“I was going to,” she clarified. “But that’s just wasteful.”
“Fine. Tell me what I need to do.”
They made a list – the things to burn and the actual things to donate. Alex was adamant in actually burning all her short dresses (all given by Nick) and donating the rest, and there was an argument about chopping up a gorgeous dining table because…well, because it brought back memories. Since Logan didn’t want to ask what kind of memories she was referring to, he offered to take it with him and perhaps give it to his sister.
“You have a sister?”
He nodded, to which she said, “And you bully her all the time, right?”
He merely glared at her – to which she grinned at him brightly, as if very amused.
Then came Alex’s bed. It took them a while to decide if they really just wanted to give the bed away or simply the bed sheets. Alex was adamant on getting a new bed, but in the end Logan reasoned out that maybe she can use it as her “force” and steel herself to get used to sleeping on it without thinking about him.
He was very proud when she deemed it the most reasonable decision of the day.
Three hours later, everything was segregated and he was very itchy and dirty. He removed his shirt and was planning to look at Nick’s leftover clean clothes and see which one he could wear first on his way home before her plan to burn it.
It was then that the mouse came into view and jumped at Alex’s feet.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Alex didn’t realize she was the type to panic upon the sight of rodents until she was actually faced with one.
She didn’t scream, but she jumped high in the air and landed on Logan, who was not expecting it enough to move away. Instead, he caught her in his arms and they tumbled on the couch, which was already filled with clothes to begin with – in turn, everything tumbled to the carpeted floor, Logan on his butt and back and Alex on top of him.
Frantically, Alex tried to move away. “Oh, God – I’m so sorry! I didn’t—”
With one hand, Logan grabbed her in place and whispered in her ear. “Don’t move.”
She froze. His hands were on her waist, steady and still, their bodies too close for comfort. She couldn’t see his expression because their cheeks were side by side, but she could feel his warm breath beside her ear. Cautiously, she whispered back.
“Why?”
“The mouse,” he murmured softly. “We don’t want to frighten it.”
Oh.Oh.
The unexpectedly odd request had her almost laughing, but she bit her lip and tried not to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something tiny and white moving beside their bodies, little squeaking noises on its mouth.
“It’s probably a pet,” she offered. “Of the previous owner, most likely.”
“Yeah.” Slowly, Logan nudged Alex to lean back as he sat up. This made the mouse pause in its movements, its head whipping up to peer at him.
Pretending to ignore it, Logan let his gaze settle on Alex. “Sorry. I don’t mean for you to be uncomfortable.”
Technically, she was still straddling his lap, her inner thighs touching his outer ones, with pants between them. He was shirtless, and she had a full frontal view of those muscles again – golden and lean and very, very warm.
Alex gulped, and dragged her gaze away from his chest. This made her end up staring at his mouth as it moved.
Not a bad mouth, up-close. But she’d already decided she wasn’t going to be attracted to him and moved her gaze up to his eyes, very confident.
“I’m okay. It’s not like we’re gonna end up making out here.”
The words made Logan sit up straighter, his eyes glancing at her mouth before pinning her back with that black stare.
“Yeah.”
“Right? We’re not attracted to each other. We loathe each other.”
“I wouldn’t say loathe, per se.”
“Hmm. Point taken. We’re friends, then. Nothing else.”
“Friends,” he admitted.
Friends didn’t ogle friends’ chests, no matter how beautiful.
Alex’s eyes shot up to the ceiling.
----
The mouse’s tail wiggled beside her feet, tickling it. A giggly snort came out of Alex’s mouth before she could stop herself, and she was leaning forward to his chest before he could control their movements. Logan tried to ignore her warmth as she looked back at him (oddly enough, she was staring at the ceiling for quite some time) and smiled, gray eyes twinkling.
“I think if you go to work in just your pants, we’d have a lot more fan letters to answer.”
The joke was out of her lips before she could comprehend how weird it sounded. Her cheeks turned pink, a pretty color. Deciding to humor her, he nodded his head gravely.
“Maybe.”
The answer surprised her, her smile turning delighted. Something about the sight had his chest oddly tightening, and something in his pants reacting slowly.
He steeled himself. He was absolute not interested in her.
The mouse was now tickling his bare foot.
“Seriously,” Alex teased, completely unaware of her effect on him, “Mister stuffy man with abs. Lucy would be all over you. And Tammy. And Kieran.”
“Kieran’s already all over me,” he deadpanned.
A laugh erupted out of her throat, and the action shook them both to have the mouse pausing again.
“And…you’re interested in him?”
A small smile appeared on his lips at the idea, one that had her eyes straying to them. He was sure she wasn’t aware of herself staring. “No, I’m not interested in him, Alex.”
“Tammy, then?”
“I’m not interested in Tammy,” he replied, head coming closer.
“Do you even kiss people with that mouth, Logan?” she whispered.
“I kiss women.”
“…like Lucy?”
“I don’t kiss work colleagues.”
“So you’re all about the fans.” Her head and body moved closer.
“I’m not interested in fans.”
“What are you interested in?”
Closer, closer—
“Mathematics.”
And then his mouth closed over hers.
---
Alex had expected the kiss before it could happen, what’s with their bodies already moving closer out of their own accord and the questions that were getting personal. Since when did she ever get personal with Logan?
Since today, with your mouth fused to his.
It was a closemouthed kiss, testing – a test for himself and a test for her, as his hands remained on her waist and hers rested on his shoulders. She appreciated the hardness there, even when the kiss made her feel nothing but mild warmth. Nothing. Just a peck.
Reluctantly, she pulled back to end it.
“I guess we—”
Logan didn’t let her break the kiss. Instead, he interrupted her by tilting his head and opening his mouth, bringing her body closer in. Then he changed the kiss from testing to sure.
It was then that Alex realized she was mistaken as her mind instantly blurred.
He kissed her like it was his purpose in life to do so, and the intensity of it sent a shock of heat in her system, almost as if they were catching up to the delay. One of his hands trailed up to her neck, burying itself in her hair as he changed the angle. Soft, slow, teasing. Hard, relentless, tasting and tasting.
Fire erupted in her nerves. A sound came out of her throat that she couldn’t recognize as she responded and closed her eyes, as her body moved closer, as he lay back down on the carpet and brought her on top of him.
This was nothing like Jack’s.
This was nothing like Nick’s.
It was different. It was more fire, more senses.
It was hot.
His tongue tasted her lower lip, a hot caress. Yet it was just a simmer, as if he was holding himself down, not wanting to lose control – even while he was making
her slowly lose hers.
Stupid, prickly, stubborn man.
God. Awesome kisser.
A moan came out of her and got swallowed by his kiss, and she felt them roll around and the warm carpet on her back and him on top of her. Unable to help herself, she arched into him, her fingers running through his soft hair and trailing down his chest to—
He pulled away, as if burned.
Logan stood up abruptly, bringing her with him in one strong pull before he moved away.
The mouse was gone.
“So. Mathematics.”
Her voice sounded hoarse. God.
Logan pinned her with a smoldering look, one that made her knees weak before she locked them in place. His expression went back to being unreadable as he nodded at her.
“Mathematics,” he said evenly.
“Good. Since we have no sparks and all.”
“None at all,” Logan replied.
“Good.”
“Good.”
---
That night, the squeaky white mouse was still missing. Her breasts had tingled and he didn’t even touch her, not really.
Not at all.
Alex lay in bed and stared at the ceiling again, trying to process everything. His taste, his kiss, his smell – like pine trees and clean sheets.
There were sparks.
CHAPTER THRITY
There was a cup of coffee at her desk when she came in the office.
Looking around, she found the place empty and some tinkling sounds coming from the pantry. Not sure if this was the confrontation she needed, but knowing she wasn’t a coward of any sort, Alex squared her shoulders and strode straight for where the source of the noise was coming from.
Her sense of purpose turned to surprise when she saw Lucy standing there instead.
“Oh.”
At her voice, Lucy looked up and instantly brightened.
“Hey, there. I left some coffee for you. It’s probably very bad-tasting, but I know you love your sludge. Logan’s running late, so I’m your only brewer for now. Cafeteria’s out, too.”
It took Alex a few seconds to absorb the sludge information before her mind jumped to the second statement.
“West is running late?”
Lucy grinned. “I know, right? Couldn’t believe it myself. Something about waking up late.”
Imagine that. The idea had Alex grinning back, remembering all the times he’d reprimanded her and realizing she could finally do the same. Lucy went back to her station, going a mile a minute about how her weekend went while Alex stayed in the pantry, humming a tune and arranging the space while her mind ticked off the things she needed to do to start off Jack’s marketing campaign.
Muttering under her breath, Alex turned around – and walked straight into a wall of flesh.
“Oof!”
“Sweetheart, I’d have preferred you say ooooh.”
The friendly tone had Alex grimacing and staring at the wall of flesh that blocked her path.
“It’s Alex,” she corrected cheerfully.
“Not according to the newspapers,” Jack intoned playfully.
Ah. The gossip mill. She hadn’t read any lately, and tilted her head up curiously.
“So is that what they’re calling us? Sweethearts?”
“More or less. I hear a particular male reporter is not liking it one bit.”
“Your friend reporter,” Alex pointed out.
“Acquaintance, more like. I don’t really associate with cheaters.”
“Coming from a ladies man?”
His gaze shifted to someone else, and somehow, his tone changed to a husky purr. “Never at the same time. I aim to give pleasure, not heartbreak.”
Alex rolled her eyes and turned around, already immune to his flirty ways. The surprise of having Lucy at the doorway had her pausing as she stared at her friend’s pink cheeks, then the follow-up of a very cold tone.
“Logan wants to see you in the meeting room, Mr. Malone.”
There was no change in Jack’s expression as he nodded his head, a small smile playing on his lips. He brushed beside Lucy casually, almost deliberately, and Alex saw her visibly stiffen and redden further before turning on her heel in a huff. The action had something in Alex’s brain clicking in place, most especially Lucy’s utter dislike at the very beginning.
Well, what did you know? Sparks.
Curious at the play of events, Alex trailed after them – and was shut out again as a wall of flesh obstructed her view, filling out the pantry door.
Her eyes met a pure black gaze, and she felt herself stiffening for entirely different reasons.
“Hi.”
Logan nodded once.
Flashes of their kiss rolled in her mind, and Alex had to school her voice to make herself sound normal. It meant nothing. It was nothing. She opened her mouth, determined to sound as cheerful as possible.
“So I was thinking—”
“Think later.”
His interruption came with the soft closing click of the pantry door, before she found arms around her and a mouth covering hers that made her forget she was even thinking.
In no less than a second, instant heat pooled in her belly, a low simmer as his mouth moved, as his hands caught her in place. His tongue was there, catching her surprised breath before lazily moving inside, a sweep that made her knees weaken and her hands grab on to his shoulders to steady herself. That same tongue played with hers, coaxing hers out until they were dueling, playing, everything that sent the simmer higher as her insides turned upside down.
She’d never been so aroused with just a kiss. Never.
Hands stayed patiently on her back, a burning stroke. A soft moan came out of her as he nipped her lower lip, then sucked slowly.
Then it was all gone.
Breathe harsh, Alex closed her eyes and stayed in place, not really sure she could move. She opened them a moment later and found Logan on the opposite corner of the cramped space, trying to control his own breathing as he looked up at the ceiling. There was a very specific hard ridge inside his slacks, and his one hand as fisted tightly.
His next words had her going still.
“I’m sorry. I had to get it out of my system.”
“Get it…out?”
He nodded at the ceiling, once. Then those eyes pinned her again with an unreadable look as he said, “It’s inconvenient. Best we get it over with and move on. Right?”
“Inconvenient,” she repeated like a puppet.
“Yes. You’re a complication I don’t need,” he replied.
“Nope.”
“I like my life in order.”
“I…yeah. Me, too.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
Logan kept looking at her before nodding his head again, as if nothing happened. “Well. Now that we’ve agreed.” Then he opened the pantry door and walked out.
Lips still tingling, body still very much on fire, it was Alex’s turn to stare at the ceiling, wondering what just happened.
---
It wasn’t until Jack had invited her out for dinner and was flirting with her again while the pasta was being served that his words replayed in her mind, one after the other.
Get it out of the system.
Inconvenient.
Complication.
She was a complication he didn’t need.
Because his life was in order.
Her nerves were still unsteady, and her stomach was still flipping all over itself while she tried to act normal, while he acted normal and went about the work day with the same tenacity and treatment as usual. Except not as usual.
He brought her coffee that wasn’t sludge. He approved all her marketing art proposals, patting her shoulder stiffly and rumbling a good job in her ears. He stood beside her as she reached up the pantry cupboard for some towels, body sliding against hers and handing her what she needed without so much as a loss of breath. Like he didn’t care. He never once got pissed o
ff with her, or picked a fight with her, or showed her any sort of emotion.
Because she was a complication he didn’t need.
And all the while, he was the one who kissed her.
The nerves that were unsteady turned still, turned sharper as anger kicked in, seething like a boiling pot of water.
Twice.
Kissed her twice and told her she was a complication he didn’t need.
Because. His. Life. Needed. Bloody. Order.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Alex,” she growled automatically – then toned down her glare when she remembered who was sitting in front of her. “I’m fine, Jack.”
Jack raised a brow at her in disbelief. “You look like you’re about to kill your pasta.”
She looked down and saw that her fork was indeed stabbing down forcefully. Lightening her grip, Alex twirled.
“Or someone.”
Twirl.
“Anyone I know?”
“No one you know.”
“Ah. So it’s definitely a person.”
“Logan is an ass.”
“So it’s definitely someone I know.”
Jack’s eyes were now twinkling in merriment, something Alex ignored as she railed on. “He is an ass and a prude and I’m so mad at him!”
“And why are you mad at him?”
“Because he is an ass!”
“He’s nice enough under all that grouch.”
“He. Is. Not! And I am going to tell him right now.”
Jack’s eyes gleamed. “You’d best do that.”
“I’m going there right now.”
“After dessert, please,” he suggested lightly. “I want company for dessert first. Plus we’re still playing the pretend thing, remember?”
She forgot about that, and Nick, completely. She’d forgotten him since Logan showed up at her apartment, putting her things in order and kissing her senseless and tangling up her life.
God.
“Fine.”
“He’s in the office, you know. Overtime thing.”
Alex stabbed her pasta one more time, glowering.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Alex banged the office door open and banged it close, startling the man hunched on the table enough to have him stop what he was doing at his desk – but not enough to stand up.
Best Friends To Lovers Romance Series: Complete Series Boxed Set Romance Page 28