“I’ll call them.” He stood there, tapping his feet. “We can just leave and really get to know each other, without thinking about anyone else.”
“How long will we be gone?”
“I don’t know.” His tone was serious. “A week? A month? Whatever we decide.”
“A month.” I swallowed hard. My dad would freak out if I was gone a month. He would get the FBI involved! “Where would we go?”
“Wherever.”
“Where would we stay?”
“Wherever.” His eyes lit up and he grinned at me. “We could break into empty houses.”
“What?” My voice rose, and I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.
“So, are you in?” His tone was light but I knew everything depended on my answer. I was freaking out inside from excitement and worry. But I had to put the worry aside if I wanted to show Logan that I was in this for real.
“Yes.” I spoke loudly and confidently. I was shocked at how sure I was about this decision. Part of me knew it was foolish. What smart girl in her right mind would agree to just take off with a guy she barely knew; a guy she was just screaming at a few minutes ago?
“Good.” He smiled and ran a finger along my cheek. “I’ll have you screaming my name all night long.”
“All night? Are you sure about that?”
“It can be all night and day if you want.” He laughed and his fingers traced the lines of my lips. I opened my mouth and his finger slid in past my lips and I nibbled on his finger delicately and then sucked on it hard, watching as his eyes grew darker as he stared at me.
“Or I may have you screaming out my name.” I winked at him and leaned towards him and whispered against his lips. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with either, Logan Martelli.”
He stared into my eyes and we stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. I studied his face and noticed the small mole on the left side of his cheek and reached up my hand to touch it lightly. I then ran my hand along the stubble on his jawline and across his upper lip. He reached up to my face and ran his fingers across my eyebrows lightly, and then down the curve of my nose. Running his fingers through my hair, he tucked it behind my ears carefully.
“You’re beautiful, Maddie. You will have beautiful babies.” His smile was light and he turned away from me quickly and I heard him whisper something under his breath, but I couldn’t quite hear what he had said. My stomach had butterflies as he talked about babies. Was he now envisioning a future for us?
“I should call my dad.” I fumbled around in my bag looking for my phone, trying to think up something to tell him that wouldn’t make him completely lose his mind.
“That would be a good idea.”
“He’s going to flip.”
“That’s a shame.” Logan cracked a smile, and he turned away. “That’s not going to be the only thing he’s flipping out about.”
“What?” I looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” He looked back at me and laughed. “I was just thinking about how crazy life can be sometimes. You just never know what’s going to happen.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Who would have thought that the two of us would be going on a road trip together? Logan Martelli and Maddison Wright.” He laughed. “It’s almost too good to be true.”
“I guess.” I paused as I stared at him. There was something in his voice that made me shiver. “Are you going to call your brother?”
“Yeah.” He pulled out his phone and pressed some numbers. “Hey, Jared, it’s me. I thought about what you said, and I’ve got it sorted.” He paused and gave me a small smile. “I won’t be home for a few weeks. Take care of things, okay?” He hung up and stared at me. “Your turn.”
“Yeah.” I took a breath and dialed my dad’s number. I almost fainted with relief when his answering machine picked up. “Hey, Dad, it’s me Maddie, ha, ha, your daughter. I, uh, I just met up with Brittany and Ellen, and they, uh, surprised me with a, uh, surprise trip, to Brittany’s dad’s place in Martha’s Vineyard, ha, so, I, uh, am going to just hang out there for the next couple of weeks. See you soon. Love to you and Mom.” I hung up quickly and saw Logan staring at me quietly.
“Your dad is going to be pissed, huh?” Logan’s eyes were serious but there was a glint of a smile in them.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “But he likes Brittany and Ellen, and this is the sort of thing they would do, so he should buy it.”
“You don’t have to come, Maddie.” He shook his head as if clearing it. “I can get you home if you want.” He paused and ran his hand down my arm. “But I would rather you stay.”
“Logan, you change your mind more than a contestant on The Price is Right. I’m cool, I’m coming. I want to come.”
“You want to come?” He licked his lips.
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes, not taking the bait.
“How badly?” He kissed my lips lightly.
“How badly what?”
“How badly do you want to come?” His tongue traced the line of my lips and he gazed into my eyes.
“As badly as you want me to,” I whispered softly, and my tongue darted out to meet his. I watched as he inhaled, and desire darkened his eyes.
“You’re going to be the undoing of me, Maddie Wright.” He leaned back away from me, and I could see a mixture of emotions in his eyes. “What are you doing to me?”
“The same thing you’re doing to me.” I laughed, happy that I was having this effect on him. Jared had been right. I only hoped that everything else went as according to plan.
“It’s not all about the sex you know.” His eyes took me in and his hand caressed my hair. “I want you to know that whatever happens, it’s not about the sex.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I know.” I knew what I was getting into, I knew from the beginning. If I got burned, it would be my own fault, I knew the score going in. But it was worth it to me; the possibility of having more with Logan was worth it.
“I can’t believe you just did that. Your dad is going to be pissed.” There was a new respect in his eyes as he stared at me. “You’re pretty fearless, aren’t you, Maddie?”
“Not really.” I shook my head in wonder. “I honestly have never been this way before,” I continued on, as I pondered his comment to myself. I’d never been the rebellious type. I’d never been the one who snuck out of the dorms to meet up with boys. I’d never given my parents any headaches. I wasn’t really even a wild one. I’d only slept with two guys before, and both of them had been guys I’d been in relationships with. And we’d never had sex out in the open before. I almost didn’t recognize the girl I was becoming, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
“You’re more fearless than me.”
“No way,” I scoffed. “You’re Logan Martelli, you steal cars for a living, you are way more fearless than me.”
“Not really.” He shook his head and we walked towards the main road. “This is the life I was born into. I do what I know and what my father did.”
“Do you regret that this is the life you were born into?” I wasn’t sure if my words were too prying, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“No, I don’t have any regrets about anything. Life is too short for regrets.”
“That’s a great attitude to have.”
“My mom always used to say that.” His voice sounded sad. “She used to say that not everyone was born into a family with a silver spoon but everyone could change their circumstances. There just had to be one brave person in the family willing to ignite the change.”
As Logan talked about his mom, I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how much he knew about our shared history, and I wasn’t sure if he would be mad if I told him. “Your mom was a wise woman.”
“Yes, yes, she was.” He turned wistful eyes upon me. “Every day, I try to be the man she would have wanted me to be.”
“Who did she want you to be?”
“She wanted me to be kind and compassionate; she wanted better for me and my brothers. She really wanted us to have a better life. Better than my father was able to give us. She even tried to leave my dad once.” He sounded as if he were remembering something. “But then she found out she had cancer, and she knew she couldn’t take us boys and deal with the diagnosis at the same time.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart broke listening to Logan talk.
“She knew she was going to die.” His voice was hoarse. “She hoped her death would get my father to change, but he just drank more and more, and he got worse and worse. And I had to help him more and more, and then there came a point where I realized this was my life, this was who I was. But, it didn’t have to be Vincent’s life and it didn’t have to be Jared’s life. Her death wouldn’t be in vain if I made sure they took different paths.”
“They don’t steal cars?” I bit my lip nervously as I questioned him. I had always heard that it was a family business and that all the Martelli brothers were involved. In fact, when I had met Jared with Joey, I was fairly sure they were up to no good.