Chapter 31

ChapterThirty-One

Jeanie was back in Logan’s arms as soon as the door to his apartment slammed behind them; her mouth on his, her hands in his hair.

Jeanie tugged at his shirt, pulling it from his arms.

‘This has to go, this all has to go,’ she said, yanking her own shirt over her head. Then, she stood in front of him and unhooked her bra.

‘Damn, Jeanie,’ he rasped, his voice thick and deep.

She gave him a little smirk and pushed her jeans down over her hips. It was the smirk that did him in, that little knowing smile. There was no hiding it anymore. She knew just how much he wanted her. Good. He didn’t want her to ever doubt it.

She stepped toward him and undid the button of his jeans. The brush of her fingers against his bare stomach sent sparks across his skin. The sound of his zipper being pulled down was added to their rapid breathing, and the rain that had just started coming down on the roof.

Logan groaned as Jeanie pushed his jeans over his hips, her hand grazing his erection on the way down. She flicked her gaze up to his, deep brown and happy. Trusting.

‘I missed you,’ she said and his heart broke a little for the week he had lost.

‘I missed you, too.’ He pulled her close, grabbing her full ass and delighting in her little moans when he squeezed. ‘Wrap those sweet thighs around me, Jeanie.’

She met his eye again and gave him a smile filled with so much love and so much desire his heart kicked hard against his ribs. He had to have her now. Now and always.

She launched into his arms, and he held her up easily, turning so that her body was now between him and the wall. When his mouth landed on hers, it wasn’t gentle, but he couldn’t help it. He’d thought he lost her and now that she was here, he couldn’t hold back. Not anymore.

By the way she was kissing him, she felt the same way.

‘Logan,’ she moaned as he rocked his hips into her. She arched against him, and he kissed down her neck. He dipped his head lower and found her nipple with his mouth. He sucked and licked until Jeanie was writhing against him.

‘Logan, please. I need you now.’

He groaned and pulled himself away from her breast. He pinned her against the wall, holding her with one hand, using his other hand to pull her underwear to the side.

‘You want it like this, Jeanie? Against the wall?’ The question came out rough, gruffer than he meant it. He’d only wanted to know she was sure about this, that she was comfortable. But it came out like a filthy threat.

Jeanie moaned. ‘Yes, like this. Please,’ she panted, and Logan got impossibly harder.

He took himself out of his boxer briefs and slid against Jeanie’s soaking wet entrance. ‘Condom?’ he asked, his voice barely recognizable, his body shaking with restraint.

‘I went back on the pill.’

‘Thank God,’ he sighed.

Jeanie let out a breathy laugh, even as her body trembled against him. She met his gaze. ‘Please, Logan.’

He pushed into her, slowly, so slowly, until she squirmed against him, until his body was flush against hers. He leaned his forehead against hers and they breathed out together.

‘Good thing you lifted all those heavy pumpkin crates, huh?’ she asked with a sly grin.

He huffed a laugh. A laugh that became a groan when she clenched around him. So perfect, his Jeanie.

And then he moved. He thrust into her, holding her steady, her thighs squeezing around his hips. He thrust into her again and again until she whimpered in his arms.

He froze. ‘Am I hurting you?’ His breath was ragged.

‘No, not hurting me.’ Jeanie clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck. ‘Keep going. So good.’

He kissed her deep and demanding and she took him in, all of him. He changed the angle of his hips and she gasped against his lips. He did it again and he knew she was close, panting and groaning. Again and again, until Jeanie broke around him. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and her heels dug into his back, anchoring him in this perfect moment.

He stayed buried deep, with Jeanie pinned to the wall, and came hard inside her. He held her, their ragged breathing the only sound between them. Jeanie’s thighs were shaking when he eventually lowered her to the ground, and she kept her arms wrapped around his neck.

She placed a kiss on his chest before peering up at him. ‘That was quite the reunion.’

He couldn’t help his smile. ‘I told you; I missed you.’

Jeanie grinned. ‘Well, now you don’t have to.’

Logan blew out a long sigh.

‘But’ Jeanie went on, ‘We can definitely do that again.’

He laughed. ‘Deal.’

* * *

Jeanie in his bed and the cold, fall rain hitting the windows, was Logan’s new favorite thing. She was wearing one of his old worn flannel shirts and nothing else, her hair spread across his pillow. A slow smile curved the corners of her mouth.

He was propped up on one elbow looking down at her and he could only imagine the idiotic look on his face, but he couldn’t help it. He was too damn happy to worry about his face. Somehow, he was lucky enough to get a second chance with this woman and he wasn’t about to take that for granted.

Jeanie traced an idle finger across his bare chest. The light touch made him want to dive back between her legs where he’d already spent most of the afternoon. Her cheeks flushed like she’d had the same thought at the same time.

‘Thanks for kidnapping me,’ she said with a smile. ‘I needed a day off.’

‘Happy to help.’ He dropped his lips to her exposed collarbones and kissed along the ridge, finding her fluttering pulse with his lips. Jeanie’s giggles turned into little sighs as he tugged her closer.

‘I might need another day off to recover from today,’ she said, her voice breathy and raw.

He loved this Jeanie, too. The one that wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close, the one that wanted him as much as he wanted her.

He chuckled. ‘Me, too.’

Her smile imprinted itself on his skin as she buried her face in his neck. He was ready to ensure they’d both need a few days off when Jeanie’s stomach gave a loud rumble. When was the last time she’d eaten? Probably not since this morning. They’d been distracted to say the least.

He eased back. ‘Hungry?’

Jeanie untangled her legs from his. ‘Yeah. Suddenly starving.’

‘I’ve been a horrible captor––. Uh, host.’

Jeanie laughed, the happy sound fizzing all around him. ‘The worst.’ She let her gaze rake over his bare chest. ‘Although, you have been very accommodating in other ways.’

He narrowed his gaze and then dove forward, capturing Jeanie in his arms. She squealed in surprise, laughing as he pinned her to the bed again. ‘So glad you think so,’ he growled as he kissed her neck, his hands finding her curves beneath his oversized shirt.

She squirmed against him, and he nearly forgot his intentions to feed her until her stomach growled again.

‘Damn,’ she muttered.

He laughed, pushing up off of her. ‘I’d never forgive myself if I let you waste away.’ He found sweatpants and pulled them on, enjoying the way Jeanie watched him from the bed.

‘I don’t keep a ton of food in here, but I’m sure we can scrounge up something.’

‘As long as it’s not Twizzlers, I’m good.’

‘I only eat those when I’m ghost hunting.’

Jeanie laughed. She swung her legs out of bed, his shirt riding up her thighs. She pushed strands of hair from her face. The delicate skin of her neck and chest was red from the roughness of his beard.

Jeanie brought a hand to where his gaze had stalled right above the enticing V the shirt made. He was staring. He was staring and not getting her food like he was supposed to be doing.

He shook his head and strode over to the kitchenette. He did most of his eating in the big house, but he kept some stuff here for occasional late-night snacking, or for when he was hiding from his nana. Which this past week had been kind of a lot.

Jeanie joined him and was rooting through his cabinets like she lived here.

God, did he love that idea.

Not yet, but someday. He could picture it so clearly.

Jeanie caught him staring at her again. A delicious blush crept up her cheeks. ‘What?’

He cleared his throat. ‘Nothing.’ Just picturing you being here forever.

‘Ooh, Cup a Noodle! I haven’t had these in a million years.’ She pulled down two of the styrofoam cups filled with dried noodles and seasonings. ‘I want these.’

‘Okay.’ You can have whatever you want.

She grinned at him.

He boiled the water while she made herself comfortable at his little table. Outside the weather was gray and cold. Logan wouldn’t be surprised if there was a layer of wet snow on the ground tomorrow morning. But today it was warm and cozy inside his little apartment and suddenly it seemed like plenty. Like more than enough, like the only thing his life had been missing before was this woman at his table, wearing his shirt.

The kettle whistled and he poured the water into the plastic cups, watching as the noodles magically plumped up and the broth turned golden. He carried them to the table.

‘Yay!’ Jeanie clapped. ‘I love these things. We used to eat them during late nights at the office. So bad for you, but so good.’ She sighed as she breathed in the salty scent of the noodles. And for the first time since he met her, the mention of her old life didn’t send Logan into a panic about her leaving.

He believed Jeanie. He trusted her. And he knew this thing between them was more real than anything he’d felt before.

She happily slurped her noodles, her legs tucked up under her. The rain ran in streams down the window behind her.

‘How do you think Noah did at the café?’ she asked after a few minutes of slurping and chewing. It was after four, so the café was now closed for the day.

‘Fine, I’m sure. He tends the bar for Mac. He knows what he’s doing.’

Jeanie nodded. ‘It was nice of him to help out.’

‘He’s a good guy.’

‘I think he has a thing for Hazel,’ Jeanie added, with a secret smile.

Logan choked a little on his noodles. ‘Oh, he definitely does.’

She giggled. ‘They’d be good together.’

Logan shrugged. He still didn’t feel the need to weigh in on town gossip, even if it was out of good intentions for his friends. If Noah and Hazel wanted to be together, that was their business. He loved this town, but he still wasn’t about to join the book club anytime soon.

‘I think you should tell Dot about Norman,’ he said instead.

Jeanie wrinkled her nose like the idea did not appeal to her in the least. ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to cause more drama.’

‘Jeanie, that was really shitty what he did to you. He was tormenting you.’

She shifted in her seat. ‘Tormenting seems a bit strong.’

Logan frowned. ‘He also caused actual damage.’

‘I took the money to replace the window and fix the dishwasher out of his last paycheck. Nothing else was really ruined.’

‘Jeanie.’

She sighed. ‘He just seemed so sad about the whole thing. The café. Aunt Dot. Everything. I don’t know, I feel bad.’

‘You have nothing to feel bad about. He should feel bad.’ The words came out angrier than he meant them to, but he was pissed at Norman. He’d made Jeanie doubt being here and that was enough to make Logan consider fighting a man nearly as old as his grandfather.

Jeanie cracked a smile. ‘I know. He does feel bad. I think.’

‘Dot would want to know.’

Her lips twisted to the side as she thought about it. ‘Let me get things back in good working order, then I’ll tell her.’

She still wanted to prove she could do it. His heart ached a little for her, but he understood that. He’d felt the same way when he took over management of the farm.

‘Okay, deal.’

‘That way Dot will be back from her island-hopping trip, and I won’t ruin her vacation.’

‘Makes sense.’

She slurped the last of her noodles and licked her lips. ‘Delicious.’

‘Mmm-hmm.’

Jeanie’s eyes darkened. Okay, she was fed, back to more important activities. Logan pulled her chair closer and dropped to his knees in front of her.

‘What are you—’

Her question hung in the air as Logan tugged her to the edge of her seat and dipped his head to her thighs, kissing along the warm flesh. He pushed her shirt up to her waist and her legs fell open for him.

He tasted her and she groaned, her head tipping back on the chair.

She tangled her hands in his hair, putting him right where she wanted him. Logan’s moan rumbled through them both. She held him there; licking her, his fingers digging into the flesh of her thighs until she came apart for him, gasping his name, her hands tugging his hair. The weight of her legs on his shoulders, the taste of her on his tongue, her little moans and sighs surrounding him; another perfect moment.

‘Holy shit,’ she whispered as he sat back on his heels. Her legs slipped from his shoulders. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. ‘Best. Day. Off. Ever.’

He grinned and she kissed him, and as the rain poured outside, for the first time in a long time Logan felt safe enough to be happy.

‘I love you, Jeanie,’ he whispered. He would whisper it every day, he’d shout it in a crowded café. He’d hold a damn town meeting about it if she wanted. He’d tell her every which way.

She smiled. ‘I love you, too. And I’m not going anywhere.’ She planted a kiss on the end of his nose.

And he believed her.

A knock on the door that connected to the big house dragged Logan’s attention from Jeanie’s beautifully flushed face.

‘Yeah?’

‘Do you kids want to come have some dinner?’ Nana’s voice came through the door loud and clear. ‘I cooked.’

Logan glanced at the empty soup cups on the table and Jeanie’s current state of undress. ‘Uh... I already ate.’

‘I know Jeanie’s in there with you.’

Jeanie giggled.

‘We already ate,’ he amended.

‘It was probably junk food. Come have a nice home-cooked meal.’

‘That sounds nice,’ Jeanie whispered.

‘That’s because you’ve never had her cooking,’ he whispered back. Jeanie shoved him playfully.

‘I’m sure it’s not that bad.’

He gave her a grim look. She did not know what she was getting into, but if she wanted to eat dinner with his grandparents that badly, he couldn’t save her.

‘Okay, Nana. We’ll be over in a bit.’

‘Wonderful! I’m sure you two worked up an appetite.’

Heat rose to Logan’s face while Jeanie bent over in a fit of laughter. ‘I love her,’ she gasped.

Logan stood from his spot between Jeanie’s legs. ‘Yeah, she’s a real hoot,’ he said, as his grandmother’s footsteps receded.

‘I guess I better get cleaned up and dressed.’ Jeanie stood and headed for his shower.

‘I should probably come with you.’

She glanced at him over her shoulder, a smile playing around her lips. ‘Oh, really?’

‘The knobs can be kinda tricky.’

‘The knobs?’

‘Yeah, they can stick. I better come in and adjust the temperature for you.’

Jeanie’s eyes crinkled with laughter. ‘Okay, I guess you’d better. You’re just so thoughtful.’

Logan wrapped his arms around her from behind and planted a kiss on her neck. ‘Very thoughtful. I have a lot of thoughts actually of what we can do in the shower together.’

‘I thought you were just going to help with the temperature.’

He bit the soft flesh of her neck, and she squirmed in his arms. ‘And maybe some other things...’

‘Your grandparents are waiting for us.’

‘Trust me, Nana’s food isn’t going to be any better if we get out there early. And my grandfather will be puttering around for at least another hour.’

‘Well, in that case...’ Jeanie broke free of his grasp and hurried into the bathroom, shucking off his flannel shirt on the way. She glanced over her shoulder again, laughter dancing in her eyes, and he followed her in.

If Jeanie was going to suffer through Nana’s cooking, she really ought to be rewarded. At least a few more times before dinner.

* * *

Jeanie was down on her knees in the shower looking up at a surprised Logan. Warm water ran down her back, but the shower was big enough that she was fairly confident she could do this without drowning.

She wrapped her hand around the base of his erection and put her mouth around him.

A garbled sound that might have been her name rumbled through Logan.

She smiled around him.

‘Jeanie,’ he gasped as she took him deeper. ‘You don’t have to...’

She stopped and pulled away, looking up at him through wet lashes. ‘I want to.’

He blinked. ‘Oh.’ And by the expression on his face, Jeanie thought maybe no one had ever said that to him before, but she did want to. She wanted to make him feel good. Even here, in the shower where she might drown, but probably wouldn’t.

‘Do you want me to?’

‘God, yes,’ he groaned, his head tipping back to rest against the tiled wall behind him. She took him in her mouth again, letting the long, hard length of him slide against her tongue. She rested her hands against his thighs, felt them tense and flex beneath her palms.

He coiled his fingers in her damp hair, holding her close but not pushing her. Polite, even now, while he groaned and tensed above her. Jeanie thanked him by taking him even deeper.

‘Shit, Jeanie,’ he swore, his hands digging deeper, his hips making small thrusts into her mouth. ‘So good,’ he gasped and then pulled away, tugging her up abruptly.

‘That was ... you are––’ At a loss for words, he devoured her mouth instead, communicating perfectly how he was feeling at the moment. Jeanie melted against him, breathless. He wrecked her with his kiss and then spun her toward the wall.

‘I need you,’ he rasped in her ear, reaching around and finding where she was already wet and aching for him.

‘Me, too. I need you, too.’ Again. Always. Forever. She was still amazed by how much she needed him. Wanted him. Loved him. And how many times they’d managed to do this today. Good for us, she thought as Logan spread her legs and thrust into her from behind.

She groaned, pressing her forehead against the cool tiles. Very good for us.

He pushed in deeper, his hand still stroking between her legs, until he hit the spot inside her that made her breath catch.

‘Logan,’ she moaned, only a little worried that the acoustics in the bathroom were too good and that they might be giving Logan’s grandparents a show.

‘Yes, Jeanie,’ he whispered against her ear.

She gasped, ‘Harder.’

Logan groaned, dropping his forehead to her shoulder, and thrust harder. He held tight to her hips and drove into her again and again until she forgot everything. Who she was, who she wanted to be, her actual name.

But she remembered his.

‘Logan,’ she cried as the orgasm broke around her, crashing into her until her legs were trembling and the only thing keeping her upright were Logan’s hands still on her hips as he thrust one more time and came with a curse.

‘Damn, Jeanie.’

He turned her around gently, which was good since she was pretty sure her limbs had turned to goo. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling her tight against him. She smiled against his bare chest, listening to his still-racing heart.

Her stomach grumbled.

‘What do you think your nana is making for dinner?’ she asked, and Logan’s laugh tumbled through her.

‘Let’s get cleaned up and find out.’