“And that’s a bad thing because…”
“Because I went to a lot of trouble to plan a special night we’ll remember for a long time and if you don’t get your butt into the shower, I’ll be pissed. Trust me, Logan. You don’t want pissed off Billie, you want—“
He grabbed her mid-tirade and planted a hot, open kiss on her mouth. He kissed her thoroughly, his hands sinking into her hair so that she couldn’t move. He tasted every inch of her mouth, his tongue thrusting into her, mimicking his hips as they moved against her. When she made that little noise—the one that told Logan she was right there with him—he pulled away and grinned.
Billie’s lips were swollen, her gloss smudged, and the heat in her cheeks had parts of him standing at attention. Painfully so.
She blew away an errant strand of hair and his hand lingered along her cheek, before running his fingers over her delectable mouth. “That’s the Billie that I want.”
“Not fair, Logan.”
He took a step back, hands up in surrender. “I’ll hit the shower, babe. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked breathlessly.
“You gotta promise me that before midnight, I’ll see you naked. Don’t get me wrong. I love the red dress and all, but I’m much more interested in what’s underneath.”
A slow smile spread over her face. “Well that’s the plan,” she replied cheekily. “But it’s not going to happen unless you get in the shower.”
“I’m on it.” Logan ran up the stairs, swore when he nearly tripped over his cat, Weird, and in fact took the fastest shower ever. He was back downstairs in less time than it took him to drive across town to his shop. Dressed in dark navy slacks, a cream button down shirt underneath an indigo V-neck, he looked suitable for the gorgeous woman waiting for him. His good leather dress jacket hung by the door and he slipped into it, smiling at the look of pleasure in her eyes as she came from the kitchen.
“Will this do?” Logan asked.
“Totally,” she replied, slipping her hand into his. “Let’s go.”
“Where exactly are we going?”
“Twisted Lemon.”
“Twisted Lemon,” he repeated slowly.
Billie halted just outside of his truck, for the first time a bit unsure. “We love the Twisted Lemon.”
“We do,” he said sliding into the truck. “But it’s in the city and the storm hit them worse than us.”
“Whatever, Forest. I don’t want to hear any negativity. This is our night.” Billie slid in beside him. “Besides, the storm’s been over for nearly twelve hours. I’m sure the roads are good.”
Except the roads weren’t at all good, and a bad accident had the interstate down to one lane for well over half of the distance it took to get to the city. By the time Logan parked his truck at the Twisted Lemon, they were over an hour late for their reservation. Billie had called ahead, but even so they had to wait for nearly half an hour longer until a table could be readied.
“Hey,” he said softly, bending low to Billie’s ear. He knew she was tense and more than a little upset that things hadn’t gone smoothly. “Let’s just go with it. No worries. It’s you and me, all right?”
With his hand at the small of her back, the two of them followed the host to a private table tucked away in the corner. Logan’s hand lingered on the back of Billie’s neck as he pushed in her chair and when he sat across from her, he knew by the look in her eyes, she was remembering another night. A night when his whole world had changed.
“Our first official date was here,” she said slowly, taking a sip of wine. “Remember?”
Logan nodded. “Billie, everything about that night is burned into my brain. I can still remember how sweet you smelled. How hot you looked.” Her eyes smoldered, and he had to take a moment. She really was the most beautiful, intoxicating, and funny woman that he’d ever met. Sure, she could be opinionated and stubborn and argumentative as all hell, but it was the fire inside of her that he respected. It was the fire that he craved and when she brought it into the bedroom, well…
“I really liked the way the night ended,” he said with a grin.
She snorted. “Uh huh. If I remember correctly I passed out on your bed because I drank too much wine.”
“You did. But the morning after was pretty damn hot, so I didn’t mind so much.”
She giggled and Logan Forest knew that if he lived to be a hundred years old, he’d never get tired of hearing that sound.
“Was it now,” she said throatily. “Maybe we should ask Weird what he thought.”
“I could. That damn cat has watched us have sex more times than I’d like to admit.”