Your Captivating Love (10 page)

Logan looks worriedly after his sister.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” Logan says. “I wasn’t expecting her to call. Pippa, like Sebastian, is very self-sufficient. Rarely asks for help, rarely lets her guard down.”

“Will she be okay on her own?” I ask.

“Not really. If she called, it means she needed company. She would’ve taken a cab otherwise. But I have no idea how to fix this. Pippa’ll kick us out if we go upstairs.”

“You can’t fix everything, Logan.”

“Thank you for offering to have a girls’ night in with her.”

“Sure. I thought she could use some girl fun.”

Logan scrutinizes me with an unreadable expression, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. The contact electrifies me, cutting my breath short. I lean into his touch, hungry for more. When it comes to Logan, it seems I always want more.

“You’re not in the mood for dancing anymore,” I state.

“No, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Neither am I.”

“We can still have a drink downtown.”

I check the clock. “Logan, it’s very late. I don’t want to blow you off, but I have to start work early tomorrow, which means I have to get up super early since the commute from home to the shop lasts forever.”

To my surprise, the corners of his mouth lift. “I’ll make you a dangerous proposition.”

“I’m all ears.” I have no idea what he has in mind, yet my body already sizzles with anticipation.

“Spend the night at my place.”

I let out a long whistle. “That line was even smoother than Pippa’s.”

“I don’t mean for sex.” Logan laughs with gusto. I’m surprised at how relieved I am to see some of the tension his entire body held earlier bleeding away. The recognition of how important this man’s happiness is to me hits me squarely in the chest. We agreed we’d have fun together. Caring for him is dangerous.

“I have a spare bedroom. You can sleep there, and you won’t have to wake up so early. We can walk there if you want to; it’s that close. You can sleep longer. What do you say? Extra sleep?”

“Nooooo, the words ‘extra sleep’ are magic to me. Now I can’t say no.”

“I was counting on that. Say yes, Nadine.”

Swallowing hard, I nod. “You weren’t kidding when you said you foresee endless opportunities to convince me to stay overnight, were you?”

“You have no idea.”

***

W
e stop by my place first then drive to Logan’s. His apartment is not at all what I imagined. When he said he likes the hustle and bustle, I conjured what I believed to be a bachelor’s pad in my mind, complete with a pool table in the living room. Instead, he owns a spacious—but not extravagant—two-bedroom apartment, decorated in shades of white and brown. It’s masculine yet warm and welcoming. The first thing that strikes me is the sheer number of paintings hanging in the living room.

“Gifts from Summer,” Logan explains.

“She’s very talented.” I mean it as I lose myself in the swirl of colors and shades. Continuing my inspection of the living room, I detect my favorite item within seconds: a fireplace.

“Wow, I can’t believe you have a fireplace. I love them! They make me think about Christmas.” On the mantelpiece is a group picture of the entire family. It’s an old photograph; Logan doesn’t look to be more than twenty. Sitting between Pippa and Alice, he has an arm around each of their shoulders, hovering protectively over them. There are nine siblings in the picture. I already met all of the girls, but I still have four brothers to meet. The two twin sets. From what Ava told me, I’m unlikely to see the first twin set, Christopher and Max, because they live overseas, expanding Bennett Enterprises. But Daniel and Blake, dubbed the party brothers, are in San Francisco. I can’t wait to meet them.

“I can start a fire if you want to,” he says.

“I’d love that.”

“In the meantime, I have some takeout menus on my fridge. You can call either and order whatever you want. My fridge is empty.”

“You don’t like to cook?”

“I do, but I don’t like to cook only for myself.”

“Will I get a chance to taste your cooking skills?” I ask, remembering Ava telling me that Sebastian likes to cook naked. Maybe Logan likes nudism too.
Goddamn it, Nadine. You really can’t keep your mind out of the gutter, can you?
I’ve only just entered his apartment, but I can already picture him walking around naked. Clearly, I can’t trust my judgment around Logan, and that’s dangerous on so many levels.

“If you come here often enough, you will.”

“Ah, I see. You’re trying to find more incentives for me to sleep over.”

“Cooking is an incentive, got it,” he says brightly.

The thought of him naked is an even bigger incentive, but I’m not about to own up to that. Not yet, anyway.

While Logan starts the fire, I busy myself scanning the menu. Half an hour later, there’s a burning fireplace, and Thai food on plates in front of it. Logan and I sit on the floor, close enough to feel the heat from the fire. Closing my eyes, I inhale the scent of the wood—pine.

“What’s that smile for?” Logan asks.

I realize I’ve been lost in dreamland for a while.

“I love your apartment,” I say. “It’s very homey.”

Halfway through dinner, Logan rises to his feet. “I remembered I have a bottle of champagne. I’ll grab it.”

“What are we celebrating?” I call after him as he disappears from my view.

When he returns, he hands me the glasses, pops the cork off the bottle, and pours the fizzy drink in the glasses.

“What are we celebrating?” I ask again.

“That you got your key.”

“Oh.” My stomach drops a tad. “I’d rather we celebrate after the opening.”

“No.” Logan takes my feet in his lap, making me lose my balance for a split second. “It’s important to stop and celebrate little milestones too. It helps you recharge and have energy even when you still have a lot of work ahead of you.”

I smile. “You always say the right thing.”

“I’ve been in your position. I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.”

Which is exactly how it is, but with Logan next to me, I don’t feel like I carry the weight of the entire world on my shoulders.

Clinking my glass against his, I tip it back, tasting the bubbles. The fireplace, the champagne. . . God, this man makes it hard for me to remember why keeping my walls up around him is a good idea. His charm disarms me. I take in the sight of his glorious body, the ridges and lines of his toned chest visible underneath the thin, white shirt. Desire stirs between my thighs and my breathing becomes more labored. Just when I thought this night couldn’t get any better, he starts massaging my feet.

“Oh, this is heaven,” I murmur, closing my eyes. His hands work wonders on my tired feet.
God, why does this man have to be so amazing?
I feel so many things when I’m around him. Right now, I’m spoiled and safe—which scares me. Not many people have made me feel safe.

When I open my eyes, I find him staring at me hungrily, his eyes dark with lust.
Oh, my
. I take my feet away, sipping from my champagne glass.

“I’m sorry about cutting our date short tonight,” he says. “Pippa—”

I hold my hand up to silence him. “Don’t worry. You never have to apologize for that. Family comes first, I understand.”

Logan’s eyes cloud. Instinctively, I scoot closer to him, looking for a way to soothe him.

“That’s probably the best motto to describe me. It’s always been like that.”

“It
should
be like that.”

“So, it doesn’t bother you?”

“Why would it?”

“It did bother plenty of women I’ve dated. They felt they came second after my family, and weren’t happy with it. I had a fiancée, Sylvia, a few years ago. She broke up with me over this. Summer needed help with one of her first galleries, and I was spending most of my free time with her, which meant I had to cut back on a lot of the time I spent with Sylvia. I told her she could hang out at Summer’s with me.

“She didn’t have to do anything, just be there, but that proposition didn’t go over too well. I felt guilty for leaving her alone too much, but one night she came clean and told me she was leaving me. She said she had filled her long hours alone with the pool boy.”

I barely suppress a gasp. Logan’s tone is neutral, as if all this means nothing to him, but the deep lines in his forehead tell another story.

“She threw it in my face that I practically pushed her to do it, and if I continued, I’d have to settle for the idea that any woman I’ll be with will find someone on the side to fill the time when I leave her to hurry to my family’s side. She felt she always came in second place for me.”

I stare at him, absolutely stunned. I can see on his features that the betrayal still hurts, and hell, I can’t blame him. I’d be hurting too. I search for appropriate words. My first instinct is to name-call the vixen, but that wouldn’t be the best course.

“Anyone who believes they’re in competition with your family is not worth your time.”

Logan’s lips curve up, and the smile reaches his eyes. I breathe a sigh of relief, surprised again, by how important this man’s happiness is to me.

“Sorry for bringing Sylvia up. Exes talk doesn’t make for an exciting date conversation, even if this is a pseudo-date.”

“For the record, this date is realer than many others I’ve had.”

“I wanted you to know this is who I am. That’ll never change. When my family needs help, I’ll be there for them.”

I lace my hands at the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t want you to change. This is one of the things I love most about you.”

Logan licks his lips. “What else do you
love
?”

Uh-oh
. It’s about a million days too early to drop the L-bomb, no matter the context, so I switch gears to a playful answer. Playful, but true nonetheless. “Your ass in a suit. It’s round and perfect.”

“Wait until you see it out of a suit.”

“I’m trembling already.”

“You should, because I can’t wait to see your sweet ass out of those jeans, and I will. Tonight.”

His words drip with so much authority and power that I instantly soak the fabric of my thong. There’s something insanely sexy about a man who knows what he wants and goes straight for it.

Logan pulls me closer to him, and just when I think he’ll kiss my mouth, he dips his head, planting his lips on my neck. I gasp in surprise and delight. He curls an arm around my waist, yanking me up from the floor and pulling me closer. As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, I open my legs, planting them on either side of him before sitting on his lap, our groins inches apart.
How on earth did I end up in his lap again?

Instead of questioning this further, I lean into his kiss, and things heat up quickly from there. With every stroke of his tongue, I want more. His hands roam across my back and thighs. Needing to be closer to him, I slide forward, until our groins touch. I moan, and Logan groans a low sound deep in his throat that makes me crave even more. As the kiss grows wilder, I can’t keep my body still. I fidget and squirm, and then realize we’re practically dry humping.

“Touch me.” The second the words leave my mouth, my face flames white-hot. The shame only lasts a bit, need overpowering it.

“I am touching you,” he teases.

“Please.”

“Nadine.” My name from his mouth sounds primal.

He flips me on my back and I yelp in surprise, afraid I’ll fall. I cling tightly to his neck as he lays me on the carpet, looking at me briefly before diving in for another kiss. When his hand touches the button of my jeans, my entire body squirms in anticipation. A new wave of want hits me as he unzips them. Pushing my jeans down, Logan pulls back. Even though I still have my top and (tiny) thong on, I feel completely naked.

“You’re beautiful.” His hoarse voice does things to me. When he leans forward once more, he rests on one forearm, his other hand reaching down to my inner thighs. He traces his fingers first on one, then the other. I quiver beneath his touch and reach for his fly, but he shakes his head.

“Tonight is just for you.”

“But won’t you. . .” I glance at the bulge in his pants and need no further proof that he is just as aroused as I am.

Feathering his lips over mine, he mutters, “Trust me, giving you pleasure is the most exquisite thing.”

“Logan. . .”

“I want to show you how you can only receive things, and how good it can be.”

He pulls my thong between his fingers in one thick line of fabric and rubs it against my wet folds.

“Holy—Ah!” I arch my back. “Logan.”

“I love watching you like this. You flush so beautifully.” He leans in to kiss my collarbone, then up my neck. He releases the fabric, so my thong covers my mound again. Pulling back, he gives me a heated look, dropping his eyes to my lips, my breasts, and between my legs.

“I love to see you soaked for me.”

“So much stalling,” I say in a breathy voice. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“First, I’m going to tease you some more.”

That wasn’t the answer I expected. Logan spreads my thighs farther apart and runs his fingers up each of my folds, over my panties.

“Fuck.” The feeling of the slick fabric over my sensitive skin is too much. I lick my lips, pushing into his fingers.

“Greedy girl.”

“Logan.”

Finally,
finally
, he slips his hand underneath my thong, pressing his palm against my sensitive clit. I arch against him.

“Tell me, beautiful. What do you want?”

“You know what I want.” My thighs are quivering with need.

“Do you want me to slip one finger inside you?”

“Yes.”

With exquisite slowness, he inserts one finger.

“Oh, God,” I gasp, my inner walls clenching around him. He makes a ‘come here’ motion that prompts my skin to prickle all over my body. When he slides in a second finger, I’m a goner. He starts moving his fingers in a maddening tempo until exquisite pleasure ripples through my body. I come hard against his hand, chanting my release against his lips.

“That was... Wow,” I say.

“You are amazing.”