Real Good Man (Real Duet #1)

I look at her sideways. “Famous? Not exactly.”

“But half the women in this town want to say they’ve been in it.”

“They haven’t, and since I’ve got no plans to change that, they’ll have to live with the disappointment.” I nod toward the doorway across the room. “The master bath is through there. More showerheads than one man needs, but after I’ve been up to my elbows in grease and oil all day, I appreciate being clean.”

Banner turns around to face me. “I really do love it. You did an incredible job, Logan.”

Silence falls between us, and I find my plans for tonight aren’t what I anticipated. As much as I want to spend the rest of the night inside Banner, right now what I want even more is to fall asleep with her in my arms in my own damned bed.

She’s the game changer.

And now I’ve got my work cut out for me to make sure I win the game.





Chapter 32


Banner


Where am I?

I blink and take in the slate-blue-colored walls, and wood trim that looks nothing like anywhere I’ve ever been. The weight of an arm is wrapped around me, and heat presses against my back.

For a second, I wonder if I made a huge mistake, but then my mind kicks into gear.

Logan.

Logan’s bed.

Logan’s house.

And we didn’t even have sex last night.

I have absolutely no idea how to navigate the waters, especially since he told me I’m going to fall in love with him. I’m so out of my depth.

“I swear I can feel your brain flipping on,” Logan’s deep voice rumbles in my ear. “Your whole body tenses like you’re not sure whether you should bolt.”

“It’s creepy that you think you can read my mind,” I whisper.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I’m thinking I have no idea how to handle this non-relationship of ours.”

I find myself flat on my back, and Logan’s big body hovering over me a moment later.

“This is a relationship, Banner. Have no doubt about that.”

I wonder if my eyes bulge as big as they feel when he says it. “But—”

“No buts about it. We’re dating. And we’re going to have our first official Kentucky date tonight.”

“We are? And why are you so bossy all of a sudden?”

“I’ve always been bossy. You just didn’t mind because it was all in bed.”

True story.

Logan lowers himself to his elbows, and his heavy erection presses into my thigh.

“I guess this qualifies because we’re still in bed,” I murmur.

His lips quirk into a smile. “We are, but unfortunately, I’ve got to get to work, which means we both have to get up so I can drop you off at your car so you’re not stranded here all day.”

“Shit. It’s been at the bowling alley all night. Do you think someone stole it?” I ask, panic creeping in. A stolen rental car would not be cool, especially when it was rented for me as a favor.

Logan’s smile turns playful. “This is Gold Haven. No one could steal a rental car and get away with it. It’s fine.” He leans down another three inches and brushes his lips over mine. “G’morning, Bruce.”

“G’morning, Logan,” I murmur as I return the kiss and chase his lips upward when they lift away. But I can’t reach them for long because he heaves himself to the side and stands.

Clad in only boxer briefs, Logan’s body is impressive. A light dusting of hair sprinkles over his pecs and trails down over his abs and navel to disappear under the waistband. What is it about a man with a hard body? Why are my panties predisposed to drop?

He winks before he turns and heads to the bathroom, and my greedy eyes are fixed on his ass. I don’t know what he does to keep his body in that kind of shape, but I fully support it.

I haul my ass out of bed too. My cami and jeans both stink like bowling alley smoke, and I can’t stomach the thought of putting them back on. I sniff the ends of my hair and grimace as I hear the shower turn on.

Maybe he wouldn’t mind having some company. As many one-night stands as I’ve had, I’ve never done the couple-shower thing. Apparently there are still some areas where I’m a virgin.

I slip out of the T-shirt I borrowed last night without permission and head for the bathroom.

Logan is inside the glass-walled shower, soaping up when his eyes find mine. “You’re more than welcome to join me.”

I glance at the mirror and freeze before I take another step. “Holy Jesus, why didn’t you tell me I looked like I belonged on The Walking Dead?”

My makeup is smudged beneath my eyes, giving me that near-death appearance, and my hair looks like it went one-on-one against the zombie apocalypse and lost.

Logan’s laughter echoes in the glass enclosure. “And yet you’re still sexy as hell. Get your ass in here.”

“You have more showerheads in here than I did in mine.”

“I doubt New York water pressure could handle more.”

“Fair point.”

My hair is soaked in moments, and I’m sure I now look like a drowned rat. “This isn’t a shower, it’s a freaking car wash,” I say, turning away from the spray.

Logan hands me a bar of soap. “I don’t have any girly shit for you to use, but I’ve got soap and shampoo and face wash, if you don’t mind smelling like me. Well, me without the exhaust, brake fluid, grease, and oil.”

He’s mentioned that more than once, and I wonder if it bothers him. “If you could bottle how you smell when you step out of that garage after working for a day, you’d be a millionaire,” I tell him with complete sincerity.

“Is that right?” Logan turns me to face him as he pushes my wet hair out of my face.

I nod.

“Then I’m glad you like it.”

When our lips meet, I swallow his laughter.

His hands start on my shoulders, but they don’t stay there. Logan’s wide palms skim down my back until he’s cupping my ass and sliding one hand between my cheeks.

I jump as his fingers brush over a particularly sensitive spot—also known as my ass*ole. I pull my head back and look at him. “You trying to give me the shocker?”

Logan’s blue eyes are lazy when they meet mine. “The shocker?”

“When you slip two fingers in a girl’s p*ssy and then shock her with one in the back door.”

His fingertips trail over my ass*ole again, this time adding pressure. “Is that what you’re hoping I’m going to do with this tight little ass?”

A moan escapes my lips as I rise up on my toes, not sure if I want to escape the pressure or push into it.

He follows my movements. “I’m not going to stop playing until you answer me.”

“Maybe I’ll never answer.”

“Naughty little thing.” Logan’s touch falls away from my ass, but returns with a hand on each of my hips to spin me around to face the back of the shower. “Bend over.”

“What?” I sputter, but he’s already guiding my hands down to the inset bench in front of me.

“You’re naked, that means you like when I take control, and I think I can spare a little time to dirty us both up before we get clean.”

There’s something about his words in that deep drawl that has wetness dripping between my legs, and I know it has nothing to do with the water spraying from the multiple showerheads.