Because Lord knew I was.
In her dark bathroom, I threw the condom away, cleaned up as well as I could and tucked my cock back into my jeans before I grabbed a washcloth and moistened it with hot water.
Returning to her bedroom, I found Sabrina in the exact same position as I’d left her in.
“You okay, angel?”
She rolled her head to the side so she could glare at me. “If that’s you wanting round three or whatever we’re on now, you can fuck right off.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Nah, I don’t think I’ve got an ounce of spunk left in me. You sucked me dry, baby.”
“You’re hilarious.”
I thought so, but apparently not, given the way she scowled at me. “Come on. Roll over.”
“Logan. Seriously? How can you possible want another go?”
“The spirit is willing, but the body is spent. No, I just want to help you clean up.”
Sabrina bolted up right and if anything, her glare was harsher than before. “I can do that. Give me the washcloth.”
I held it out of her reach. “Nah, you helped me out before—made my fucking dream come true, literally—the least I can do is help you out, too.”
“Logan,” she groaned. But still she rolled onto her back and kept her eyes closed the entire time as I gently bathed her between her legs. I took my time and enjoyed every little stroke.
But we were both still exhausted so my little bathing party was quickly finished. I tossed the cloth into the laundry basket in the corner then brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “Thank you, Sabrina.”
A smile curved her lips. “You don’t have to thank me every time we have sex.”
“Every time? Does that mean this was the first of many?”
“I sure hope so. It was hella hot.”
“Ditto.” I looked at her lying all content and snuggly in her comfortable bed. “I should get going.”
“No. Stay. We’re going to get coffee tomorrow morning, remember?”
I closed my eyes with a sigh. I’d give anything to climb into there with her and hold her in my arms, but I had responsibilities, a job, a herd of puppies pissing all over everything back home. I couldn’t.
“Please?”
Fuck me. I couldn’t deny her when she looked at me like that. “Fine. I gotta text Travis and see if he can check in on the dogs first.”
“Yay!”
I tossed a quick text to Travis, and when he replied in the affirmative, I set an alarm on my phone for the morning and killed the lights. I couldn’t sleep in jeans, but I still wasn’t comfortable enough to take them off in front of her. I didn’t like looking at my scars, why the fuck would I subject her to that ugliness?
I waited until my eyes adjusted to the dark, then whipped off my jeans and socks. After dropping them on the floor next to the bed, I crawled under the covers behind Sabrina. She groaned happily as my arms wrapped around her and snuggled deep into me.
Hiding my scars in the dark aside, I was pretty fucking happy. The happiest I’d been in a long time.
And it was all because of Sabrina.
Chapter Fifteen
Sabrina
An air horn went off.
I sat up with a start, my heart pounding. My hand came down on someone else’s body, and I shrieked.
“FUCK!” A man shouted as he rolled over onto his back.
Logan.
Right. Shit. “Sorry.”
Logan groaned before reaching for his blaring cell phone. He slapped at the screen and then buried his head back in his hands. “Fuck mornings.”
Now that my heartbeat had fallen back to a normal rhythm, I smirked at Logan’s mini-rant. I remembered how much he hated waking up to an alarm. And shit, he still looked hot despite being so grumpy. Even the covers couldn’t hide how muscular he was. He had the kinda body that made me wish I’d spent more time at the gym myself.
Wished, not actually did.
I reclined back on the bed and smiled to myself. I remembered everything from last night. It’d been hot and sexy, and the vulnerability he’d shown meant a lot to me. I hoped that one day he’d feel comfortable enough to get naked in front of me, but I wasn’t in a hurry. We had plenty of time to get to know each other again. And more.
Logan groaned dramatically again then pushed away from the bed. He twisted so he could sit on the edge. Rubbing his face, his voice was muffled when he finally spoke again. “I’m gonna hit the head.”
Then he staggered to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.
I sucked in a breath. He must’ve still been half asleep because he’d forgotten his pants. I’d gotten a quick look at the mottled mess of skin that had been his left leg. It was a grim reminder of how much he’d been through. And he had to live with it every day.
But he had slept in his boxers, which was a step forward. If he’d been totally reticent, he would have slept in his heavy jeans and work boots.
Still, the tiny glimpse I’d gotten was sobering. I got out of the bed with a heavy heart and headed for the spare bathroom. I’d give him some privacy to get ready. He would show me more of himself when he was ready.
Although I would miss showering with him. There was nothing sexier than taking a shower with a man—being naked, the slippery suds washing over both our bodies, wandering hands… I sighed in regret before quickly hopping into the shower. Alone.
After quickly washing, I turned off the water and reached out for a towel…and came up empty. I’d been so lost in my mental picture of showering with Logan, I’d forgotten to grab a towel for myself. Shit.
“Logan?” I yelled. “Logan! I need help.”
A second later the door crashed open. “Are you okay? Did you slip?”
“What? No.” Despite all that we’d shared last night, I hid behind the shower curtain. “I forgot my towel.”
Logan scowled at me. “You gave me a heart attack. Why are you hiding behind the curtain? I’m the Quasimodo in this couple.”
“Don’t say that.” I let go of the curtain to point at him. “Why the hell would you say that? There is nothing wrong with you.”
“I could say the same about you.” Logan pushed the curtain the rest of the way to the side. He cupped my cheek in his hand and brushed his thumb over my wet eyebrow. His eyes were so freaking soft and gentle as he stared back at me. “You are gorgeous. And you’re fucking crazy if you think anything less.”
“Logan.” I couldn’t think of anything more to say to him. I already thought he was great, and then he says something like that that put him into the stratosphere of amazingness.
My central air clicked on and a swift, cold breeze swept into the steamy bathroom. I shivered.
“Towel. Right.” Logan leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips. “Be right back.”
He returned in a second with a large fluffy towel he took great pleasure in rubbing all over my body.
But the fun was over too quick. He wrapped the towel around me and gave me another kiss.
“I gotta head out. I need to change and check in on the dogs before I head in to work.”
I sighed heavily. Stupid weekday. “’Kay. Can I see you tonight?”
“Do you mind if we meet at my place? I can’t really leave the dogs alone two nights in a row. Travis will kill me.”
“Wild sex and puppies? Sounds awesome to me.”
“You’re crazy.” He leaned in and gave me a long, seriously hot kiss. “But I kinda like it. Try to stay out of trouble today.”
“No promises.”
It was hard to watch him walk away, but he looked so damn fine as he did. And even though I could see the scar tissue snaking down his neck and disappearing under his collar at his back, it didn’t take away from his appeal—if anything it made him sexier. He’d been through so much and he was still here. I wanted to make him feel better about all that, but I didn’t have any idea how to go about it.
I guess I’d have to show him with my action
s and hope like hell he finally believed it himself.
* * *
A little bit later, I found myself in the parking lot at my mom’s diner. I’d driven here on autopilot. Something my dad had said at dinner kept playing over and over in my mind.
“It was just her way of protecting you… Your mom didn’t want you to be second best in my eyes.”
Was that why she’d hidden me from my dad for my entire life? Was that a good enough excuse?
I was still so pissed at her, but I needed answers.
Answers only she could give me.
So I gathered my nerve and ignored my trembling hands, opened the front door, and went inside the restaurant.
It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Since it was a weekday and before ten the restaurant should’ve empty, but the cars out front and the unlocked door said otherwise. This time of day, my mom should’ve been prepping for the lunch rush, so I headed toward the kitchen.
But it was empty.
A few vegetables and knives were strewn across the prep area. Clearly someone had been here. But not anymore. I knew she was here. Her car was out in the lot.
Confused, I turned and headed toward the back where her office was. I got about ten feet when a raised voice made me freeze.
“That’s bullshit!” The man’s voice was muffled behind the closed door, but I didn’t recognize it. An angry waiter or a line cook I didn’t know, maybe?
“I know you got my fucking money, and I want it back. Now!” His voice was deep and menacing. Even through the walls of my mom’s office, it gave me goosebumps. Whoever was in there with my mom sounded pissed.
I couldn’t hear her reply.
“I don’t give a flying fuck what the courts said! That was my money. I want it now!”
Dread pooled in my stomach and a tingling sensation swept over my scalp. I really didn’t like the way this was going. I pulled out my phone to call 9-1-1.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. They’re on television—they’re not hurting for money.” A small pause for whatever my mom said, then: “I don’t care where it comes from, but I want my money back. If I don’t get it, I’ll take it out of whatever the fuck grabs my fancy. Maybe this place. Maybe that stupid shop those lazy fuckers pretend to work in. Either way, I’m getting mine!”
The door crashed against the wall, and an old man I’d only seen once came storming out. Only unlike last time, Ryan wasn’t beating the shit outta him. George Burns—father of my cousins and convicted killer of my mom’s sister—looked completely in control and yet pissed all at once. I shrank back against the wall, hoping he didn’t see me.
But I’d never been that lucky.
“Well, lookie here. Sabrina, right? You look a lot like my Janet.” He stopped in front of me and smiled threateningly. “Maybe I’ll take my money out of you, baby doll. I’d break you in real good.”
“Get the hell out of my restaurant before I call the cops!” Mom shouted from her office doorway.
Her threat didn’t seem to sway him. He took a step toward me, tilted his head, and looked me up and down. I swore it felt like I could feel his eyes crawling over my body. I turned my face away in disgust.
“I’d have a lot of fun with you, baby doll. You on the other hand—”
I didn’t need to hear the rest. I pressed the button on my phone and held it up to my face with a shaky hand.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
“We have a trespasser at Bette’s Diner. Please send the police.”
“Fucking bitch.” George bit out. He took one more look at me then stomped away. The front door slammed behind him.
The 9-1-1 operator was droning on my phone, but I couldn’t seem to focus. Or make my arms do what I wanted either.
And then my mom was there. Pulling the phone out of my hands. Talking to the operator. Ushering me into her office to sit in one of the padded chairs. It all felt like it was happening under water. Or in Charlie Brown’s school. Slow. Cloudy. Confused.
“Wa wa wa wa wa.”
I blinked and my mom was crouched in front of me. “What?”
Mom tilted her head, her brow wrinkled in concern. “Are you okay? Do you want something to drink?”
“No. I’m fine. I just… Really don’t like that man.”
Mom gave a harsh laugh. “You’re not the only one.”
“What was he talking about? Why does he think you owe him money?”
She sat on the edge of her desk but still close to me as she considered her answer. “After he went away to prison—no technically before—I sued him for wrongful death and child support and anything else my lawyer thought we had a half a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. He didn’t have much money, but since Janet was gone, he was the sole owner of their house—and they owned that outright. Janet had paid for it with her half of the insurance money when our parents passed. He didn’t deserve a fucking dime, and I’d be damned if he mortgaged her house to pay his lawyer because he’d murdered my sister.”
“Wow.” I took a second to absorb all that my mom had left out of every retelling of our family history. It almost felt like I was talking to someone else. Mom had never been this upfront with me before. I shook my head. “And I take it from that little conversation that you won?”
“Hell yeah, I did. I got the house and a multimillion judgement against him that the bastard still owes on. I was getting a paltry check from the county from whatever B.S. job they had him doing, but that ended when he was released. And now he can’t hold a job to save his pitiful life. Big shocker there. I don’t know how they haven’t revoked the fucker’s parole yet.”
“He owes you millions and has the balls to demand that you give him money? That’s insane.”
“That’s George Burns. The man has never been sane. I warned my sister so many times. I have no fucking idea how he convinced that parole board he was reformed.” Mom leaned forward and lifted a hand like she was going to touch my shoulder. Her hand fell to her side and she sighed. “But he’s dangerous. And I really don’t like the way he talked to you. We need to get a restraining order against him. Yesterday. Will you stay and talk to the police when they show up?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Okay. Thank you. I know…I know I haven’t given you many reasons to believe me or to want to help me, so I really appreciate this.”
“Sure.” I didn’t really know what else to say.
It’d only been two weeks since I’d found out about my dad, but I had an empty hole in my life where my mom had been. I missed her.
And I had no freaking clue what to say to her.
We stared awkwardly at each other for a minute. She finally opened her mouth to say something—
“Hello?” A stoic-faced police officer stood in the office doorway. “Everything all right in here?”
We spent the next hour filling the officers in on our family drama—the George Burns side anyhow. I doubt they’d have any interest in our lied-about-your-father-being-dead drama. The officers filled out a report and gave us a few business cards with info on how to get a copy of the report, and information about getting a restraining order.
In the middle of all the craziness, line cooks and waitresses trickled in for their shifts. The restaurant would open for lunch in less than an hour.
Once the police finally left, my mom collapsed into her chair with a groan. “I swear the bullshit bureaucracy is so aggravating. Why couldn’t they just give us a restraining order? This system is stupid.”
“Well the good thing is that this time you have a witness and video to back up his harassment and threats. The cops seemed impressed with the surveillance video. He was obviously threatening you and me even without audio.”
She sighed. “I guess. Just…do me a favor and don’t go anywhere by yourself until we straighten this whole thing out. I really don’t trust the way that man looked at you.”
“Sure, Mom. Logan is pretty glued to my side these day
s anyways.”
“Logan? Who’s Logan?”
Shit. I’d never brought whoever I was dating around my mom. She was a lot to take on a good day. And we hadn’t had many of those lately.
“I uh, he’s a guy I’m kinda seeing now. We knew each other from a few years back.”
“So he’s an old boyfriend that you broke up with and now you’re seeing again? One you didn’t even bother to introduce me to the first time?” Her voice rose with each word until she was all but shouting at the end.
“Like you have any fucking ground to stand on!” I shouted back. “You kept my father from me for twenty-six goddamn years. Excuse me for waiting all of two weeks to tell you about my new boyfriend.”
“I knew you were gonna slap me in the face with that. I knew it.”
“You say that like you don’t deserve it. Like you don’t understand why I’m so fucking angry.” I shook my head in frustration. Even now she was acting like she was the wounded party. Her. “He’s my father. How could keep him from me?”
“I went from taking care of a baby to being the sole parent of five children. I was in survival mode—taking care of the shit in front of me. Hell, some days I didn’t even have time to get dressed. My life hasn’t been exactly easy, Sabrina.”
“That might’ve been true when I was two or eight or even twelve. How could you still be keeping him from me? I’m a goddamn adult!”
“I did it to protect you.”
I scoffed and shook my head. Still with that same old party line. “Protecting me from something that hadn’t happened—would probably never happen? Come on, Mom.”
“I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO BE SECOND BEST!” Mom roared the words. It felt like the walls reverberated with her anger.
“Because you were? Do you really think he’d be so petty that he’d treat his own flesh and blood like I was less?”
Mom reared back like I’d slapped her. And maybe I had. My words were harsh. I wanted to apologize, but I was still too fucking pissed off. She’d kept my father from me my whole life. And then held his fake death by a drunk driver over my head like some weird freaking morality play for not drinking and driving. It was twisted and disgusting and too many emotions for me to even label at the moment.
Spark: A Bad Boy's Second Chance Romance (Burns Brothers Book 3) Page 13