Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (5 page)

“A few. An
electrician is coming on Tuesday, the painters and tile guys are
coming on Wednesday—”

“Nothing like jumping
right in.” She laughs. “What does that give you, twenty-four
hours to settle in and relax?”

I quickly jot the two
things on my list before I forget.
There,
now I have something written down.

“Yep. Except my
father found me a fully furnished condo a couple blocks away from the
new bar. All I have to do when I get there is sign the papers and
take some clothes,” I say, staring at the blank TV screen. He’s
had the whole thing planned for a while now. I can’t believe I
never caught on to the fact he was going to give the bar to me. It
actually pisses me off a little because we’ve always done
everything as a team.

“Wow, you’re really
not excited. Your voice has been flat since the moment I walked
through that door. I thought I was going to have to take you off
cloud nine, since this is what you’ve wanted since we graduated
high school.” Kelsey wraps her arms around me and I hug her back.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find it really cute you’re
actually flustered over a guy.”

I don’t want to be
flustered. I’m not a fan of surprises. I like knowing what is going
to happen.

Kelsey laughs, giving me a side hug
as my phone pings in my hand.

Logan: You, me, tonight?

Me: Yes!

First thing tomorrow, I
will make a list of what I need to do at the new bar. Tonight it’s
going to be just me and Logan. Just one more night without thinking
of work won’t hurt me. But just in case, I better write down a few
more things before he gets here.

Number one, finish this
list.

Logan

No matter what it
takes, Sara and I are meant to be together and we will be. I’m not
going to let her father get in our way. I know he deliberately kept
me at work until almost midnight on our last night together, but his
plan failed. The only thing keeping us apart now is my dumb ass. I
haven’t moved to get out of my truck.

I watch as her bedroom
light flicks on and off through her window. She’s probably running
in and out, checking to make sure she looks just right. I texted her
a half hour ago to ask if I could pick her up, even if it’s late.
She texted “yes” right back, and I know she’s most likely been
doing whatever she does to make herself look beautiful. I just wish
she knew she didn’t have to do any of it. She’s beautiful no
matter how hard she tries. Inside and out. That’s why she deserves
better than me, but my selfish ass won’t let her go. I’ll spend
the rest of my life proving to her that I am good enough.

I let out a deep
breath, open the truck door, and finally get out. I look up to see
her standing in the window of her second-floor apartment. She smiles
and waves to me before disappearing. I only make it up one flight of
stairs before she meets me. With her hair pulled to the side, a
sweater that hangs off one shoulder and some black leggings, she
looks incredible. Then she blushes and my heart starts to pound
faster. I’m one lucky guy.

“Are you going to
stand there all night, or are you going to kiss me? You won’t get
to anytime you want anymore, so you better do it as much as you can
tonight,” she says. Her smile falters just a bit, but I know she’s
trying her hardest to stay positive. Still, she’s right. I don’t
want to waste any time. There’s nothing gentle about the way my
lips crash against hers. Her mouth opens instantly and I slide my
tongue inside.

When the main door
opens and voices fill the stairwell, we pull apart. Without saying a
word I place her hand in mine and guide her down the stairs behind
me. I open the passenger door for her to get in and then jog around
to my side. The truck roars to life and I head down Main Street.

I turn on the radio to
a low volume, but neither of us speaks a word. This is another thing
I love about Sara. She doesn’t always have to be doing something or
talking when we’re together. Being together is enough for her and
it’s more than enough for me.

I turn on Wind River
Road and Sara beams at me from her side. I want to be alone with her
tonight, and outside under the stars far away from town is the
perfect place to be.

I pull up near the
meadow where our senior class used to hold parties, the same meadow
where we had our first kiss, and my body relaxes. Luck is on my side
because the entire place is deserted.

I park the truck and
walk around to open her door. She jumps out and places another kiss
on my mouth. Her hands wrap around my waist as she pulls me into her.
It takes everything I have to stop her. Our physical attraction is
equally intense as our mental one.

“Let me get the
tailgate down and lay out some blankets. Then we can pick up where we
left off.”

Nodding her head
quickly, Sara opens the back door to my truck and grabs all the
blankets I brought with me. This isn’t the first time we’ve been
out here, and by this point, we have a routine. I grab the pillows
and then flip the tailgate down. Sara climbs up quickly, laying out
every blanket and stacking the pillows just the way we like them. She
isn’t wasting any time.

“I have one more
thing,” I tell her and disappear into the truck. I grab the flowers
I brought with me and return to the back where I find Sara resting
back on her elbows.

“Oh, Logan, those are
beautiful.” She smiles, taking the flowers from my hand so I can
climb up beside her. I bunch the pillows up at the back of the truck
and pull her into my arms. With a kiss to the top of her head, she
relaxes into my chest.

“Why can’t life be
like this? Relaxing, happy … carefree,” she says almost
whispering.

“Because if life were
all those things, we would take them for granted. We want those
things because we have to work hard to earn them.”

Her arms lay over my
stomach and she squeezes me. When Sara leans her head back, I take
this moment to pick up where we left off. It’s not that I don’t
want to talk to her, because I do. But right now, I want to feel
normal. Like a guy who finally got the girl and things are perfect.
Not the guy who finally got the girl and she’s moving.

My lips graze hers, and
everything inside my heart says take it slow because even though I
will see her again, I don’t know when that will be. I told her I’d
make the drive to Rockland, but if I’m honest with myself, this
position at the bar is going to take a lot of time and effort. I want
her to see that I’m dedicated—that I have goals just like her. My
mind on the other hand, is screaming to touch every inch of her skin.
Yelling for me to make this moment the best I can make it. Tonight’s
going to be the last memory she has before she leaves, and I have to
make it count.

Sara

I find it a little
strange that whenever Logan and I get into the perfect make-out
session, my back always seems to be rubbing up against something
painful. There are exactly six blankets below me and I can still feel
the steel of the truck underneath me as I’m underneath Logan. I
find it even stranger that I still don’t care. I’m loving every
minute of it. The way his body feels against mine. The way his hips
grind into my body. The way he tastes like wintergreen, smells like
fresh cut hardwood, and the sounds he makes when I move with him. A
moan from him sets my entire body on fire.

I do, however, care
about this damn multitasking brain of mine.

I’ve never been a
relationship kind of girl. Then again, Logan’s last official
girlfriend was me during high school. But still, balancing the focus
between Logan and work is something I already know is going to be
difficult. Right now, my mind is screaming “work comes first,”
but my heart is beating “Logan comes first.”

“Hey, beautiful.”
Logan pulls away and gazes down at me. “I think I lost you there
for a second.” He forces a half smile, but I can see in his eyes he
knows exactly where my mind has been. “It was like kissing a
statue. My lips were moving, but yours weren’t.”

I swallow the lump in
my throat and look away. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. You know
how my mind works.”

“I do.” He sighs.
“Were you thinking about me or work?”

Logan removes the leg
nestled between mine and lies on his hip. Resting on his arms, he
keeps his body facing me and leaves his eyes fully focused on mine.

“Both,” I answer.

“And what we’re you
thinking?”

“That I want this
bar, but I want you, too, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able
to do it.”

Another sigh slips past
his lips. He’s already frustrated with me. Maybe we should just
date when I get back at the end of the summer.

“Logan, right now—”

“—is the perfect
time to date. Sara, I know you haven’t grown up in a family with
parents who loved each other, but neither did I. We are Sara and
Logan. We are the best when we are together, and we’re made for
each other. We’ve never had to date for me to see this.” His hand
rubs the small of my back.

He’s right. We’ve
always been flirty together, and I’m happiest when he’s around.
That just never occurred to me until I left last summer.

“You know that, I
know that, the whole world knows it. You won’t be gone forever, and
I will do everything I can to see you when time allows it.”

It honestly feels like
my heart just grew a little bigger from his words. I want to cry and
can already feel the tears sneaking their way out. I take a deep
breath and blink them away, but the attempt is gone when Logan
releases me from his arms and props one knee up in front of me. He
then holds my hand in his.

“Sara Connelly, you
are stubborn, driven, brilliant, and beautiful. These are a few of
the reasons I want to be in your life. I know you love your career
and I know you want this bar. I also know you want to be a part of my
life, too. I would never make you choose between either of those
things.”

“Logan—”

“Wait, I’m not
finished.” He kisses my forehead. “I, too, want to be successful
and I want that with you. I know how hard you’ve worked, and I
promise you I will live up to your expectations at the BA. However, I
do have one thing to ask of you.”

If your heart could
stop and beat a million times in one second, my heart is doing that
right now. My hand is shaking in his as I wait for him to continue.

“Will you promise me
that no matter how overwhelmed you are, you will call me, text me,
anything, before you give up on us? You have to trust that we will
work. I want to give this a real chance, but I don’t want either of
us to give up anything for it. Selfish I know, but—”

“Yes!” I shout
without even thinking twice about it. “I can promise you that.”

I hug him then and kiss
him because I clearly have a lot to learn about relationships and I’m
going to learn with Logan.

Logan

Sara squeals against my
lips as I step inside her apartment and close the door. I’ll never
get over that sound.
She
slowly drops to her feet, never letting our lips part. My intentions
were to walk her home, since she lives in the building next to mine,
and be a gentleman with just a good-night kiss. But Sara has plans of
her own and I’m not doing anything to stop her.

There’s no hesitation
as Sara’s small and delicate fingers tug at my waistband and
unbutton my pants. She tugs the zipper quickly, pulling my jeans down
just a bit. “I want these off,” she says hungrily before meeting
my eyes with a fiery blaze in her own. I’ve never seen her look at
me like this. We’ve had sex before—in high school and once before
she left last summer. It was amazing, mind-blowing sex, but something
tells me things are about to get even more exciting.

I release a growl of
frustration as I grab her hand and pull her toward her bedroom.
Somewhere along the way, she kicks off her shoes and lets go of my
hand to remove her sweater.
She
never was the type to waste time.
I stop her before she
can pull it over her head and hold her arms down at her sides.
“Don’t,” I say, and she inhales at the deep tone of
my voice. “I want to be the one to remove your clothes.”

Her body trembles and
goose bumps cover her perfect, soft skin. I let her arms go and she
backs up until she reaches the bed. In one step I’m in front of
her, pushing her back and letting my body gently land on top of hers.
I use my knee to kick her legs apart until I can settle my hips
between them. At the contact of our bodies, Sara moans and, if
possible, I grow harder in my jeans.

“Stop teasing me,
Logan. I want you and I don’t want to wait.”

She doesn’t have to
ask me twice. I swiftly remove her shirt, and in seconds our pants
are gone too. Placing myself back between her legs, I reach to her
nightstand and grab a condom.

“Hurry,” she
breathes beneath me.

I tear the packet open
quickly and roll it onto myself. In one move, I’m inside her. She
inhales as I exhale. I move slowly, soaking in this moment and the
way she feels around me. Her uneven breathing and a nudge from her
heel at the crease of my back makes me move faster. I do exactly as
she asks until we both reach that moment of release together.

Sara

Saying goodbye to Logan
when I left for Europe was so much easier. We weren’t an item then.
Yeah sure, we hooked up, which totally freaked me out because I
didn’t realize I could fall so hard for someone and then two weeks
before I left I thought I was pregnant—something Logan doesn’t
know. False alarm, of course, but that scare was the last straw to
make me run. But right now, I don’t feel that way at all.

I can’t peel my eyes
away from the gorgeous man lying next to me. His soft, tan skin. That
blonde hair I used to think was too long, but now, this close up, is
perfect. If it’s possible for a man to have long, dark lashes, he
has the best ones. His bare and toned chest rises as he takes slow,
steady breaths, and his lips part slightly. God, I could fall asleep
to that face every night and have such sweet, sweet dreams.
Hopefully, they would be active ones, but then again, I could just
wake him up and make those dreams real.