“Hey, baby, I was worried you’d abandoned me,” Logan said. He was speaking to Nikki, but his eyes were on Kenya.
“I’m sorry it took so long. Kenya, this is Logan Sloan,” she said proudly.
“So, this is the boyfriend? Sweet, Nikki,” Kenya teased.
Nikki nodded. “Yes, he is… my boyfriend.”
“Hello, Kenya,” Logan said. The way Logan spoke communicated in volumes. He was basically saying it was okay. “I’ve heard so much about you from my girlfriend.”
Kenya shook his hand as they exchanged conversation when Ming made his way over. The four of them chatted like old friends.
Nikki shook off the nerves that Logan would be upset that she had introduced him as her boyfriend. It didn’t seem to faze him. And, when he slipped into the conversation that she was his girlfriend, it made her feel even better. No more panic attacks, no more nerves. They had finally defined their relationship.
“What do you do, Logan?” Kenya asked kindly.
“I’m a classically trained chef and part owner of Neeò—an American fusion restaurant, located in downtown Cleveland. I’d like you and Ming to be my special guests when you return from your honeymoon.”
“We do love to eat and will be there. But only if you and Nikki have dinner with us. Please, this will be a way for us to get to know each other better,” Kenya insisted.
Logan took Nikki’s hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “My girlfriend and I would love to join you for dinner.”
“Great, it’s a date. Hey, we have to mingle with other guests, but don’t leave without saying goodbye,” Kenya said as she hugged Nikki to her.
“I won’t,” she said.
Next Nikki was enveloped in Ming’s arms. “Don’t be a stranger. I want to get to know my new sister-in-law.”
Tears formed in Nikki’s eyes. She finally had love and family. She was no longer alone.
Chapter Twenty Three
Weeks after the wedding, Logan and Nikki moved into the next phase of their relationship. While Logan had gone back to working long hours at the restaurant, Nikki made up for their lack of time together by staying at his loft. Today, however, Logan surprised his parents with a visit. It was time to introduce Nikki to them.
“Okay, the suitcases are in the car. Come on, Nikki, move your butt,” he thundered. Logan knew it was wrong to say as soon as it came out of his mouth, but couldn’t take it back.
She stood in the middle of the living room, hands on her hips, glaring at him. “Move my butt?”
“I want to get on the road before rush hour traffic gets heavy.”
“Heavy? Traffic is already heavy at this hour,” she snapped.
“Okay, let’s not fight, Nikki. I don’t mean to snap. Baby, we’re going to Pittsburgh to meet my parents. If you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to go, just tell me.”
He watched her pace back and forth. “I’m scared, Logan. Never in my life have I met the parents before. What if they don’t like me? What if they think I’m weird?”
“So what if you’re a little weird; I like it, and that’s all that matters.” He saw the worry in her eyes. “That’s not what you’re worried about, though.”
She shook her head. “Maybe we are jumping the gun by meeting your parents, Logan. I’m just a girlfriend. Girlfriends come and go.”
“Are you planning to leave me?”
Her arms flopped at her sides. “I’m just saying, Logan. Why go through all the trouble of meeting them and next month or next year, I’m gone.”
Logan rubbed his forehead. “I never knew you were so negative. Maybe you’re right. We shouldn’t meet my parents. Hell, why bother doing us anymore?”
“Logan…”
His lips thinned. “Don’t bother trying to explain. You have us going our separate ways by the end of the month or sooner. To hell with all this crap!”
He stormed outside and went to the car. Pulling the bags out of the trunk, he stopped. It wasn’t going to go her way. He should have seen it before. Nikki had cold feet and she had picked a fight with him to get out of meeting his parents.
When he opened the door to the loft, Nikki was looking out of the window. “I know. I’m going home. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute."
He shook his head without taking his gaze from hers. “No, you aren’t. We are going on our weekend getaway as planned.”
“You do realize we’re fighting, right?”
“You tried to pick a fight, and I almost let you. I’m on to you, Nikki.”
She shook her head, not taking her gaze from him as he approached her. “See, that’s where we differ. We are fighting, and I’m not speaking to you.”
He kept looking at her. She was cute when she pretended to be mad. “You are speaking to me because I’m your boyfriend. Yeah, sometimes boyfriends can be jerks, but I’m not a jerk, and you don’t get to stop talking to me because you’re scared.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “That condescending, snippy tone in your voice is what irritates me.”
“Fine! You don’t want to talk.” Logan pulled out his cell phone quickly typed a message.
A second later, Nikki’s cell phone rang. She stared at him refusing to answer. He lifted his brow and shook his phone at her.
“Fine!” Nikki grabbed her phone off the table and read the text message. She looked up at him.
“Well? Are you going to send me a reply?”
“You really want me to respond with a text?”
He nodded. “Yup. This is how we are communicating since you won’t talk to me.”
Nikki didn’t answer until she finished and put her phone away. “I answered you —satisfied?”
Logan held up a finger, waiting for his phone to go off. It did.
NGraham: Yes
Logan smiled. He sent her a text asking her to text yes if she loved him. “You know I want to kiss you now.”
She raised a seductive brow. “Oh, are we speaking again?” Then, her voice trailed off. “Then kiss me.”
He walked over to her, cupped her face, and bent down to brush his mouth over hers. He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, as she slipped her hands up over his shoulders and around his neck. Pressing against her, he wanted her to feel the long length of his erection. Suddenly, her body lit up, and yes, she felt every inch of him.
He longed to tell her that he was in love with her. So in love that he could hardly think straight anymore. If she didn’t feel the same way, if she wasn’t ready to move from caring about him to loving him… hell, the last thing he needed to do was risk pushing her away by coming on too strong.
He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around him. Lust flashed through him as he sat her on the kitchen island. She let her head fall back, and he attacked her neck. His lips, his mouth, his tongue. Every bit of him ached for her.
She slipped her fingers through his hair as he kissed his way up to her earlobe. He growled as he took it between his teeth. Then, he ran his hand against her inner thigh. He moaned against her mouth. “If we do this, we will not make it to Pittsburgh today.”
“I’d rather make love to the man I love.”
He lifted her shirt over her head and said, “And I rather make love to the woman I love.”
“Please,” she whispered against his lips.
He captured her mouth in another searing, mind-bending kiss. Gripping the lace hem of her bra, he lifted it. He licked his lips, staring at her sitting there in front of him, bare from the waist up and so shockingly beautiful that the final threads of sanity he’d been trying to hold onto were lost in a rush of desire so strong it actually did take him to his knees.
“I love you, Nikki.” He whispered her name in the exact moment he took her nipple onto his tongue. His hands cupped, caressed, teased her breasts even as his mouth took, feasted, craved.
“I love you, too,” she said, breathlessly, as she threaded her fingers through his hair and arched into his mo
uth. “Oh, God, please don’t stop doing that ever.”
No. He wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. Didn’t ever want to stop kissing her. Didn’t ever want to stop tasting her. All he wanted to do was claim her as his forever. He moved his attention to her other breast and licked slowly, knowing that if he didn’t force himself to take his time, he’d later regret not savoring every single second.
Finally rising from his knees, he kissed her long and deep before pulling back to look into her eyes. Just as he had every time they were together, he needed to make absolutely sure they were on the same page. Each and every time, they were. They were in tune with each other’s sexual appetites.
He slowly moved his hands to the top of her jeans and slid the button out of its hole. Heat shot straight to his groin as she slid her hands from his hair to cup the front of his jeans. He wasn’t ready for her to do that just yet.
Still kissing her, he slid his arms around her shoulders and beneath her legs, then lifted her off the island. The soft sound of her laughter as he carried her to the bedroom was music to his ears. Logan laid her down and slid her jeans along with the lace from her hips and down her legs; never once did his gaze leave her eyes. Crawling up next to her, he felt like his heart was going to rip out of his chest, it was beating so hard. “I want to taste you.”
Nikki took his hand and slid it over her sex. The moment he caressed her slick, hot flesh, her breath left her lungs in a hard rush. “So wet.” He had to slide one finger down over her once, then twice, then a third time. “So perfect.”
She pulled him even more tightly against herself, trembling from the force of trying to get closer to his hand as he stroked her. “Oh, my. . .”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but the way she opened her thighs even wider for him, then bucked up into his touch, told him exactly how she was feeling. Tangling his free hand in her hair, he pulled her head back, gently, but far enough that her eyes met his.
“I need to see you,” he ground out from his lungs.
“Yes,” she gasped against his lips before he covered hers to pour all of his pent-up, barely controlled need into a kiss.
Her eyes were dilated when he slipped one finger inside.
“Oh!” The sound caught in her throat and broke into several pieces as he slowly moved over her clit, then just as slowly slid back inside. “Oh, yes!”
He built the rhythm to make her come apart beneath him. Soon, she was rocking against him, growing even wetter, even hotter.
Between the breathy little sounds she was making and the way her inner muscles were clenching around his finger, he knew she was close. Brushing back the hair from her face, he cupped her cheek gently in one hand as he played with her clit with the other.
“Come for me, beautiful.”
Her eyes had fluttered nearly closed before they suddenly flared open with so much pleasure that it floored him to watch her so completely and incredibly satisfied.
Chapter Twenty Four
She was in love; she was in love. Life was great; all was grand because she was in love. Nikki repeated the made up song lyric in her head. Tilting the office chair back, she crossed her feet on top of the desk. Highly inappropriate for a woman to do, but she cared about nothing today. She was in love, and nothing was going to ruin that for her.
A knock on the door scrambled her from her thoughts. She sat up straight in the chair. “Yes, come in.”
“Sorry to interrupt you, Nikki, here are the monthly reports. End-user complaints are down again,” Gayle said in a professional manner as she handed over the stack of folders.
“Thank you, Gayle. Maybe they are finally getting the hang of the software.”
“Maybe. Anyhow, the stats have been uploaded in the database; those are the hard copies for the file.”
“Okay. I’ll take care of those.”
Nikki hated the strain between them. They sounded like coworkers instead of one-time best friends. As much as she loved being with Logan, she missed hanging out with Gayle. She missed the girl talks they had with Mimi. And now that she had a boyfriend, she could put in her two cents about the woes of men complaining about everything. Although, Logan hardly complained about anything.
Gayle lingered at the door and Nikki could tell she had something on her mind. “Well, that’s all I have,” Gayle said.
“Are you sure?” Nikki asked kindly.
Her hand rested on the doorknob. “Um… I know I should apologize for my actions, Nikki. Interfering in yours and Jabari’s lives was wrong.”
“It was wrong. Jabari could have lost his girlfriend and baby, and I could have lost Logan. Meddling never has a good outcome.”
Gayle snickered. “Tell me about it. I lost my best friend, Mom was pissed at me for the longest, and Jabari still isn’t speaking to me. The only reason you are talking to me is that we work together.”
“That is part of it.” Nikki leaned her elbows on the desk. “Gayle, I owe you in some way because you forced me to fix Logan’s computer. If you had not done that, we wouldn’t be in love with each other.”
A slow grin spread across Gayle’s chubby face. “You are in love with Chef Yummy? And, better yet, he’s in love with you? When did this happen?”
“Have a seat—too many questions to answer with you standing.”
Gayle shut the door and hurried and sat down. Crossing her legs, she said, “Give me all the juicy details, and don’t leave out anything.”
Nikki laughed. It was like old times again. “All right, but I’ll skip the intimate details.”
“Can you give me a hint about him? Is he as good in bed as I imagined he’d be?”
“You thought about having sex with Logan?”
“Come on, look at him. Every woman who enters the restaurant probably fantasizes about him.”
Nikki fisted her hand under her chin, looking at Gayle. It was expected of her to daydream about Logan, but other women weren’t allowed to do that, especially not her best friend.
After giving Gayle the skinny on what had happened when they weren’t speaking, Nikki told her about the rescheduled trip to Pittsburgh. Gayle gave her tips on how to interact with Logan’s parents and quizzed her on some questions they might ask about her. In the end, the advice was helpful.
*****
Nikki packed and repacked her bag; all the while, Logan sat on the sofa, laughing at her.
“Why are you laughing at me? You don’t have to worry how you look to your parents.” She tossed a pair of shorts at him that she’d decided not to take.
“It’s not that difficult. We are going to be naked in the hotel room. The only thing you need is a pair of jeans and a shirt to wear to the house. My parents aren’t the fashion police.”
“I want to make a good impression, so I have to look nice.” With her hands on her hips, she tried to be stern without cracking a smile.
“You’re cute when you frown. How is that even possible?” Logan started crawling towards her. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “Enough packing for now. Why don’t we do something fun together?”
She stepped back from the bed. “Okay. How about I tie you to the bed and torture you for a few hours? Would you like that?”
She saw him smirk as he climbed over the end of the bed. That look in his eyes meant trouble. She stepped back. “If you do that, I guarantee we won’t leave this room.”
Logan grabbed her around the waist, picking her up. “Fine by me. I don’t mind canceling again.”
She wiggled free from his grasp. “We don’t have time for sex. It’ll have to wait until we are at the hotel.” She got off the bed and zipped the suitcase.
“You’re gonna make me wait?” He shook his head and took the suitcase and placed it beside his. “What a way to treat your boyfriend.”
She grinned loving him more each time he said the word “boyfriend.” She couldn’t wait to get to the hotel room and they would be alone. “I can hardly wait until the meet and greet is over and we are alone.”
Logan stood behind her and wrapped her in his arms. “Damn, I love you. I promise dinner will be short and sweet, and the rest of the evening will be for us.”
*****
“Honey, stop fidgeting. You’re beautiful. You could wear a burlap sack and have it look like an evening gown,” Logan snapped, grabbing her hands.
“I want to make sure your parents like me.” Taking her hand back, she quickly combed her hair. Logan insisted on having the top down on his convertible, and her hair looked like birds had been pecking at it.
“Babe, they will like you. You are a friendly person. Just be yourself and don’t try too hard to impress my mother.”
He took her hand back as she glared at him. “I’ve never been introduced to parents. I’m a bundle of nerves,” she huffed. Of course, he could say all the right things to make her feel better, but just because they liked her didn’t mean his mother or father would approve of her.
“Trust me, when I say you are perfect, you are. They will like you.”
Arriving at the house, he parked the car in the driveway. Stepping from the car, he jogged around and opened the door, reaching his hand out to Nikki.
“Why thank you, kind sir,” she said taking his hand.
Smiling, he said, “Come on; let’s get it over with.”
Nikki paused for a moment taking in the white home with the manicured lawn and colorful flowers.
Without knocking, Logan opened the door and taking Nikki’s hand hollered, “Mom? Anyone home?”
“Logan, we’re in the kitchen!” his mother yelled through the door.
Pushing through the door, Nikki and Logan were greeted by several family members. “Nikki, this is my mother, Elizabeth. Over at the stove is my father, Tino and—hey, I didn’t know my brother, Axl, was home. Glad you’re here, bro.”
“I’m only here for the night,” Axl replied.
Nikki curled into Logan and nodded, “Nice to meet all of you.”
“Please, make yourself at home. Would you like a drink?” Elizabeth asked Nikki.
Nikki smiled. “I would love a glass of water,” she said to the tall grayish-blond haired woman. Now Nikki understood where Logan and Axl got their looks. His father’s hair was black underneath the gray, but he looked Hispanic or Spanish. Sloan was not a name associated with either race. However, Axl looked just like Logan’s father, too. She had never asked Logan about his heritage, but it had crossed her mind he wasn’t one hundred percent Caucasian.
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