After The Rain (One Pass Away #1)

by Mary J. Williams

  “Where are you going?” Logan snared her around the waist as she walked by.

  “Warm cloth.” Claire nodded to the sticky mess on his thighs and stomach.

  “It can wait. Let me take care of you.” Logan cupped her shapely butt, his other hand sliding between her legs. “Then we can take a shower and clean each other up.”

  “There isn’t time. Your father is expecting us at the bar.”

  “I’m the boss’ son. If we’re a few minutes late, he’ll cover for me.”

  “I… Holy crap, Logan.”

  And he said her hands were magic. Logan’s fingers slid over her slick folds, unerringly finding all the right places – giving her maximum pleasure. If he hadn’t anticipated her reaction, Claire’s legs would have given way.

  With one hand around her waist and the other doing mind-blowing things between her legs, Logan deftly reversed their positions, lifting Claire onto the table.

  “Lean back – but keep your eyes open.” Logan brought one wet finger to his mouth. “Mmm. I could make a meal of that. In fact, I think I will.”

  Easily maneuvering her to the end of the table, Logan lifted her legs, putting one, then the other, on his shoulders. Giving her one last smoldering look, he dove in.

  “That—” Claire gasped. God, it felt good. “That should be illegal.”

  Logan looked up long enough to grin, his tongue slowing, running over his wet lips. “Only if we were in public. Here?” He slid two fingers into her. “I can do anything that makes you happy. Are you happy, Claire?”

  Logan didn’t wait for an answer. Not that Claire could have given him one. She was too busy gasping with pleasure. Too occupied watching him take her places she hadn’t thought possible. Claire ran an encouraging hand through Logan’s hair.

  “I appreciate a man who enjoys his work,” she sighed.

  “Not work. Pure pleasure.”

  “Oh!” Claire felt the beginning of her orgasm. “Yes!” She screamed the word. “I know what you mean.”

  Every nerve in her body felt like it was exploding into a million pieces. Claire rode the feelings, letting them stretch out over her body. On and on. Never ending.

  Please, she thought, never let it end.

  “That…” Claire slowly came back down to Earth. “You…”

  “Shh.” Logan kissed the inside of her thigh before gently lowering her legs. “Relax. Don’t speak.”

  He lifted Claire, carrying her across the room to the brand new bathroom. One more thing for which he could thank Gaige.

  “How hot do you like your shower water?”

  “I can’t recall it ever coming up. Hot, but not scalding,” Claire said absently. She had too much fun tugging on Logan’s beard. “This is so curly.” She stretched the hair out several inches.

  Logan released Claire’s legs so he could reach in the stall.

  “Enjoy it while you can. It’s coming off.”

  “Now?”

  “There isn’t time.” Logan guided her into the shower. “If you’re still game, you can shave me tomorrow.” He put his head under the spray. “How are you at haircuts?”

  “One of my specialties.” Claire squeezed some shampoo into her palm.

  “How did I know you were going to say that?” Logan gave a happy sigh when she started washing his hair. “Is there anything you aren’t good at?”

  Claire thought about it for a second. Wiping away the trail of soap headed for Logan’s eyes, she smiled.

  “Taking no for an answer.”

  “ARE YOU SMILING? You are. Well, hallelujah and saints be praised.”

  “The bowling league is waiting for their beers, Rhonda.”

  “Ronnie Balentine and his cronies can wait a few minutes. They won tonight so they’re in a good mood. I don’t have to guess what’s put the bounce in your step.” Rhonda looked to the end of the bar where Claire and Jonas were laughing like old friends.

  “Ronnie won’t leave you a tip if you bring him warm beer.”

  “Fine.” The threat of lost tips always got Rhonda moving. Filling her tray with six glasses, Rhonda took the pitcher of Bud from Logan. “I still want details,” she warned before sashaying toward the table of rowdy bowlers.

  Logan went back to washing glasses. He had no doubt the little cocktail waitress would find time between serving drinks to grill him about Claire. Not that he minded. Rhonda was an old friend. She had commiserated with his father through the worst of Logan’s struggles. Enter a new woman – one who had him humming instead of growling. Anyone, especially someone who cared, would be curious.

  Lefty’s was jumping. Wednesday was usually slow, but with the bowling tournament just letting out and a group of hunters coming in from a successful trip the tables were almost full. Logan didn’t expect it to last. Being a weeknight, the place would probably clear out by ten o’clock.

  “Need some help?”

  “Let me guess,” Logan said as Claire took a seat. “You’ve tended bar.”

  Claire nodded. “I make a mean Harvey Wallbanger.”

  “We don’t get much call for those.”

  “My name isn’t Harvey, but I wouldn’t say no to banging you up against the wall, sweetheart.”

  Claire rolled her eyes. There was nothing worse than a drunk who thought his charm was only eclipsed by his wit. Glancing at the potbellied jerk three stools to her right, she decided this guy was delusional on both counts. She was about to tell him to keep it to himself when Logan beat her to it.

  “Fuck off, Rafer.”

  A little stronger language than he had planned to use, but Claire appreciated the sentiment.

  “Worried the little lady will drop you for a real man, Logan?” Rafer pushed himself and his drink in Claire’s direction.

  “No.”

  “What?” Rafer swayed, half off the stool.

  “I said no.” Claire gave the drunk a withering look. “No to you moving any closer. I can smell you from here, thank you very much. And especially no to banging. Unless I get to bang you over the head with one of these bottles.” Not looking at Logan, Claire held out her hand. “Give me your cheapest whiskey. No reason to waste the good stuff on this asshole.”

  “Come on, Rafer.” One of his drinking buddies took him by the arm. “She’s not worth the trouble.”

  “Ya,” Rafer let his buddy pull him away. “I can do better. Bitch.”

  Claire watched the men stagger off. Shaking her head, she grinned at Logan.

  “I don’t think old Rafer would ever understand that I consider that a compliment.”

  “I’m sorry about that, Claire.”

  “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

  Logan kept his eye on Rafer until he had left the bar. The idiot’s friends would get him home. Until tomorrow night or the next when Rafer would be back. He was a pain in the ass. One more reason to do his damnedest to get out of Denville. Again.

  “Enough about what’s his name.” Claire shined her brightest smile on Logan. “Are you going to let me back there?”

  “Show me what you’ve got.”

  For the next few hours, they worked side by side. Of course, Claire knew her stuff. She laughed with Rhonda. Fixed seven mixed drinks all at once without blinking an eye. She even coaxed a laugh out of Wally Nile. The retired schoolteacher was known for his somber personality. Logan didn’t know what she said, but whatever it was had the old man chuckling in his beer.

  “She’s something special.”

  Jonas handed Logan a tray of empty glasses.

  “I know. But…”

  “But?”

  Logan didn’t know how to explain it. It was too soon. He was letting himself believe in the future. One where he played ball again. One where Claire was by his side. After one day? He was setting himself up for a huge fall.

  “Claire is here to do a job, Dad.” Logan reminded his father, and himself. “One day at a time. Okay?”

  “I’m just saying.” Jonas slapped Logan on the
back. “I knew the moment I saw your mother. Sometimes one look is all it takes.”

  As if sensing his gaze, Claire looked across the room. Even in the dim lights of the bar, Logan could see the sparkle in her blue eyes. It was like a punch in the heart. Painful and exhilarating.

  Just when he thought he was getting his feet back on the ground, a smart, funny, sexy woman came along and knocked him for a loop.

  Bad timing? Maybe. Or maybe, Claire Thornton would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  BY THE TIME Logan and Claire left the bar, it was almost midnight. They had sent Jonas home an hour earlier when it was clear the crowd had cleared out for the evening. The bathrooms and floors were cleaned by the lunch shift so they only had the back bar to wipe down and restock before they locked up and headed home.

  Claire rested her head on the bench seat of Logan’s old secondhand Ford pickup truck. Everything about the vehicle had seen better days. The paint was scratched. Dents littered both sides. The upholstery was so worn down in spots that the padding poked through. However, it was meticulously clean. Logan polished the truck as though he had gotten it showroom new and planned to keep it that way.

  Logan was proud of the old Ford. It was one more thing for Claire to add to the growing list of things she admired about him. His unabashed love for his father. The way he walked Rhonda to her car, making sure she was inside with all four doors locked. That alone earned him major points.

  “You worry about Rhonda’s ex, don’t you?”

  Logan shrugged. He turned right onto a street sporadically littered with houses brightly lit with Christmas decorations.

  “Most nights, her boyfriend picks her up after work. When he has to work late, I get her to her car. No big deal. Any guy would do the same.”

  “We both know that isn’t true. Your old pal Rafer wouldn’t lift a finger to help anyone but himself,” Claire said. “From the looks of him, he isn’t even doing a very good job of that.”

  One brief meeting and Claire had Rafer pegged. Logan shouldn’t have been surprised. Claire had a way of paring things down to the essentials. People included. Someday, if he could work up the nerve, he might ask her what she saw when she looked at him.

  Pulling into his father’s driveway, Logan turned off the ignition. For Claire’s benefit, he had run the heater on high. Not something he usually did but her look of contentment as the cab warmed to a tropical level made his minor discomfort worth it.

  “Want to come up to my place?”

  “Still no condoms, remember?”

  “There are other things we could do.”

  Claire winked. “We’re really good at those other things. I think you should get some sleep. I have a busy morning planned for you.”

  “I was talking about sleeping.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Logan knew they were a mistake. What had he said to his father only a few hours earlier? Too soon. Instead of taking his own advice, he came across as needy. Whatever it was he and Claire had, they weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. Not yet.

  From the look on Claire’s face – maybe not ever.

  “Logan…”

  “Don’t.” Please, don’t say something kind. Something placating. That would have killed him. “I jumped ten steps ahead. I’m sorry.”

  Claire felt a little flutter of panic in her stomach. Sleep with Logan? She hadn’t slept with anyone since she left home. Sex, yes. She liked that kind of human connection. What Logan mentioned was something else. It was personal. Potentially permanent. Was she ready for that?

  For as long as Claire could remember, she wanted… more. More than the little town she grew up in could provide. More than a husband and three kids before she hit twenty-one. Her mother took that path. Then, before she or her sisters were old enough to care, she took off with the first man who could get her away from the choices she made as an eighteen-year-old.

  Growing up, Claire’s sisters talked about finding a man to take care of them. Someone with a steady job and maybe a few dollars in the bank. Claire kept her mouth shut about her ambitions. The less she said, the less chance anyone could stop her.

  The day Claire boarded that bus for the West Coast was the scariest day of her life. It was also the most exhilarating. Succeed or fail, it was all up to her. Her need to make something of herself propelled her. When an obstacle got in her way, she figured out a way around it. When that failed, she had no problem barreling through, the hell with collateral damage.

  Men were never a problem. Claire wasn’t looking for more than a good time – a way to let off steam. There weren’t a great number of ex-lovers but the ones she had never represented anything but a brief fling. She had never met a man who made her want anything more.

  Claire felt a chill creeping into the truck. The second Logan saw her shiver, he started the engine, adjusting the heat so it blew full blast her way. The thoughtful gesture brought Claire a sudden, unbidden thought.

  If she slowed down for a minute, Logan could be that man. Logan could make her want more. He could make her want it all.

  Claire waited for the feeling of panic. And waited. And waited. Turning her head, her eyes met Logan’s. All she felt was… happy. Claire smiled. Well, what do you know?

  “Don’t be sorry.” Claire wasn’t. Her smile grew wider. She wasn’t sorry at all. “Can we take it a little slower? I know that’s a crazy thing to ask when we’ve already gotten naked – and more.”

  “No.” Logan took her hand, bringing it to his lips. “We jumped at the attraction. It felt like the right thing to do. Now that it might be something more…” He met her gaze again. “You feel it too?”

  Claire nodded.

  “Then let’s ease off the gas. Neither of is going anywhere.”

  Inching closer, Claire snuggled into Logan’s arms. She rested her head on his shoulder. Had she ever done this? Sat with a man, simply being held without wondering how soon they could have sex so she could leave?

  No. This was a first. Wrapping her arms around Logan’s waist, Claire sighed.

  “This feels good.”

  “Now who’s the mind reader?” Lord, he felt good. She felt the stirring of desire.

  “Share the joke?” Logan asked when he heard Claire’s chuckle.

  “How slow are we talking?”

  Logan groaned when he felt Claire’s hand slide along his thigh. He shifted his hips as his jeans started to bind in an uncomfortable way.

  “Let’s say slowish.”

  “Not glacial.”

  “God, no.” Logan couldn’t take that.

  “During my bathroom break, I went online and ordered some condoms.”

  Logan laughed. Leave it to Claire. If he did fall in love, this would be a big reason why. She never failed to surprise him.

  “Express delivery?”

  Claire shook her head. “Seven to ten days.”

  “That should be about right.”

  Logan pulled Claire closer – and said a little prayer. Please, make it seven.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  FIVE DAYS AND counting.

  Claire didn’t consider the little fib she told Logan as a flat-out lie. Yes, she had express-ordered the condoms. However, that was before they had their heart to heart. When they decided to slow things down, telling Logan they had to wait to have sex for at least another week seemed like the right thing to do.

  Why put temptation in their path? As it was, they could barely keep their hands off each other. If he knew she had a box of protection hidden away only a few feet from the massage table, Claire doubted it would remain unopened for very long.

  Claire was being strong for both of them. And it was driving her crazy.

  Sexual frustration was a new experience. From the time she lost her virginity at the ripe old age of twenty, Claire scratched that itch whenever she felt the need.

  Sometimes she found a man to help; sometimes she took care of it by herse
lf. Most of the time, she took care of it by herself. Logan was the only man she had ever known who made her feel… what was the word?

  Antsy. That was it. Thinking about him made her long for his company. Being in the same room with him made her want to touch him. Touching him made her hormones go through the roof.

  Her only consolation was that Logan felt the same way. It became more and more difficult to keep things under control. Claire liked holding hands. On the one night Logan hadn’t worked late at the bar, she had enjoyed sitting with him in his father’s living room watching television with his arm around her.

  It was sweet. The kisses they had shared before Logan went to his apartment above the garage were anything but.

  Hot. Crazed. Sexual napalm. After Jonas had gone to bed, Claire and Logan attacked each other. Clothing stayed firmly in place. Not that it stopped them from exploring. For their hands, it was a free-for-all. Nothing was off limits.

  Claire went with Logan to the bar. They worked side by side. Served drinks. Flirted. Cleaned up. Drove home. Then they would spend an hour or so in the driveway, steaming up the windows of the old Ford.

  Between their nightly make-out sessions and the daily massages, Claire could honestly say that she knew Logan’s body better than any other man she had ever met. There wasn’t an inch she hadn’t caressed. She knew where he liked to be touched. Spoiler alert. The answer was… everywhere.

  Much to her surprise, when it was Logan doing the touching, she felt the same way.

  For a couple who planned to slow things down, orgasms were not in short supply. Claire could honestly say that hadn’t been the plan. It seemed that once they started, things progressed to their natural conclusion.

  Not that they ever lost sight of why Claire had come to Denville. She was proud to say that during their time in the gym, both she and Logan conducted themselves like professionals. Nothing would keep him from making it back as a starter for the Knights. And nothing would keep her from doing everything in her power to get him there.