Chapter 26
LOGAN
“Did you even hear what I said, Logan?!” Rosie throws her hands up in exasperation. “She’s curating one of her special boxes for us! My mother is giving us a bunch of ‘Dr. Tate Approved’ sex toys!” Her face falls into her hands as she groans.
I shrug, kicking my feet up on the coffee table. “I heard you just fine. I just don’t see the problem. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?” I poke her thigh. “If they’re ‘Dr. Tate Approved,’ they’re probably top tier.”
She spreads her fingers, glaring at me through the gap. “Do not feed the monster.”
I pull her hand away from her face. “C’mon, Pip. It’s not a big deal. She’ll hand the box over, you’ll take the box, and that’ll be the end of it as far as she’s concerned.”
“Have you met my mother?” Rosie deadpans.
“Okay, that’s fair.” I laugh.
She flops onto the couch with a dramatic sigh, her head landing in my lap, legs stretched across the cushions. I take the opportunity to run my fingers through her silky hair.
She sighs and closes her eyes. “I love that you’re here, but I hate that Ryan couldn’t go out with you tonight. I want to get this over with, so we can stop worrying.”
“I know.” I trail my fingers down her bare arm, watching as goose bumps rise in my wake. “But Ry seemed really excited the coffee girl said yes to another date. He promised to call if their night ended early, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
Rosie moans as I start massaging her scalp. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”
I smile. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
She opens one eye, looking up at me. “No, it’s not.”
“Uh, yeah, it is. Trust me, I would’ve remembered.”
Her lips press together as she thinks. Then she opens the other eye and says, “Huh. Well, I’ve said it inside my head a bunch.”
“Is that so?” I arch a brow. “Does that mean you want to officially be my girlfriend?”
Rosie twists her body until she’s sitting up beside me. “Do you want to officially be my boyfriend?”
“Hmm.” I stroke my beard in mock contemplation. “Jury’s still out.”
“Dick.” She smacks my arm, making me laugh.
I catch her wrist before she can pull away and yank her onto my lap.
I cradle her jaw and press our foreheads together. “I don’t know if those titles feel quite right.”
“Me neither.” Her nose scrunches. “But what else is there?”
I remind myself now is not the time to impulsively propose marriage just because I’d much rather be her husband.
“Ooh!” She holds up a finger. “You could be my loverboy. Or maybe boytoy. Wait…I know! We could be each other’s luv-ahs.” Rosie grins, as if she’s so proud of her smartassery.
I playfully bite the tip of her pointed finger. “Uh, no. I’m gonna veto all of those options.”
She sticks her tongue out. “Lame.”
“Significant other? Partner?” My lips twitch. “What about bae?”
“Ew.” She makes a face. “You’re really freaking bad at this, Logan. Like, terrible.”
“Christ, tell me how you really feel,” I joke, tickling her side. “I think what I came up with is a lot better than boytoy, thank you very much.”
“Yeah, to you,” she mutters.
I smile, unable to resist the urge to lean in for a quick kiss.
“Rosie, if you want to call me your boyfriend, I’m fine with that.
But if it doesn’t feel right, why do we need a label for somebody else’s benefit?
I know you’re the only person I want to be with, and vice versa.
I say we skip ’em and just be…together. What do you think? ”
Rosie wriggles her butt, smiling when she feels my body responding to hers. “I’d be okay with that.”
“Well, then we’ll run with it.” I wrap my hands around her hips.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay with this whole photo leak situation?
I’m sorry I kissed you out in public like that.
I know better, but it’s been so long since they’ve published a photo of me, and we’ve been a little more relaxed about being out together…
I guess it slipped to the back of my mind. ”
“Logan, I really don’t care,” she assures me, beautiful brown eyes unwavering.
“I’ve always known it was a possibility, and you have no reason to apologize.
Sure, the timing sucks, and I’m not exactly thrilled they’ve resurrected the billionaire bachelor.
” I chuckle when Rosie rolls her eyes and frames those last two words with a set of air quotes.
“But I know how the cycle goes,” she continues.
“The gossipmongers will get bored soon enough. If there’s no interest in gossip, there’s no demand for photos.
If there’s no demand for photos, the paps aren’t going to waste their time.
I’m a big girl, Logan. I can handle a few dickheads toting cameras, or keyboard warriors talking shit about someone they’ve never met.
We know the truth, and that’s what matters to me. ”
Just when I think she couldn’t possibly be more perfect for me, she proves me wrong.
Most of the women I’ve dated since my name started making headlines were all about the photo ops.
I even discovered a few of them were tipping off the paps themselves.
I already knew Rosie wasn’t that type of person, but it’s still nice to hear because I’ve always fucking hated the attention.
I was more worried about her taking offense to something the internet assholes might say, but I should’ve known she’d brush it off without a second thought.
Rosie gets paid to manage and shape a celebrity’s public image.
She knows how this stuff works much better than I ever will.
I frame her face with my hands. “Rosalie Elena Morales, you’re fucking spectacular, you know that?”
Her pink lips curve into a crooked grin as she mirrors my pose.
“Logan I-Don’t-Have-A-Middle-Name-Even-Though-That’s-Totally-Weird Edwards, you’re pretty fucking amazing yourself.
But you know you’ve already got me, right?
You can back off on the swoon a bit. Save some for later, so you don’t have to blow your whole load all at once. Ya know?”
“‘Back off on the swoon?’” I laugh. “You know, I’d like to think I’m fairly fluent in Rosie-speak, but I’m a little stumped on this one.”
“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes as she sits back. “You know damn well what you do to me by being all sweet, and smolder-y, and sexy, one hundred percent of the time. Isn’t that exhausting?”
“Smolder-y?” I echo, amused.
“Shut up.” Rosie whacks me in the chest. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” I insist, pulling her closer. “I’m just being me. I’m the same guy you’ve always known, but now that I get to do filthy-as-fuck things to you, I don’t have to hold back on the parts I used to keep in check.”
She blushes. “See!” Rosie points to her pinkened cheeks. “I’m blushing like a virgin in a strip club! I’m not a virgin, Logan!”
I hold my hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m perfectly aware, Pip, considering my dick’s been inside of you many times.”
I fight a grin when her flush deepens. “This is not normal for me! I do not easily blush! But ever since the cabin, I swear I’ve done it more than I ever have in my entire life combined.
It’s all your fault, Logan! You and your goddamn swoon factor!
You’ve got that baby cranked up to eleventy thousand, like twenty-four, seven! ”
I try not to laugh. I swear I do. But Rosie’s like a feral kitten caught in a hurricane—tiny, fierce, and ready to claw her way out by any means necessary.
A whirlwind of flailing limbs and sharp, sassy quips, but fuck if it isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
The drama, the passion, the chaos, the sheer Rosie-ness of it all, wrecks me in the best possible way.
This beautifully flustered woman makes me so goddamn happy, my laughter just spills out.
And when it finally dies down, and she’s glaring at me like she’s about to cut off my balls, I only have one thought on my mind.
“God, I love you.”
She gasps.
A heartbeat of silence stretches between us.
Oh, fuck.
Did I say that out loud?
“You love me?” Rosie questions.
Yep, I sure did.
Welp, it’s not exactly the way I planned on doing this, but what the hell?
“Yeah, Rosie. I do.” I grin.
“Wait.” Her brows crinkle. “You love me like, in a found family kind of way, or you luuuuurve me?”
“Both, you nut.” I laugh, smacking a kiss on her forehead. “But mostly in a ‘it hurts to breathe whenever I think about never being able to kiss you again’ kind of way.”
“Swoony bastard,” she mumbles under her breath.
I cup a hand over my ear. “What’s that? I didn’t quite hear you.”
She rolls her eyes, but then she smiles the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. “I love you in both ways too, Logan.”
“Yeah?”
Her eyes are glassy as she nods. “Yeah.”
I take her mouth in a slow kiss, but like always, it doesn’t stay that way for long. I could easily lose myself in her all night, but we really need to finish talking first. With a groan, I force myself to pull back and lift her off my lap.
“I really need to talk to Ry.”
“Yeah, you really do.” Rosie sighs. “I’d hate to say this, but maybe you should stay at your place tonight. That way, if Ry’s date does end early, you’ll be right there. But if not, you can catch him in the morning before my mom’s party.”
I groan. “That would be the sensible thing to do.”
I really don’t want to leave, but I know she’s right.
If I stay at my place, I’ll be there when he gets home.
When I bought the building, I converted the top floor into two penthouses.
I took the west-facing unit, and Ryan was quick to rent out the east-facing one, a fact Rosie wasted no time giving us shit for, cracking all sorts of codependency jokes.
It’s been hella convenient until recently because we spent so much time together, but not so much when I can’t bring Rosie back to my place without risking an awkward run-in with her brother.
“Well, you could do it at my mom’s birthday party, but half my family is going to be there, so maybe it’s not the best option.”
Jesus. That would be a shit show of epic proportions.
I love the Morales family. Hell, I love Rosie’s parents more than my own.
But as her recent phone call with her mom proves, discretion isn’t exactly their thing.
Your business is their business. Great when you need backup.
Not so great when you need to have a conversation that might end in some choice words and a right hook to the face.
Probably best to keep the witnesses out of it.
“I’ll pass on that one.”
She points at me. “Smart move.”
I give her one more kiss before reluctantly getting up to grab my keys off the counter. She joins me at the door as I’m sliding my jacket on.
“Text me to let me know you got home safely on that death trap.”
Here we go again.
Rosie hates my Ducati. She hates all motorcycles, really, but I think that’s more out of a fear of the unknown. She’s never even been on a motorcycle before. I’m on a not-so-covert mission to get her on the back of my bike someday, at least once, so she can see what she’s missing.
I chuckle. “That death trap is a masterpiece in Italian engineering and one of only five hundred worldwide. Plus, it makes it way easier to find parking.”
“Uh-huh,” she replies. “You’re still never getting me on the back of that thing.”
I wind my arm behind her back, pulling her closer.
“I’ll break you down one of these days.” I trail kisses down the slope of her neck.
“Think about it. We could take a ride out to Big Bear this summer, two hours with all those horses rumbling between your thighs…” I ghost my hand over her breast, barely skimming the erect nipple poking out of her T-shirt.
“Stay in a secluded cabin, since those have been so good to us.” I palm her ass as our lips meet again, kissing Rosie until she’s breathless.
“You’d look so fucking hot spread out over my bike, taking my cock.
” I grin as she whimpers. “Would you like that, baby?” She releases a throaty moan as my hand slides between her legs, feeling the wetness through her leggings.
“Oh, I think you’d like that very much.” Just as she grips my forearm, trying to trap my hand, I step back and open the door.
“Think about that tonight when you’re getting off.
If you’re a good girl and record it for me, I might return the favor. ”
I pick my helmet off the floor and step into the hallway.
“Night, Pip. Make a real good mess of those sheets when you’re thinking about me later.” I wink.
Rosie pins me with the mother of all glares, flips me off, and slams the door in my face.
I grin. “That’s the spirit! Except maybe add another finger.”
I walk away, laughing as she cusses me out through the door.
God, I love that woman.