A hand grabbed the back of his T-shirt. “There you are, Mountain Man.”
Her drawl washed his desolation away. He turned and pulled her into his arms, roughly, desperately. She made a little sound of surprise, but circled her arms under his shoulders, her fingernails biting into his back.
He didn’t crave a sexual solace but an emotional one.
Standing in the middle of a hospital parking lot with the sound of an encroaching ambulance siren, the words he’d been holding back poured out. “I love you, Jessie.”
Time stopped for Jessica. Her mind disconnected from her body and flew overhead to watch the embrace. Did he love her? Truly? Always, she questioned motivations. It was only when her mother or father wanted something from her that any sort of parental love or pride surfaced, usually expressed as an if-then statement.
If you love me, then you’ll …
She waited for the clause. But none came. Neither did she sense an expectant waiting for a return declaration. It had taken over a year before she told Michael she loved him, and she’d only said it then because she’d felt the pressure from him. She’d never been sure of her feelings.
She’d known Logan Wilde for less than a month. Yet, her heart pounded, not from fear or panic, but in rhythm with his. Was this love?
Before she could decipher the Morse code of her beating heart, his voice rumbled. “Will you come home with me tonight? I don’t want to be alone.”
For a man used to escaping to the woods for days, weeks, of solitude, the admission splayed her open. On what felt like her last breath, she said, “Yes.”
A car horn beeped, shocking her back to life. Still holding her close, they somehow shuffled from the middle of the parking lot to his truck. He stopped her from scooting to the passenger-side window. His hand stayed on her knee, keeping their legs pressed close.
He wanted her. Not the woman practiced in numbers and organization, but her. Not Jessica Montgomery, but Jessie. The realization streaked through her. Joy and fear tumbled together.
He pulled the truck to a stop in front of his darkened house. Bare tree branches surrounded the house and loomed far into the distance, more ominous than welcoming.
He held out a hand to help her out of the truck. So tall and handsome, yet shadows smudged his eyes and an unusual sadness stole his smile. His pain radiated, became her pain. Maybe that was love.
Her heart pounded her analytical brain into submission. Screw logic. She tossed her arms around his shoulders and pressed a kiss against his stubbly jaw.
“I love you, too.”
Relief poured through her. When she said the words before all she’d felt was dread and the niggling sense that she’d lied. She tossed her head back and laughed.
“Oh my God, I love you,” she said again to test herself. No dread. No guilt. More laughter bubbled out. She couldn’t seem to stop it. She pulled back. Logan probably thought she was crazy. He laughed with her. Maybe they were both crazy.
“Thank you, Jesus. I thought I had completely screwed the pooch. I’ve been feeling this for a while. But, you know,” he said lamely.
She did know. It was complicated. It was too soon. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow.”
“Technically, it is tomorrow.”
“Then let’s not think about today or tomorrow or even a week from now. Can we just…” She cupped his face. “I’ve never been in love.”
He inhaled sharply, and on the exhale whispered her name in the sexiest, huskiest voice she’d ever heard. “Jessie.”
He hugged her close under the night sky, the breeze rustling brown crunchy leaves at their feet. For the first time in her life, she felt protected, cared for, accepted. Maybe that’s what love was. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to stay in his arms forever.
Forever was cut short. He moved them in the direction of the front door. “Let’s go to bed. And, by bed, I mean sleep. My head is killing me, and I’m bone-tired. Do you mind?” He sent her a sheepish smile.
“Of course not. I’m exhausted too. Anyway, I want to know what happened with Scott.”
While he told her everything that transpired, they got ready for bed as if it were the most natural thing on earth. He tossed her one of his T-shirts to use as a nightgown. Feeling unexpectedly shy, she stripped to her bra and panties and pulled the shirt on, unhooking her bra and pulling it out through the sleeve. He stopped talking. Glancing over, she caught him staring at her legs.
She cleared her throat, and his gaze shot up her body. Red flushed up his neck, and she beat back a smile. “What happened after his parents came back in?”
He continued his recitation of events in the bathroom. He produced a brand-new toothbrush, and they shared the sink, trying to out-goof each other with the foam.
“I need to…” She pointed at the toilet. While things had taken a markedly more intimate turn, no way was she peeing in front of him.
“Of course. I’ll be…” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the bedroom.
Once alone, she felt his absence keenly even though he was thirty feet away. Pathetic. She was pathetic. She was also in trouble. What was going to happen when she ran out of money and had to get a job? No way in hell was she going to be Logan Wilde’s kept woman.
Meeting her eyes in the mirror, she pushed thoughts of the future away. She had enough savings to make it at least a year. Although she had been raised to be a planner, a schemer, she had discovered new sides to herself since stumbling into Falcon. Now, she would take things as they came. She nodded, and her reflection agreed.
Logan was already under the covers, the lamp off, but moonlight and stars filtered through the open drapes to light her path. She slipped under the cool cotton, his warmth drawing her like a moth to the flame.
She settled next to him, her head on his shoulder, his hand drawing lazy circles on her back. Neither of them spoke, they didn’t need to. In a state of wonder, she drifted off.
* * *
She woke to him kissing and nuzzling her neck. The gentle caress of his hand started a fire between them, turning her frantic for him. The sex was quick and satisfying. With a pressing urgency to get the day started, they took turns in the shower. Logan brought her a steaming cup of black coffee and set it by the sink.
With a towel around her, she sipped the coffee as she strolled back in the bedroom. “I could get used to this.”
“The sex or the coffee?” He shot her a half-grin and pulled a shirt off a hanger.
“Both. Lilliana doesn’t offer such amenities.” She plucked the same clothes she had on the night before off the floor and pulled them on.
He buttoned his shirt, his gaze on task. “You know, there’s no reason you should be paying Lilliana. You could stay here. If you wanted.” An uncharacteristic uncertainty laced his stumbling words.
It had taken two years of careful analysis before she’d reluctantly allowed Michael to move into her house, yet a streak of excitement had her fumbling with the zipper of her jeans. “I suppose that makes sense. Lilliana will be glad to get rid of me.”
“I’ll the leave the door unlocked so you can bring your stuff over whenever. I’ll be tied up with football all morning. You’ll be at Adaline’s later getting me organized, right?”
“Of course. This”—she pointed back and forth between them—“has nothing to do with my job. One that will take another week tops, by the way.” She followed him to his truck and hopped in. She studied him from the corners of her eyes on their drive toward town, but his face was bland. Talking about the future meant dealing with it, and her nighttime vow to take things day by day held in the reality of morning.
He pulled into Lilliana’s drive. How did they part? She didn’t think she was ready to throw out a casual “Love you.” Instead, she leaned over and sucked his bottom lip between her teeth, giving him a nip. “I’ll see you soon. Go give those idiots hell for not believing in you.”
Lilliana was waiting inside, leaning in the entrance to the kitchen and waggling her eyebrows. “Well, well, well, missy. Out with Logan Wilde all night long—again. I happened to be peeking out the curtains and saw that sweet kiss you laid on him.”
Jessica rolled her eyes on her way through the kitchen door, but nothing could keep the smile off her face. She poured a cup of coffee and took a sip, mainly to let Lilliana stew.
“I’m going to be getting out of your hair.”
“As in…”
“I’m moving in with Logan.” Jessica peeped at Lilliana from the corner of her eye.
Lilliana’s face didn’t reflect shock or surprise. Almost as if talking to herself, Lilliana said, “It makes a weird sort of sense, I suppose.”
Jessica wrapped her hands around her coffee mug. “What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t sure Logan would ever settle down is all. But you and he are a good match.”
“Logan is not settling down with me. This is temporary. I can’t stay in Falcon.”
Lilliana climbed onto a bar stool and rested her chin in a propped-up hand. “Why not?”
“What would I do here? Become his part-time bookkeeper? That’s not what I want.”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Jessica stared at Lilliana. Had anyone besides her third-grade teacher ever asked her that? She opened her mouth to answer, but closed it with a sigh. She was done toeing the family line. “I want to run my own restaurant management company. I’ve learned a lot from my father, but I would do so much differently. Hire more women, more minorities. Make everything more accepting, more fun.”
Lilliana shrugged. “Okay. Then, start your own company.”
Jessica chuffed and threw a hand up. “You make it sound simple. Even if I sold my house in Richmond and took all my savings, I would need a bigger stake.”
“You have a name that’s well-known. You have cojones. Throw them both around. Find someone to back you.”
Jessica shook her head and laughed a little. “I’m going to change clothes, pack, and head to work.” She bracketed the last word in air quotes.
All through her packing, Lilliana’s words rolled through her head. Her own company. The dream had simmered for years. She had always assumed Montgomery Industries would be hers eventually, but that bridge was blown to smithereens. Was she brave enough to strike out on her own?
Her father had insisted she spend time in all areas of the business, and she’d spent a summer as a restaurant manager. She knew the basics of menu preparation and cooking, but her expertise lay in risk analysis, supply chain management, and recognizing the importance of location and targeted advertising.
Her confidence surged, but her father was right about one thing—money made the world go round. If she sold her house in Richmond, pooled her savings, and applied for a business loan, she might have enough. She put her whirling thoughts on the back burner.
She loaded her bags into the trunk of her car, but instead of heading to Logan’s house, she drove to Adaline’s and went straight to his office. Logan looked up from making notations on an invoice. He smiled, not with good-humored tease, but with true happiness to see her lighting his face. An answering happiness warmed her from the inside out, and she found herself smiling back.
“Hi,” she said inanely.
He rose and stalked toward her. Closing the door with his foot, he pushed her against the wall and kissed her. Not a chaste “nice to see you” kiss, but an “I want in your pants” one. And, she returned it, because she wanted in his pants too. Maybe he’d lay her over his desk or hike her leg up right here. She tightened her arms around his neck. When had she lost the inhibitions that had kept her sex life staid and uninspiring?
Since Logan. Everything had changed since Logan.
A tentative knock and a comically loud throat clearing on the other side of the door broke their kiss. Logan’s manager, Brian, called out, “Sorry, boss. Some questions about the menu came up.”
“Be there in a sec.” Logan pressed his forehead against hers.
“How did the meetings go?” she asked, wanting to keep him in her arms.
“I was reinstated. With a raise. Even got a half-hearted apology and an offer to cover my medical expenses from Ben.” He chuckled. “Did you get your stuff moved in?”
“It’s in the trunk. I don’t have much. I was only ever planning on staying in Falcon a week, you know.” She sighed and rubbed her nose against his.
“You could fly home and bring more with you.”
She tensed, an
Alice in Wonderland
feeling coming over her. If she went back to Richmond, she was afraid she’d never find her way back to him. “I’m good for now.”
He pulled away and opened the door. “You go on and get to work. I’ll check on you in a bit.”
Even after he turned the corner, she leaned against the cement wall, trying to cool the licking flames in her body. Tamping them to embers, she got to work.
She worked steadily, logging receipts, filing tax-related paperwork, organizing invoices, finding pleasure in the straightforward logic of numbers. Numbers never lied or told half-truths. She came across paperwork for yet another account with a sizable amount of money growing with small, yet consistent deposits over the past three years.
“Hey, beautiful.” His voice came from the doorway. She wondered how long he’d been standing there staring. A bemused look softened his eyes.
“Hey, Mountain Man.”
He laughed, closing the door on his way inside. “Found anything out of whack?”
“Not out of whack, but I came across a nice little nest egg doing nothing for you.” She pulled out the statement and handed it over. He took a cursory glance and tossed it back.
“I inherited money from Ada. The deposits are from coaching. In case of emergencies, I suppose.” He took a chair across from her and propped his feet up on the desk.
“It’s sitting in a simple savings account making close to zero interest. You should invest it.”
“All right. You’re the expert. Any suggestions?”
Most of the men working at Montgomery Industries acted like they knew more than she did about business plans and investments. They assumed she got her job because of her father, which was partly true. It’s why she’d worked harder and longer than her counterparts. Logan’s easy acceptance of her expertise made her want to plop in his lap and kiss him senseless.