13. Logan
13
logan
Designer and client, my ass.
I’ve laughed about that statement more than a few times since Maeve and I hung up the call last night. Designer and client only…that’s just rich.
If Maeve really thinks I can suddenly turn a switch in my brain that makes me forget about the night we spent together, she doesn’t realize how unforgettable she is.
Which I have a feeling she doesn’t.
But on the other hand, she’s right. This relationship is professional. And I’d be a right prick if I didn’t respect that boundary. She’s going to be here to do a job. A job that I’m going to be paying a lot of money for. And while normally a price tag like the one she’s likely to show me is going to make me itch on the inside, I know it’s going to be worth it. I’m going to get to see Maeve in her realm, creating a beautiful space. Kat will get off my back about having a grown-man dorm room for a home. I’ll please all the women in my life and get a nice-looking home out of it.
That’s what I call a win-win.
“Are you smiling like that because your girlfriend’s coming over?”
I give Kat a side-eye as she comes into my office while wheeling what looks like a coffee cart. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my designer. I’m her client. That’s it.”
Wow. I think that sounded pretty good. I think I can make this professional thing work—even if deep down I’m hoping that us spending time together will allow her to slowly warm up to the possibility of us.
And not the possibility of one more night. I want more than that. I want all her nights.
“Oh, you’re fucking down bad,” Kat says, taking a seat across from me. “I’ve never seen you look like this.”
“That’s not true.” It probably is, but I feel like I need to try and at least deny part of it. “What about that girl at university I went to a sorority formal with? The one you set me up with?”
Kat shakes her head in exasperation. “Do you even remember her name? How could you think she was a special person in your past if you can’t even say her name when thinking about her?”
Shit, she’s right. “I just remember we had a lovely time.”
“Of course you did. You had sex in the limo.”
“That’s right,” I say, unable to keep the grin off my face.
“Oh, Logan’s manwhore phase. What a memorable time it was.”
“I prefer cad.”
“I don’t care what we call it. I just don’t want to ever go through it again. You were exhausting.”
I’m sure I was, and poor Kat is the one who had to live through it.
Back in England, I wasn’t exactly a catch at secondary school. I was the captain and founder of the inaugural e-Sports team, and the only reason girls talked to me was to do their math homework. Or to see if they could use me to get to my brother, Callum.
But at Stanford I was an unknown. I could shed the reputation I carried back home and could become my own man. A new version of myself. And while the video game geek never went away, I did manage to stumble one day into the gym of the student recreation center.
I was hooked from that day on. I gravitated to the challenge of lifting weights. I loved the feel of the burn when pushing my muscles to the brink. Before I knew it, my body was developing in ways I didn’t know it could. And with that, I started getting attention from the girls I had never gotten before.
And like any other nineteen-year-old lad, I let it get to my head.
And my cock.
Yes, I maybe went a little hard, but in my mind, I was making up for lost time.
Oh, if the Logan from back then could meet the Logan now. That guy would’ve been champing at the bit to date models and celebrities. And laughing hysterically that I’d be willing to spend thousands of dollars just to be around a woman.
“I really do owe you for putting up with me all these years,” I tell her.
“Don’t worry. I figured that money into my contract negotiation.”
I laugh. “Of course you did.”
A buzzing sound comes through on the intercom system, notifying me that Maeve is at the gate. I mean, it could be someone else, but I’d have to tell them to bugger off.
“Thanks for stopping by, but you can leave now,” I say to Kat, wanting a few minutes to compose myself before Maeve enters.
“That’s not happening.” Kat gets up and starts making herself a drink from the cart she rolled in. From the looks of it, there’s hot and iced coffee, tea for me, and a few other options that I couldn’t tell you what they are.
“What do you mean?”
She tops off her coffee with some sort of syrup before stirring it with a metal straw. “I told one of the workers to let her in so I can stay right here. We can’t take the chance that she walks out again. We didn’t think we were getting this second chance. So I’m staying right here to do potential damage control. Plus, if you had it your way, you’d have your bedroom designed in superhero sheets. I need to make sure that doesn’t happen. Especially if you want Maeve to ever sleep in them.”
“I’d never do that,” I say, though I wonder if they make California King sized Batman sheets. “Now a movie room? That could be fun.”
She rolls her eyes at me when a knock comes from the door of my office. I try to take a hidden breath from Kat—she already has enough ammunition against me—but it catches in my throat the second Maeve walks in.
How is she even more gorgeous? Her brown hair is down today and in long waves. Her makeup is subtle, making her blue eyes pop. And the outfit she’s wearing? Bloody hell, I need to bite my lip to control myself. A fitted blouse that hugs her perfect tits. A pencil skirt that is so tight I don’t know how it’s not going to rip when she sits down. And the heels? I’d sell every share of every stock I have right now to feel those digging into my ass as I drove into her.
If this is how she’s going to come to work every day, maybe making her an offer she couldn’t refuse wasn’t the smartest move for my sanity.
Or my cock.
“Holy tension, Batman,” Kat whispers. “Hey! Jaw up. Remember to blink. And don’t fuck this up.”
“Shut it.” Hopefully Maeve didn’t hear my whisper-yell as I take a few steps toward her and extend my hand. “Good morning.”
Her eyes rapidly blink a few times when she puts together that I didn’t call her Love. And that I’m beginning this in the professional manner she suggested.
Designer and client…just like she asked. Little does she know I’m playing the long game here.
“Thank you again for coming over today. Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” she says before noticing the coffee cart, which I’m now noticing has more options than Starbucks. “Wait. What is all this? Logan…”
I hold my hands up in defense. “I know you said nothing extravagant or nothing over the top. You may notice there isn’t a breakfast buffet. But with the coffee, it’s simply not my morning beverage of choice, and I didn’t know what you liked, so we wanted to provide options.”
Her face softens just enough to assure me I didn’t go too far too quickly. Good thing she doesn’t know I set up a recurring order of Diet Coke for her. “Thank you.”
We stare at each other for a moment, a rush of electricity passing through us before Kat rudely interrupts us.
“Nice to meet you again. I know we formally met the other day, but please, call me Kat.”
Maeve extends her hand. “Thank you for getting back and meeting with me on such short notice.”
“Of course,” Kat says as the two shake hands. “Thank you for reconsidering. And not punching this guy in the face for canceling six times. As his publicist, I don’t know if I could have taken his side when I had to spin that to the tabloids.”
This gets a laugh out of Maeve, but properly embarrasses the hell out of me. “It’s no trouble at all. I’m glad we’re able to finally get this going.”
“We were, too,” Kat points Maeve to one of the chairs in front of my desk. “And actually, you left the other day before I could see you again. This is for you.”
Kat picks up the check we cut the other day for Maeve to make up for the cancellations. I study Maeve closely as she sees what it is. Her eyes nearly bounce out of her head before she trains her gaze on me.
“Really?”
I nod. “It should’ve been more. Please consider this just a token of an apology from me.”
She continues staring at me for a few more beats, waiting to see if I’m going to say, or do, anything else.
But I’m not. She wanted business? Then business is what she’s going to get.
“All right then,” Kat says with a clap of her hands to break the tension. “Maeve, why don’t you start us off.”
“Thanks,” she says as she grabs her bag and brings out a notebook. “Logan, I know you said I could have free rein. And while that’s very nice of you, you’re the one living here. I need to make sure every room is decorated with things you’re comfortable with.”
“I’m really not particular,” I say. “I trust your instincts.”
“You say that now, but just wait until I start showing you wallpaper samples.”
“He’s very serious,” Kat says. “You should’ve seen our first apartment together when we were roommates. His room was?—”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I ask pointedly. For one, I don’t need a babysitter. I definitely don’t need her wisecracks.
She shakes her head. “Nope. Morning is clear.”
I narrow my eyes at her, but thankfully, Maeve continues on with the questions. “Okay, what rooms are we looking to have done?”
Shit, was I supposed to know that answer?
“Everything,” Kat chimes in.
“No, not everything,” I protest. “My video game studio is done.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
Was that a joke from Maeve? It was quiet, like she was trying to keep it under her breath, but I do believe it was. And even if it was at my expense, I’ll take it.
“I meant what I said, Maeve, you know more than I do. I’m clueless when it comes to this stuff. I’m sure if you really wanted me to give input on options, I could tell you I like one blue better than another, but if you know one will work, please, go for it. I’ve checked out your designs. You’re brilliant. And I trust you. Implicitly. I have a hard limit at pink walls, but other than that, this is your project. Wow me.”
Our eyes lock, and I think if Kat weren’t in the room with us, the tension between us might snap. As I keep looking at her, I have the feeling she’s trying to gauge if I’m serious or not.
And I am. Serious as I’ve been about anything in my life.
I want Maeve’s touch all over this house. I want to feel her presence in every room. Because if my plan of the long game doesn’t work, and she’s out of my life when this project is done, at least I’ll know that a part of her is always here.
“Yes, please do whatever you need,” Kat butts in again. “And also, I don’t know if Logan has mentioned this yet, but we’re throwing a big benefit Christmas party right before the holiday.”
This takes Maeve’s look away from me and turns it into a panicked one to Kat. “That’s in like…very fast.”
“Yes, I know it’s tight,” Kat says, her voice turning pleading. “And I know this is a huge ask on top of the already big one, but if you could have this mostly done by then, and decorated for the holidays, you’d literally save us. And I know we don’t know each other well, but you seem like the kind of woman who makes the impossible possible.”
I don’t know if I’m seeing things, but I’d swear on my original copy of Frogger that Maeve just got a twinkle in her eye.
“I mean, it will be tight,” she says. “And I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep?—”
“That’s all I need to hear!” Kat says with a relieved breath, just as her phone starts to ring. She takes a look at it, only to let out a frustrated sight. “Tight we can work with. Also there’s no budget, despite what this guy says. Now, if you could excuse me, I have to take this.”
Kat leaves the room before Maeve can say anything else.
“Apologies for her,” I say. “She’s a lot.”
“No need.” Maeve makes it a point to look down at her notebook, writing something down. Though I have to wonder if she’s just avoiding my glance.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
My question does the trick of getting her eyes slowly meeting mine again. The second I see her beautiful blues I feel my body heating. Fuck me…I know I wanted Kat to leave, but I didn’t realize her presence was keeping me from wanting to throw Maeve up on this desk and kiss the hell out of her. If this is how my body is going to react when we’re alone together, I have a feeling I have a lot of cold showers ahead of me.
“Was she serious about no budget?” Maeve asks. “Because I can get it done in that time, but I do need to tell you it’s not going to be cheap if you’re going all out to impress.”
“She is,” I say, though I don’t like it. “I meant what I said—this is all yours, Maeve Banks. Make it your masterpiece.”
She looks at me again, a curiosity in her eyes. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You really don’t care what I do?”
I shake my head. “I don’t. Though I do have one more request.”
“I figured I wasn’t that easy. What is it? Gray walls? Black leather couches?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, taking a step closer to her. I know I should stay back, but I’m alone with the woman I can’t get out of my system, and I might be biding my time, but I also need to steal the moments when I can. “Actually the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“That’s right: Nothing cliché. You know I hate being cliché.”
And there it is. The smile. The reddened cheeks. The Maeve I know.
“I think I can manage that.”
“I know you can. Now dazzle me, Maeve Banks. Show me what you got.”