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This was such a bad idea.
“Listen, I called an old friend and let him know what’s going on. He’s a Boston cop and the only reason I trusted him enough with this is because I helped get his daughter away from the junkie she was dating and got her placed into a rehab out of state. He’s gonna be keeping an eye on Conlon for the time being and it won’t take long to get him on gun charges or possession.”
All I really got out of that was ‘Boston cop’ and ‘gun charges’. This was too much, way too much. I wanted to go back to my quiet life where I went to work and went straight home. No interactions with strange, handsome men in the middle of the night and no feelings. No real commitment, that was what I needed.
Logan moved forward quickly as I put a hand on my head, completely overwhelmed with all of it. It suddenly didn’t feel like real life. All of this had to be a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from because in reality I would never be involved with a situation that may or may not include a gunman.
“Hey,” he said softly and wrapped an arm around my waist, guiding me back so I was sitting down at the kitchen counter. I said nothing as he moved through the kitchen and got me a glass of water, cupping my shoulder and rubbing his hand in soothing circles.
“I don’t want to deal with this,” I said honestly and finally looked up at him, my eyes searching his face.
His silence was deafening and held an unspoken truth; I wasn’t getting out of it until it was said and done.
“So you’re gonna keep tabs on me or something?”
Logan made a face at the audacity in my tone and shook his head. “Don’t say it like I’m a babysitter or some other bullshit. It’ll take a week at most before this guy is back behind bars, but I’m not leaving you alone until then. Sorry.”
He apologized in a way that had me convinced he wasn’t sorry at all and it only added fuel to the fire. I stood from the seat I was in and put one hand on his chest. I was stuck knowing that I couldn’t get out of it. My feelings over the next week would inevitably grow because they were already hitting me hard and fast in a way that I’d never experienced. But I wasn’t getting out of it and that realization had me fuming.
“You can leave now. I’ll see you in the morning to bring me to work.”
Logan covered my hand with his, holding my palm over his heart. I could feel the steady thump and the heat seeping through his shirt. “I just said I’m not leaving you alone.”
“You don’t… y
ou don’t mean you can- you’re not staying here,” I stuttered.
“Okay, then you can spend the night at my place.” he quipped, continuing to talk over me when I tried to interrupt him. “That’s actually a better idea. My place is bigger and I have an alarm system.”
Spend the night at Logan’s house. All of the romance novels that I’d ever read were coming to mind. I was supposed to spend the night so he could keep me safe and then I’d end up on my back on the mattress with him on top of me and buried inside me.
Logan. Inside me. Sweat slicked skin and- I shook my head, not trusting myself or Logan to be strong willed enough to sleep under the same roof and not sleep together. “I can’t do that.”
He didn’t answer me for a minute, his fingers stroking over the back of my hand. He looked down at me with those dark molten eyes that left me breathless and it took everything in me not to lean against him, inhale his scent. Feel that hard body pressed against me and keeping me safe.
Safe. With Logan.
“I’ll sleep on the couch and you can sleep in my room.”
“I can’t kick you out of your bed.”
“It’s either you kick me out of my bed or we sleep in that bed together, but you need to know what you’re getting yourself into if that happens.”
He was talking so low, voice gravelly and dangerous. His close proximity made me feel like I was high and I couldn’t think properly. If we slept in the same bed then that meant we would be sleeping together. Fucking. Touching and exploring each other with such intimacy that it would make me feel like I was on fire. I’d be burning up for Logan.
I already was.
“Listen, J, I’ll never push you to do something you don’t want to do. I can be an asshole, but I’m not that kind of man. I just need you to trust me with this, okay? One week and then it’s all done. Maybe I can take you out on a proper date,” he said with a smile that was so sincere it had me weak.
I allowed a small smile to grace my lips. “Beers and fish tacos at The Pelican?”
Logan flashed a beautiful, megawatt grin and leaned down, pressing a soft open mouthed kiss to my lips. “My kinda woman.”
THAT NIGHT I lay in Logan’s bed- he was adamant about sleeping on the couch and letting me take his room- and stared up at the ceiling. His bed was comfier than mine, a king rather than a queen, and it left plenty of room for me to stretch my legs across the soft sheets. It all smelled like him and as soon as we said our goodnights I was burying my face in his pillows like a lovesick teenager.
Is that what I was? A lovesick teenager? Having never experienced that when I was an actual teen I had no clue, but I knew that I felt warm. Warm in a way that I’d never be able to describe to anyone without sounding like a complete basketcase. It was like I could feel everything all at once; the fear of getting hurt to the ache of wanting to touch him to the giddiness that went through me knowing he was protecting me. Logan was twisting me up and turning me inside out but I was there for it, along for the ride because what other option did I have?
There was something within me that was changing and unlocking, and I had the terrifying thought that it was all because of Logan. Because whatever was unlocking and trying to break free wouldn’t just shatter me, it would shatter him, too.
