by Sierra Rose
I guess that old saying is right. When you know, you know.
“Would you consider coming with me?”
Lacy looked up in surprise to see him staring intently into her eyes. For a second, she thought it had to be a joke, but one look at his face convinced her otherwise. The man had never been more serious about anything in his entire life.
...not that it made a difference.
“No.”
She answered before she’d even considered the question, but she knew in her heart it was true. Her entire life was here in Cleveland. She didn’t want to move halfway across the country to play house in some billionaire’s mansion while the company she’d worked so hard to build fell along the wayside. Besides—she hated Florida. The humidity. The heat. Weren’t there sharks?
Logan gave no formal reaction besides a quiet nod. He hadn’t been expecting any other answer. But that still didn’t mean he wasn’t going to ask the question.
And on that note...
“Would you consider moving here?”
Again—Lacy spoke without thinking. But the second the words were out, she found herself breathlessly waiting for their reply.
It would be so much easier for him to make the move than for her. Not only did he have the resources, but he wasn’t running a local business. He was running an international corporation. From a cursory internet search of Skylight Resorts, she’d gleaned that they had corporate headquarters in cities all over the world. Why not this one? Why not Cleveland?
At any rate—he hated his life in Florida. It was the entire reason he fled to the west coast.
Get serious, Lacy. You didn’t want to move because your entire life is here. Well his entire life is over there. Whether he likes it or not. Besides, the decision probably wouldn’t even be up to him. There’s a board of directors. People that hold him accountable—
“Maybe.”
Her subconscious spiral came to a sudden pause, as her eyes widened in disbelief. Was he serious? This wasn’t some kind of joke? There was actually a chance, that after just a few days, he’d pack up everything and move across the country?
...for me?
“Really?” She was almost afraid to ask. “That might be a...a possibility?”
His eyes twinkled, as he pulled her against his chest with a warm smile. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time here, it’s that this place has nothing but possibilities. I don’t see why it would be such a crazy notion that I move here permanently to see for myself.”
Her entire face warmed with a smile so bright, she buried her face quickly in his chest just so he wouldn’t see. The doubts and uncertainties that had plagued her melted away, as a whole new world of options suddenly opened before her.
He could move in with her. Or maybe they’d get a new house altogether. Her office would get to keep running, and he could open an office downtown. They’d find a café in the middle where they could meet for lunch...
“What are you thinking about?”
She looked up with a guilty grin, and he kissed the tip of her nose. Her eyes danced with excitement, but she kept it completely to herself. Not wanting to pressure him. Not wanting to give herself away or over-play her hand.
“...nothing.”
“Oh really?” His fingers dug into her sides, eliciting a peal of giggles as he began tickling without mercy. “You weren’t planning lunch dates and picking out curtains for the new house?”
Shit—was the man telepathic?
“Uh...no.” Lacy slapped his hands away and straightened up with as much grinning dignity as she could possibly muster. “Nothing as mundane as all that.”
“No,” he laughed softly, hugging her close, “nothing as mundane as all that.”
The conversation trailed off into a comfortable silence, as the moon came up over the trees. Before long, the bed was bathed in starlight—lending a surreal glow to what had already been a surreal night. They stared up at it for a long while, until their eyes became too heavy to stay open. Then the two of them fell asleep. Naked in each other’s arms.
Chapter 23
Despite having stayed up half the night (showing Logan what life could be if he decided to move to Cleveland), Lacy got up early the next morning—just as the sun was coming up over the tips of the trees. She stared out the window for a moment, blinking at the soft light, before rolling over to gaze sleepily at the beautiful man on the sheets beside her.
He was still passed out cold—curled up in a little cocoon of blankets he’d made sometime in the night. One hand was wrapped in a loose fist around his pillow, and the other was stretched towards her—the tips of his fingers grazing the edge of her bare skin.
A little smile lit up her face and she bit down on her lip—hiding a dimple.
How did she get so lucky? How did this convoluted, inexplicable situation unravel in such a way that it had somehow left her undeniably, unequivocally in love?
In love.
She hadn’t really thought the words before—not in those exact terms. She’d shielded herself from them the way a child instinctively avoids the oven after the first time they get burnt.
She’d fallen for him. She was crazy about him.
Those were her defenses. Her deflections. It was amazing the lengths her mind would go to protect itself from a world like love. But waking up that morning, staring down at him in the warm golden light, it was impossible to avoid it any longer.
Love. Despite everything that had happened, she was in love with him.
And for whatever reason...that didn’t scare her.
“Logan.” The smile spread up the rest of her face as she rustled the sheets beside him, unable to wait any longer for him to open up his eyes. “Logan—wake up.”
Nothing. The man was sleeping like the dead.
Not that I can really blame him. Not after last night...
“Logan.” She tried again, shaking his shoulder while simultaneously ducking into the open space between his arms. “Sweetie—it’s morning.”
He shifted a little on the pillow. His arms tightened automatically around her sides. But other than that—he was a zombie. A beautiful, adorable, sleepy little zombie. One that melted her very heart, just looking at him.
“...Spartacus got into the leftover Chinese.”
Nothing.
“...the neighbors are holding a naked séance in the front yard.”
No movement.
Finally, she reached her hand beneath the blankets—trailing her finger in a slow line from his chest down to his stomach. His body twitched at her touch, but he pressed his face further into the pillow—unable to free his mind from the iron grasp of sleep.
“Go away, Millard,” he mumbled, his voice was muffled by blankets and unguarded, as if he was a small child. “I need five more minutes.”
Millard?
Lacy pulled back her hand for a split second, her eyes widening with an incredulous smile, before she tried again. This time, she threw caution to the wind—cuddling in closer as her fingers sneaked down between his legs. His body tensed subconsciously as she gathered him up in her hand, then she squeezed. His eyes shot open in surprise.
“What—”
His gasp whispered away in the little room, as the two of them locked eyes. He was stunned and breathless. She was staring back with a caustic grin.
“Millard?” she asked curiously, her hand stroking innocently up and down his skin. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
He pulled in a sharp breath, his body stiffening beneath her hand.
“He’s my valet. And I was just fucking with you.”
Lacy nodded thoughtfully, pursing her lips to hide a smile. “He wake you up a lot?”
Logan tried to banter back, but he was in no position to do so. Instead, his head fell back against the pillow, as he arched his spine with a little grin. “...not like this.”
Another sage nod, as Lacy’s hand picked up speed. “Just another reason to consider Clevel
and, I suppose. Here, we don’t do things halfway. It’s a full-service job.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind—” Logan began, before his voice cut off with another quiet gasp. His hips rocked slowly towards her hand, and just one look at the hungry fire in his eyes told her that he was just seconds away from pulling her on top of him. “And speaking of...”
She was right. Just a second later, he grabbed her. But while his body might be buzzing like a live wire, his brain was still half-asleep. With just a simple maneuver, she was out of his grasp and diving down below the blanket. He laughed aloud and tried to pull her back up, but those playful struggles froze dead still when she suddenly took him into her mouth.
“Fuck...Lacy.”
It was too early for any composure. He was too tired to play the game very long. His eyes squeezed shut and he tilted back his head with a low moan, as his fingers tangled in her hair. The bed moved back and forth as her head bobbed along beneath the sheets. Twice, he tried propping himself up on his elbows to watch her. Twice, he fell back against the mattress in defeat.
Before long, it was all he could do to keep quiet. Just a few moments after that, he was teetering on the edge—every muscle in his body going simultaneously taut.
Of course...that’s when Lacy came to a sudden pause.
“Say it,” she murmured, peering up at him through the gap in the blankets.
His hips stopped their rocking motion and his eyes snapped open in surprise. “Why are you...say what? What are you talking about?”
Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip, stifling a giggle. It wasn’t often that one of the most composed and eloquent men in the world found himself at a loss for words.
“Say that you won’t go back to Florida. Say that you’ll move to Cleveland.”
There was a split second pause, before he burst out laughing. Breathlessly laughing, as he tried to get himself under control. “This is what it’s come to? Sexual torture?”
“I wouldn’t call it torture, per say...” Lacy ran her tongue slowly up his skin, and his hands balled into fists on the sheets beside her. “I’d call it an opportunity.”
She started and stopped, playing games with his pulse. Watching all the while with a little smile as the international juggernaut crumbled to pieces in front of her.
“You know...I should hire you.” His nails made little holes in the sheets as he focused every bit of concentration on keeping still. “You’d make a hell of a negotiator. Those other suits in the board room wouldn’t know what hit them.”
She took him in her mouth again, swirling her tongue in teasing little circles, before peeking out of the blankets with a grin. “Well you should know, these aren’t exactly my standard tactics. In fact, they’re something I’ve saved rather special for you.” Her teeth bit down and he cried out, muscles straining beneath her guiding hand. “Plus—I already have a job.”
All of a sudden, it was as if all the growing momentum came to an abrupt stop. Logan’s eyes snapped open and he slid up a few inches on the mattress—away from her influence.
“That’s right...you have a job dating other people.”
Lacy froze a second in surprise, before pulling the blankets back over her head with a theatrical groan. She was wondering when that little detail was going to come back to haunt her.
Logan rewarded the groan with a smirk, but he wasn’t about to let her off the hook so easily. “You know, you gave me a ton of shit last night for how I acted back at your little candlelit feast, but can you even begin to imagine what it was like for me to see you there? I was just out for a walk, minding my own business, when I see you poised in the window of Cleveland’s most romantic restaurant with some creep’s hands all over you. You’re lucky all I did was pull up a chair! I had half a mind to rip the guy’s arms off.”
“Oh I’m lucky, am I?” Lacy pulled herself out of the blankets with an incredulous smile, folding her arms tightly across her chest as she stared him down. “You get that it wasn’t a real date, right? That I was trying to bring an adulterer to justice? That I was doing my job?”
“Looked like you were having a bit of fun doing it, that’s all.” Logan sniffed. He tried very hard for self-righteous, but neither one of them could stop grinning.
“What was it that tipped you off?” Lacy asked sarcastically. “The way my entire body was cringing away from him, or the fact that I was trying not to gag?”
“You were drinking wine. By candlelight.” Logan hoisted himself higher on the mattress, folding his arms across his chest with a rather superior expression. “Everyone knows those two things are simply a gateway to something more.”
“...photographic entrapment and divorce?”
“Shit—you’re jaded.”
“What do you expect?” Lacy laughed. “I deal in male deception for a living. And as if that isn’t enough, my most recent lover turned out to have an entirely different identity...”
“Water under the bridge,” Logan said dismissively. He unfolded his arms, and gestured her forward. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’d really like to fuck you—”
But Lacy held her ground, looking at him with sudden suspicion.
“And on that note...just out for a walk, minding my own business?” She quoted his own words back to him. “And you just happened to be walking past the exact same restaurant where I happened to be working that night? Downtown? A place you couldn’t have gotten on foot?”
His face froze with sudden guilt, like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. A look of adorable penitence flashed across his face, as he ventured a tentative defense. “I might have stopped by your office yesterday afternoon, and Sarah might have told me where you were going to be later...not that it matters. I totally would have found it on my own.”
“Oh—you would have, huh?” Lacy still resisted his subtle efforts to pull her forward, perched in naked stubbornness on the bed. “I can’t believe she told you. Where’s the fucking loyalty? The only reason I was there was so that she could go on her precious date—”
“Well that’s kind of the point,” Logan interrupted mildly. “She kind of implied that since she was going to be getting mind-blowing sex later that night, that you should too.” His voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. “And I don’t think she was talking about Brad Harmon.”
“Why you little—”
“And on that note...” His hands wrapped around her thighs, easing her gently onto his lap. “If you’re finished rehashing the last twenty-four hours, I’d really like to get back to it...”
“Is that right?” Lacy sank down suddenly on top of him, eliciting a quiet moan as he filled up every inch of space in her body. “Feeling a little impatient, are we?”
“Feeling the need to be convinced.” He answered seriously, but there was a little twinkle in his eyes. “I’m still not sure about making the move to Cleveland...”
Chapter 24
By the time she got to work, Lacy’s early morning had vanished and she was actually running late. She skidded through the doors and slid to a stop in front of her desk, just as the clock was chiming nine-thirty. Just half an hour, but fortunately, neither of the other girls seemed to be there yet either. Maybe there was a chance that no one would notice—
“Well look who finally showed up!”
Both Sarah and Quin sauntered out of the back hallway with matching smirks. One was still holding her phone from last night, while the other was offering out a walk-of-shame coffee.
Lacy took the coffee first. Then made a mad swipe for the phone.
“Oh—I don’t think so.” Sarah grabbed it from Quin instead, scrolling through what looked like a small album of incriminating photographs. “You’d only delete them and these things are going up on the wall. Right next to that signed copy of Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
Quin popped up by her elbow, pointing and whispering. “Show her the—”
“Oh yeah.” Quin enlarged an image with a huge smile. “This is my
favorite.”
It was even worse than Lacy could have imagined. The picture was in black and white, but that in no way diminished the fiery rage projected by the mere sight of it.
There she was—towering over the table like the goddess of war. One hand was curled in a fist, while the other was jabbing right into Logan’s chest—the hook of her manicured finger catching the edge of his shirt. Despite the explosion of fury crashing his way, Logan looked quite at ease. He was reclining back in his chair with a charming smile, and as if to make matters worse, he was thumbing through the dessert menu under the table. The only person who looked remotely normal was Brad—that is, if you didn’t take into account the wide eyes, the pale skin, and the expression like he was about to throw up right there on the table.
All in all...it wasn’t Lacy’s finest moment. The pictures, however, were incredible.
“You did a great job, Quin,” she muttered under her breath, still reeling in horror and trying to ignore the giant smiles on her friends’ faces. “Just please tell me you snapped some when it was just the two of us—”
“Already printing out.” Quin beamed back at her, quite thrilled with the way the evening had turned out. “And the wife’s on her way. You can do the honors.”
How kind. No one liked to be the bearer of bad news. Even if it was to be expected.
“Aw thanks,” Lacy said dryly, turning her back on the others as she walked stiffly to her desk. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”
They lingered just long enough to giggle as she sank down into her chair, but scattered by the time she fired up her computer. As the monitor roared to life, she took her first sips of the life-giving espresso—wondering how in the world she’d found herself in this situation.
Screaming at a boyfriend in front of a client? Quin snapping pictures of a sting operation gone awry? And most of all...the fact that after last night...she didn’t really care?
A sudden beep from the computer brought her back to life. She clicked on her email and saw a message waiting from an address she’d never seen before. An address she’d never seen, and yet, she had a pretty damn good idea who it was.