Dreaming of You (4 page)

Logan smiled, lifting his wineglass up to his lips. “I most certainly did.”

Oh my hell. What does that mean? Why would he tell his mother about me?
“You’re full of shit.”

“Okay”—Logan sat his glass back down on the table—“have it your way. So, how many times have the two of you called to check up on the restaurant?”

Nathan and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. “I’ve called three times,” I said.

“Four,” Nathan added, shaking his head. “It’s sick, I know. I can’t shake the feeling that I’m a bad parent who’s gone off and left the kids in the hands of the sixteen-year-old that lives next door.”

“I don’t get a chance to call.” Logan broke off a piece off bread and smeared it with butter. “I had five messages on my cell after I left you this afternoon, all nonsense that could’ve been taken care of without bugging me.”

Our waiter came over to the table and proceeded to tell us the specials. Logan and Nathan chose an order of escargot and smoked trout with a caper cream sauce for the table. Logan ordered the sea bass en papillote, and Nathan ordered blue cheese-encrusted French-cut lamb chops with a mint sauce for himself and for me. We decided to go ahead and order a second bottle of wine, and when the waiter began to collect the menus, I tried to act like I didn’t see him.

He held out his hand, patiently waiting for me to notice him. “Your menu, sir.”

“Oh…well, I… Well, okay.” I cringed as I lifted the menu, as I’d been using it to cover up the wine stains on the tablecloth.

“Shall I bring you another napkin?” he asked, smiling.

“I’m so sorry.” I could feel my face flush. “Maybe just one I could put over my mess. I choked,” I explained, lifting my hand to my throat. “That’s what happened. Sorry.”

Schmuck.

“No problem,” he said, turning to leave as Nathan and Logan began snickering.

“Only you would apologize to the waiter.” Nathan smirked as he took another sip of wine. “This wine is incredible. Write down the name of this, we need to get this for the restaurant.”

“Well, the waiter has to clean it up, and the restaurant will be charged a fee by their linen service if the stain doesn’t come out.” I reached over, twisted the bottle, and began reading the wine label. “You know, I can’t just pick up the phone and order any old bottle of wine. Most of the good stuff isn’t available in our area, and if we can get it, the distributors only get a limited amount. Since we don’t have the proper storage to purchase multiple cases to keep lying around, our choices get even more limited.”

“All righty.” Nathan was wide-eyed. “No need to get huffy.”

“That’s certainly one good thing about LA,” Logan stated. “You can pretty much get whatever you want. Most large cities are that way, though.”

“Did that come off snappish?” I asked. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, darling.” Nathan patted my hand. “I’m sure your karma will let a little thing like that go. You may as well know this now,” he added, looking at Logan. “Aden here has a whole karma points system worked out where he keeps track of anything mean or bad he does, and then subtracts them when something bad happens to him.”

“Really,” Logan said, a little too loudly. “I need to hear about this.”

I smiled sweetly, wishing I could reach over the table and smack Nathan upside his head. Whenever people found out about this little tidbit they’d berate me for doing something so silly, which by the way is worth five karma points in the “bad things that happen to me” category.

“Explain it to me,” Logan said excitedly in a half-teasing, half-flirty way.

I shot Nathan a dirty look and pulled my hand away from his. “Well, it’s sort of like five points if you
think
something nasty about someone, ten points for
saying
something nasty about someone, twenty points if you say something nasty
to
someone.” I closed my eyes and imagined myself shrinking down to the size of a mouse and scurrying away. I opened my eyes and continued. “And then two points if I stub my toe, fifteen points for a flat tire, twenty points if someone is mean to me.”

“And at the end of the day you sit down and subtract one from the other to see where you are,” Logan said, matter-of-factly.

I smiled at Logan, feeling completely ruined. “Yeah…that’s pretty much it.”

“Don’t forget about the carrying over part.” Nathan grinned, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Bad karma doesn’t just go away at the end of the day.” I was obviously defensive and beginning to wish Nathan would shut his pie hole. “I have a number for each day and a total lifetime number.”

“Well, I think that’s adorable.” Logan reached down and squeezed my leg. Raising an eyebrow, he added, “I’m certainly interested in hearing an inventory of bad things you do.”

I chuckled a little, feeling my face flush. I nervously chewed my lower lip, unable to take my eyes off him. I reached under the table and placed my hand on his, which was still sitting on my leg about halfway between my knee and crotch.

During the rest of the dinner we discussed mainly food, different cooking styles and such, of which I had a limited knowledge. I didn’t mind, though. I was happy that Nathan seemed to like Logan and that Nathan was included in the conversation. The weirdest thing was that every now and then, Logan and I would look at one another, and I just somehow knew that he was making a conscious effort to keep Nathan included as well. It was like we were telepathic, reading one another’s faces and body language as if we’d been together for fifty years.

After dinner, when we were ready to leave, Nathan decided to move up to the bar, saying he wanted to hang out and listen to the
Ab Fab
girls finish their last set. He told us he’d grab a cab and probably hit a couple of the bars before going back to the hotel. I knew he was trying to politely excuse himself, and I certainly didn’t try to stop him.

Logan and I climbed into a cab, laughing like little kids. My head was swimming from the wine, and his eyes had that lacquered liquor look. Logan instructed the driver to go to my hotel, saying we might as well just climb into a booth in the hotel bar.

Once there, we ordered another bottle of wine. The cocktail waitress brought us the bottle and opened it.

I asked her not to pour any because we wanted it to breathe. I paid her, and after she was gone, I told Logan to grab the bottle as I picked up the glasses.

“Why are we moving?” he asked. “Is this some new bar game?”

“Just follow me,” I replied, trying to whisper.

“What the hell was that voice?” he asked, laughing hysterically. “You sounded possessed.”

When I looked back, I started laughing too, realizing that we were both walking hunched over, which was only bringing more attention to the two of us. I stood up straight and glanced over at the bar to see our waitress and another coworker watching us with “I know what you’re up to” smiles on their faces. I put a finger up to my lips as we passed through the doorway into the lobby, hoping they weren’t going to bust us. We slipped into an elevator and went up to my room.

I closed my hotel room door behind us. “There were just way too many people in that bar, we couldn’t talk.”

“It is hard to talk in a crowded room,” he agreed, in a way that seemed to call attention to the flimsy excuse I’d come up with. We locked eyes and both started laughing again.

“Smart-ass.” I held out the glasses, and Logan proceeded to fill each one.

He turned around, placed the bottle on the nightstand, and swung back around to take one of the glasses out of my hand.

Logan lifted his glass. “To us… Okay, that was a shitty toast.”

“That’s all right…probably just a little performance anxiety.” I shot him my best “sexy wicked” look. He shook his head and chuckled, giving me the impression I still wasn’t able to emote that particular expression. It always wound up looking more
American Pie
than
Nine 1/2 Weeks.

I walked around him, over to the bureau. I reached down and started my iPod, which I had hooked up to two small speakers. I turned back around and faced Logan, forcing myself to not attempt another ill-fated shot at trying to come off sexy.

As the low music began to play, Logan grinned as he let his gaze run over me, like he could tell I was doing my best to not act like a freak. He went over and shut off the bedside lamp, leaving only the lights of the city pouring in through the windows.

“That’s really nice.” He danced toward me. He placed his wineglass down on the dresser and took the glass out of my hand and did the same. I beamed as he took me in his arms, and we started slow dancing. He pulled me close, and I let my cheek rest on his chest for a moment.

My mind was reeling as my inner ravings reached a fever pitch. I desperately wanted to be that perfect, sexually confident fantasy man we all dreamed of finding when we went on vacation. I met his gaze, knowing that the harder I tried the worse I’d come off.

Logan seemed to be examining my face as if trying to figure out the puzzle. “You have to be the sexiest, sweetest oddball I’ve ever met.” He leaned down and lightly kissed my neck.

I breathed in his scent, which was lightly mixed with spicy-sweet cologne. The semi-hard-on I’d already been sporting immediately shot up, pressing firmly against the zipper of my jeans. I looked up at him, and he leaned in and kissed me. It was the perfect kiss, soft at first, mouths only partially open with just the tips of our tongues slightly touching. He slowly began lightly sucking on my bottom lip.

“You have the poutiest little lips,” he said before maneuvering his tongue a little deeper into my mouth.

It dawned on me suddenly that he wasn’t interested in that fantasy man; he actually seemed to be turned on by me…strange behavior and all. I could feel all the insecurities, hesitations, and annoying little voices in my head fade away. He brought one hand up behind my head, sliding his fingers into my hair, and the other began to slowly run down my spine, pausing momentarily at the small of my back before making its way to my ass. He began massaging and kneading with his hand while moving his tongue deeper into my mouth. Christ, I wanted this man with an intensity I’d never felt before.

I ran my hands over his chest and down across his stomach, feeling the hard muscles underneath his shirt. He pulled me tighter, and as he continued to explore my mouth, I ran my tongue around his, savoring the taste. He ran his hand down from the back of my head to my waist and he began to grind his hips, pressing his hard cock into mine through our jeans. I wrapped my arms around his waist trying to squeeze out any space between us, and he cupped his hand over my ass, pressing his fingers deeper over the fabric of my jeans. I whimpered slightly, feeling a dizziness in my head as my knees began to get weak.

I slid my hand over the front of his pants, and he pulled his mouth off mine, rolled his head back, and whispered, “Fuck.”

My lips felt warm and swollen from the pressure of his mouth, and just as I began to be able to finally catch my breath, he reached up and placed both of his large hands on each side of my head, smothering my mouth with his. I began pulling the shirt up out of his waistband and fumbling with his belt and zipper. Finally got my hand down into his wet, hot briefs and wrapped my hand around his swollen cock. It felt long and thick. Still assaulting my mouth with his tongue, he reached down underneath my ass with both his hands and lifted me as I pulled my legs up and wrapped them around his waist. He turned us around and walked slowly until his legs hit the bed. I took my hand out of his pants, grabbed his shoulders, and released my legs as he set me down on my knees. He placed his hands back on each side of my head and pulled his mouth away from mine. He looked directly into my eyes with a hazed look as we both panted, trying to catch our breath.

He ran his thumb over my raw bottom lip. “I’m going to know every inch of you.”

“Logan,” I managed to get out in a throaty moan as I began unbuttoning his shirt.

He took over with his buttons and I began to slide the shirt off his shoulders and down his thick, muscular arms as he undid the last button. My gaze ran over his smooth, chest and I leaned down, taking his hard nipple into my mouth. I flicked it lightly with my tongue before nibbling on it with my teeth. He moaned as I ran my hands over his ripped stomach to his waist, pushing his jeans and briefs over his hips to release that massive cock, allowing it to bounce freely in the air.