I lifted his arm and tucked it around me so I could rest my head in the hollow of his shoulder. He pulled me close to him, as if he needed to hold onto me. Logan's attempts to impress his father made a strange sort of logic. He just wanted the father he had once had and was trying his best to make it happen. “You know it's not your fault, right? You can't change him. Only he can do that.”
“I know. I'm thirty-two years old, yet I only recently realized I was still behaving like a ten-year-old boy seeking my father's approval instead of finding my own way.” He sighed somewhat shakily. “I've done everything in my power to make him happy, but he never changes. He never will.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and nestled in to him. This was a side of Logan Hayes that no one ever got to see. I should know. I’d practically stalked him online. But here, with me, he was vulnerable and lost. He was struggling like the rest of us mortals to come to terms with his place in the world. I liked seeing this human side of him, even though his pain broke my heart. “I wish I could take your pain away,” I whispered.
He tightened his arm around me and then raised one hand to tip my chin up so that we were looking into one another’s faces. “You already have.” His eyes were warm and full of complete sincerity. He smiled softly, and I realized that he legitimately liked me. Maybe even loved me. Joy surged through me as if I'd been asked to prom by my high-school crush. “You make me happier than I've been in a long time.”
“You really are as charming as you appear, aren't you?” I purred, falling into the dark velvet of his eyes. Between those eyes and that smile, I was never going to escape his allure. I didn't want to.
“Probably,” he replied, his grin gaining a touch of cockiness. “It just depends on how charming you think I am.”
“Very.” So much so that I was willing to make the same mistakes over and over again just to see that smile. I was a lovestruck idiot.
“Good. I have to keep you somehow,” he murmured, moving to kiss me on the top of my head.
This was a beautiful moment, so of course I had to ruin it. My stomach rumbled. It was loud enough to be audible even over the constant roar of the storm.
“Sorry.” I couldn't believe it had been that loud. Logan laughed, his chest reverberating mirthfully against my shoulder.
“I guess you're hungry,” he teased. “Let's get some food. I was told they're still delivering room service even though it’s storming.”
“Really? That sounds wonderful. I'm starving, but I don't want to get up.” I glanced down at my watch. “Holy cow. It's two in the afternoon.”
“Already? Time flies when you're having fun,” Logan mused, slowly sitting up. He looked around until he saw the room service menu on the far desk. I lost my breath as he stood. His toned, na**d body displayed its perfection to me. I couldn't take my eyes off him as he sauntered to the desk and retrieved the menus, completely unaware of the effect he was having on my lady parts.
I quickly tried to remember if I had anything planned for this evening, or if I could stay here and continue having more fun. I would have to check my phone, which was in my pants across the room, and I had no intention of leaving this bed unless it was for food.
“Maddy must be wondering where I am,” I mused out loud. I hoped she just thought I was napping.
“I won't tell if you don't,” Logan replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed and handing me a menu. “I'm not sure she likes me all that much.”
“She's just being protective of me, and until you explained everything, she had good reason,” I told him. “She's kind of a best friend, guard dog, mom and secretary all rolled into one smart lady.”
“She doesn't have to worry. I wouldn't hurt you for the world. And, I can't tell you how sorry I am for the last time.” His face grew serious. “I knew then just how amazing you were, and I should have called you that morning and never stopped. My father and his company be damned.”
“You already got me into your bed. You don't have to keep charming me,” I said with a smile. He relaxed his shoulders and grinned.
“Maybe I want more than you just in my bed.”
I looked up from the menu with wide eyes. Did he mean what I thought he meant? I didn't think we were quite at the point of talking about the future yet. While we were connecting fantastically, we'd only been together for under a day. Furthermore, most of that time had been physical, and we both knew our sexual chemistry had a far better track record than our emotional one.
“I mean,” he explained smoothly, as if he had always meant to continue his sentence, “I'm hoping to get some of your food. Other people's fries always taste better.”
He flashed a friendly smile before looking down to continue perusing his menu. I couldn't be sure, but I had a strong feeling that he hadn't really been talking about French fries. I wondered if he had been keeping tabs on me like I had kept tabs on him. No matter how many times I cleared my history, his name was my favorite Google search term. I knew there was only a hair's width of difference between love and hate and that I swung wildly around him.
“I'm going to get the Maui burger,” Logan announced, setting the menu down. “What about you?”
“I'll get a cobb salad,” I answered. “You're getting the burger with pineapple on it? Gross.”
“Not gross. Delicious. Besides, you're getting a salad. On vacation.” His disgust at my healthy choice was obvious, and his skeptical frown made me laugh.
“It's got bacon. And eggs.” I handed him my menu.
“It's a salad.” He took my menu but didn't pick up the phone, giving me a chance to change my mind before he ordered.
“I happen to like salads,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.
“I happen to like you,” he responded immediately. A little blush colored my cheeks. What a flirt he was. “Still, a salad?”
“You're right. It's vacation. Get me the brownie sundae for dessert,” I acquiesced.
“That's more like it,” he said with a grin.
While he picked up the phone and ordered, I stretched out on the bed, feeling the sheets slide across my skin as his voice caressed my ears. I felt wonderful. Being with Logan, tangled up in sheets felt luxurious and comfortable at the same time. Being with him like this, now that I didn't think he was out to get me, was easy. Almost too easy.
“They'll be here in thirty minutes,” Logan informed me, hanging up the phone.