Logan and Cecile

by Ryleigh Rhodes

  Sliding my ass onto one of the stools that surround the bar, I observed my surroundings as I enjoyed my drink.

  Kevin and Courtney were having a formal sit down meal planned, and I hadn’t looked to see who my table guests were. I might need to be slightly inebriated to make it through dinner. Fingers crossed they didn't plant me at a singles table, I didn’t have time for that.

  Guests started spilling in, mingling and ordering drinks. The bar became overly crowded so I left to find my table. Along the way to the table holding the place cards and table assignments, I grabbed another flute of champagne.

  There were over one hundred Victorian style keys that doubled as place card holders. I finally spotted my name, snagged the key from the table and headed to table thirteen. Seriously, thirteen? Ugh, this was sure to turn out to be a singles table.

  I was the first one to the table, and I picked the seat closest to the wall so I could observe. And there was a straight shot to the bar and the exit, should I need to vacate the premises in a hurry. A group of people passed by, and I heard someone clear their throat.

  My head turned towards the noise. "Logan. What are you doing here?" I asked, flabbergasted. He looked good, better than good. My body knew it and responded accordingly. Standing up I gave him an awkward hug.

  "Kevin's my cousin. Guess we're at the singles table," he said pulling away.

  Shit.

  "I forgot you guys were related. They wouldn't stick us at a singles table, would they?" I asked, as I sat back down. Logan took the seat next to me.

  "Kevin, no. Courtney, yes." He took a pull from his longneck. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

  Yes, five years was a long while. Why was this so uncomfortable? I need another drink.

  "Um—busy. What about you?" I finished the last of my champagne, and looked around for the waiter.

  "Same. The ranch keeps me occupied. Kev talked me into taking a day off. I've been meaning to come in and check out the bakery."

  The bakery had been open close to a year, if he'd wanted to come in and look around he'd have done it already.

  "Yeah, you should stop by. Annie would like that. The only person we see on a regular basis is Randy. I did make their cake," I said nodding towards the cake table.

  "Wow! Guess CIA was all it's cracked up to be."

  "Yeah. Glad I didn't turn it down," I said, sounding snide. Suddenly a waiter appeared with a tray full of champagne.

  "More champagne, miss?" I was well aware of the waiter eye fucking me. It's not unheard of for me to draw some male attention. Normally I'd ignore it, but this time, I smiled back. Encouraging it. It was petty of me because I had no intentions of initiating anything with the waiter. It was more of an experiment to see how Logan would react.

  "Yes, please," I said, switching my empty glass for a full one. As I was about to sip my full glass Logan put his arm around my shoulders, staring the waiter down. What the fuck? Biting my lip, I waited while the waiter scampered off.

  Turning, I looked at Logan. "Really?"

  "What? He was ..." he did this shaking movement with his hand, "visually undressing you." Some things never change.

  "It was harmless and you know it. I'm not this underage naive virgin anymore. I can handle myself." Logan sucked in a breath and looked away. Three other couples sat down, and we were not at a singles table after all, it seemed, although now it would appear as though Logan and I were together. Maybe in some alternate universe it could have worked, but it seemed impossible now.

  Kevin and Courtney arrived and immediately “At Last” by Etta James sounded, as they headed to the dance floor to commence in their first dance as a married couple. After the song finished Courtney found her dad, and Kevin found his mom as “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts began to play.

  The hotel manager approached our table.

  "CiCi, can I steal you away for a minute. Cake business," she assured me. Well she was mostly looking at Logan since he had yet to remove his arm from the back of my chair.

  "Sure." I finished what was left of my champagne and followed her. She led me to the back of the room by the kitchen entrance. She verified with me where not to cut the cake. With five tiers, one wrong cut and the whole cake could go tumbling down, which would not make me happy.

  "If I could have everyone's attention please," Kevin said, standing up at the head table. "It's been brought to our attention that the roads have been closed. Gotta love Montana weather. So if you need to make accommodations for tonight please make your way to the front desk. There's limited availability, and no matter what you cannot crash with Courtney and I," he said, and the crowd burst out laughing.

  Just my luck. I parked my butt at the bar and ordered another champagne. Maybe Randy would be able to get away from work and drive me home.

  I stopped counting how many flutes I'd had but kept drinking. I no longer cared that Logan was here and pulling the big brother routine. Seemed like a good night to get drunk and face everything tomorrow. I drank until I was fully relaxed, and more than a little blitzed.

  ######

  I felt the warm covers slide down my shoulder. Slowly, I opened my eyes to darkness. I was tucked against a man, a solid man's body, my face resting on his pec, and I was naked. Warm and naked, tucked securely into his side, leg perched on his hip, hands resting on the ridges of his abs. I couldn’t see them, but they felt like sexy, magazine model worthy abs.

  Holy hell. This guy was ripped.

  Mental high five for scoring a hottie with a body, but on that note I'd have to complete the walk of shame later. Living in a small town had its perks, and drawbacks. Everyone knew everyone, so someone would, more than likely, notice my outfit and everyone would speculate as to my whereabouts.

  It was the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Kevin and Courtney's wedding festivities had commenced with lots, I mean lots, of champagne. I rarely had a night out due to my crazy work schedule, so as soon as I set up their cake, I had 'celebrated' with a glass on an empty stomach. That was my first mistake last night.

  Out of the blue, snow and ice came down and joined the party, stranding a lot of people at the hotel hosting the reception. That was normal for Montana, crazy weather.

  Instead of checking into a room, I chose to sit at the bar, celebrating my hard work being eaten, with champagne. Parking my butt at the bar, instead of tucking myself into bed alone, was my second mistake.

  Fingers brushed the hair off my neck, then his body stretched out against mine. I forced myself to push away from this mystery man. God, he smells good.

  "I should get going," I whispered.

  "We're snowed in, babe," hottie whispered back.

  Oh, shit!

  My breath caught in my throat. I knew that voice. 'Hottie' was Logan. He was also my childhood crush, parents’ neighbor, and my brother's best friend. Oh, no. Oh, God!

  What I could remember of the previous evening came rushing back to me.

  Kevin graduated a year, or two, ahead of me, and asked me to make his wedding cake. Cakes were my specialty. Well—pastries. Since Kevin was a friend, I made their cake and only charged them the cost for ingredients.

  At the time, it slipped my mind that Logan was related to Kevin, in one of those distant family tree crisscrossing kind of ways. Even though I lived close, I was too drunk to drive or walk home after the snow hit.

  Damn.

  I'd had quite the dry spell since moving home, mostly due to working long hours. My body stiffened while various thoughts raced through my mind.

  "No sense freaking out, CiCi. You can't undo last night, and I don't want to. No take backs."

  Of course I was freaking out! Logan knew, heard of, or witnessed firsthand the majority of my most embarrassing moments. I'd followed Logan and Nathan so much so I was the third wheel. And no take backs? Just what in the hell happened last night?

  "Look, I'm still fuzzy on parts of last night, if you could elaborate on no take backs?"

  "This has been
building for years, since I punched JJ, and you know it. I'm done fighting it," he admitted.

  My heart hammered as his words sunk in.

  I stared at the ceiling trying not to freak out even more since my stomach was unhappily rolling. He was right, we'd avoided each other for years. Or at least, I avoided him the few times I managed to make a trip home. I had still wished him 'Happy Birthday' and 'Happy Holidays' on Facebook, but that really wasn't the same as keeping in touch.

  Abruptly, I sat up in bed holding the sheet to my chest. Bolting upright set my hangover into high gear. "You had feelings for me when you punched out JJ?" It was still dark, but I turned to watch him. The outline of him.

  "Told you this last night, but couldn't act on it since you were underage. Royally pissed me off when I caught you two."

  I was already in a state of shock, but I had absolutely no idea how to process this information. I couldn’t even believe he was admitting it.

  "You didn't talk to me, or come home, for six months because you were jealous?" Guess that's how he defines royally pissed. And talk about juvenile.

  "Didn't claim to be perfect, babe."

  Holy shit.

  "Why did you kiss me before I left for New York?" I asked on a whisper. My head was throbbing, and I had a lot of information to process. My liver and kidneys had their own workout in store today.

  Our first kiss happened years ago under shitty circumstances. It was awkward, but fine even for it happening during an emotional time. I wasn't willing to stick around then, mainly because he flat out confused me. The possibility that I'd be tossed aside once Logan healed from the loss of his parents was scary and real to me at the time.

  "It felt right." He sat up leaning against the headboard. "We were both in a bad place. I couldn't ask you to stay. You needed time away from your mom too."

  Crap. He was right. If he had asked, I would have stayed and given up CIA. If I had I would have always wondered 'what if'.

  "Please tell me we used a condom?" I wasn’t on birth control because I hadn’t been sexually active in over a year. It's pathetic, I know. I wanted kids someday, but not anytime soon. My career was my current priority, and it was off to a decent, okay great, start.

  "Used several," he muttered, rolling out of bed towards a chair piled with clothes.

  The last thing I semi-remember was making out at the bar. We finally did the nasty and I was too trashed to remember. That's it. No more champagne.

  I knew he wouldn't intentionally put me at risk by being unsafe, but I needed the confirmation. Good intentions often went out the window with drinking. My current situation proved it. Logan turned on a lamp. I flinched covering my eyes.

  I needed to make a plan.

  Coffee.

  I needed coffee and Tylenol, a long shower, and then hopefully the roads would be plowed so I could sneak off to work. Annie would be at work later, and she'd help me over-analyze everything I just learned.

  Annie attended UM, focusing on business and accounting. After graduation she opened a coffee shop. When I moved home, we became business partners expanding by adding a small bakery. Being a CIA graduate, I'm an expert baker.

  I work with my best friend, it's easy and mostly predictable. I loved it. Cakes didn't talk back, and people are generally happy in a bakery eating sweets. At CIA, I majored in Baking and Pastry Arts, and worked in several major cities across the U.S., before returning home to Montana. Most of my talent was currently being used for designing and creating wedding cakes. And why not? It pays the bills. Overall, I couldn't complain. Wrapping the sheet around me I stood.

  "I'm sorry—" I started.

  "Don't be. This is on me. I was too drunk. Didn't realize you were that far gone last night. If we hadn't plowed through my condom stash I'd be refreshing your memory right now instead of getting dressed to find coffee."

  His words sent a shiver through me, and for the first time I looked at him. I mean really looked, from his sexy bed hair, strong jaw with hair stubble, down his sculpted chest to lean hips, and damn. Even partially dressed he was hot as ever, and clearly pissed with a fire burning in his eyes or more so disappointed that he couldn’t devour me on the spot. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or saddened about him being out of condoms. Considering I just spent a good thirty seconds eye fucking him, saddened.

  The snow couldn’t be that deep since the electricity was still on. I really needed space to think about what happened or what I could remember happening.

  "I'm going to shower. Um—would you mind getting my bag out of my car? All I have are heels." Freezing my tatas off trying to escape wasn’t doable for me. I needed layers of clothes to escape. If the roads weren’t plowed I'd walk the five blocks to get to the bakery, but I needed more than heels and a cocktail dress to do that.

  I was a little OCD. By little, I mean enough to keep an emergency bag packed with random clothes and necessities in my SUV. Freezing to death because I was stranded on the side of the road was not on my to do list. Therefore, I always tried to be prepared.

  "Yeah, baby. I'll grab some coffee on my way back too." He hadn't called me 'baby' since the night his parents died and that was almost five years ago.

  "Thanks." My clutch was sitting on the nightstand within reach. I dug into it pulling out my keys. Handing them to him, I turned to go to the bathroom. Grabbing my arm, he stopped me.

  "Don't over think this. I gave you space years ago because you needed to achieve your goals, and I wasn't going to stand in your way. I've always liked you, but for a long time you were jail bait. I'm not giving you space this time." His other hand cupped my cheek, causing my lungs to freeze, and his lips briefly touched mine. "Go shower. I'll be back by the time you're done."

  He was so calm and casual about doling out affection. It was a nice feeling. A feeling I could get use to if I opened myself up.

  He left the hotel suite, and I fled to the bathroom. After starting the shower, I stared at myself in the mirror waiting for the bathroom to steam up. He wanted me.

  He. Wanted. Me.

  I'd never fully squashed my teenage crush on Logan. New York had distracted me for the most part, but deep down he still had a piece of my heart. But he wanted me.

  The hot shower helped wash away most of last night's champagne. Quickly, I blow dried my hair, wrapping a towel around myself. Opening the door, I found my bag sitting there waiting. Lugging it into the bathroom with me, I quickly dressed and decided against putting makeup on. With my 'emergency' bag on my shoulder I left the bathroom in search of last night's clothes.

  Logan sat on the couch watching TV. Looking over at me while pointing to the nightstand he said, "I brought you some coffee."

  Tossing my dress and heels into my bag, I took the cup and sipped muttering, "Thanks." I pulled out my first aid kit located pain killers. Popping two pills in my mouth, I washed them down with a sip of black sludge this hotel called coffee. I offered them to Logan, but he shook his head, so I packed my bag.

  I didn't know why but I felt like my inner bitch was close to coming out. Self-preservation I guess. Grabbing my clutch I looked around for my keys.

  "Do you still have my keys?"

  Jingling my keys, he replied, "Yeah, but we're gonna talk first."

  Damn. Grabbing the small cup of coffee, I quickly took a drink trying to delay the inevitable. Why did hotels always have bad coffee?

  "Logan, I need to go to work. I have some prep to do. There's also better coffee at work." Not a total lie. The thing about prep was that it always needed to be done. We had a fair amount of orders for Thanksgiving pies. I needed to do inventory and order any added supplies I'd need.

  "The roads aren't plowed yet. You probably won't have any customers today anyways."

  "I can walk," I answered firmly. Fresh cold air would clear my head. I sat on the bed pulling on my socks, then boots.

  "You can't avoid this forever."

  Obviously I couldn't avoid this conversation now.

>   "I'm not the same person I was at eighteen, and neither are you. We don't really know each other anymore." His eyes narrowed. My comment got his attention at least. I wanted him to think, really think about our next move.

  I hadn’t really changed since high school, at least I didn’t think I had. But it'd been years since we'd spent time together. I wasn’t sure that we were compatible anymore, or if we ever really were compatible.

  Nathan would occasionally mention Logan, but I never heard specifics. I always found a way to change the topic, hearing about Logan always stung. It was self-preservation in a way. I made sure I never heard in depth details.

  "We share equal blame on that. I didn't want to stand in your way. You needed to find yourself, and going to New York was the only option for you. Did I want to call you? Yeah, I did. But I knew you'd run back to me and I didn't want to be the one responsible for you giving up your dreams. Let's not forget you didn't keep in touch either."

  He was right (again). It would have been hard on me not to comfort him. Calling him would have shown weakness or at least I thought that being young and naive then. I was done with school and traveling. Now I was focused on building a business.

  "What are you going to tell Nathan?"

  "I'll take care of it," he claimed.

  I gave him a look. A look that I hoped portrayed how I was doubtful of his process.

  "We had a discussion after you left for CIA. He was worried when he walked in on us cuddling."

  How did I not know this? It was time to move out from under my rock. I turned to him.

  "You did?" I asked.

  "Well, yeah. You didn't think he'd let that slide cause my parents died did you?"

  Yeah, I kinda did think Nathan would have given him a pass about that. I bit my lip and stayed silent. Extending an olive branch would be the adult thing to do. It would give me a way to leave and time to process all this new information.

  "I really do have work to do. You admitted a lot of things, and I need to think them over." He nodded, like he completely understood my hesitation. "Look, um—if you don't have plans for Thursday feel free to stop by. Thanksgiving will be chaotic as usual. I can't guarantee your safety, or my sanity, so attending will be at your own risk." I smiled and he smiled back. That smile, gorgeous, as always.