Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“You look like shit, man.”
Logan glanced up from the paperwork on his desk to find Evan leaning against the doorjamb in his police uniform. He’d been sitting in his office for the past three hours and he’d managed to accomplish nothing.
Instead, he replayed the scene with Lacy from Saturday night over and over, torn between whether he should kick his own ass for kissing her or for driving away without fucking her.
Now it was Friday and he was no closer to putting her out of his mind than he had been when he’d climbed into bed that night.
He’d been sporting an almost constant erection; his dick pissed at him for denying it the treat of sliding into Lacy’s hot, tight—
He shoved the fantasy away as Evan frowned.
He should not be thinking about fucking Lacy while her brother was there. Shit, he shouldn’t be thinking of fucking her, period.
“I didn’t think you were all that torn up over Jane leaving.”
Mercifully, his friend had misinterpreted his expression. God help him if Evan ever found out what he was really thinking about.
“You should have taken my advice,” Evan continued. “Found yourself a pretty girl and gotten laid Saturday.”
“I’m not ready.”
“Jesus, man. It’s been a year.” Evan leaned forward.
“You know there’s a woman out there for you, right?
One who is better suited to you than Jane was.
She fucked you up, man. Made you think things that aren’t true.
There’s nothing wrong with liking your sex rough.
Even Annie and I have been known to do some kinky role playing.
” Evan wiggled the handcuffs that were hanging from his belt. “These aren’t just for bad guys.”
Logan shrugged. “Spare me the details about your unnaturally happy marriage. You found a good one. And yeah, I know that old adage there’s someone for everyone, so I don’t need the clichés. I’m not pining over Jane. I’m simply being a realist. The chances of me finding that woman in Maris is…”
Logan’s words drifted away as he struggled to finish a sentence that no longer felt true.
So much of his thoughts this week had been consumed by the idea that Lacy actually might be exactly what he was looking for.
He shut the idea down when he recalled the look in her eyes as she’d climbed out of his truck.
“You’ll find her,” Evan reassured him. “But hiding in your office isn’t going to help. You haven’t met me for lunch or happy hour once this week.”
He hadn’t met Evan because both of those weekly events took place at Sparks Barbeque. Logan wasn’t ready to see Lacy yet. And he was sure as shit she didn’t want to see him.
“I’m not hiding. I’m just…busy. I’ve got a lot of work piling up. I guess the stress is getting to me.”
Evan accepted the excuse easily. “Busy is a good problem to have. Means money. You’ll come through. You always do.”
“Yeah. Thanks. Hey, did you need something in particular or did you just stop by to nag me?”
He expected Evan to laugh. Instead, the man stepped into the office and plopped down in the chair opposite his, the desk between them. “Actually, I’m on patrol. Thought I’d take a second to stop in and thank you for taking Lacy home the other night.”
Logan swallowed heavily, forcing a casual tone to his voice. “No problem.”
“Did she seem okay to you after the party?”
Logan wasn’t sure how to respond. Did Evan know something? Lacy sure as hell wouldn’t have talked to her brother about what had happened. Had one of her neighbors seen them?
“Yeah. Why?”
Evan shrugged. “She’s been really quiet since then.
I thought maybe she was getting sick, but it’s going on too long.
She’s got dark circles under her eyes and Macie said she’s been snapping at them at work.
You know as well as I do Mary Sunshine is never in a bad mood, so I’m worried.
Wondered if she said something to you, if something happened at the bar that pissed her off or if someone bothered her. ”
Logan shook his head. “She didn’t say anything. I’m not sure what could have happened,” he lied. He knew what was ailing Lacy. It was the same thing that was making him irritable as fuck.
“Yeah, okay. I might talk to Tyson, see if he can talk her into going in for a checkup. Maybe she does just have a touch of something.”
There wasn’t a damn thing Dr. Sparks could do for her, but Logan nodded as if it was a solid suggestion.
He’d avoided the restaurant since Saturday because he suspected he was the last person Lacy wanted to see.
As such, he’d holed up here, moving between his apartment upstairs, down to work, and then back again.
Unfortunately, he was starting to run low on food.
He would have to venture beyond the front door eventually.
Evan’s walkie-talkie crackled. “Guess I better get back out on the road. Call me this weekend if you want to meet up for a couple of beers.”
“Will do.” Logan rose as Evan left, debating what to do now. He hated knowing exactly how much he’d upset Lacy, but he was at a loss over how to help her. The best thing he could do for her was to keep his distance.
His phone beeped and he glanced at the screen to find a text from Lacy.
Coming by in a few. Bringing lunch.
He considered texting back and telling her to stay away. However, as always, his gut overrode his brain when it came to Lacy.
He simply tapped in two letters.
OK
His cock thickened at the thought of her arrival, so he forced himself away from the desk.
Time to hit the workshop and start working on a new piece.
Hopefully he’d manage to lose himself in the project enough to ward off this fucking erection.
His brain needed all the blood it could get if she was coming by to talk.
Work was always a good distraction for him.
Logan closed his eyes and sighed. Work hadn’t distracted him once since Saturday night.
He closed his eyes and recalled his first kiss with Lacy.
She’d been eighteen, beautiful, vivacious and just discovering her sexuality.
She’d dared him to kiss her and he’d been just weak enough to give in.
Somehow, he’d managed to keep the kiss fairly platonic and push her away that night, but it had been a damn close call.
Great. Now, he wasn’t just obsessing over Saturday night, he was recalling things he’d managed—just barely—to forget.
He was fucked.
Lacy stood outside Grady’s Furniture with her bag of takeout and tried to calm down. She’d spent the entire week in a state of constant horniness.
After Logan kicked her out of his truck, she had spent two days in a fury.
He’d pushed every hot button in her body, told her in no uncertain terms all the ways he wanted her—ways she wanted to be taken—and then gone into that frustrating, protecting-you-for-your-own-good mode that drove her insane.
He had pissed her off enough that she’d actually decided she was finished with him. She wasn’t going to keep begging the dumbass to acknowledge that she was fucking perfect for him. If he couldn’t figure it out on his own, then screw him.
The anger waned around Monday afternoon, at which point, her hormones kicked back in. She was lightheaded and dizzy from the never-ending, pussy-pulsing arousal she felt every time she thought about Logan’s assertion that he would claim her.
This morning, she managed to fight her way out of the haze of horniness enough to make a plan.
Logan thought she was off-limits, thought his needs were too much for her.
So she had to find a way to get him to take that first step toward her without feeling guilty about breaking his vow to Evan or fear that he’d hurt her—physically or emotionally.
That thought produced a mental eye roll.
Yeah. Like he’d hurt me in any way I don’t totally want.
Overcoming his reticence was a tall order to fill, but she was determined to make it happen.
A tiny bell rang as she opened the front door. The showroom was empty. Then she heard the buzz of an electric saw from the workroom. Turning, she flipped the sign that hung on the front door that said “Be back in one hour” and locked the bolt.
She made her way around his handmade furniture, mentally reorganizing the place as she went. It was a good thing Logan made such beautiful pieces they sold themselves because his ability to show them off sucked. It was a damn maze in here. Total chaos.
She paused at the door to the workroom. His back was to her as he guided a piece of wood through the jigsaw. She had never had the opportunity to watch him work. The muscles of his back and arms flexed as he pushed the cedar plank through the blade, moving it in a waving pattern.
Once the cut was complete, he turned the saw off.
“What are you making?”
He turned at the sound of her voice, and then glanced back down at the wood. “A hope chest.”
She lifted the bag she carried. “Lunch. Hope you’re in the mood for barbeque.
Haven’t seen you at the restaurant this week, so I figured you were ready for a fix.
” Logan usually made it to Sparks Barbeque at least a couple times a week.
She’d felt his absence intensely, her gaze traveling to the entrance every single time another patron entered.
Searing disappointment followed each arrival when he never bothered to show up.
“I thought you’d prefer some distance from me.”
So, he was going right for the jugular. She was relieved. Lacy didn’t have the patience to pussyfoot around the issue either. “You thought wrong.”
“Lace—”
“No.” She cut him off the second she heard that condescending tone in his voice that made her see red. “Hear me out first.”
He lifted his hand, inviting her to speak. “Fine.”
“I’m off-limits, right?”
He frowned. “What?”
“I’m off-limits. Because I’m Evan’s sister and because you think I can’t handle what you want from me.”
He nodded slowly.