In the silence that followed, I once again found my gaze wandering. Despite the emotional turmoil the other night had spawned, my mind kept coming back to the things we'd done, to the way his body had felt on top of mine. I wanted him more than ever, and now I officially had his permission.
Stepping closer until my chest was pressed up against his I leaned up to kiss him, but he stopped me with a finger over my lips. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"If you do that, I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself."
"So? There's nobody around," I said, feeling an uncharacteristic rush of boldness. Something about him brought that side of me out. He made me feel sexy.
He let out an amused little laugh. "That's true, but we've done things backward so far. I don't do things by halves, and even if I did, I couldn't with you. We're going to do this right. I'm going to take you out."
I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't do 'normal?'"
"For you, I'm willing to try. Besides, it'll be good for me." His voice wavered ever so slightly when he said that. I got the sense this was a big deal.
"What did you have in mind?" I asked.
"Is dinner and a movie too college for you?"
I laughed. "It sounds perfect."
"When's your next night off?"
"Not for four days."
"Can we lock it in, then?"
"Deal."
He looked poised to turn and leave, but then his eyes raked over my body and his expression turned hot. "Maybe one kiss couldn't hurt."
I loved that I had that effect on him. "Okay," I said, sounding far too "swooning Hollywood damsel" for my liking.
Wrapping his hands around my hips he pushed me up against the bar. Even in such a simple gesture, I could feel the innate power of his body. He wasn't one of those guys that acts dominant because of ego or arrogance. For Logan, it was simply his nature. Strength and control.
His mouth was hot and oh-so soft. Drawing my lips between his, he sucked on them gently, a deep rumble rolling up from inside his chest. Without realizing what I was doing, I backed myself up until I was sitting on a bar stool, my legs parting to welcome him. He followed my lead, sliding closer until there was nothing but cotton between us. I could feel the heat of his excitement through his jeans, hungry and iron hard.
I was close, so close to slipping into that zone where my mind was no longer in control, when suddenly he pulled back. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes wild and beautiful. He took a moment to recover, then flashed a cheeky smile. "To be continued."
I couldn't help but let out a frustrated groan. It had only been a kiss, but after six months of gathering dust, my libido was apparently desperate to make up for lost time. "That had better be a promise," I said.
"It is."
After Logan left, my mind wandered back to Tom. He'd told me he wanted me to move on. I still wasn't sure if that was possible, but maybe today I'd taken a step in that direction.
One layer at a time.
Chapter Fourteen
Logan
I left the choice of food to Grace. I know about as much about restaurants as I do about brain surgery. She settled on some new Mexican place, buried in the suburbs, which was fine by me. Part of me had been afraid she'd pick something complicated and fancy and leave me looking like an idiot trying to translate a menu full of truffles and foie gras and shit that was too pretentious to be called by its real name. Burritos and tacos I could handle.
We organized to meet outside the place at seven o'clock. It annoyed me that I couldn't do the whole proper gentleman thing and pick her up from her place, but it had been years since I'd owned a car. I like to run, and I'm not much for traveling outside my comfort zone, so my own two feet work well enough most of the time.
She rocked up right on time wearing a jaw dropping little black dress that did nothing to hide that ridiculous body. I actually stopped in my tracks for several seconds when I first laid eyes on her. I'd already seen her naked but, bizarrely, I thought she actually looked even sexier like this. Classy, but hinting at so much.
Her face lit with a smile as I approached. I didn't think I'd ever get sick of that sight.
"Wow, you're really pulling out the big guns," she said. "I didn't know you owned anything with a collar."
I grinned sheepishly. "I didn't until a few hours ago."
"You didn't have to do that."
With any other girl, I wouldn't have, but with her it felt somehow wrong to just rock up in a tee shirt and shorts. Like the idea of picking her up, for some reason I felt compelled to do things properly this time. It was early days, but something deep in my bones told me this wasn't a throwaway romance. This was the real deal. She deserved to be treated like a princess, and if that meant spending forty bucks on a shirt I'd never wear again, then so be it.