“But, Elle Sterling, how about you agree to be my girlfriend instead?”
She laughed. “Aren’t we a little old for that?”
I raised a suggestive brow. “Lover sound better?”
She wrinkled her nose. “That makes us sound too old.”
Feeling bold, I countered with, “Master?”
Her laugh was wicked. “I’ll pass on that one.”
Shifting my mouth, I kissed her fingers. “I have a few more, but I don’t think you’ll like them. That takes us back to girlfriend. Besides, there are men at my gramps’s nursing home who have girlfriends.”
She laughed.
Clutching her hand in mind, I asked again, “So, Elle Sterling, would you like to be my girlfriend?”
She stared at me.
“Don’t make me beg because I will.”
Elle grew serious. “I’d like that, Logan. Very much.”
I think I heard her whisper, “My protector,” and my chest puffed in pride. Then I kissed the corner of her mouth and spoke with honesty. “I know we skipped over all the preliminaries, but maybe it was better that way.”
She nodded in agreement. “First everythings are so blasé.”
“Not all first everythings,” I reminded her.
We both laughed and then allowed a comfortable silence to fill the room. We breathed together and for a few short minutes, the only sound beside the rhythm of our breaths was that of our beating hearts. For once, I could hear the outside traffic beeping and blaring but didn’t want to get up and check it out. We were together now, safe, and looking forward to what the future held.
“You hungry?” I asked.
She tipped her head to put her lips on my throat. “Very.”
I was pretty certain it wasn’t food she was referring to, but I was also pretty certain neither of us had eaten. And since I wasn’t anywhere near finished with having her, a shower and some food first would probably be a good idea. “Burgers?” I asked with a grin.
“With fries and ketchup.” She smiled up at me.
“Like there’s any other way.”
Rolling off the bed, I stepped back and looked her over, head to toe. I knew my smile was wicked and I also knew what it did to her. Shivers rocked her body and usually her lids would fall in the most seductive way. I gave her one last knowing glance before I picked up the phone and ordered room service.
She rolled over onto her back with a satisfied sigh. The sheet had slipped and she was naked under it. I thought about taking her again, but first I needed to take a shower. I leaned over to push her hair away from her face. “You’re so gorgeous, you know that?”
She propped herself up on her elbows and blew a wayward strand of hair from her face and then made a self-deprecating sound.
I laughed and pulled her mouth to mine. “You are. Now, I’m going to hop in the shower and come back and show you just how much I think so.”
This time her response was much more enthusiastic.
“I won’t be long,” I promised her and headed for the bathroom.
“Logan,” she called.
I turned.
“I love you,” she whispered.
My body seized up. I hadn’t spoken those words to a woman, ever. I might have said them to Emily when I was trying to get her in the sack, but they hadn’t been real; it wasn’t true love. It wasn’t this burn I felt in my chest when I looked at Elle. It wasn’t the fear I wore beneath my skin that something would happen to her. No, that wasn’t love. This, however, was.
Still, the words stuck in my throat. Burned, settled halfway. I was scared. Scared that if I said them, something bad would happen. And how ridiculous was that? Finally, I sucked in a breath. “I love you too, Elle,” I said, and turned back around with my pulse pounding and my heart beating wildly.
Some kind of bad feeling had rolled over me again. I shook it off and hit the hot water.
A towel around my waist and one at my shoulders, I came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, feeling much better. Elle was sitting on the bed with the robe wrapped around her and the Channel 7 news on.
“Breaking news,” the TV correspondent announced.
My head snapped to the screen. “Members of the powerful Flannigan crime family are among at least twenty-four people arrested tonight in a major drug raid. Details are sketchy, but a confirmed two million dollars in cocaine has been seized. We’ll bring you the latest as it unfolds.”
“It’s over?” Elle asked.
With a grin, I answered, “It’s over.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. “Coming,” I answered, slipping my pants on and pulling out my wallet.
Feeling on top of the world, I opened the door. A man was standing there with the cart of food and a single rose in a vase. I signed the receipt and gave him a fifty. My thoughts were drifting as I closed the door. Feeling like an idiot, I took the rose from the vase and handed it to Elle. “For you,” I said with a bow.
Her smile was wide. “Thank you, my prince.”
“King,” I corrected her with a laugh.
She raised a brow.