Summer Bender

by Jennifer Lucia

  “We’re definitely going to have to disinfect that,” I said, pointing at the counter.

  Logan laughed, turning back to the abandoned pancakes, which had long since turned black. “And maybe give those pancakes to the squirrels.”

  Logan made a new batch of pancakes and over easy eggs, and we sat down to watch television together on the couch. I sat cross-legged and Logan sprawled out, feet on the coffee table. Luke sat in the corner of the couch, looking up at us with the saddest eyes possible. He was a good beggar, and often got away with murder because of those eyes.

  I put my plate down when I was done eating and moved into Logan’s arms, snuggling up to his side. He raised his arm to drape it over me, and we sat like that for a while. I tried to drink in the moment and memorize how perfect it was before it ended. I was still gun-shy because of Logan’s earlier reticence about sleeping with me. I was just waiting for him to withdraw again. I stiffened against Logan, my thoughts darkening.

  Logan felt the sudden change in my posture and glanced down at me, placing a kiss at my temple. “What’s up?” he asked, eyes searching.

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to vocalize the doubts running through my head, because, honestly, I didn’t want them confirmed. I wanted to stay in this happy morning-after bubble forever, without Logan running from me out of some misplaced sense of propriety. Logan nudged me insistently. “Hey, tell me. I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

  I sighed. “I’m worried that you’re going to pull away again. We had a great night and I don’t want to ruin that, but I can’t help feeling like this is temporary and I have no way of knowing if we’re going to be back to employer/employee by tomorrow night. I need to know if you’re as into me as I am into you.”

  Logan pulled back, turning me to face him. His eyes searched my face for a long while, softening at the anxiety shining in my eyes. I felt so clingy and needy, but I didn’t care. I needed some validation. He leaned in and kissed me, cupping the sides of my face, then pulled me into his lap so that I was straddling him. He hugged me close, wrapping his arms around me so that I was forced to wrap my arms around his neck. I leaned back. “I’m serious, Logan. I’m not trying to play games.”

  “I know, Jamie. I’m not either. I’m in this. One hundred percent. I’m not going to cause you to feel rejected ever again.” He kissed me softly on the forehead, then on either cheek. “Okay?” he asked, kissing me on my neck now. I nodded, shifting my hips on his.

  “Okay,” I said. I ground my hips harder this time, feeling him harden beneath me. He groaned and dropped his head to my chest, then pushed me off him gently.

  “As much as I would love to sit here and make love to you nonstop today, I do have to go home and let Rocket out,” he said, with regret in his eyes.

  “Oh, of course. You know, you could always just bring Rocket over here and we could let Luke and Rocket play together,” I suggested.

  Logan considered it, then agreed. “That is a really good idea. Don’t you have to work tonight though? I do make the schedule and I seem to remember putting you on to close tonight. And I should probably make some headway on more paperwork now that Joe is officially out of state and unavailable.”

  “I’ll call Victoria and ask her to work for me. It’s summer and she doesn’t really have anything else going on, so I don’t see why she wouldn’t. And if she doesn’t want to, I can always call one of the newbies,” I said, grabbing my cell phone from the coffee table. I sent Victoria a quick text message begging her to take my shift, exaggerating a little about the urgency of my situation. “Plus, you’re the boss. You can come in whenever you want, right?”

  “Yes, but-” I interrupted whatever he was going to protest with by kissing him soundly.

  “Go get Rocket and come back,” I said against his lips. He nodded and stood up, grabbing his car keys. I felt a little guilty about not walking him back to his car, but I wanted to take a shower before he got back. I pressed my key into his hand and kissed him again, laughing as he held onto me when I tried to pull away. “Hurry,” I said, grinning stupidly.

  He left, and I looked over at Luke. Maybe I was imagining it, but he seemed excited too. I gave him a quick snuggle and a kiss, then hopped into the shower. I took my time, letting the hot water soothe my sore muscles. I was aching in places that hadn’t ached in a long time, but it was a nice kind of hurt. My hands drifted down my body, remembering all the different ways Logan had touched me last night- and this morning. Arousal stirred within me, but I resisted the urge to touch myself. At this rate, we’d never get anything done. Actually, I was kind of okay with that.

  I turned off the water and stepped out of the tub, water running down my back in rivulets. I squeezed my hair out in the tub, and went to my bedroom to rub lotion on me. Luke barked suddenly, and there was a great commotion in the living room. Logan had made it back with Rocket in record time. I decided to lose the towel and forgo getting dressed. It seemed like a waste of time anyway.

  I walked into the living room stark naked, grinning widely at Logan’s adoring expression. “God, you’re killing me, woman,” he growled, picking me up like I weighed nothing. I squealed and held on tight as he brought me right back to the bedroom. We made love again, quick and rushed, and lay together afterwards, sated. I kissed Logan’s chest and got out of bed to clean myself up.

  I walked back into the living room and saw Victoria’s text agreeing to work for me tonight and wishing for me to feel better. I guiltily typed my thanks back and tossed my cell phone back on the couch. Rocket and Luke were napping together in a patch of sun on the living room floor. I picked my phone back up and snapped a quick picture- I couldn’t resist adorable pictures of dogs. Logan came up behind and kissed me again.

  “I’m officially free for the evening,” I said, leaning back against him. “What do you want to do today?”

  Logan thought about it. “Well, we can always go to a dog park, or go to the beach again. Do you think you go to the beach too much?” he asked, headed tilted quizzically.

  I laughed. “There is no such thing as going to the beach too much,” I assured him. “Let me throw on my suit. Do you have yours with you?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, in my car. I guess we’re going to the beach.”

  “Yay!” I squealed happily, making him laugh. “Okay, but first, we need to shower. You ruined my last shower by dirtying me all up.”

  “Oh, I think you were dirty all on your own,” Logan said wickedly, carrying me to the bathroom. “But if you insist, I can wash you all over again.” He set me down in the tub, following close behind. For some reason, certain parts of me got much cleaner than others in that shower.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The next two and a half weeks passed in a whirlwind. Logan was working a lot more, so we didn’t have that much free time together, but what we did have, we spent together. He worked almost every night, so we hung out at work, then we came back to my apartment after we’d close up. We were in that honeymoon phase where everything the other one did turned us on. Logan would change a light bulb? Wet. I’d ask about a beer? Hard. The best part of sleeping with your boss is finding lots of new and inventive ways and places to have sex. The most uncomfortable place so far was on a beer keg in the walk-in cooler. My butt had indentations on it for a week afterward.

  I knew I was falling in love with him, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself, let alone Logan. It was too soon. We’d only been seeing each other for two weeks and had only known each other for about a month and a half. It was hard to deny my feelings, though, when I swooned at every little stupid thing he said. He was just too perfect- everything he did was endearing and sexy to me. Well, outside of work, that is. It wasn’t terribly endearing when he asked me to deep-clean under a fridge that hadn’t been cleaned in ten years.

  The upside of Logan working so much is that I had time to finish the first draft of my novel. I spent every second that I wasn’t working or with Logan
on it, and it finally resembled something real. Now for the hard part- editing it. It was tedious and heartbreaking. As much as I want to believe I’m a writing virtuoso, re-reading some of the hot trash that I had written made me cringe and want to toss the whole thing out.

  I got through about three chapters of editing before it was time to go to work on a Friday night. I was looking forward to work tonight. Hannah had taken off because she was going to the Outer Banks for the weekend, so Logan was bartending with me that night. This was a rare occurrence, but I loved when it did happen. Working together behind that bar made me hyper-aware of everything Logan did. It sent me into a state of arousal that would inevitably lead to me being pinned up against the office door and fucked quickly and roughly.

  I walked to work after perfectly tousling my hair and throwing on my shortest shorts and lowest-cut tank top. I wanted Logan to be driven as crazy as he drives me. I gave Bear a high-five as I walked in, and he gave a low whistle. “Whew. Trying to make that tip money tonight, I see.” I winked at him and walked quickly to the back office. Logan was seated behind the desk, going over paperwork and typing something on the computer. I leaned on the edge of the desk.

  “Hello gorgeous,” he said, eyeing me appreciatively from beside the computer screen. “Are you purposely trying to tease me tonight?”

  I nodded wickedly, then moved around the desk to climb in his lap. I looked down at him and pulled him in for a quick kiss. “Should I lock the door?” I whispered, loving the goosebumps that formed on his neck. He jerked his head in a nod and I hopped off his lap.

  I locked the door and whipped off my shirt. He reached out to grab my breasts, but I pulled back, wagging my finger in his face. “No, I’m in charge right now.” I knelt before him, slowly pulling down the zipper on his jeans. His erection strained against his boxer briefs, and I freed it. It stood thick and tall, a small droplet of moisture beading at the tip. I licked my lips and Logan groaned, staring at me intensely. He stroked my hair, gathering it all into his fist, and I lowered my head to lick that bead of moisture off the tip. Logan threw his head back with his eyes closed.

  I licked and teased, cupping his balls and stroking the sensitive area just beyond. Logan loved the pressure and jerked his hips up to give me better access. I took him wholly into my mouth in one motion and he let out a low moan. I bobbed my head up and down, using my free hand to twist simultaneously at the base of his cock. He didn’t last very long- he tapped me on my shoulder to let me know he was close. I sucked him harder, feeling the splash of his release against the back of my throat. Logan jerked twice, then released my hair, sighing and settling deeper into his chair. He lay there, limp, while I swallowed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I put my shirt back on and leaned into him.

  “Now you have that to think about later when we’re working together and I’m bending over,” I said into his ear. He pulled me into his lap and dipped me down, kissing me deeply. I got so turned on at the thought of him tasting himself on my tongue, I had to get up if I planned on getting out there and getting any work done. I pulled myself up and winked at him. Logan still had a goofy, glazed look in his eyes and I smirked smugly. “See you out there,” I said, unlocking the door and going to the front.

  I set up the bar, wiping down the liquor bottles, turning on the television, and making sure I had enough clean glasses for the night. Logan had set up a new happy hour promotion that ran seven days a week. Between that and the summer tourists, we were insanely busy lately. I liked the money it brought in, but it was hard work and I often got in the weeds. Our two new bartenders had quit abruptly and we were in the process of getting new ones, but for right now, it was just the original skeleton crew.

  Logan walked up behind me, covertly dropping a kiss behind my ear, then grabbing a dish towel to help me polish glasses. “Ready for an awesome night?”

  I nodded. “Oh yeah. We’re going to rock this. What were you working on in the office?”

  He rolled his eyes heavenwards. “The never-ending mountain of paperwork that Joe left me. I swear, I would never have bought this place if I’d known I would have a month’s worth of filing to do.” He looked down at me. “Well, maybe I still would’ve if I had known you were part of the package,” he said, winking at me. I smiled and nudged him in the side playfully. He handed me a freshly-polished glass to put away and I fumbled with it. It dropped to the floor and shattered. I looked at Logan in chagrin. “You know, maybe I actually still would’ve passed had I known you came with the package. You’re so expensive,” he teased. I stuck my tongue out at him, and grabbed a broom and dust pan to clean the shattered glass.

  It was now four o’clock, and we unlocked the front doors. The first of the happy hour crowd filtered in slowly, gradually growing larger. Logan was a big hit with a group of middle-aged women, who were getting bolder and rowdier the more white zinfandel they drank. One of them, a petite brunette in her mid-forties, leaned over the bar and slipped her number to Logan. He glanced over at me and I rolled my eyes, laughing. He grabbed the number, thanked her, and threw it in our tip jar. I had my own flirting men to deal with, and Logan was a hell of a lot more jealous than I was. Deep down, I liked making Logan jealous because it usually led to some hot sex. So I smiled and flirted and fluttered my eyelashes, making great tips and getting some great smolders from Logan.

  The rest of the night passed in a blur of shots and beers and cocktails, and before I knew it, it was closing time- two in the morning. Logan had extended all of our hours from ten or eleven at night to two in the morning. Bear had just gone home, and Logan was counting the till while I did last-minute dishes, exhausted. Logan came over to me and handed me a stack of cash.

  “Whoa,” I said. “We made so much money tonight!”

  “You made so much money tonight,” Logan said. “I can’t keep tips, I’m management.”

  I stared at him blankly. “Of course you can take tips, you worked for these. Here, have half.”

  He pushed my hand down, rejecting the proffered cash. “No, that’s yours. Please. Besides, you can pay me for tonight in other ways.” He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me in, kissing me, and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he placed me on a low cooler. I put the stack of money behind me on the counter and Logan dropped to his knees before me. “My turn,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

  Logan pulled my tiny shorts down my legs and pushed my thong aside. He didn’t give me a chance to say anything before his mouth was on me, licking and suckling. His fingers followed, knowing exactly what to do, and soon I was climaxing on the beer cooler. It was Logan’s turn to wipe his mouth smugly and wink at me. I tried to pull my shorts back up gracefully, but I over-corrected and started to fall off the cooler. Logan caught me, setting me on my feet, and I kissed him gratefully.

  “So, I was thinking,” I started, caressing his chest.

  “Uh oh,” Logan said darkly. I punched him on the arm.

  “I was thinking,” I said again, “that we should go to your place tonight. We can swing by and pick up Luke, then spend all night doing very dirty things to each other.”

  Logan stiffened, then shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know, I really like your place. It’s so much closer than mine.”

  “I know, but still, what’s the big deal? I haven’t seen your apartment yet and I want to see what it’s like,” I wheedled. I stuck my lower lip out, pouting, and hugged his hips to mine. “Please,” I said, making my eyes as wide as possible and staring into his.

  Logan sighed, and I knew he was giving in. “Okay, fine. I guess that will be all right.”

  “Yes!” I said, pumping my fist in triumph. Logan shook his head at me. “Okay, let’s go,” I said, grabbing him by the hand.

  “One second,” he said, pulling away. He grabbed the till and disappeared into the office, shutting off lights as he went. He reappeared a minute later, keys in hand. “Ready?”

  I nodded, and we left, locking up be
hind us.

  Logan drove to my apartment first that so that I could pack two overnight bags- one for me and one for Luke. I grabbed Luke’s leash, clipped it on, and jogged quickly back down the stairs. Logan got out of the car, grabbing my bags from me and putting them in the trunk. We got in the car and clipped on our seat belts. Luke stuck his head out of the backseat window, his tongue happily wagging and getting drool all over Logan’s window.

  Logan was silent on the drive over, drumming his fingertips on the steering wheel. He seemed nervous. His apartment can’t be all that bad, can it? Maybe it was a bit small or a bit messy and he was embarrassed by it. He’d been to my apartment plenty of times though, and it wasn’t as if I lived in a palace. It was neat, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I couldn’t figure out why Logan was being so cagey. I put a reassuring hand on Logan’s thigh and squeezed.

  “I don’t care what your apartment looks like, you know,” I said, trying to allay some of his nervousness. “I’m just curious about what it’s like since we always hang at my place. Are you hiding a secret wife in the attic, Mr. Rochester?” I teased.

  Logan’s lip quirked to the side. “No, no secret wife to speak of. You’re the only woman I am seeing right now.” My stomach fluttered absurdly at this. I had assumed we were sleeping together exclusively but hadn’t asked yet, not wanting to seem clingy. We hadn’t been bothering with condoms during sex though, so I would’ve been pretty pissed if we weren’t exclusive. Still, it was nice to hear that I was the only one he wanted to see right now.

  “So, what are you so nervous about then?” I pressed, looking at him expectantly.