Chapter 21 Nina
NINA
Even my morning stretch felt luxurious.
I didn’t want to open my eyes because there was a part of me that assumed everything from the night before couldn’t have been anything but a dream.
Three rounds of lovemaking, four orgasms, and one incredibly sexy man who seemed hellbent on pleasing me in every conceivable way?
That kind of thing didn’t happen in reality, right?
But no, this time around, I could recall all of the night in the kind of Technicolor detail dreams could never provide. I could almost feel the tickle of Logan’s scruff on my inner thighs.
Speaking of…
I reached my hand out to the side, patting the bed trying to find his warm body. I finally opened my eyes and discovered I was alone in his stateroom. I sat up, blinking in the dim light.
Where the hell was he?
I’d slept naked, so I grabbed the robe he’d left at the foot of the bed, a sumptuous, thick white waffle weave that felt like a hug. I was still getting used to the idea that everything in Logan’s world was calibrated for maximum comfort.
I padded out to the main room where we’d eaten the night before and discovered him beyond the sliding glass doors on the gleaming deck, on the phone with several legal-looking documents and his laptop open in front of him.
Shirtless, in just his boxers. I’m sure it wasn’t a conscious decision to look that effing amazing, but to me it felt like an invitation to have my wicked way with him.
I tiptoed out into the bright sun, and he winked at me as he listened to the person on the other end.
What time was it? And where in the world were we? All I could see was sparkling blue all around us.
I dropped down on the chair opposite him, and he handed me a menu printed on thick cardstock. Logan only had a cup of coffee in front of him, like he’d been waiting for me to join him before eating.
His brow furrowed as he listened to whoever was speaking, and I hated that the real world was already intruding on our magical getaway.
I glanced at some of the papers spread out in front of him.
The words post-nuptial agreement jumped out at me, and my fingers itched to pull it from the pile to read it more clearly.
It made sense that he’d had something drawn up to protect himself and his assets…
since this was all meant to be temporary.
I tapped the paper. “What is this?”
Logan looked at me and then down at the paper. His face twisted into an uncomfortable expression. He put his hand over the speaker on his phone. “Don’t worry about it. Just some paperwork about everything.”
“Everything?”
He gestured between us. “It’s really not a big deal, I promise. You and I can talk about it later.”
A stone settled in the pit of my stomach.
Logan had gone back to listening to whoever was on the other end of the call.
Even in bossman mode, he was so handsome.
Maybe even more so in bossman mode, which didn’t help.
Logically, I knew our situation was temporary and there would be legal documents to deal with once we decided to end our charade, but it still bothered me that he seemed so nonchalant about it all.
The rest of the Ashford ladies had insisted that I was good for Logan, that I was helping him downshift and enjoy life. If that really was something he needed, like they said, then letting him take calls during what was a mini vacation wouldn’t do at all.
“Oh, come on. You told me you’d have that shipment ready to go yesterday,” he barked into the phone.
Oof. Bossman was alive and well, and it sounded like he needed an intervention immediately.
An idea sprang to mind.
Logan had mentioned the night before that his crew were always below deck unless summoned, which meant we were completely alone despite being in a common area.
Showtime.
I wasn’t an exhibitionist, but this was a desperate scenario. I took a deep breath, stood up next to where he was working and sild the robe down one shoulder, giving him a sultry stare.
He looked surprised, and then confused, but continued to growl at the person on the other end of the call.
Onward. I shifted and pushed the other side of the robe down as well, so that the only things keeping the robe on my body were my hands cupped over my breasts.
Now I had his attention. He stumbled over his words while he stared at me and shifted in his seat.
I let the robe drop a little more until my nipples were barely covered.
“Uh, could you repeat that?” Logan shifted in his chair. “The call broke up.”
I giggled and turned around, letting the robe fall even lower, so he could now see the top of my butt.
Logan cleared his throat. I dropped the robe completely so I was standing there naked, still turned away from him.
“No, no, that’s enough, you don’t have to read the whole damn thing to me,” Logan said through gritted teeth.
I began undulating, raising my hands over my head like a dancer, putting on a show for an audience of one. Maybe I needed to rethink my anti-exhibitionist tendencies, because there was something really freeing about being naked beneath the hot sun.
“You’ve got two minutes, Brad,” he said in a strained voice. “Then I have another, uh, meeting.”
I turned around to face him, still shimmying, and he sucked in a breath at the sight of my naked breasts. I moved closer to him, then dropped to my knees and crawled under the table. He’d made magic with his mouth last night and hadn’t given me the chance to return the favor.
He pushed back in his chair so that he could watch me crawling toward him beneath the table. I slid my hands up his thick legs, planting a few kisses along the way. Logan groaned then quickly covered it with a cough.
I slid my hand over his thigh and into the gap between his boxers, gripping his length. He was already hard. I moved closer to him then started easing the boxers down, planting kisses along his waistline.
“I need to run,” he barked into the phone. The next thing I knew, he’d slammed his phone onto the table and leaned back in the chair to give me more access to his body. “Damn it, what are you doing to me?”
I laughed in between kisses. “Showing you my appreciation for this wonderful trip. And paying you back for not letting me kiss you right here last night.”
I’d worked his boxers far enough down that his dick was free and standing at full attention. I waited until he looked into my eyes, then slowly lowered myself closer to him, never breaking off eye contact.
“Nina, we shouldn’t—”
I noticed that he didn’t move away from me, so I kept getting closer to the monster between his legs until I slowly slid my lips over the tip.
“Oh shit,” he whispered when I finally had his full length in my mouth. Which wasn’t easy given his size.
Challenge accepted.
I worked him slowly, pressing my tongue against him as I glided my mouth up and down his hardness.
“Please don’t stop,” he whispered. “Ever.”
I would’ve smiled at the compliment, but I was getting way too into my work. I gripped the base of his cock tightly as I took him in and out of my mouth, trying not to be greedy about where I actually wanted to put it. Hopefully, we’d have plenty of time for an act two.
“I’m not going to last—” he managed in a strained voice.
I could feel the early pulses of pleasure, so I picked up my pace. I was so focused on making him feel good that I barely heard the phone ring.
Logan sat up a little and reached for it.
I moved away from him for a second. “Don’t you dare answer that.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Logan said as he picked up his phone.
What the hell?
I sat backward onto my heels, indignant and hurt that he valued taking another business call over getting the world’s most incredible blow job. I felt my face go hot and reached for the robe I’d tossed away.
“It’s Josie, something must be wrong at home.”
The tone in his voice changed everything. This wasn’t another business call.
“She knows not to call unless something’s really wrong.”
I sat down on the chair next to him. “Oh no.”
He connected the call. “What’s going on, Josie?”
I sat down in the chair across from him and watched his tense expression as he listened to her.
“Seriously? Did Mrs. Miller help at all?” He listened again, frowning. “Okay, okay, got it. Can you put him on?”
Logan covered the phone. “Bad dream. He woke up crying, and he won’t stop. He won’t say what it was about, but I’m guessing it’s his mom.”
My heart hurt for Noah. The ebb and flow of grief was expected, but that didn’t stop it from feeling like a shock when it played out like this.
Logan’s face transformed when Noah got on the line, like he knew he had to amp up the cheer to counterbalance whatever Noah was facing. “Hey, Noey! We’re on our way back now. Yup, Nina is right here too. Do you want to tell me about the dream?” He listened. “Okay, I’ll put you on speaker.”
He shot me a look and placed the phone on the table between us.
“Hello?” Noah’s little voice sounded quiet and shaky.
“Hi, Noah!” I said. “What’s going on?”
He sniffled. “Can you…can you come home right now?”
“We’re on the way, bud,” Logan replied. “It’s going to be a little bit, but we’re going as fast as we can.”
He picked the phone up and sent a quick text, probably to the captain.
“Noah, did you have a bad dream?” I asked gently.
“Yes. I dreamed that there were monsters living in Papa’s house!” Noah exclaimed. “Big, mean monsters in the house, and there were scary snakes in the pool that tried to bite my toes.”
So the work at his grandfather’s house was having an impact on him. We’d tried not to be too obvious about the move on the horizon, but Noah was a perceptive kid.
Logan looked at me for guidance.
“Oh, that must’ve been really scary,” I said in a reassuring voice. “But the good news is that there’s no such thing as monsters.”
“But snakes are real,” he offered.
“You’re right, they are real,” I said, “but if there were any in the pool, we’d be able to see them. And the last time I checked, it was one hundred percent snake free.”
“Nina’s right,” Logan added. “And, worst-case scenario, if we found a snake in there, I’d grab it before anything could happen to hurt you.”
“You’re not afraid?” Noah asked, awe in his voice.
“Nope. I like snakes.”
The line went silent as he considered the admission.
“Nina, do you like snakes?” Noah asked.
My eyes drifted to Logan’s lap before I could stop myself, and he caught me. We both shook our heads in unison like we were embarrassed at the way our minds worked.
“I do like them,” I said simply.
“Noey, we’ll be home soon, I promise. In the meantime, could you and Mrs. Miller maybe draw a picture of Ariel? I need a new drawing for my office.”
“Really? Okay, yeah. I can draw you a picture.” A pause. “But come home now, okay?”
“You got it, bud.”
The phone rumbled, and we could hear Noah running and calling for his kitten.
“Crisis averted,” I sighed.
“Hello? Are you there, Mr. Ashford?” Josie asked.
“Still here. We’re on our way and should be back at the house by eleven. Are you all okay? And can Mrs. Miller stay?”
“She can. I think we’re all set. Noah seems okay now, but he’s been up and down. I don’t think he’s quite used to being without you yet. Still fragile, that poor boy.”
“Agreed,” Logan replied. “We’re working on that. Back soon, thanks for calling.”
Logan disconnected the call and dropped his phone onto the table with a sigh. “Just when I thought he was making progress.”
“Fits and starts,” I reminded him. “It’s expected.”
He paused for a moment. “Thank you. For everything.”
I felt my cheeks go warm at his open appreciation. “I should be thanking you for an incredible night. It was wonderful.”
He took my hand in his. “You’re wonderful.”
And for that moment, despite the stress of the call and the post-nuptial agreement weighing at the back of my mind, everything in my life felt sort of perfect. I was on a freaking yacht in the middle of the ocean under sunny skies with an incredible man staring at me wearing a goofy grin.
A smitten goofy grin.
And Noah? Despite the tearful call, he was improving every day. If we kept up on the same trajectory, he’d be more than ready to face school by the time fall came. Healing was a moving target, but I could sense that Noah was well on his way to finding balance.
The realization hit me like a thunderbolt, and I was flooded with happiness and worry at the same time.
Because at some point, Logan and Noah’s life would settle into a stable equilibrium. The two of them would get past the churn of grief and go back to the normalcy of daily life.
And that would make me unnecessary.
I mean, it was easy to assume that Logan had genuine affection for me.
But I’d learned the hard way that relationships came with expectations.
Our partnership stemmed from my work with Noah; if I hadn’t been able to reach him, Logan never would’ve hired me, and then he wouldn’t have taken me for the celebratory night out, or fallen into bed with me.
It didn’t matter what our chemistry was like; the core of our relationship was my ability to help his son. I was useful to him. For now, anyway.
Once the old Noah was back, where would that leave me?
I didn’t want to assume that whatever was happening between us was conditional, but I knew firsthand what happened when I overstayed my welcome.
I felt the shift with friends, when having me crash on their couch started to become a little inconvenient in spite of my efforts to help with chores and take up as little space as possible.
And of course, I’d been through it with my ex, who considered me his live-in support staff.
I was useful to a point, then easily discarded.
Logan was back on his phone, shifting the rest of his day to accommodate our trip home. I reminded myself that for now, there was plenty for me to do. Once we got back to the house, I’d swoop in to help calm Noah down, and everything would be fine, for at least a little while longer.
Because being useful was my lot in life.