Smart, Sexy and Secretive (37 page)

“
No,” I clarify, shaking my
head. “He
tried
to
kiss me. That’s a very different thing.” I unclip the barrette from
my hair and brush it out with my fingers as I kick off my shoes.
“What are you doing here?” I finally ask.

“
I was worried about you,”
he admits. His face is stony. “With good reason,
apparently.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and hug
him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He helps me shrug out of my
coat, and his hands on my arms are freezing. “Why are you so cold?”
I ask.

“
I rode the bike over here,”
he admits.

“
A bike?”

“
A motorcycle, really,” he
goes on to explain.

“
You have a motorcycle?” I
had no idea he owned a motorcycle.

“
It’s Paul’s. He let me
borrow it.” He tips my head to the side to look at my neck. “What
the fuck is that?” he barks.

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

“
It’s not nothing, Emily.”
He growls, and I expect to see him pound on his chest like an ape
any second. That would be kind of hot, actually.

I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I say. “Can you help me get out of this
dress?” I ask because I want to take his mind off my neck and the
mark Trip left there.

He points me toward my room and pops me
on my butt. “In the bedroom,” he says. He glares at Trip’s
door.

“
He’s out for the night. He
won’t bother us.” I have seen Trip drunk enough times that I’m
certain of it. “Can you stay the night?”

He follows me into the bedroom and
closes and locks the door behind us. With a pensive look, he pulls
my lower lip from between my teeth with the pad of his thumb. I
hadn’t even realized I was biting it.

“
You have no idea how much I
wanted to kill him when I saw his hands on you,” he
says.

“
Not nearly as much as I
wanted to.” I turn my back to Logan, and he slides the zipper down
slowly. He pushes my hair over my shoulder and presses his lips to
my shoulder, making me go all quivery on the inside. “What made you
come here?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I didn’t want to sleep
without you.” He tweaks my nose as he starts to unbutton his shirt.
He hangs it over the back of a chair, shaking the wrinkles out of
it. The racks holding the clothes my mom sent over are still in the
corner. “You know,” he says. “I was talking with Henry downstairs.
Did you know his wife is so ill she’s in a nursing
home?”

I gasp. I had no idea. “Is she all
right?” I ask.

“
He goes there every night
to sleep because he says he can’t sleep without her.” He smiles and
tips my chin up. “I want us to be like them when we grow up.” He
grins.

“
I think we already are
them,” I say. It’s true. We are. I am not sure I could live without
Logan at this point.

He undresses completely and slips
between my sheets. I get ready to pull a T-shirt over my head, my
back to him when he complains.

“
No, leave that off,” he
says, his voice gruff. I shrug, turn the lights down but not off,
and climb into bed with him. And then he shows me all the reasons
why I never want to sleep in a bed away from him ever again. And
then he shows me even more reasons when he pulls me into his arms
and holds me close all night long.

Logan

I like having her legs spread around
me. I like it more than I should. Her arms are wrapped around my
waist, and her face rests against my back. I made her wear the
helmet, but we’re only going around the corner so I can drop her
off at Julliard, so I’m not too worried about getting caught
without one. I pull up in front of the building where her first
class is located and kill the engine.

“
Do you want me to walk with
you to class?” I ask as she gets off the bike and unclips the
helmet. She holds it out to me and smiles, shaking her
head.

“
I can find it.” She leans
forward and presses her lips to mine. I pull her closer, not ready
to give her up yet. She’s looking all fresh faced and excited with
her hair up in a ponytail and her backpack slung over her
shoulders. She says something against my lips, and I sit back so I
can see her face.

Thanks for the
ride
, she signs.

You’re very welcome.
God, she’s so pretty.

She grins and
blushes.
Thanks for the one last night,
too.

I go hard
immediately.
Be careful
, I warn.

Or what
? she teases.

I jerk her to me with a
quick tug to her scarf, and she laughs. I can feel the quake of her
stomach against my hip.
I fucking love you
so much
, I say. I can’t seem to stop
telling her.

She rolls her eyes, kisses
me quickly and says,
I just love it when
you get all romantic. I love you, too.

I spin her toward her
building and tap her on the ass. I have something I need to take
care of this morning. Something really important. She waves at me
as she walks away, her fingers barely moving. Then she holds up
the
I love you
sign, and I know my name is written right below it.

I stop at home so that I can shower and
change. I want to look nice when I go to her father. I need to
explain to him, man-to-man, why Emily isn’t going to be staying at
her apartment, or at least not until Trip’s gone. That mark on her
neck is inexcusable. It’s like he was trying to brand her, even
though she’s mine. And I simply can’t tolerate that. What would
have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did?

Paul is just getting up when I come out
of the bathroom. “Glad to see you’re back to normal,” he says,
smiling at me over a cup of coffee.

I tell Paul about what happened at the
party with the model, about Emily’s father, and about what Trip did
just before I got to Emily’s apartment last night.

He shakes his head. “That’s fucked up,”
he says. “What are you going to do?”

I heave a sigh. “I think I have to go
and talk to her father. Today.”

He nods. It’s slow but still a nod.
He’s hesitant, and I don’t understand why.

“
What?” I ask.

“
He’s not going to approve
no matter what you do. He wants a certain life for her.”

“
Emily can’t read,” I blurt
out.

Paul spits into his coffee. “What?” he
sputters.

“
She can read,” I correct.
“She knows what letters are and how to spell words, but she has
dyslexia. Reading is really, really hard for her. That’s why her
father wants her to marry. That’s why he doesn’t want her to have
an education and thinks she should just marry some rich douchebag.
He doesn’t think she’s worth any more than that.”

“
Ouch,” he says. That’s what
Paul says when he wants to mull over a tender topic.

“
You won’t tell her I told
you about not being able to read, will you? She hides it really
well.”

He inhales deeply. “I already knew.
I’ve seen her read to Hayley.” He looks into my face. “Is that why
you spoke to her?” I went eight years without saying a word. And
she made me want to talk again.

I nod. “She couldn’t read what I wrote
down.”

“
You talked to her all along
didn’t you?” He smiles, but it’s only a half-smile.

“
Pretty much from the day
that I met her,” I admit. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” I feel bad
now. I went years without speaking. “You guys all made it really
easy for me to retreat and not speak since you all learned to
sign.”

“
You’re fucking deaf,
dumbass. What else were we going to do?”

A lot of deaf families never learn sign
language. “I’m sorry,” I repeat. “It was easier being
quiet.”

“
She doesn’t make anything
easy for you, does she?”

“
What? She makes everything
easy for me. I didn’t even choose to talk. It just happened.” I
smile. She turns me inside out. “I love her so fucking
much.”

“
I know you want to be a man
about this, but her father’s going to fight you the whole
way.”

“
I know.” I wish that wasn’t
the case. “But I feel like I need to be open with him.”

“
You’re going to get a fat
fucking headache from banging your head against that
wall.”

“
She had to wear a scarf to
school today to cover up her neck.”

“
Fucker,” Paul
swears.

Sam walks into the kitchen in boxer
shorts and a T-shirt, scratching his belly. “Morning,” he says as
he goes to the coffeepot.

Something is going on with
Sam and Pete
, Paul signs behind his
back.
You know about it?

What
? I ask

They’ve been hanging out
with Bone.

Why?
My movements are exaggerated. I’m suddenly pissed.

They deny it.
But I hear things.
He
shrugs.
Just wanted to see if you knew
anything about it.

I don’t know anything about
it. I’ve been a little preoccupied. Sorry. Want me to look into
it?

He shakes his head.
I’ll do it.

Sam turns to face us. “You guys were
talking about my ass, weren’t you?” He grins. “I know it’s awesome,
but try to contain yourselves.”

Sam makes me laugh. He has this way
about him. “Sam, do you think you could make dinner tomorrow night?
I want to invite Emily’s parents over.”

Paul sputters into his coffee again.
“Here?” he asks.

I nod. “I want them to see what our
family is like. In person.”

“
Why do I have to cook?” Sam
whines.

“
Because you’re the only one
who knows how.” I watch him closely. “Make some lasagna or
something.” I put my hands together like in prayer.
“Please?”

He huffs and says, “Sure. But you’re
going to owe me.”

***

Mr. and Mrs. Madison have a suite at
one of the larger hotels in the area. Henry is the one who told me
that. How he knew, I have no idea, but that man is sharp as a tack.
I stop at the front desk, wringing my hands together as I ask for
their room number. I have to get this over with. I have to tell
them that Emily won’t be going back to that apartment as long as
Trip is there.

The front desk calls their room, and
then they write down the room number for me. My knees are steady as
the elevator ascends to the highest floor. Of course, they would be
on the highest floor. And in a suite.

Mrs. Madison opens the door and lets
me. She draws me in for a quick hug. “Is everything all right?” she
asks, her eyebrows drawing together.

“
Everything is fine,” I say.
“Is your husband here? I’d like to talk with him, if it’s not too
much trouble.”

She looks at me, her head tilting to
the side as she appraises my face. Finally, her mask of
indifference slips back over her face. But this woman is anything
but indifferent. She points toward an open door.

Mr. Madison sits behind a desk in a
room that’s more lavish than any office I’ve ever been in. He looks
up and dismisses me immediately when he doesn’t even catch my
gaze.

“
Logan,” he says. “What
brings you here?” He doesn’t look up from his paperwork, but I need
to say this anyway.

“
Mr. Madison,” I begin. “I
need to talk to you.” I point toward the chair. “May I sit down?”
He looks up at me over his glasses.

“
If you must.” He steeples
his hands on his desk. I finally have his attention.
Good.

“
I wanted to come to you, as
one man to another, sir,” I say.

“
I believe we’re one man
short, son,” he says.

I steel my spine. I really can’t help
it if he’s not a man. “Be that as it may, Trip went a little too
far with Emily last night.”

He tosses his pen onto the desk, and I
watch it flip until it settles. “What are you talking
about?”

“
Last night, when you
dropped Trip and Emily off at her apartment, he tried to kiss
her.”

“
Just what are you
insinuating, Logan?” he asks. “They were engaged, for crying out
loud. There’s obviously some chemistry there. It’s bubbling back to
the surface.” His gaze is cool. “I know you love her, but let last
night prove to you that what they have isn’t dead and gone. It’s
still very much alive.”

“
Alive?” I ask.

“
Yes, alive. He still loves
her, and she still cares for him.” He actually looks sorry. “I’m
sorry it didn’t work out for you.” He starts to shuffle through his
papers again. I’m being dismissed.

“
Emily won’t return to the
apartment until Trip is moves out.” I scoot forward in my seat
until I’m perched on the edge of the chair. “She’s going to live
with me. I just wanted to be sure you’re aware.”