by Susan Stoker
“I’m fine. Thank you for coming to-”
“Don’t bullshit me, Grace.”
“Logan,” Blake warned from the front seat, obviously not liking his brother’s tone.
“No. She’s not fine. She’s shaking like a leaf and she’s got fucking cuffs around her wrists. When’s the last time you ate?”
Grace looked down at her wrist by rote, forgetting she wasn’t wearing a watch. “Um, what time is it?”
“Fuck. Never mind. I don’t want to know. It’ll just piss me off more, which is saying something.”
“Want me to stop?” Nathan asked.
“No. I’ll feed her when we get home.”
Grace put a hand on Logan’s arm and looked up at him. “I’m okay, Logan, really. I’m sure Felicity will have something I can snack on when we get there.”
“You’re not going to her house,” Logan informed her, putting his hand over hers on his arm.
“I’m not?”
“No.”
When he didn’t elaborate, Grace asked, “Why not?”
“Because I can keep you safe from your asshole parents better than she can.”
Grace bit her lip and looked up at him for a long moment. The silence in the car was thick. Finally, she said, “They’ve threatened you, I don’t want you, any of you, to get hurt because of me.”
Logan couldn’t stand the sadness in Grace’s words. He brought a hand up and put it against her neck. “We can take care of ourselves, Grace. For now, I’m taking you to my house. You’ll be safe there. I’ll feed you, you can shower and try to relax, and know that you won’t ever have to deal with those assholes again. Then tomorrow, everyone who cares about you will come over, and you can tell us everything that’s happened, and we’ll figure out where to go from there. Okay?”
“I’d kill for some cheese fries,” Grace told him, staring in his eyes.
Logan smiled at her response. Without breaking eye contact, Logan said, “Swing by Outback, Nathan. They should still be open. Grace needs a large order of their cheese, ranch, bacon fries. To go.”
Without waiting for an answer, Logan told Grace quietly, “I’m not eighteen anymore, Smarty. I’m a man who knows what he wants and won’t let anyone get in his way anymore.”
“They aren’t going to let this go,” Grace fretted.
“I didn’t think they would,” Logan said calmly, patting her leg to reassure her.
“I don’t know how it got to this,” she said sadly, picking at one of the cuffs. “All I ever wanted to do was make them happy.”
“They knew it, and used your good nature against you.”
“I’m scared,” Grace admitted, tears sparkling in her eyes.
“I know. And I hate that. But this is gonna work out.”
“I have money. I can pay-”
“No. Fuck no. This isn’t about money. This is about you and me, Grace. About the connection we made when we were just kids that we weren’t allowed to act on,” Logan told her firmly.
“But I know Ace Security isn’t cheap.”
“We’re not,” Logan agreed, putting a finger under her chin so she had no choice but to look at him as he reiterated his point. “This isn’t about our company. Didn’t you hear me? It’s about you and me.”
“We wouldn’t take your money anyway, honey,” Blake piped in cheerfully from the front seat.
“Yeah, like we’d make you pay,” Nathan agreed with a laugh, as if the thought of her paying them a dime was absolutely ridiculous.
“Answer me this one question, Grace,” Logan ordered. “If things had gone the way we had thought they would back then, would you have sent me the letters that are sitting in my pocket right now?”
Grace nodded.
“Right. We can’t change the past, but we can make sure from this point on, we’re making decisions for ourselves and not letting someone else make them for us. No more talk about money. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Logan tipped her chin up even farther and put his other hand on the side of Grace’s neck. Leaning down, he’d done what he’d dreamed of doing for more years than he’d ever admit. He took Grace’s mouth as if he’d done it a thousand times. As if he’d die if he didn’t taste her right that moment. She gasped, and he took advantage, surging into her mouth.
Thankfully, Grace reciprocated immediately, tilting her head so he had a better angle, letting her tongue dance with his. Logan didn’t close his eyes, not for a second, wanting to memorize every second of his first real kiss with Grace Mason. Her eyes had shut the second his lips met hers, and he watched as her eyes fluttered under her lids. Groaning low in his throat, Logan reluctantly pulled away. He licked his lips, tasting Grace on them, and waited for her to open her eyes and look at him.
The second she did, he leaned into her and put his lips right next to her ear and whispered, “Your parents might have kept you from me ten years ago, but that ends now. Got it?”
Her eyes got wide as she turned to him, and he could see her pupils dilate in the dim light from the streetlights in response to his words.
“Yeah, I got it,” she whispered as she clutched his shirt at his waist. He could feel her shaking against him. “And you should know, I’d already made plans to find you whenever they let me go and tell you the exact same thing.”
He smiled tenderly down at her. “Good. I know the location’s not ideal, but I couldn’t wait one more second to taste you.”
Logan brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, wiping away the moisture left behind by his mouth and leaned down, kissing her once more. A swift, hard kiss that was more reassuring and affectionate than the passionate one they’d just shared.
Nathan and Blake gave no indication they knew what was happening in the backseat, but he didn’t care if they knew or not. He was done pretending Grace didn’t mean something to him.
They stopped at the restaurant and Nathan ran in and picked up the french fries, which Grace tore into right there in the car. Logan was pissed at the enthusiastic, if not desperate way she gobbled up the greasy snack. Not at Grace, but once more at her parents, who’d obviously not been taking care of their daughter. He’d hear the whole story the next day, but for now, he just wanted to revel in the fact that Grace was safe. Was with him. And was where she’d hopefully be for a long time to come.
By the time Nathan pulled up to Logan’s apartment, Grace was sound asleep. She’d managed to make a good dent in the fries, but had petered out not too long after she’d started eating. Logan figured it was the fact that her belly was full and she felt safe.
“Want us to come up? Help with those locks?” Blake asked in a low voice so as not to wake Grace.
“No, I got it. I’ve got a pair of bolt cutters in my car. Thanks, though.”
“What time you want us to come over tomorrow?”
“There’s that escort job up in Denver in the morning. You know, the one where we’re making sure the woman’s ex doesn’t harass her while she’s collecting her stuff from their apartment. You can take it for me, right?”
“Of course,” Blake told his brother. “Already planned on it. You didn’t even have to ask.”
“Come over at one. That’ll give you time to get that done, get back here, collect Cole and maybe Felicity,” Logan commented.
“You don’t want to meet at the office?” Nathan asked, also in a quiet voice.
“No, I’d prefer to keep her at my place for now. Make sure she’s safe.”
“Makes sense,” Blake agreed. “We’ll meet here whenever we need to in the foreseeable future then. Anything else?”
“Can you please call Felicity and let her know Grace is safe? I know she’s been really worried about her.”
“Of course,” Blake agreed. He paused as if unsure, then continued. “You positive about this?”
Logan knew exactly what his brother meant. “Absolutely. I don’t know what it is about her, but my gut is screaming at me to keep her close. I thought we’d end u
p together when I was eighteen. Apparently my feelings haven’t changed.”
“What if she doesn’t reciprocate?” Nathan asked.
“When I asked if she wanted to take anything with her before we left, the only thing she wanted was a stack of letters hidden under her mattress. Letters she’d written to me that she never got to send. She’d been waiting for me to write her to get my address. She’s kept them all these years.”
“Damn,” Nathan breathed, understanding that the letters were answer enough to his question. “Anything you need, you got it. You know we’ll protect her with our lives. If she’s that important to you, she’s that important to us.”
“Thank you.” Logan knew the words didn’t begin to say what he wanted, but they were what he had at the moment.
“Go on. Get those fucking things off her wrists. I’ll call Felicity, make sure she knows we’re on this. See if she can’t go to her apartment and gather some of her things to bring over. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Logan nodded at his brothers and scooted carefully out of the car. Grace woke up enough to hold onto him as he climbed out.
“My letters?” she mumbled in concern. “You’ve still got them?”
“Yeah, Smarty. I’ve got them. You have no idea how much it means to me that you wrote, and that you still have these. I have a stack remarkably similar to this one back at my place. We can trade, yeah?”
“You kept them, even though they were returned?” Grace said, tightening her grip around his neck in reaction.
“Yeah.” He met her eyes and said with open honesty, “I couldn’t make myself get rid of them. They were my only connection to you.”
They shared a look. One of understanding, longing, and frustration of all that had been kept from them.
“I’d like to read your letters, Logan,” Grace whispered, laying her head back on his chest.
“Then you will,” he reassured her.
Logan heard Nathan’s car drive off as he strode toward his apartment, and he reflected on the woman once more dozing in his arms. Every word he’d told his brothers had been from the heart. He’d do whatever it took to make sure Grace was safe, to make sure she knew she belonged to him.
Just as she had back then.
Nothing would keep him from her now.
Not her fears.
Not her doubts.
And certainly not her parents.
Chapter Sixteen
Grace roused when she felt herself being lowered. She opened her eyes and saw Logan hovering over her after placing her on a couch.
“Hey,” she said nervously.
“Hey. You awake?”
“Yeah, sort of. We’re at your place?”
“Yeah. It’s not the Ritz, but you’ll be safe here,” Logan told her with a small grin.
“I know I will. You’re here. Thank you,” Grace said with an openness and honesty that was easy to read on her face.
“I need to run down to my truck for a second. I’ve got a pair of bolt cutters in the box in the back. I’ll have you out of these in a jiffy. You okay by yourself for a moment?”
“Of course,” Grace said with a small laugh. “The sooner you go, the sooner I’ll get out of these things.” She lifted her hands, making the chains clink together loudly.
“You need to use the restroom before I go?” Logan asked, strangely reluctant to leave her side.
“No, thank you. I’d rather wait until these are off.”
“Of course.” He didn’t move from his protective hover over her.
“Logan?” Grace asked, tilting her head in concern. “You okay?”
“Yeah. You’re beautiful, Grace. The years have been good to you,” he blurted out.
She felt herself blushing and bit her lip. “Thanks. You too.”
He brought a hand up and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear before bending down all the way to brush his lips over hers in a barely-there caress. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
Grace watched as Logan stood up and strode out of the room. She pushed herself into a sitting position and brought a hand up to her lips. The last hour or so had been intense. She’d fallen asleep plotting her escape, and woken up to Logan saying he was there to get her out. She hadn’t hesitated. Didn’t care that her parents would be pissed. She was done with them. Done.
But the most vivid part of the night had been when Logan kissed her. One second they’d been sitting there staring at each other, and the next he was devouring her mouth. It didn’t feel weird, or awkward, as it had the few times she’d kissed other men. It felt like coming home.
She could still feel his tongue in her mouth, dueling with hers, stroking nerve endings she didn’t know she had. It was all she’d ever dreamed about, and more.
Grace had wanted Logan Anderson for so long, and the kiss they shared hinted at the intimacy she’d long fantasized about. Their kiss had fanned the flames of desire she’d kept tamped down from the moment she’d first met him in the tenth grade.
But now they were adults.
And sort of living together.
She’d never be able to keep him from finding out how much she wanted him.
“Got it.” His triumphant voice coming from the front of the room made Grace jump a foot. She looked over the top of the sofa at him.
The place wasn’t anything special. Most people who saw it would think the person who lived there was down on his luck, but Grace had a feeling that Logan simply didn’t care about appearances. He dressed comfortably, didn’t say anything he didn’t mean, and was one of the most honest people she knew.
But he definitely wasn’t neat. Grace could see empty dishes stacked up in the sink in the small kitchen. There was a box of cereal sitting on the counter, along with a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and two bags of potato chips. There was a small table off the kitchen that was piled high with unopened newspapers and mail, and a laptop sitting in the middle of the chaos. He obviously didn’t eat at the table much.
She was sitting on a black suede couch, which still smelled somewhat new. A beat-up coffee table sat in front of her, also piled high with magazines, and the remote control to the television was across the room. There was a recliner at one end of the couch and a bookcase against the opposite wall, filled with books.
And the shoes. They were everywhere. Grace counted three pairs of sneakers, scuffed-up combat boots, hiking boots, and even some flip-flops strewn around the room. It looked like Logan had left them exactly where they’d landed when he took them off.
Her words came out without thought. “Don’t you have a closet?” She swore she saw a blush move up Logan’s face. He turned around sheepishly to look at the room through her eyes.
He shrugged. “Sorry. I’m a bit of a slob.”
“I thought military guys were neat freaks.”
“We are. When we’re in. But the moment I got out, I decided that no one was going to tell me how I had to keep house. It looks messy, but I swear it’s clean.”
He bent down to pick up a pair of sneakers, but Grace stopped him. “It’s fine. Seriously. I actually like it. It looks . . . lived in. If I’d ever dared leave something sitting around like this, I would’ve been in big trouble. Even at my own apartment, I feel like I have to pick up . . . just in case my mom ever stopped by.”
Instead of feeling sorry for her, he felt a sort of kinship. Logan merely smiled and huffed out a laugh. “I felt that way for a long time. But I got over it. Which is why I guess it looks like this now.”
They smiled at each other and Logan came over to sit next to her on the couch. “Ready?”
“Definitely.” Grace held out her wrists.
Logan made quick work of the padlocks holding the chains to her wrists and helped her remove the cuffs. He frowned at the red marks they left behind.
“When I saw your wrist the other day, I wasn’t sure what you wanted me to notice.”
Grace rubbed her wrist, sighing in relief at the f
eeling of air getting to her skin again. “Yeah, I couldn’t exactly stand up and tell you my mother was psycho and beg you to take me away.”
“Why not?”
Grace looked up at his short question and stared at him for a beat. Why hadn’t she? What would her mother have done? Yeah, her mother would’ve been pissed, just like she most likely was now. But if Grace had told Logan to take her away from the house, she could’ve prevented the insane dinner scene with the Grants. It was almost as if she’d still been trying to please the woman. “I should have,” Grace told Logan angrily. She clenched her teeth and shook her head.
He pulled her into him and held on tight. Grace buried her nose into his neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled masculine and musky from the night’s adventures . . . and she liked it.
Logan pulled back and tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. “You want to talk about it?”
Grace thought about it for a half second, then shook her head. “Not right now. Maybe in the morning. I’m exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping very well. Is that all right?”
“Of course, Smarty. Whatever you need. Come on. I’ll show you where you can lie down.” He helped her stand and kept his hand on the small of her back as he led her down a short hallway off the main living area and into a small guest room. There was a queen-size bed with a wooden chest at the foot of it. A small bookcase and a dresser rested against the opposite wall. There weren’t any clothes strewn about, and the bed was made, but there were several boxes stacked against the wall, and she could see the closet was stuffed with odds and ends.
“I’m still figuring out where everything should go. It’s not much, but believe me, it’s much cleaner than my room is,” Logan joked.
The last thing Grace wanted was to be alone, but she couldn’t exactly tell him that she wanted to sleep in his room. They really didn’t know each other that well, no matter their joint past, her current feelings, or that amazing kiss they’d shared.
“It’s great. Thanks.”
Logan nodded, then paused for a moment before taking a deep breath. “We’ll talk more in the morning, but I just want to say, I’m sorry for how things turned out between us. I shouldn’t have just let it go back then.” He held up his hand when Grace opened her mouth. “Please, let me finish. With that said, things are different now. My eyes are open. I see you, Grace, and you’re safe with me. I know it’ll take time for us to get to where we might’ve been before, but please know I’m sincere when I tell you I want to get there.”