every time. I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, moving my hands up to cup her tits. Being with her was something I would never get tired of. The more we were together like this, the more I seemed to want and need her. I was addicted to her.
She slowly sank down onto my erection, and we both moaned as we made slow passionate love to each other. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to love her any more than I already did, but I was wrong. My feelings for her got stronger every day.
The next morning, I woke and had to drag myself away from her. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shave. I was standing there with a towel wrapped around my waist when Brooke came into the bathroom. She came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my middle, planting a kiss on my back before resting the side of her face against it.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I said. “How come you are up so early?”
“Morning, hot stuff,” she said in a sleepy voice. “I couldn’t sleep without you, and I want to sit with you while you have breakfast.” With a smile on my face, I continued to shave. I loved her so much.
Brooke told Jill that she only wanted coffee, and that she would eat after getting back from her run. I loved the way she got up early to spend time with me before I left for the office.
As I looked over at her, I noticed she was staring into her coffee cup. The sad look on her face concerned me. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her head up so I could see her beautiful face. “What’s up, baby?” I softly asked.
“I’m just going to miss you today, that’s all,” she said as she gave me a weak smile.
I leaned forward and brushed my lips against hers. “I’m going to miss you, too. How about I get Chris to bring you the office later,” I said. “We can have lunch together, if you want.”
“I would like that,” she replied, smiling.
“That’s my girl,” I said.
She walked me to the elevator and kissed me goodbye. It was nice to hav
e her here with me. I enjoyed having someone to wake up with, and someone to come home to. She stood there and waited until the doors of the elevator closed. I hadn’t even made it to the lobby and I was already missing her terribly.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Brooke
I walked back up to the bedroom to get my iPod and put my runners on. On my way to the elevator, I heard my phone buzz so I went back to check it.
Missing you already, baby. x
He was so sweet! I didn’t think it would be so hard having him go back to work, but it was. Spending most of the week together had been great. I texted him back.
Missing you, too. I can’t wait to see you at lunch. I love you. x
I love you, too, baby…more than you’ll ever know. xxxxxx
I couldn’t believe the amount of love I felt for this man. We hadn’t been together long, but had already been through so much together. As I stepped into the elevator, I smiled to myself as I thought about his message.
As I was running, I was thinking about my house. I needed to get over there and clean up the mess that Jake had made. I also needed to move my stuff out so I could hand the keys back to the real estate agent. Last week, I had called them and informed them I would be moving out. I still had a few more months left on my lease, but considering everything that had happened since I moved there, I really couldn’t go back.
When Chris pulled up outside Logan’s building, I was surprised to see him waiting in the front for me. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me as soon as I exited the car. “I have been waiting for hours to do that,” he breathed into my mouth. “Before we go, I want to take you in to show you around and introduce you to everybody.”
We walked back into the building and he introduced me to the receptionist. “Kimberly, this is Brooke, the love of my life,” he said to her, and she beamed at me. By the look on her face, she was just as surprised by what Logan had said as I was. “Brooke, this is Kimberly. She is the receptionist for the whole building.”
I put my hand out. “It’s very nice to meet you.” Kimberly was probably in her early forties and was very attractive. She had a beautiful face and friendly smile, and was a great first point-of-contact for the company.
