Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Amber
“ M unchies,” I whisper as I crouch down beside the kitchen island like I’m negotiating with a tiny, furry terrorist. “Please, buddy. Just one more bite. There’s no way you tasted the pill I crushed in there. You’re being dramatic.”
He stares at me like I just tried to poison him—which, I guess, from his perspective, I did. His flat, smushed face is stone cold.
‘I cannot be tricked, stupid human,’ I imagine him saying.
I sigh and flop onto the tile floor, still holding the dish of organic duck paté infused with a tiny, barely-there sliver of thyroid medication.
Willow gave me a full booklet of instructions on how to medicate this drama queen.
None of them are working. I try another gentle nudge and Munchies responds by dramatically flopping on his back beside me. What a diva.
It’s been six days since I arrived and Logan and I have been inseparable.
If I’m not in his bed, he’s in mine. If I’m not riding in the passenger seat of his fast Italian car, I’m riding him on his couch while a movie plays in the background.
We haven’t gotten to the end of one movie yet.
His mouth, hands, and big firm cock are much more entertaining than anything Hollywood can offer.
He’s coming over for dinner tonight after work, which is why I’m currently sweating in Willow’s intimidating kitchen. It’s fit for a chef, but unfortunately, all it has tonight is me. I’m trying really hard not to mess up a pot of spaghetti.
“I can do this,” I whisper to myself as I stare at the wooden beams running along the ceiling.
Munchies frowns at me as if saying, ‘No, you can’t. You really can’t.’
It’s only three ingredients and boiling water. But I didn’t strain the noodles fast enough and they’re looking a little soggy. Plus, the sauce smells tangy in a way that makes me nervous.
“Dude,” I say, turning back to the cat. “Are you going to take your pill or what?”
He flicks his tail like it personally offends him that I’m still talking about this.
“Fine, whatever,” I say as I get up and look at the gooey monstrosity in the pot again, wincing because it somehow looks even worse. “Have your thyroid explode. See if I care.”
Munchies slowly gets up like he’s doing the world a favor and then starts to eat his organic duck paté as I watch, holding my breath.
“ Yes! ” I whisper when he actually eats the pill. He must taste the bitterness because he stares up at me like I’ve betrayed him.
“Don’t get mad at me,” I say as I wash my hands and wipe them on a dishtowel. “I’m not the one who broke your thyroid.”
My phone dings and I grab it as fast as humanly possible, hoping to see Logan’s name on the screen.
It’s from Amir. My new Uber driver friend I made when I arrived in New York.
“ Awwwww .”
Yusuf wants to say hi!
Attached is an adorable picture of an infant boy all swaddled up lovingly in a blue blanket.
Something inside me shifts as I stare at the precious baby.
I realize I want that.
And for the first time in my life, I actually believe I can have that.
A family. A real one.
With a stable presence like Logan in my life, I believe I can do it. I can do anything.
I lean against the counter, imagining having a baby of my own, and a smile spreads across my face. My eyes water.
Logan keeps asking me to stay. He keeps telling me he can’t live without me.
And I’m starting to wonder… Can I live without him?
I try to picture myself returning to Vermont and I can’t do it. It doesn’t seem like home anymore. The life I enjoyed before feels like a lifetime ago. It feels bleak and boring and… gray.
I can’t believe I was happy with that life. It feels so small now.
Logan has changed everything.
He’s color and heat and possibility .
He’s excitement. He’s everything.
I send a congratulatory text back to Amir and right after I hit send, my phone buzzes again.
This time, it’s him.
I’ll be there in ten. Can’t wait to see you.
I smile as I reread the text about twenty times.
I’m buzzing around the condo until he walks in, looking like masculine perfection in a tailored suit.
Now, this I can get used to.
My heart pounds as he walks up to me, all six-foot-something of broad-shouldered, alpha male sugary goodness in a dark navy suit. He’s loosened the tie—which always does it for me—and his top button is undone.
My eyes are unable to blink as he takes off his jacket, a move that looks so natural to him, but feels so erotic to me, and drapes it over a chair.
Those sexy dark eyes find me as he slowly rolls his sleeves up his thick muscular forearms.
Mama Mia.
“I missed you.” That deep voice slides straight between my thighs and makes my pussy tingle.
“I saw you this morning,” I say, biting back a smile.
“It wasn’t enough. I can’t ever get enough of you.”
I have to turn to the sink so he doesn’t see my cheeks burning worse than my sauce.
He walks up behind me, wraps his big possessive arms around my waist, and buries his face into my neck, breathing in my scent. I melt like a stick of butter on a hot pan.
“ Mmmmm ,” he hums before peeking into the pot. “What are you cooking?”
I laugh. “A mess.”
“I’m sure it will be delicious.”
He’s too sweet, but he’s a horrible liar.
“I blame Munchies,” I say, as I turn around in his arms and gaze up into those loving brown eyes. “It’s hard to focus on cooking when there’s a cat in the shadows plotting your murder.”
He laughs and then gives me what I’ve been dying for all day—a soft passionate kiss. I’m dripping wet by the time those delicious lips pull away.
I dump the soggy noodles into the compost and try again, but I barely get them into the pot before we start cooking up something entirely different.
Logan’s hand brushes my ass, I lean into him, and suddenly the stove is the least important thing in this room.
We lunge on each other, kissing and grabbing and knocking over spatulas and pasta boxes. Munchies flees out of the room with a screech when the metal tin hits the ground.
Logan has my shirt off before I remember to turn off the burner. I reach out and switch it off as he kisses my neck and massages my breasts with those big perfect hands.
The noodles will be soggy.
Again.
Fuck it, we’ll order something.
Speaking of soggy noodles… This noodle is not .
Logan’s cock is rock hard, pressing against my hip and taking my breath away. My mouth waters as I press against it harder…
I fumble to take it out of his pants while he’s in the process of getting me out of mine.
We don’t make it out of the kitchen.
He both slip out of our pants and shirts, but we don’t get to removing our underwear before he lifts me onto the island like I’m weightless.
My pussy aches as he comes between my spread thighs, that rock hard cock making his tight gray boxer briefs stand up like a tent. His hands are everywhere. Mine are too.
We kiss like we’re starving for each other. Like the eight hours we were apart was a lifetime of longing.
Something crashes to the floor—might be a wooden spoon or an entire basil plant, but I don’t stop to check. I can’t. This feels too fucking good.
Our underwear joins the cooking utensils on the floor and we have wild, fast, hungry sex right on the granite countertop.
There are dried spaghetti noodles spilled everywhere and chopped basil in my hair by the end of it, and I’ve never felt more completely devoured and satisfied in my life.
He picks my limp body up off the island and cuddles me on the floor, both of us panting and glistening with sweat.
He kisses my temple and strokes my hair as the city glows behind us.
“Don’t leave me,” he says quietly, his voice rough with something deeper than lust. “Stay. Please stay.”
I look up into his loving brown eyes and see nothing but vulnerability and need. It makes me fall for him just a little bit more.
I’m about to answer, but Munchies interrupts us. He comes strutting back over with a look of complete disdain on his flat furry face.
‘I’m telling,’ he seems to be saying.
“Munchies, meet Logan,” I say, presenting the two men in my life to one another.
Munchies struts over and gives Logan a quick whack on his arm, just to let him know who’s the boss of the house.
We both laugh as the drama queen turns with a hiss and struts back down the hallway.
Everything feels too good to be true as Logan’s deep rumbling laugh vibrates through me.
How can I leave this?
How can I say no to this?
I don’t think I can.
Maybe I will stay.
Maybe being in this man’s warm comforting arms in this amazing city is where I’m meant to be.
It sure feels that way.