As we sat talking and throwing out more ideas, laughing and getting sidetracked, I relaxed completely as I realized these women were genuinely invested in making sure Maia had the best birthday ever.
We were in the middle of discussing whether it would be too much to hire some kind of entertainment act when Logan came striding into my sitting room.
“Hello, ladies,” he said, and brushed his hand over Shannon’s shoulder as he passed her.
“Where’s Maia?” I said. He was supposed to be with her, distracting her.
Logan leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips before settling on the arm of my chair. “I dropped her off at the tattoo parlor. Apparently, Cole said she could spend the day learning about the world of tattoo artistry.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that,” Shannon said.
I wrinkled my nose. “Should she be spending the day in a tattoo studio?”
“Why not?” Hannah shrugged. “They’re only smoking crack and tattooing babies.”
I made a face. “I see sarcasm runs in this family.”
Shannon chuckled. “She’ll be fine, Grace. She’s with Cole. There’s no one more responsible. I promise.”
Logan rubbed my shoulder. “You think I would have left her there otherwise?”
“No, of course not,” I assured him. “I’m just a little frazzled. There’s a lot going on.”
“How are the plans coming along?”
I dove into explaining what we’d come up with so far.
His eyes brightened as the girls jumped in with all their ideas. “Sounds perfect,” he said once we’d finished. He peered down at the notebook and the guest list I’d written out. He frowned. “Be sure to add my mum, dad, and Amanda.”
“What?” Shannon snapped immediately.
Logan shot her a warning look. “I’m not happy about it either, but Maia wants to meet them and they want to meet her.”
“Oh, now they want to meet her. So! It’s not up to them.”
“No. It’s up to Maia. I gave her the choice.”
“And whose bright idea was that?”
I winced. “Uh… well… that would be mine.”
Shannon sighed heavily. “Grace, I know you mean well, but you don’t understand what our parents are like.”
“I can guess. And I’m worried about Maia meeting them, too, but she is old enough to make this decision herself.”
“I explained it to her,” Logan said. “I told her exactly what they’re like so she knows what’s she getting into. She still wants to meet them, and we’re going to let her.”
His sister shook her head and lowered her gaze. “It’s a mistake.”
An awkward, tension-filled silence enveloped the entire room, and the girls looked at one another, wondering what to do. Jo watched Shannon in concern and reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I think we’re done here for today. Come on, Shannon. We’ll go look for Maia’s birthday presents.”
Shannon nodded and started to get up.
The others did, too, the mood completely ruined.
I glanced up at Logan, who was watching his sister. Feeling my gaze, he looked down at me. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered.
Logan led his sister and the others out of the room, each of them throwing me smiles and waves. I waited anxiously for Logan to return, worried about Shannon and worried about Maia meeting his parents. His sister’s negative reaction was just too strong to not warrant concern.
A few minutes passed and I decided to clear up the cups of tea and biscuit plates while I waited. I was in the kitchen, organizing cups into the dishwasher and china ones into the sink to hand wash them, when I heard his footsteps.
At the press of his body against my back, I melted into him.
Logan wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder.
“Is she okay?”
“She will be.” He turned his head and pressed a kiss to my neck. “We’ll talk about it later.” His lips moved up to my ear. “Right now we’re going to forget everything else but each other.”
My skin flushed at the recognizable rumble in his voice. “Now?”
“Now.” His hands coasted down to my hips, and he deliberately ground his erection against my backside. “We’ve had to be quiet the last few times with Maia in the flat. Now we’re all alone… and I want you to be very, very loud.”
“Loud?” I breathed.
“Loud.” His hand slipped down and he tugged on the hem of my summer dress. “I like this. Ease of access.”
I giggled, the sound cut off when his hand slipped under my dress and into my underwear. I gasped as he brushed his fingers over me before moving them down and then sliding two of them inside of me. He played me like that until I was panting and whispering his name.
“I want you louder than that,” he said, his own breathing coming fast with his increasing arousal.
He removed his fingers and then curled them around the fabric of my underwear and pulled them down. They fell to the floor, and I stepped out of them. “My room?” I said.
“Here. Add to the memories.” His words, the heat of him at my back, the sound of the zipper on his jeans sliding down, sent a bolt of pure lust through me, and my fingers curled into the kitchen counter in front of me with anticipation.
“Spread your legs, babe.”