Smart, Sexy and Secretive (4 page)

“
So, do you want to come
home with me?” she asks. Her head is tilted to the side like an
inquisitive puppy. There’s a question in her gaze, one that’s full
of misunderstanding.

“
Where’s home?” I
ask.

“
I have an apartment a few
miles from here.”

“
Why so far away?” I
ask.

She shrugs. “My mother chose it. It’s
near campus.”

“
Would you rather go home
with me?” I ask. I know my brothers want to see her. They’ve missed
her almost as much as I did.

She shakes her head. “I’d rather have
you all to myself.”

“
You live alone?” I’m not
sure that’s safe.

She nods and tugs on my fingers. “Come
with me.” She holds up a hand to hail a cab. It stops, and she
looks at me with a question in her gaze.

“
All right,” I say. I help
her into the cab with a hand at the small of her back and slide in
behind her. She rattles off an address, but I can’t see her lips in
the darkness.

Her few miles feel like twenty, and I
watch the cab rate go up and up and up. I am not sure how much
money I have in my wallet. Shit. This is bad.

“
Next time, let’s take the
subway,” I toss out. I scrub a hand down my face.

“
Not at this time of the
night,” she scoffs.

“
I’d keep you safe.” I tip
her chin up. “The Emily who left here was fearless. What
happened?”

“
The Emily that left here
was dirt poor. I didn’t have any choice but to ride the subway at
all hours of the night. Now I don’t have to.” She looks into my
eyes.

I nod my head. I forget sometimes that
she comes from privilege. And I don’t. We used to be equal, and now
we’re not.

She reaches up and flattens the space
between my eyebrows with the pad of her thumb, and I realize I was
scowling at her. I squeeze her hand in reassurance.

Her scent wraps around me, and I want
to bury my face in her hair and drink her in. She looks so damn
pretty and smells so fucking good that I can’t help but pull her
legs across mine so that she’s almost in my lap. She lays her head
on my chest and snuggles into me, her head beneath my chin. I take
in the scent of her again and revel in the feel of her in my
arms.

I lift the hem of her shirt and slide
my hands against her skin. She squeals and grabs for my hand,
clutching it still against her belly. “Your hands are freezing,”
she says over a laugh.

“
I know,” I admit. “And
you’re warm. So, warm me up.”

Truth be told, I’m so hot right now I
could explode. Her bottom is resting on my thigh, and I want so
badly to be inside her that I can taste it. She lets my hand go and
presses it flat against her stomach, then hitches it higher. I see
the cab driver watching us in the rearview mirror and pull my hand
back down. She groans. I can feel the vibration of the noise in her
belly.

“
Patience,” I
tease.

The cab finally stops, and I
pull out a twenty, handing it to the driver.
Sorry, no tip.
My wallet is now empty
since I paid for the pie and for the cab. I’m just glad I had
enough.

I stop and look up through the falling
snow at her apartment building. It’s nothing like where I live. The
walls are shiny glass, and there’s a doorman who rushes from the
front of the building with an umbrella. “Good evening, Miss
Madison,” he says, as he covers her head to protect her from the
snow.

“
Good evening, Henry,” she
replies. She smiles at him, and the old man grins even wider. “Did
you have a good day?” she asks.

His smile grows even larger and he
says, “It’s even better now that I’ve seen you again.”

Emily chucks his shoulder. “Are you
always an incurable flirt, Henry?” she teases. His face gets all
rosy.

“
My wife would kick me out,
Miss Madison, if I ever flirted with a single woman.”

“
How long have you been
married, Henry?” Emily asks.

He scratches his chin. “About
thirty-six years?”

“
Are you asking me?” Emily
banters.

He shakes his head and opens the door
for her. “It was 1978. I just can’t do the math in my head the way
I used to.”

She stops in the doorway and lays her
hand upon my arm. “Henry, this is my friend, Logan
Reed.”

She signs while she talks, and Henry
looks me up and down. But then he sticks his hand out to shake when
I offer mine. I take it and appreciate the firmness of his
grip.

“
Henry,” Emily asks, “can
you see about getting a key made for Logan? And be sure he’s on the
list of people who can come and go freely?”

Henry frowns. “Are you certain your
father would approve?” he asks.

The whole time he’s talking, Emily’s
translating for me. I really don’t need it, unless the man turns
away.

“
I’m certain my father would
not approve,” Emily says with a laugh. She wraps one of her arms
through mine. “But I plan to marry this man.”

His eyebrows arch. “Are congratulations
in order?”

She leans toward him like she’s going
to tell him a secret, but I can see her lips as plain as day. “He
hasn’t officially asked me yet, but I’m stating my plans up front
so he’ll know how I feel.”

Henry smiles. “I see.” He leans toward
me this time. “She’ll have you walking the straight and narrow in
no time.” He motions to Emily. “Just look at her. She’s
gorgeous.”

“
She’s mine,” I say,
wrapping my arms around her. “So, don’t get any ideas.” I smile at
him and look down into her brown eyes. She blinks up at me. God,
she’s so pretty.

“
If I were one day younger,
I would have to fight you for her,” he warns. But then he chuckles.
He looks at Emily and winks. “I’ll get that key made for you. And
I’ll add him to the list.”

She asks him, “Henry, do you think it’s
necessary for us to tell my father about Logan’s key?”

He presses his lips together for a
moment and then shakes his head. “What key?”

She grins, but my heart flips over. She
doesn’t want her father to know I have permission to come and go in
her apartment? What the fuck?

Henry eyes my tattoos with an
appraising gaze. I’m not sure he approves, but I don’t particularly
care. I pull the sleeves of my thermal shirt up so he can see the
rest. He may as well get a full picture before he decides if I’m
worthy of being with Emily or not. I’m a hard-working man who loves
art, and I love this girl. That’s the only thing he needs to
know.

“
Thank you for the help,” I
say. I let Emily pull me toward the elevator. She waves at Henry,
and he waves back, blushing at her.

I lean against the wall in the elevator
and cross one foot over the other. “Why don’t you want your father
to know about me?”

She blushes. “I want him to know
everything about you, dummy,” she says, then grins. “I just don’t
want him to know you’re sleeping with me.”

“
Sleeping?” I ask, wiggling
my eyebrows at her. “I doubt we’re going to be doing much
sleeping.”

The doors open and she steps out,
pulling me behind her. She looks at me. “Would you be all right
with meeting my parents?” she asks. “They’re still in
town.”

I stop as she opens the door, reaching
to tag the top of the doorframe as she walks into the apartment.
“You want me to meet your parents?” I wasn’t certain she would want
that.

She drops her keys on a table by the
door, locks the deadbolt behind her, and then puts a security code
in the keypad by the door. Her hair hangs down to cover part of her
face, and I brush it back. “Em,” I say softly. “You want me to meet
your parents?”

She heaves a sigh. I can feel it blow
across my chin. “I want my parents to meet you. I’m just not sure
if I want you to meet them.” She blows out a frustrated breath. “My
dad can be a little…condescending. I’m afraid of what he’ll say to
you.” She shakes her head. “That’s all.” She looks directly into my
eyes. “It’s all about him. Not you.”

“
So you don’t want me to
meet them.” I let my hands drop to my sides.

“
No,” she rushes to say. “I
want you to meet them.”

“
When?” I need to
know.

She shrugs and grimaces.
“Tomorrow?”

A grin tugs at the corners of my lips.
“Really?”

She smiles. “Really.” She pats my
shirt. “You’re wet. You should take this off.”

She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I
reach back behind my head and pull my shirt off the way guys do. I
don’t have anything on under it.

Emily freezes, staring at my chest.
“Goodness, would you look at that.” She licks her lips.

“
If you think these are
nice,” I tease, gesturing to the tats that cover my chest and
shoulders, “just wait until you see the one I put on my ass. It’s
all yours.”

“
You got a tat on your ass
for me?” she asks.

I nod. “Want to see it?” I
tease.

“
Hell, yeah.”

Emily

Instead of taking off his pants so I
can see his ass, Logan stalks toward me, his eyes narrowing as he
sucks his lower lip between his teeth and bites down. His hands
land firmly on each side of my head, and he leans close to my face,
so close that I can feel his breath brush across my ear. He presses
his lips to my forehead tenderly and takes a deep breath, his eyes
closed.

I reach for him, exploring his naked
chest with the tips of my fingers. But he groans and lifts my hands
over my head, pinning them against the wall. “You’re trembling,” he
says, threading his fingers through mine.

A big rush of breath escapes me, and he
laughs.

“
Why trembling, Em?” he asks
softly. He bends his head and leans down. His teeth catch the top
button of my shirt and gently tug it free of its buttonhole. My
shirt gapes open, exposing the lacy edge of my bra. His teeth work
their way down my shirt until it’s hanging open all the way down,
and I suck in my stomach as he dips his tongue into my belly
button. He looks up at me and grins. “Why trembling?” he asks
again.

“
Because you’re here,” I
admit. I lay my head back against the wall, and my hands still
pinned above my head, although he moves one hand closer to the
other and takes my wrists in one his palms. He dips the forefinger
of his free hand into the cup of my bra and tugs it down, my breast
suddenly free and pushed high with the help of my bra cup gathered
beneath it. My nipple beads in the cool air, and he licks his
lips.

“
Please,” I breathe, arching
my back toward him. But he doesn’t tongue my nipple. I’m not even
sure he knows how much I need for him to touch me.

With a quick tug, he
unbuttons my jeans, and my zipper tracks slowly southward, the
tines loud, our breathing and my heartbeat the only sounds in the
room until the
click
,
click
,
click
begins.

Logan has always been able to play me
like I play my guitar, and that hasn’t changed. He keeps taking me
higher and higher, until I get frustrated and take over.

“
Em,” he says as I position
myself on top of him. He tips my chin up. “Do we need a
condom?”

Oh God. He would think of that. He’s
just that good. “We didn’t use one last time,” I remind him. Or the
time before that.

“
You said we were okay those
times,” he reminds me. “Are we okay now?”

“
I can’t think when you do
that,” I tell him, trying to count the days. My period just ended a
few days ago, but then I remember that I’m on the pill. My mom took
me to the doctor as soon as I went home. I don’t want to think
about my mom right now. I tap his shoulders and bounce in his lap.
“We’re okay,” I say.

When the words come out of my mouth, he
lets me take him. “God, I love you.”

My stomach clenches, in a good way, at
the naked emotion on his face.

When we’re sated, Logan collapses on
top of me, spent, his breath heavy. My eyes are closed because I
don’t have enough strength left to open them. But I feel his gentle
hands as he tilts my head to face him. “Look at me,” he insists.
His voice is hesitant. “I need for you tell me everything is going
to be all right.”

I don’t know what he means. I’m back,
aren’t I? I shake my head. “Nothing’s wrong.”

He searches my face. “You promise?” His
eyebrows draw together tightly. “You’re certain?”

I push his shoulder so that he has to
sit up a little. “Certain about what?” I ask.

He withdraws from me, and I’m left wet
and well worked. My arms and legs are limp, and I can barely think.
“Are you asking me if I’m going to leave again?”

He nods. “And other things.”

“
What other
things?”

He stands up, and… Goodness, he’s
beautiful naked. He’s beautiful with clothes on, too, but naked…my
goodness. He’s a work of art.