“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.
“I want you to fucking marry me, Em,” he says.
My heart trips a beat. “Well, that’s the worst proposal ever,” I joke.
“Tell me this is real,” he implores me.
I take his hand and look into his blue eyes. “It’s as real as it gets,” I say.
He pulls me to my feet. “Good.”
“You’re staying the night, aren’t you?” I ask. He had better be.
He grins at me. “Why should I?”
“Because I will be hurt if you leave.” I’m honest, and his face softens.
“Of course, I’m not leaving, dummy.” I thrill at the term of endearment. There was a time a word like that hurt me, but not from him.
“Want to go take a shower?” I ask.
He shakes his heads, nuzzling his five-o’clock shadow into the side of my neck. “I plan on messing you up again,” he warns, waggling his brows at me. “I’ll get a washcloth from the bathroom so we can clean up.” He tweaks my nose. “You’ll sleep better that way.”
He turns around, and I see the words tattooed across his hip: My name is Emily.
It’s in my handwriting, as if he took the note and photocopied it over his skin. It’s from when I first told him my name. I’d written it down for him as a surprise. “You put my note on your ass.”
“I wanted to remember it forever,” he says. He looks deep into my eyes, and tears sting the backs of my lashes.
“You did this after I left.” I don’t need to pose it as a question. I already know the answer.
He nods. “Loved you then. Love you now.”
I take his AC/DC shirt from my closet. I’d unpacked a bit before I went to the club.
“You had my shirt all this time?” he asks.
“It’s not your shirt,” I grouse. “It’s mine.” I’d taken it with me when I left and slept in it every night since. “Possession being nine-tenths and all,” I say. But he’s grinning as I pull the covers back and climb between the sheets.
“What kind of sheets are these?” he asks, sliding his thumb across the threads.
The really expensive kind. “They’re just sheets.” I don’t want to talk about thread counts or anything else. I just want him to hold me. He reaches a wet rag toward the apex of my thighs, and I intercept it. “I can do that.”
He holds tightly to it for a second. “I like taking care of you,” he says.
My face flushes with heat. “Give me some time to adjust to having you around, will you?” This is all new to me, this level of intimacy. I’ve never experienced it before.
His eyes narrow. “You had better get used to it quick.” He pats his tatted chest. “Because what you see is what you get.”
He’s so much more than what people see. I just wish he knew it as well as I do.
Logan lies down and pulls me onto his chest. His lips touch my hair. I’m wearing his shirt and nothing else, and he’s naked. He’s tense beneath me, and his belly flinches when I lay my hand upon it. The sheet twitches. I look down at where the covers drape the lower half of his body. I can’t help it. I lift it up and peek underneath. The crown of his dick arches toward me.
“You want to go to sleep?” I ask.
He shakes his head and rolls me over. He’s inside me before I can blink, and I’ve never felt more at peace.
###
The phone rings the next morning, jolting me out of my peaceful state. Logan is sound asleep, one of his legs tossed over my naked bottom. His arm is wrapped around my back so tightly that I have to untangle his limbs from mine to reach for the phone.
“’Lo,” I mutter.
Logan lifts his head, his eyebrows drawing together.
“Miss Madison?” a voice says.
“Yes?” I sit up on my elbows, brushing my hair back from my face.
“Miss Madison, it’s Henry.”
I wipe the sleep from my eyes. “Mmm hmm,” I murmur. My cheek falls back toward the pillow. Logan’s lips nuzzle my temple.
“Miss Madison,” Henry says. “I thought you’d want to know that your parents just arrived. They’re on their way up.”
Logan
Emily jumps to her knees and scrambles bare-assed across the bed. God, she’s pretty, even with her hair looking like she’s been tumbled in a dryer and the crease of the sheets across her cheek. I shake out my arm. It’s numb from where she’s been lying on it. Pins and needles reach from my fingertips to my armpits.
What’s wrong? I sign when I can feel my fingers again.
Parents are here, she si
gns back.
She slams the phone down and runs to her closet.
Shit. Her parents are here? This is not how I anticipated meeting them.
Don’t just lay there. She shoves my leg. Get dressed.
She runs out into the living room and comes back with my clothes and shoes, throwing them at me. I knock my shoes to the floor like I’m brushing a bug from my face.
Emily just rolls her eyes and shoots me a glare.
I jump up and start putting my clothes on. I’ve been in some funny situations before, but this one is the most worrisome. This wasn’t how I wanted to meet them. I wanted to be dressed nicely, shaved, and looking like someone who could be good for their daughter. I pull my thermal shirt over my head and grit my teeth.
Fuck. I guess I’ll have to make the best of it.
I jump into my jeans, and Emily rushes to the bathroom to brush the snags out of her hair. I get dressed all the way down to my shoes because I want to have shoes on to meet her parents. One of my socks is missing, but I don’t have time to look for it. I follow her and squirt some of her toothpaste onto my finger so I can “brush” my teeth. I run my finger over my teeth, and she grins at me over her toothbrush.
I spit and rinse my mouth out, and she does the same. She darts past me, but I wrap my arm around her waist and drag her back to me. She’s only halfway protesting as she laughs against my lips.
Behave yourself, she scolds.
She puts on a pot of coffee, and I stand there with a cup under the spout instead of the pot, and I replace it with the empty pot and rush to the kitchen table as soon as it’s full. I open her newspaper and turn quickly to the word search. I fill it up with words that will make it look like I’ve been working on it for quite some time.
My pencil is poised over the newspaper when her parents walk in the door.
Did they even knock? I sign to Emily.
She shakes her head and winces. Thank God Henry called.
Her father raises his eyebrow as soon as he sees me at the table. Then his eyes narrow, and he stares at me. His eyes take in my tats, which go all the way up my neck and down to my wrists. I never want to hide them, and in truth, his perusal makes me want to pull my sleeves back so he can see every last one. But something tells me he won’t be impressed.
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