Chapter 31
Logan
Emery’s back is burrowed against my chest, her arm tucking mine under hers like a security blanket she refuses to release as she draws slow, shallow breaths.
It’s rare to feel her peaceful. Her mind is too busy constantly moving when she’s conscious and carrying the weight of everyone’s problems, including her own.
Duke is asleep on the rug. Only embers remain in the woodstove, and the air inside the apartment is cool, the electric baseboards a poor substitute for a real fire.
Emery mumbles incoherently as I gently slide my arm from her grip.
“Shhh …,” I whisper, my face buried in her hair, the fresh, floral scent of her shampoo still clinging to it.
“What time is it?”
“Seven. I’m gonna feed the fire and head to the barn to get Biscuit out of there before he kicks a hole in the wall, but I’ll be back soon. Stay here.” I lean over to press a kiss against her neck, her jawline, before whispering an urgent “Please” in her ear.
I dress quietly and then, tucking a fresh log into the stove, I coax Duke to come with me for my morning chores.
She can’t leave now. I have her dog.
My heart swells as I step back inside my place to find Emery in my kitchen, wearing my T-shirt and nothing else.
“It gets hot quick in here.” She stoops to scratch Duke’s head. “There you are.”
I shuck my coat and boots. “I know. I have to watch how many logs I stuff in there or I end up sweating.” I should have put two more in before I left. Maybe Emery’d still be naked.
“Coffee?” She holds a second mug. “I made a pot.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I ease in to wash my hands as she pours, afraid to come on too strong. If I’ve learned anything about this older, cautious version of Emery, it’s that her inhibitions return with the sunrise.
“I was thinking, maybe there’s something in Jay’s stuff to do with this stash Hank is looking for. You know, in all the boxes your mom packed downstairs.” She turns to face me, her back now against the counter, and holds up my mug for me. “I don’t know how you like it.”
I meet her steady gaze. “I like it exactly like this.” Everything—the black coffee, Emery in my space and my clothes, inches away from me.
Her chest lifts with a sharp inhale.
I collect the mug and take a sip before setting it on the counter, freeing my hands. “You think whatever Hank’s after is packed up downstairs?”
“No. Annie would have found it and said something to my father. I’m sure of that. But maybe there’s a clue in there about what he was up to? I think we should go through everything. See what we can find.”
“I’m game.” It means spending more time with Emery. I finally dare to move in closer, my fingertips toying with the hem of the T-shirt she threw on. “Does your brain ever stop?”
Heat flashes in her green eyes. “It did last night—”
I lean down to capture her lips with mine, stealing one more kiss before she can run away.
But she doesn’t run this time, leaning into my affection, matching it, her palms smoothing over my chest as if memorizing my curves before her hands curl around my neck, pulling me in.
Gripping the backs of her bare thighs, I lift her onto the small counter and push her legs apart to fit my hips between them. She didn’t bother to put her panties back on, and I take it as an invitation, my fingertip grazing her center.
“Wait!” She gasps, pulling her lips from me. “Wait.”
I groan as I pull away, giving her space so she can go over all the reasons we can’t do this ever again.
Our ragged breaths fill the tense silence.
“This can’t happen outside these walls, Logan,” she finally says. “Out there, it’s got to be status quo. No one can know. No touching. No texting each other. There can’t be any sort of trail.”
Am I understanding what she’s saying? “And inside these walls?”
“Inside these walls is none of anyone’s business.” She hesitates, peering up at me with a tentative look. “If you’re okay with that?”
“Are you kidding me? I’ll take whatever you give me.” Because anything is more than I deserve. “But Em, like I said already, I’m not letting you take any hits because of me.”
“I’ll be fine.” She lifts the T-shirt up over her head and tosses it to the floor in answer. Gooseflesh coats her skin as she waits for me to make my move.
I marvel at her perfect, naked body for a lengthy moment, in awe at this turn of my reality, and then I hoist her off the counter and carry her back to my bed.