“I feel kind of bad for breaking his nose.”
“You shouldn’t. He deserved that and more.” She looked sad.
“Hey, no sadness tonight. I don’t want what he did to spoil what happened here in this room.”
I nodded. “So what else did you do today besides break my brother-in-law’s nose?”
He grinned, looking way too sexy. “I talked to my best friend, Shaileen. I needed some advice.”
“Oh yeah, and what did she tell you?”
“That she was proud of me for finally growing a heart.”
“So, she knows you pretty well then, huh?” I smiled and kissed him.
“She also asked me to give her away at her wedding next month.”
“She did? That’s huge!” I beamed at him.
“I’m happy for her. She deserves a good life. Lord knows I could never give that to her.”
“Wait, so you guys dated?” I was suddenly nervous.
“A million years ago. She’s been my best friend since then. She’s special, like you. But she was never meant for me because you were out there somewhere waiting for me to find you. I think you’ll really like her.”
“I don’t know why I’m nervous about her now.”
“Don’t be, if you like Smith, you’ll love Shai. She’s a bit more refined, but I’ve always said she was the female version of Smith.”
“Speaking of Smith, did you know that he and Faith have hooked up?”
He shook his head. “No, but I can’t say that it surprises me at all. Smith is a manwhore.”
“Do you think it’s a bad thing?”
“No, because I doubt they’ll get serious. Smith is not a one woman kind of guy.”
“Faith is the same. Okay, so I can stop worrying about that then?”
“You need to stop worrying about other people’s relationships. They are all adults.” He laughed.
“I know, but I can’t help it. I’m a worrier by nature.”
“I’ll have to help you keep your mind occupied then won’t I?” he growled and rolled over me.
FAITH WAS SITTING ON THE couch with Grayson in her lap when I came in early the next morning.
“So, what was your disappearing act all about?” She arched a brow.
“Logan went to see John yesterday and broke his nose.”
“See, I knew I liked him for a reason. Good. I’m glad he did. John deserves more than that.”
“Seems to be the consensus. John said the same thing when I spoke to him last night. All of this, it made me realize how much I love Logan. I had been fighting it all month. Wanting to hate him for his past. When his past doesn’t really matter, does it? Not when you can see who he is now. The heart that beats in his chest is beautiful and capable of so much more than I ever gave him credit for.”
“Finally!” she yelled softly so she wouldn’t wake up the sleeping baby in her arms. “Oh honey, I’m so happy you finally saw what we have been seeing for so long. Logan is a great guy, and he loves you so much.”
“Now, what are we going to do about Hope?” I whispered.
“You don’t have to do anything about me,” Hope answered.
“We weren’t talking about you behind your back,” Faith said quickly.
“It’s fine if you were. It’s not like we haven’t been trying to solve all of Grace’s problems for the past month. It’s what we do.”
She was right, it was what we did. We solved each other’s issues because it hurt us when they hurt.
“Logan broke John’s nose yesterday,” Faith blurted out. I shot her a warning look.
“What?” Hope’s eyes went wide.
“I guess he went and talked to him and punched him,” I said.
“How long was I asleep?” she asked warily.
“For most of the evening and all night,” I answered.
“Is John okay? Is Logan?”
“Both are fine. John called last night and I talked to him a bit,” I said carefully.
“How did he sound?”
“Terrible.”
“Good.” She snorted. “I’m glad Logan punched him.”
“Us, too,” Faith chimed in.
“How am I going to tell Mom? I can’t do it. She loves John so much. This will break her heart.” Hope put her face in her hands.
“She loves you more, honey. She’ll be upset, like the rest of us are, but you know you’ll always be her main concern, not him.” I patted her leg after she sat down next to me.
“I don’t want to tell anyone. I don’t want this to be true. I want to go to bed and wake up and have all of this be a terrible dream. Where my husband didn’t cheat on me, didn’t break my heart. I want the man I married back, not the stranger I’ve been living with for the past few months,” she choked out.
“Oh, honey.” I hugged her tight. I wanted that, too. I wanted my sister to be whole again.
Grayson stirred and woke up with a start, screaming his head off. Hope was up from her seat and had him in her arms in an instant. She hugged him to her body, rocking him back and forth as they both cried.
Later in the morning, after Hope had given herself a pep talk, we all went to the restaurant so she could tell our parents what happened.
Our dad’s eyes darkened and he pounded a fist on the table.
“Rick.” My mom put a hand on his. Her eyes were full of concern.
“How could this happen, how could he do this to you?” he said softly, his eyes sad as he looked at Hope.
“Daddy,” Hope sobbed.
He jumped up and took her in his arms. “We’ll figure this out together, Pumpkin, you’re not alone.”
“Where are you staying right now? I can’t imagine you want to sleep in your bed,” Mom asked.
“I stayed at Grace and Faith’s last night, but that’s not a permanent solution. I can’t go back home. There are too many memories right now.”
“You’ll stay with us.” Mom got up and put her arms around her husband and her daughter. “Like your dad said, we’ll figure this out together.”
The one thing you could always count on in the DeLeo family was that we always had each other’s back. No matter the situation, we were always there.
I met Logan for lunch after leaving my family at the restaurant.
“You look tired.” He brushed his thumb across my cheek.
“I am. It’s been a long day already, and it’s only lunch. I just came from my parents’ place, and we got Hope squared away for the time being. She’s going to move in with them for a bit until her and John figure this mess out.”
“How do you feel about it all today? Do you think she should leave him for good?” He put an arm around me.
“I honestly don’t know. I know she still loves him, of course she does, but it’s hard for her to see past what he did at the moment.”
“That’s understandable. How do you feel about everything we talked about last night?”
“Solid.”
“Good.” He snaked a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. Have you given any more thought to moving in with me?”
“What’s your rush?” I looked up at him.
“No rush, I just want to wake up with you every morning. I feel like I wasted so much of my life without you, and now I want to make up for lost time.”
“Stop saying things like that. It makes it so hard for the logical part of my brain to win in this argument.”
“Maybe you should let it win then. Maybe the illogical part of your brain has your best interest at heart.” He kissed me.
“Ask me again in a month. Give me some more time to get used to the idea. I just told you I loved you. We’ve only really been together for like a month and a week. Let’s play it safe.”
“Fuck safe. Kitten, I love you, and I want you in my house, in my bed. I want you wherever I am all the time. I hate being away from you. It kills me. Knowing you’re sleeping somewhere else when you could be in my arms.”
&nbs
p; “There you go again, saying all the right things.”
“Think about it the next few days, okay?”
“Okay, I can at least do that.”
“Thank you. Now let’s go eat, I’m starving.”
“Busy morning of conquering worlds and taking souls?” I laughed.
“Yeah, something like that.” He grinned. “Mostly I just thought about you and how nice it was to wake up with you in my arms.”
“Oh no, don't start that again.” I playfully slapped at his arm as we walked into the restaurant.
“No one’s starting anything, just telling the truth.” He gave me his best innocent look.
“I think I could eat everything on the menu.” I perused the selections. I hadn't eaten breakfast, and it was catching up with me.
“You know, if you move in with me, I’ll make sure you eat breakfast every morning.”
“Logan,” I warned, giving him the evil eye.
“Kitten, you can’t blame a guy for trying can you?” He winked, and my heart melted into a puddle at my feet. I was screwed.
LITTLE BY LITTLE, I WAS moving Grace into my apartment. A few drawers for her clothes, a whole rack in the closet, and half my bathroom. She was none the wiser. Shaileen’s wedding was two weeks away, and I was trying to talk Grace into going shopping with me for some fabulous clothes for the trip. I hadn’t told her we would be going somewhere else after the stop in California. My plan was to take her to see her sister Charity in England, and then a special stop at a secret location.
“Logan.” She rolled her eyes at me before glancing back at the computer on the desk. “I have plenty of clothes, and I don’t have time to go shopping today anyway. There are literally a million things I need to get done if you want me to take off two whole weeks.”
“Make time, Kitten. Life’s too short to spend your whole day in the office.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “This, coming from you?”
“What can I say, I’m a new man since I’ve been with you.” I leaned over her desk and kissed her. “Say you’ll come.”
She looked like she wanted to complain and tell me no, that cute little furrow appeared between her brows. “Fine, you wore me down. Besides, an afternoon with you sounds far better than what I had on the schedule for the rest of the day anyway.”
I was around her desk with my hands pressed flat on the wall behind her chair in a split second. She was effectively trapped between me and the wall. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
A flush crept up her neck, making me want to scrap the plans for shopping and bring her to my apartment instead.
“Keep that up, and we won’t make it out of the limo,” she said breathlessly, her cheeks pink.
“Keep what up?” I asked innocently.
“You know exactly what you’re doing to me, Mr. Smoldering Sex Appeal. Not that I don’t enjoy it.” Her hands grazed my biceps on the way to looping her arms around my neck.
I leaned in, my lips a breath away. “You want it, Kitten. I can feel it.”
She closed the distance and her fingers laced themselves in my hair, pulling my face to hers. Our lips parted in unison, a sigh escaping hers.
Just as I was about to haul her to her feet and spread her out over the desk, someone coughed behind us.
“Am I interrupting?”
I turned to find Faith smirking at us.
“If I said yes, would you leave?” I countered.
“Depends on if Grace said yes, too.” She laughed.
“What can I do for you Faith?” Grace scooted out from under me looking only slightly annoyed to be interrupted.
“I was coming to see if you wanted lunch, but I can see you’re not hungry.” The smirk was back.
“Actually, we’re going shopping,” Grace grimaced.
“Shopping, really?”
“Yes, Logan seems insistent.”
“I am insistent.” I kissed her. “In every aspect of life,” I whispered in her ear. I was rewarded with a full body shiver and a heated look.
“Well, you kids have fun while the rest of us slave away in the office.” She left with a grin and a wave.
Once we were in the limo, I scooped her up onto my lap. “How was your day?”
“Better now.” She snuggled against me, letting out a contented sigh.
“See, playing hooky is good sometimes.” I twirled her hair around my fingers.
“Seems like I’ve been doing that a lot since I met you.” Her lips brushed mine.
“Nothing wrong with playing as hard as you work.” I nipped at her lip.
“I like to play.” She looked at me through her lashes and all but purred the words.
“Do you now?”
“Very much.” She undid a few buttons on my shirt and leaned down to lick at my skin.
“Kitten, don’t start something you can’t finish.” I fought to maintain control, but it was quickly becoming a losing battle.
“Hmm?” Not paying any attention to me, she continued.
I gripped her hips.
The car stopped, and I groaned.
“What’s that saying about delayed gratification?” She winked and slid off me before the driver opened the door.
“Evil woman,” I growled and slapped her ass as we walked up to the department store.
“Tell me you don’t love it.” The heat in her stare would burn me alive from the inside out.
“Come on then, before I do something crazy and drag you into a bathroom.” I sighed and grabbed her hand.
Our first stop was to the formal wear section. Shaileen was having a very over-the-top wedding, which was not at all surprising. So, Grace and I would both need something.
“Do you have a color in mind?” She fingered a silky pink dress.
“For you? Yes, I want you in emerald green. I’ve been thinking about you in a slinky green dress for days.”
“How slinky are we talking?”
The sales woman came over, and I gave her my suggestions before letting Grace have her say.
I sat in the ‘boyfriend chair’ by the entrance to the dressing room and scrolled through my phone.
Grace emerged from the room in a gown that took my breath away. Mermaid cut with a plunging back and a sweetheart neck.
“Wow.”
“Good wow?” She did a turn in front of the mirror.
“Very good wow.” I got up and walked around her. “I don’t think you even need to try anything else on, nothing could be better than this.”
She blushed. “It’s so not me. This is a ‘Faith’ dress. She would pull it off so much better.”
“Do you not see yourself in this? You fucking own it.” I kissed her neck from behind her. “I want to do very naughty things to you in this dress, Kitten. Very naughty.”
“I..I guess we found the dress then.”
“We did. Now go get changed and meet me in the suit department. I need to look at fabrics and then we can hit up the lingerie section.”
“Lingerie?”
“I have some ideas I’d like to see come to life,” I said in even tones.
Grace gave me a heated look before returning to the dressing room.
I COULDN’T CATCH MY BREATH. From the second he had come into my office, he had stolen my concentration. Now I couldn’t think about anything but him. He stood in front of me wearing a charcoal grey suit looking all kinds of sexy. The man did ungodly things to a pair of dress pants, it should be illegal to look so good.
He caught my eye in the mirror. Fuck. The smolder was in full effect. Desire coiled in my stomach like a snake ready to strike.
“This will be the one,” he said to the man standing next to him. You have all my measurements on file.” He stepped down from the pedestal and gave me a quick but thorough kiss before going back to change. I felt a little lightheaded.
The lingerie department had pretty much everything you could think of or imagine. And it appeared that Logan had a very ext
ensive imagination.
“Satin,” he whispered into my ear.
“What?”
“I have a thing for satin.”
The snake coiled tighter. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears.
“I also like those garter belts and bras that push you up so I can get my hands on you faster. You have your assignment, have them charge it to my account. Meet me downstairs when you’ve finished.” His lips crushed against mine. I was panting when he pulled away.
“Don’t keep me waiting too long. I’m feeling impatient today.” He gave me one last look before heading off toward the elevators.
I walked through row upon row of sexy things. I was not the sex kitten; that was Faith. I was out of my element.
“You look like you need some help.” A well-dressed woman approached.
“I guess you could say that. I need to find some things, all in satin.”
She gave me a knowing look. Logan had just left so there was no mistaking why I was here. “Follow me, we have some amazing pieces.”
She led me to a section with shiny satin barely there lingerie on small hangers. This appeared to be where I needed to be. The thought of wearing any of this made me anxious. It brought back memories of Scott. Wearing things for him and having him tell me I couldn’t pull them off. It had damaged me.
I gave myself a mental shake and reminded myself that Logan was nothing like Scott. They couldn’t be more different. Instead of giving into the anxiety, I pushed it away.
I let the woman, Stacey, start a dressing room and fill it with more things than one person could ever wear.
The last thing I tried on was a black satin set. A balconette bra, thong, garter belt, and black silk stockings. I stared at the stranger in the mirror. Where had this person been for so long? I was looking at a woman who oozed confidence, a person who actually felt sexy. I ran my fingers along the soft silk of the stockings and tried to imagine how Logan would react seeing me in this. I shivered as I thought about his lips pressed against the exposed skin of my breasts. The snake coiled tighter in my stomach. I would be wearing this one out. Knowing that it would be under my clothes to surprise Logan was getting me hot and bothered.
“Stacey, I’m going to wear this out if that’s okay with you?” I stuck my head out the door.
Never Let Me Go: The Complete Set Page 14