Trust (Temptation #3)(93)
“I’m not pissed. I’m—”
“Really cute when you’re angry.”
The glower he aimed at Tate then should have had him dead and on the ground. “Fuck you.”
Tate laughed at that suggestion. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. But I’m not mad at your reaction. You have the right to be skeptical. I did act like a dick that first time. I pushed you away. That’s what I’m annoyed at. Me, not you.”
Logan’s heart thumped in his chest as Tate placed his hands on his chest and kissed his taut lips.
“I would never do that again. Not ever.”
Logan nodded slowly.
Then Tate took his chin between his fingers and asked, “Do you trust me?”
Swallowing, he looked at the earnest expression on Tate’s face and knew he was telling the truth. “Yes, I trust you.”
* * *
They spent a little over an hour wandering through the lush grounds of Strawberry Fields and taking photos. Then Logan suggested they have lunch at Loeb’s Boathouse. It was obvious he’d been to the city several times because he knew his way around it like it was second nature, and as they strolled under one of the old arches covering the winding path toward the restaurant, Tate found himself backed up against the cool, stone bricks.
“I’m going to miss you when you go back to work,” Logan said.
“Miss me? I live with you. You’ll probably get sick of me.”
“I actually think that would be impossible, but I meant that I’ll miss you in the evenings. I like having you there when I get home.”
Tate ran his hands down Logan’s black, V-neck sweater, moving his fingers under the hem to run them along the waist of his cream pants. “I’ll still be climbing in bed with you every night and waking you up in the mornings.”
Logan laughed at that. “I’m pretty sure I will be waking you up.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed.
Then Logan asked something he hadn’t even entertained. “Have you ever thought about not going back?”
“To work?”
Logan nodded. “Well, to After Hours. You’re still looking into the bar idea, right?”
He’d thought about it when he’d been released from the hospital and wondered if maybe he should hold off—wait until he was back on his feet and all of this was behind him.
“Maybe this is a good way to start over?” Logan suggested.
Tate scrunched his face up and shook his head. “I have to work, Logan.”
“I know. It’s just something to think about. You’d be leaving anyway if you decided to go ahead with the bar. And that in itself would be work.”
“I’ll think about it, but I promise nothing.”
“Okay. I can deal with that.” Logan smiled and then kissed his cheek. “Did I remember to thank you for coming here with me?”
Tate moved his hands to Logan’s ass and pulled him in between his legs. “If I recall, I didn’t have much of a choice. You stole me.”
“That’s right. I did, didn’t I?” Logan whispered in his ear. “I stole you away from everyone.”
Tate had a feeling that Logan was referring to much more than Chicago in that particular sentence. “Mhmm. But I wanted to be stolen, so there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Logan looked around at the dark shadows they were hidden in and then returned his attention to him. “This is the Riftstone Arch. Did you know that?”
Not having expected that, Tate’s eyebrow winged up as he observed the jagged edges of rock arching across the top of them. “No. I didn’t know that.”
“Yep. It’s made out of Manhattan schist.”
“Schist?”
“Yeah. I read about it in an article the other day. It’s a metamorphic rock that’s found all around Manhattan. They blew them up from the outcrops in the park.”
Tate chuckled at Logan’s explanation. “You just happened to read that in an article?”
As he pushed off the wall and took Logan’s hand, Logan shrugged. It was interesting to see that confident, cocksure exterior of Logan’s vanish. It was rare, but when it happened, Tate always felt as if he’d been invited to see another side of him. A side he shared with no one but him.
“I may have done a little reading about the place.”
As Logan kicked the rock in front of him, Tate thought, If this is what he means about being awkward and nerdy, it turns me the hell on.
They started walking, and Tate said in his ear, “See? Nerdy can most definitely be hot.”
Logan’s head snapped around, and his eyes zeroed in on him. “Excuse me? There’s nothing wrong with being curious.”