Getting a call from his doorman letting him know that Stella was there to see him was definitely something Logan hadn’t expected. He’d just gotten off of a call with Drake about the app development, and was getting ready to wade through his never-ending emails, so the fact that she was there and waiting was welcome news.

He told the doorman to let her up, and paced across his living room, waiting for her to arrive. Logan shook his head and laughed at himself acting like a lovesick teenager.

He opened the door when she knocked, and he smiled when he saw her standing there with a wrapped gift tucked under her arm. She looked fresh-faced and beautiful, and more rested than she had over the last few days when he’d seen her.

“Hey,” he said warmly.

She smiled softly, kicking his heartbeat up a few notches. “Hey. Can I come in?”

He nodded and stepped back, opening the door wider.

Once inside, she placed the gift on the chaise of his sofa, and looked around. She’d been there a few times before, but never when it was decorated for Christmas. All the Armstrong homes currently were, complete with a tree, poinsettias, and garland strung from every mantel and railing available. It was a nice change of pace to get him into the holiday spirit, but it wasn’t something he would’ve bothered with on his own if someone hadn’t come in and done it for him.

“It’s very festive in here,” she said, turning to him with a smile.

“Thank you.” Not that he wasn’t open to compliments, but he knew that wasn’t why she was here. “Not that I’m not happy to see you,” he said, taking a couple of steps closer, right into her personal space. “I’m always happy to see you, but I thought you’d be spending time with your sisters.”

Stella took a deep breath and slid her hand along the slope of his jaw. Instinctively, he rested his head against her palm, closing his eyes. He never felt more at home than when he was with her.

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. The movement took Logan by surprise, but he caught on quickly, wrapping his arms around Stella’s waist and pulling her close as they kissed. It was tender and slow, and the way she scraped her fingernails against his scalp practically made him moan. It was all so new, but they were already so, so good at the kissing.

He loved the soft brush of her fingertips at the nape of his neck, the way she’d grip his hair there, how she melted into him and let him hold her up with his hand at the small of her back.

He just wanted this…always.

“I wanted to say thank you,” she said belatedly, brushing her nose against his before kissing him again. “Thank you for bringing my sisters to me, for treating them like they’re special, for wanting to make this trip memorable for us, especially after I told you how important this was to me. It means a lot to me that you listened, and I don’t know that I could ever thank you enough.”

He reluctantly pulled back, so he could look at her fully. “If something is important to you, it’s important to me. No matter what it is.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, brushing his thumb along her cheekbone as he looked at her, willing her to believe him. “I wanted this trip to be amazing.”

“Because I worked on the code?” she asked.

Logan recognized the moment for what it was, a chance to calm those insecurities, to take a step forward putting those feelings of doubt to rest once and for all. He wanted—needed—to tell her how he felt and make her believe it.

“Because I want you to be happy. Because I want you to have fun. I want the best for you…always. It’s why I recommended you to Omar; because I know you idolize him, and he’s the best at what he does. You deserve to learn from and grow under the best in the business, Stella. I recognize that you’re too good at your job to keep doing it, and if you want to move on and move up, then I want that for you. Hell, I’ll build the ladder for you myself if I have to. I should’ve made you head of the R&D team for the app, no matter what anyone had to say about it. I should’ve…done a lot. I’m trying to make it right now.

“I did a lot of selfish things that I regret to hold onto you professionally, but it was only because I wanted you close to me in the only way I believed I could have you.”

Stella looked up at him with shining eyes filled with so much hope and love that it took his breath away. “And now what do you want?”

“With you?” He shrugged helplessly, feeling more emotionally raw and vulnerable than he ever had. “Everything. I need you to know that, and really believe it, because I love you, Stella. I’m in love with you.”