“Eager, sweetheart?”
Eager didn’t even begin to describe what she was feeling. She framed his face, pulling his lips to hers for another deep, hungry kiss. “Make love to me.”
His tongue forayed into her mouth and stroked hers before he pulled away again, looking down at her. His gaze rested on her breasts, watching as he palmed them and rolled her nipples with his thumbs. She thought again of how ungainly her breasts had become, and of how her once flat belly now protruded.
Logan must have sensed her thoughts, because he looked up at her again. “Every inch of you is beautiful. I love that it’s my baby inside you.”
She swallowed, his words doing powerful things to her senses. “I know I’m not beautiful.” Her breath caught in her throat.
“If you don’t believe me,” Logan paused and dropped a kiss on first one breast, then another, “I’ll just have to show you.” He laved her nipple with his tongue in swift strokes that made her mad with wanting. “Beautiful.” His dark head moved to her other breast, performing the same torture.
Just when she was writhing with utter, mind-numbing pleasure, he began kissing a trail down her stomach, his tongue dipping into her bellybutton. His hands caressed the soft mound that housed their child. Then his mouth dipped lower, kissing a path to the elastic band of her lacy panties. He tugged them down over her hips, past her knees, over her ankles. She watched him toss the flimsy black scrap of lace to the floor behind him.
Logan’s large hands slid beneath her bare bottom, cupping her, bringing her to his waiting mouth. She moaned, her hands tangling once more in that glorious hair of his, helpless to do anything but lie there and await whatever sensual tortures he had in mind. He lapped at her sensitive skin, sucking, teasing, driving her wild. When he sucked her clit hard, she couldn’t keep from crying out.
Logan tore off his boxers and slid his large body atop hers. He grinned down at her wickedly. “So much for keeping what we’re doing a secret from the rest of the hotel.”
Claire pulled his head down for a kiss in answer, sliding her tongue inside his mouth. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Her legs fell open, cradling him, and she felt his stiff cock against her aching center. Reaching down between them, she grasped him, gratified when she heard his sharp intake of breath. He bucked against her, his tongue claiming her mouth in the same way he would soon claim her entire body.
“Claire. God, I need to be inside you now,” he groaned, capturing her hand. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”
The only response she could manage was a throaty moan. She was no longer capable of speech, doubted she would be for some time. Logan entered her then in a long, deep thrust, filling her to the hilt. Pleasure rocked her body. He ended their kiss, looking down at her as he pulled himself almost completely out, then in again, setting up a rhythm she matched.
They’d waited so long, it seemed, for this moment. It didn’t last long. Claire came with body-shuddering intensity. This time, Logan swallowed her cries with his kiss. In another series of deep, delicious pumps, he came too, throwing back his head with a guttural cry. She felt his warmth fill her and relished it. They were beyond the point of condoms now, and she didn’t mind one bit.
Logan collapsed against her, rolling to his side and taking her with him. His eyes skewered hers and she knew instantly that this had been different from their weekend in New York. He cradled her close against his body. Claire reached out and swept a stray lock of black hair from his forehead. Despite her common sense and her best intentions, this man brought out a tenderness in her she couldn’t explain.
“Logan,” she began.
“Shh.” He pressed a finger to her lips, then kissed her. “Don’t talk.”
The kiss deepened and went on until she felt him hardening again. Logan rolled onto his back, pulling Claire atop him, and she completely forgot what she had wanted to say.
“So tell me more about Eunice Withers.”
Logan paused in the midst of cutting his steak and looked up at her. His eyes gleamed unfathomable black in the candlelight flickering between them. “What do you want to know?” His tone was guarded, but not cold.
Claire toyed with the stem of her water glass. After spending the afternoon in bed, they’d finally managed to shower and change and make their way down to the hotel’s formal restaurant. Logan looked sexy in his typical white button-down shirt, his black hair wavy and untamed.
“I want to know everything,” she said finally. “Whatever you want to tell me.”
“She was one-of-a-kind,” Logan murmured, his voice soft with reminiscence. “Her husband had died of cancer the month before she found me. I think I became her project, something to take her mind off her loneliness.”
“I’m glad she found you.” Claire sipped at her water, wondering how differently Logan might have turned out had Eunice not taken him into her home and life.
A crooked smile curved his lips. “You’re not the only one. Everything I have today is a direct result of her. She put me through college and gave me the financial backing to start LM.”
The revelation surprised Claire. It had always been so easy to imagine him as a man born with silver spoon in hand. But the more she learned about him, the more she appreciated and admired the sheer determination that had taken him from an alley dumpster to the CEO’s office.
“I admire you,” she told him, knowing he needed to hear it. Although he played the arrogant role better than anyone she knew, Claire was beginning to see the uncertainty he kept hidden beneath his veneer.
He looked up at her, his expression obviously startled. “There’s nothing to admire. I did what I had to do to survive.”
“And then some,” she argued. “Look at your company, how successful it has become. You amaze me.”
For the second time that day, a suspicious red tinged his cheekbones. Logan shrugged, looking uncomfortable with her praise. “I wanted to make Eunice proud of me. I wanted to prove to her she hadn’t made a mistake in taking me in.” He paused, taking a sip from his water glass. “If it hadn’t been for her, Derek and I wouldn’t have been able to stick together the way we did.”
Claire couldn’t imagine growing up the way Logan had, feeling unwanted, belonging nowhere and to no one. She and Sophie had always been best friends, and their parents had been warm and loving. She was beginning to understand him in ways she’d never dreamed. There was so much more to him than she’d thought. How wrong she’d been to think him emotionless and cold. The man was just too afraid to let anyone in, and she could hardly blame him for that.
Logan took a bite of his steak and considered her across the table. “So you’ve grilled me long enough. Tell me about you.”
His interest surprised her. She twirled her linguine on her fork and thought for a moment. “Well, it was just my sister Sophie and me growing up. We’ve always been best friends. Our parents were very close to us. They came to every soccer game I played and every art show Sophie had pieces in growing up.”
“You played soccer?”
“I did,” she acknowledged with a chuckle. “Just not very well. My favorite part was always the orange wedges at halftime and the donuts after the game.”
“I played baseball here and there,” Logan said. “But it was hard to keep up with the changing homes and school districts, so I eventually just dropped out. I always envied the other kids whose dads came to cheer them on.”
Claire wanted to skirt the table and hug him. She wished she could erase those years of heartache for him, but nothing would do that now. The only thing she could do was try to make up for it in the future.
“If it’s a boy, you can be there to cheer him on at every game,” Claire said gently. How had she ever thought she could keep this man from his child? It was painfully clear to her that Logan would make a devoted parent, more so than any other man she’d ever met.
“If it’s a girl, do you think she’ll want to play soccer like her mommy?” Logan asked, sending her a
sweet smile that curled her toes.
“If she does, I know you’ll be right there by the sidelines cheering her on.”
He nodded, a sheen glinting on his eyes. Could it be that the great Logan Monroe was moved to tears by the thought of cheering on his little girl? Claire’s heart melted for him even more. If she wasn’t careful, by this time tomorrow, she’d be helplessly, hopelessly in love with him.
She did have to be careful. After all, she’d just ended a marriage. She didn’t want to throw herself into another serious relationship so soon. Or so she told herself. Because with Logan, everything she felt was new, more powerful, more moving than she’d ever expected. She wanted more.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
Claire looked up from her plate to find Logan studying her. “You’ll have to do better than a penny,” she teased, trying to distract him.
But Logan wasn’t to be swayed. “Do you ever wish you were still with your ex?” he asked suddenly. “That the baby was his?”
“No. There was a time when I thought that it would certainly be easier if the baby had been his, I won’t lie to you. But Logan, he and I weren’t happy. We spent the last year of our marriage fighting or avoiding each other. He and I never should have gotten married, and if this baby had been his, we’d be tied to each other forever, and miserable because of it.”
“You’ll be tied to me forever,” he pointed out. “Hell, I know you had regrets about that, or you wouldn’t have tried to keep the baby a secret.”
“No,” she denied firmly, hating her stupidity. “The only thing I regret about you and me and this baby is that I tried to keep the truth from you at all. My only defense is that I made the decision before I really came to know you, and I thought I was making a good choice for the baby.”
Logan raised a black brow at that. “You’ve known me for ten years.”
“I’ve worked with you for ten years,” she corrected. “I only really started getting to know you in the last few weeks. There’s a difference.”
“Fair enough,” he said grudgingly.
“Do you forgive me?” She had to know the answer.
“There’s nothing to forgive. I know you were doing what you thought best.” Logan paused, then raked a hand through his hair. “Do you think we’ll make good parents, Claire?”
The question caught her off guard. “I don’t know. I’d like to think so, wouldn’t you?”
He smiled. “You know, I like the idea of you and me raising a baby together.”
“I do too.” Claire smiled back at him. Maybe this was a chance she had to take, being with Logan, or she’d spend the rest of her life plagued by what-ifs. She just hoped she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life plagued by a broken heart instead.
“Where are you taking me?” Claire asked Logan the next morning.
They were walking together along Main Street, Logan’s large hand clasped over her eyes. His other hand was anchored firmly to her waist, guiding her to her left.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he murmured, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “Follow me.” His hand left her waist to take hers, pulling her toward him. “It’s a slight step up.”
Claire obeyed, feeling strangely giddy as he led her toward their destination. She knew by the abrupt hush in her ears and carpet beneath her feet that they had entered some sort of building. A sweet scent invaded the air, something florally.
“Where are we?” she asked in a whisper.
“Open your eyes and see,” Logan commanded, his voice low. He removed his hand and she blinked as her eyes came back into focus.
Flowers of every color, shape and size met her gaze. They spilled from rustic clay pots and old tins, from crystal vases and wooden barrels. He’d taken her to the flower shop she’d spied on their way into town yesterday. Wynne’s Flowers, she recalled.
“Pick whatever you want,” Logan said. “I thought it might be nice to have an arrangement in our room.”
Claire didn’t know what to say for a moment. Logan had thought about flowers? For her? This from the man she’d once been convinced only thought about himself. God, with every second he proved just how wrong she’d been about him.
“What do you think?” He looked suddenly uncertain.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” she hurried to say, afraid he’d hear in her voice the tears suddenly pricking her eyes. “I love flowers.”
“I know you like to keep an arrangement in your office.” Logan shrugged dismissively, as if to say she shouldn’t read too much into the gesture.
He’d noticed that?
Twice a week, Claire had the florist down the street deliver a new arrangement to her office at LM. It was just an idiosyncrasy she’d always had. She was convinced it enhanced her creativity.
Before she started bawling right there in the middle of the cozy little shop, Claire forced herself to look at the flowers and start choosing them. Logan began selecting some single stems as well, and soon she literally had an armload of them, ranging from coneflowers to hydrangeas.
Logan took the flowers from her and made his way to the front counter, where a woman smiled brightly at them. “Is that everything for you two today?” she asked.
Claire almost did a double take. The woman looked like she could have been straight off a New York runway. She was uncommonly gorgeous, tall and willowy with a riot of red curls falling around her shoulders.
“Yes,” Claire replied before Logan decided differently.
“Where are you two staying?” The woman’s warm smile never faded as she pulled Claire’s bundle of flowers across the counter. “I can whip up the arrangement and have it sent to your hotel, if you’d like.”
“That would be great,” Logan replied easily. “We’re at the Coastal Hotel, just down the street. Room twenty-four.”
“I’ll have it there by this afternoon.” She wrote down the room number and held out her hand for both Logan and Claire to shake. “I’m Wynne, by the way.”
“Mama, can we play dress-up now?” The sweet voice had Claire turning to find a little girl, no older than four, emerging from a back room. Blonde ringlets framed her angelic face, and with her blue eyes and rosy cheeks, she reminded Claire of her niece, Elizabeth. Sophie’s daughter had been about the little girl’s age when the car accident had taken her life.
Claire swallowed past the sudden lump of sadness in her throat.
Wynne’s green eyes sparkled. “And this is my daughter Paige. Sorry for the interruption.” She turned to her daughter. “Sweet pea, Mama has customers right now. Why don’t you go pick out a dress?”
“Okay.” Paige turned and ran from the room in typical childish abandon.
“I’m sorry,” Wynne apologized again, looking embarrassed. “My mother usually watches her while I’m here at the shop, but she’s visiting my brother in Texas this week.”
“It’s no problem,” Claire and Logan assured her at the same time.
Claire noticed as Wynne rang up the flowers that she didn’t wear a wedding band. Life as a single mom couldn’t be easy, and Claire was newly grateful for Logan’s presence in her life. Sharing the workload and the joys both would be so much sweeter.
“So have you two been in town before?” Wynne asked as her fingers skimmed over the keys on the register.
“I have,” Logan answered.
She finished ringing up the last stem and hit a final key. “Your total comes to seventy-three dollars even.” She paused. “How did you find out about us?”
“Actually, a friend of mine made a movie here a few years back, and I’ve been vacationing here ever since,” Logan answered as he pulled out his wallet.
“Oh?” Wynne’s smile faded slightly. “Who’s your friend?”
“Derek Shaw.” He handed her exact change.
Wynne occupied herself with counting the cash before tucking it into her register drawer. “Thanks so much. I’ll have the arrangement delivered to your room.”
&
nbsp; Logan and Claire thanked her, then made their way back out onto the street. Claire turned to him. “Is it just me, or did she seem uncomfortable when you mentioned Derek?”
He frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah, she did. I don’t know why. Maybe he was rude to her when he was on location for the movie. When he drinks, he’s not himself.”
“Could be.” But somehow, she had a feeling there was more to it than that. Wynne had been extraordinarily friendly, only to close up the minute she heard the name Derek Shaw. There was definitely a hidden story there, she decided, her interest piqued.
“Forget about it.” Logan’s tone was amused. He looked down at her, his eyes glinting in the morning sunlight.
“What?” She grinned at him, all innocence. They reached a corner and she paused, waiting for a car to cross the street before her.
“I can see the wheels turning inside your mind. But I’m sure it’s nothing.” He touched her arm. “He’s been through enough hell as it is. Don’t go digging.”
Claire raised a brow at him. “I don’t see a shovel in my hand.”
“Fine.” He grinned at her, a sexy, knowing grin that made her stomach feel as if it had been invaded by hot wax. “I’ll just have to find some other way to keep you occupied. Have any ideas?”
She did actually, and they all began and ended with a great deal less clothing than the two of them were currently wearing. All thoughts of Derek and Wynne instantly fled her mind. Claire laced her fingers through Logan’s. He looked startled by the gesture but didn’t pull away. She decided to take that as a sign of progress.
“I’m sure I could come up with a few,” she told him slyly. “How about you?”
Logan laughed, leaning down to kiss her lips. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
As they walked hand in hand back to the hotel, the strangest thought occurred to her. She couldn’t recall when she’d last been this happy, and it felt good. It felt like the real thing. But now the question was whether it would last.
Perfect Persuasion (Love's Second Chance Book 2) Page 13