“Come on, buddy. We have to get back to the flower shop,” Bridgette said as she took Louie’s hand. They said goodbye to Stella and Logan and disappeared the way they’d come.
Logan placed a hand on Stella’s lower back as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She moved closer, beginning to believe it was. Logan smiled as he slid his hand around her waist to tighten his hold.
“Thank you for letting Stella spend the day here,” Logan said to Willow.
“We had fun, didn’t we, Stella?”
Stella nodded, trying to ignore the quick and disturbing thoughts that were rushing into her mind. There were fewer than forty-eight hours until Kutcher was released. She’d been able to escape it today amid the busyness of the bakery, but now there was no forcing reality away. She wanted to pretend, just for a while longer, that everything was okay. That she was a normal girl who lived a normal life like she’d done today. She wanted just a few more hours in this friendly town before she slipped into her coat of fear again.
***
LOGAN SAT ACROSS from Stella in a cozy restaurant at the edge of town, trying to read the conflicting emotions washing over her face. She hadn’t eaten much of her dinner and was pushing vegetables across her plate with her fork.
“So, do you really think this guy Kanets will rat out Kutcher? I still don’t understand how it can help. Kutcher’s getting out of jail, remember?”
Logan reached across the table for her hand, then thought better of it and came around the booth to join her on the bench seat. He draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in close, needing to ease her worry but knowing he couldn’t guarantee a damn thing.
“I’ve taken every measure to make him talk, and if he doesn’t talk, then he’ll go to jail for an even longer time for possession of drugs and firearms while on parole.”
“If he’s going to jail anyway, why would he rat Kutcher out?” Stella trapped her lower lip between her teeth.
“Because he’ll go for many more years without a plea bargain. A day in jail is like a month in the free world. Have faith in me, Stella.” Logan cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. She followed it with her tongue.
He nuzzled against her cheek. “I missed you so much today. If you keep looking sexy and cute, I’m going to have to kiss you, and I may not stop with one kiss.”
“I missed you, too, and I hate when you stop with just one kiss.”
Their lips met in an urgent, demanding kiss. He slid his hand up her thigh beneath the cover of the table and swallowed the sweet moan that escaped her lungs. She grabbed his wrist and moved his hand higher. Heat permeated the rough denim. He buried his other hand in her hair and brought his mouth to her ear.
“I want to be inside you.” His tongue followed the shell of her ear, and he sucked her sensitive lobe into his mouth. He’d thought about her all day, and the prolonged anticipation was unbearable. He wanted her in his arms, naked beneath him.
Logan stole a quick look toward the front of the almost empty restaurant. He took her in another ravishing kiss and couldn’t wait a second longer. He slid from the booth and pulled her up to her feet, dragging her into the narrow hallway in the back of the restaurant that led to the restrooms and trapped her against the wall. Their mouths met in another punishing kiss. His cock throbbed as she arched into him and guided his hand between her legs again.
“Jesus, Stella. You want this,” he growled. A thread of guilt snaked into his body, and he pulled back. She was breathing hard; one hand clutched his ass, the other, his chest. He wasn’t going to be one of those guys who made her feel cheap or used, and he wasn’t going to force himself on her.
“Baby, tell me what you want. Want to go back to the cabin? Want me to back off? What do you want, darlin’?” He drew back a few inches, and she pulled him in closer.
“Bathroom.” She felt for the door with her hand, then dragged him by his shirt into the men’s room.
Logan locked the door and backed her up against the wall.
“You’re sure?” he asked against her lips.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
Their mouths crashed together again. She fumbled with his jeans as he tore hers open and thrust his hand beneath her panties. She took his throbbing erection in her hand as he dipped his fingers between her legs.
“Oh, fuck, darlin’. You’re so damn wet.”
He thrust his tongue in her mouth as he drove his fingers into her velvety heat, and she worked him with her hand. He used his thumb to get her to the edge, wanting to make her come before he was inside her. Within seconds her head dropped back and her eyes closed. He captured her cries of pleasure in his mouth.
“That’s my girl.”
He tugged her jeans down and lifted her easily into his arms and lowered her onto his throbbing cock.
“Christ, you feel good.”
“Logan.” His name came out as a plea.
“Hold on to my shoulders.”
She did, and he drove in hard, one powerful thrust after another, as she dug her nails into him.
“Harder, Logan. Fuck me harder.”