Chapter Three
“You look like shit, man.”
Logan glanced up from the paperwork on his desk to find Evan leaning against the doorjamb in his police uniform. He’d been sitting in his office for the past three hours and he’d managed to accomplish nothing.
Instead, he replayed the scene with Lacy from Saturday night over and over, torn between whether he should kick his own ass for kissing her or for driving away without fucking her. Now it was Friday and he was no closer to putting her out of his mind than he had been when he’d climbed into bed that night. He’d been sporting an almost constant erection; his dick pissed at him for denying it the treat of sliding into Lacy’s hot, tight—
He shoved the fantasy away as Evan frowned.
He should not be thinking about fucking Lacy while her brother was there. Shit, he shouldn’t be thinking of fucking her, period.
“I didn’t think you were all that torn up over Jane leaving.”
Mercifully, his friend had misinterpreted his expression. God help him if Evan ever found out what he was really thinking about.
“You should have taken my advice,” Evan continued. “Found yourself a pretty girl and gotten laid Saturday.”
“I’m not ready.”
“Jesus, man. It’s been a year.” Evan leaned forward. “You know there’s a woman out there for you, right? One who is better suited to you than Jane was. She fucked you up, man. Made you think things that aren’t true. There’s nothing wrong with liking your sex rough. Even Annie and I have been known to do some kinky role playing.” Evan wiggled the handcuffs that were hanging from his belt. “These aren’t just for bad guys.”
Logan shrugged. “Spare me the details about your unnaturally happy marriage. You found a good one. And yeah, I know that old adage there’s someone for everyone, so I don’t need the clichés. I’m not pining over Jane. I’m simply being a realist. The chances of me finding that woman in Maris is…”
Logan’s words drifted away as he struggled to finish a sentence that no longer felt true. So much of his thoughts this week had been consumed by the idea that Lacy actually might be exactly what he was looking for. He shut the idea down when he recalled the look in her eyes as she’d climbed out of his truck.
“You’ll find her,” Evan reassured him. “But hiding in your office isn’t going to help. You haven’t met me for lunch or happy hour once this week.”
He hadn’t met Evan because both of those weekly events took place at Sparks Barbeque. Logan wasn’t ready to see Lacy yet. And he was sure as shit she didn’t want to see him.
“I’m not hiding. I’m just…busy. I’ve got a lot of work piling up. I guess the stress is getting to me.”
Evan accepted the excuse easily. “Busy is a good problem to have. Means money. You’ll come through. You always do.”
“Yeah. Thanks. Hey, did you need something in particular or did you just stop by to nag me?”
He expected Evan to laugh. Instead, the man stepped into the office and plopped down in the chair opposite his, the desk between them. “Actually, I’m on patrol. Thought I’d take a second to stop in and thank you for taking Lacy home the other night.”
Logan swallowed heavily, forcing a casual tone to his voice. “No problem.”
“Did she seem okay to you after the party?”
Logan wasn’t sure how to respond. Did Evan know something? Lacy sure as hell wouldn’t have talked to her brother about what had happened. Had one of her neighbors seen them?
“Yeah. Why?”
Evan shrugged. “She’s been really quiet since then. I thought maybe she was getting sick, but it’s going on too long. She’s got dark circles under her eyes and Macie said she’s been snapping at them at work. You know as well as I do Mary Sunshine is never in a bad mood, so I’m worried. Wondered if she said something to you, if something happened at the bar that pissed her off or if someone bothered her.”
Logan shook his head. “She didn’t say anything. I’m not sure what could have happened,” he lied. He knew what was ailing Lacy. It was the same thing that was making him irritable as fuck.
“Yeah, okay. I might talk to Tyson, see if he can talk her into going in for a checkup. Maybe she does just have a touch of something.”
There wasn’t a damn thing Dr. Sparks could do for her, but Logan nodded as if it was a solid suggestion. He’d avoided the restaurant since Saturday because he suspected he was the last person Lacy wanted to see. As such, he’d holed up here, moving between his apartment upstairs, down to work, and then back again. Unfortunately, he was starting to run low on food. He would have to venture beyond the front door eventually.
Evan’s walkie-talkie crackled. “Guess I better get back out on the road. Call me this weekend if you want to meet up for a couple of beers.”
“Will do.” Logan rose as Evan left, debating what to do now. He hated knowing exactly how much he’d upset Lacy, but he was at a loss over how to help her. The best thing he could do for her was to keep his distance.
His phone beeped and he glanced at the screen to find a text from Lacy.
Coming by in a few. Bringing lunch.
He considered texting back and telling her to stay away. However, as always, his gut overrode his brain when it came to Lacy.
He simply tapped in two letters.
OK
His cock thickened at the thought of her arrival, so he forced himself away from the desk. Time to hit the workshop and start working on a new piece. Hopefully he’d manage to lose himself in the project enough to ward off this fucking erection. His brain needed all the blood it could get if she was coming by to talk.
Work was always a good distraction for him.
Logan closed his eyes and sighed. Work hadn’t distracted him once since Saturday night.
He closed his eyes and recalled his first kiss with Lacy. She’d been eighteen, beautiful, vivacious and just discovering her sexuality. She’d dared him to kiss her and he’d been just weak enough to give in. Somehow, he’d managed to keep the kiss fairly platonic and push her away that night, but it had been a damn close call.
Great. Now, he wasn’t just obsessing over Saturday night, he was recalling things he’d managed—just barely—to forget.
He was fucked.
Lacy stood outside Grady’s Furniture with her bag of takeout and tried to calm down. She’d spent the entire week in a state of constant horniness.
After Logan kicked her out of his truck, she had spent two days in a fury. He’d pushed every hot button in her body, told her in no uncertain terms all the ways he wanted her—ways she wanted to be taken—and then gone into that frustrating, protecting-you-for-your-own-good mode that drove her insane.
He had pissed her off enough that she’d actually decided she was finished with him. She wasn’t going to keep begging the dumbass to acknowledge that she was fucking perfect for him. If he couldn’t figure it out on his own, then screw him.
The anger waned around Monday afternoon, at which point, her hormones kicked back in. She was lightheaded and dizzy from the never-ending, pussy-pulsing arousal she felt every time she thought about Logan’s assertion that he would claim her.
This morning, she managed to fight her way out of the haze of horniness enough to make a plan. Logan thought she was off-limits, thought his needs were too much for her. So she had to find a way to get him to take that first step toward her without feeling guilty about breaking his vow to Evan or fear that he’d hurt her—physically or emotionally.
That thought produced a mental eye roll.
Yeah. Like he’d hurt me in any way I don’t totally want.
Overcoming his reticence was a tall order to fill, but she was determined to make it happen.
A tiny bell rang as she opened the front door. The showroom was empty. Then she heard the buzz of an electric saw from the workroom. Turning, she flipped the sign that hung on the front door that said “Be back in one hour” and locked the bolt.
She made her way around his handmade furniture, mentally reorganizing the place as she went. It was a good thing Logan made such beautiful pieces they sold themselves, because his ability to show them off sucked. It was a damn maze in here. Total chaos.
She paused at the door to the workroom. His back was to her as he guided a piece of wood through the jigsaw. She had never had the opportunity to watch him work. The muscles of his back and arms flexed as he pushed the cedar plank through the blade, moving it in a waving pattern.
Once the cut was complete, he turned the saw off.
“What are you making?”
He turned at the sound of her voice, and then glanced back down at the wood. “A hope chest.”
She lifted the bag she carried. “Lunch. Hope you’re in the mood for barbeque. Haven’t seen you at the restaurant this week, so I figured you were ready for a fix.” Logan usually made it to Sparks Barbeque at least a couple times a week. She’d felt his absence intensely, her gaze traveling to the entrance every single time another patron entered. Searing disappointment followed each arrival when he never bothered to show up.
“I thought you’d prefer some distance from me.”
So, he was going right for the jugular. She was relieved. Lacy didn’t have the patience to pussyfoot around the issue either. “You thought wrong.”
“Lace—”
“No.” She cut him off the second she heard that condescending tone in his voice that made her see red. “Hear me out first.”
He lifted his hand, inviting her to speak. “Fine.”
“I’m off-limits, right?”
He frowned. “What?”
“I’m off-limits. Because I’m Evan’s sister and because you think I can’t handle what you want from me.”
He nodded slowly.
“So we won’t have sex. You can keep your stupid promise to my brother. No bro codes will be broken. But I want the chance to disprove the second part of your argument.”
Logan crossed his arms. “How do you propose we do that without having sex?”
“For the sake of argument, we’re going to call sex actual penetration. Your dick in my vagina.”
“That’s a pretty narrow interpretation.”
She grinned. “And it leaves plenty of wiggle room…so to speak.”
He shook his head. “Please don’t do this, Lacy. I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“How is this right? You want me and I want you.”
Logan rubbed his forehead, his expression incredulous. “Even after everything I said last weekend?”
“Especially after that.”
He chuckled at her quick response. “God. You’re going to be the death of me. You don’t have a clue what you’re saying. What you’re inviting.”
She scowled. “You’re wrong. I know exactly what I want. And you’re the man to give it to me.”
He didn’t respond, but she didn’t fool herself into believing he was wavering. He wasn’t. The asshole was stubborn. Which sucked for him because she was too.
“I can’t do what you’re asking.”
She took a step closer to him, relieved when Logan didn’t back away. She didn’t fancy the idea of chasing him around the workshop like some lovesick Pepé Le Pew. “Yes. You can. In fact, I think you’re the only man who can give me what I want.”
“You’re too young to know—”
“Finish that statement and I’ll stab you in the heart with that screwdriver over there. I’m twenty-seven, Logan. I’m not a virgin and I’m not stupid. I’ve done my research on BDSM because the idea of it turns me on. A lot. I need someone experienced to teach me about it. Someone I trust.”
Lacy had him on the ropes, so she decided to go for broke. “Besides, Evan made out with your sister the summer after you guys graduated, so we’re entitled to bend the rules a little too.”
“He what? No way.”
“I caught them.”
“That son of a bitch.”
She grinned. “So the bro code has already been broken.”
“Making out is a far cry from what you’re proposing we do, Lacy. It doesn’t mean that you and I—”
Lacy tugged her t-shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor. Logan’s gaze landed on her breasts within an instant.
“What are you doing?”
She tilted her head. “I thought I was making it pretty clear. I’m seducing you.”
“Put your shirt back on.” His heated look didn’t match his request. He hadn’t looked away from her tits yet.
She shook her head. “No.”
“I need you to be sensible.”
She scoffed, then reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. She dropped it on top of her shirt.
Logan’s jaw clenched. She had to give him credit. His powers of resistance were stronger than she’d anticipated. Which only pushed her to up the ante.
Her fingers started to work loose the button on her jeans.
“Stop!”
Logan used that same commanding voice he’d unleashed in the truck, the one that had her panties going damp.
His gaze captured hers and held. “Put your shirt back on, or…”
“Or what?” she taunted.
“Or I’m going to tug down your jeans and beat that cute little ass of yours.”
She gave him a coy smile. “You think my ass is cute?”
Logan closed his eyes and she wondered if he was praying for patience. When he opened them again, she shuddered at the intensity, the hunger laid bare on his face. He had clearly turned a corner.
The friendly, safe, hands-off Logan she’d always known was gone. In his place was this new Logan, dangerous, sexy, demanding.
“You have three seconds to do as I said.”
She didn’t move. Instead, she counted. “Three, two—”
One minute she was facing him down, the next she was facedown. Over his lap.
Logan rubbed her ass through the denim of her jeans. She hated the barrier, wanted his hands on her bare skin.
She started to shift, hoping to find a way to work the jeans over her hips, but he caught her hands, dragging them behind her and holding them together at the base of her back.
“Not so fast. Ground rules.”
Lacy growled. “I don’t want rules. I want sex.”
He tightened his grip on her wrists. “That’s the first rule. No penetration.”
She had made that suggestion. And she was already regretting it. “We already determined that,” she said impatiently, wondering if she could change his mind.
Logan smacked her ass, but her jeans dulled the impact. It wasn’t even close to enough for her. “Three times. That’s it.”
“What?”
“There has to be a deadline to this, Lacy. We’ll get together no more than three times, each meeting one week apart, during which I’m going to show you exactly what kind of man I am. I’ll expose you to BDSM and you can see if you like it. If you want to call it off before that, you can. But we’re not doing this more than three times.”
She wanted to argue, but it was clear he didn’t intend to be swayed. It didn’t matter. She planned to use every single second of those meetings proving to him why they should extend the deadline indefinitely. “Fine.”
“Your safe word is chaise. Say that anytime it’s too much for you or you get scared and we’ll stop, talk it out. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Say okay.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice betraying her shortness of breath. She was worried he’d misinterpret it as fear when the truth was she was so turned on, her whole body hurt.
He released her hands and she instantly missed the restraint. Then she was disappointed even further when he helped her stand.
Logan took her hand. “Not in here. Too much sawdust, too many wood shavings. I don’t want you to get cut.” He led her toward his office, but stopped just as they reached the threshold and glanced toward the front. “I need to—”
“I already locked the door and flipped the sign.”
He gave her a crooked smile and reached down to pinch one of her nipples. She gasped as moisture pooled between her thighs. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I think the word is determined.”
He shook his head. “No. It’s stubborn. Something the Sparks family has in abundance.”
“Remember that in three weeks.”
Logan twisted her, guiding her into his office. “I’m not changing my mind, Lace. I’m already crossing too many lines by agreeing to this.”
Once they entered the room, he closed the door and locked it as well.
“Take off your jeans.”
Lacy lost no time kicking off her shoes and tugging the denim—and her panties—off. Within sixty seconds, she stood before him completely naked. Meanwhile, Logan was still dressed.
“What about you?”
He didn’t reply. Instead, his gaze traveled over her nude form like a caress. She held her ground and let him look his fill. She liked the look in his eyes, the genuine appreciation there. He thought she was pretty and it made her feel that way.
“Beautiful,” he whispered when his eyes met hers once more.
She flushed at the compliment and lifted one shoulder timidly. She wasn’t sure she’d go that far, but she was touched that he had.
“Turn around and bend over the desk. I owe you a punishment.”
Lacy did as he said without question, her pussy clenching in anticipation. She had seen him do this to Yvette all those summers ago and since then, her imagination had run wild with the fantasy.
Logan stepped behind her as she assumed the position, his hand cupping the back of her neck, pressing her more firmly against the smooth surface of his desk. “Open your legs.”
Again, she responded to his request. It was so easy to do. With Logan, she didn’t have to think, to consider. She wasn’t worried about her safety because he would never hurt her. At least not more than she would enjoy.
He ran his fingers along her slit and she shivered as one hand held her tight to the desk. She started to reassure him she wouldn’t move, but she liked that extra restraint, liked the feeling of being his captive.
One of his wet fingers circled the rim to her anus. Lacy realized she’d forgotten to breathe. She sucked in as much air as she could, releasing it in short pants through her nose as he fondled her ass.
Logan didn’t speak as he explored. She longed to end the silence, but her chest was too tight to utter a single word. A million questions flew through her head. She wasn’t used to being apart while a part of something like this. In the past, her lovers had been equal partners and everything was discussed and voted on in committee meetings.
Logan was clearly the CEO, CFO, and dictator rolled into one. He’d do what he wanted and he didn’t ask permission beforehand.
God. The quiet was maddening. What was he thinking? What would he do next? When was he going to spank her? Could she convince him to forget that stupid thing she’d said about not fucking her? Why had she said that? She needed—
“Shh.” Logan bent over her back, his soft hush blowing hot against her ear. “Shut it all down, Lace.”
His words washed through her like a gentle wave and just like that, she relaxed.
“Say your safe word,” he commanded.
“No.” She panicked. There was no way she was going to call this off. “I don’t want to.”
“I just want to hear you say it. Want to make sure you remember.”
“You won’t stop?”
She half expected him to laugh at her childlike pleading, but instead he pressed a warm kiss against her cheek.
“I won’t stop. Right now, I’m worried that I can’t.” A tinge of pain seemed to lace his tone. He felt it too. She had never experienced desire so strong that it hurt, but the only thing she was sure of right now was that her body physically ached for him. It was agonizing.
“I’m glad.”
He shook his head, a motion she felt more than saw. “No. That’s not good. Say the word. I need to hear, need to…”
“Chaise,” she whispered.
She wasn’t sure why that word set him free, but whatever harness held him tethered and kept him from giving in to his baser instincts, broke.
He pushed himself upright and his hand landed against her ass in a solid smack. The loud cracking noise filled the room.
Reflex took over as Lacy tried to escape. It was a futile effort. His large, strong hand had returned to the back of her neck, holding her down. The second and third blows fell as she still struggled.
When the fourth came, the pain and heat mingled. Transformed.
Lacy’s back arched and she went up on her toes to meet the fifth and sixth smacks.
“Logan,” she cried out, her voice tight with unshed tears. The spanking hurt, but not in a way that she longed to end. Instead, she wanted more.
Logan’s fingers found the opening to her body and before she could assimilate to the change, he had two buried deep, pounding roughly inside her.
This. God. Yes. This.
She tried to thrust back against his hand, but he still held her to the desk. She couldn’t move, couldn’t steal any extra stimulation. It was as hot as it was frustrating.
“Let me go.” She clenched her fists and beat them against the surface.
“No.” His reply was firm, unyielding.
“I need to move!”
He tightened his grip, added a third finger to the other two and increased his pace.
Lacy gasped at the increased tension, the beautifully brutal way he took her.
No. Claimed.
He promised to claim her. And now he was.
She wanted more. Wanted him to take everything she had to offer and then demand more from her. God. She’d give it all to him. Every. Fucking. Thing.
Lacy’s orgasm hit her like a bullet, arriving out of nowhere. One second she was grasping for harder, faster, deeper. The next, her body was writhing like a rag doll in a storm, shaking almost painfully as she came harder than she ever had before.
Logan didn’t give way. Didn’t stop the powerful thrusting. Instead, he rung out every drop of sensation he could. It seemed to last for hours. And when it began to wane, Lacy finally stopped fighting.
She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, draped over his desk, how many breaths she’d taken in and blown out before his fingers slowly withdrew.
Her pussy clenched greedily, trying to hold them in, but as always, Logan did as he pleased.
Lacy lifted her head and glanced at him over her shoulder. She shuddered at the hungry, almost feral look in his eyes.
Though she had known Logan her entire life, his beloved face as recognizable to her as her own, she had never seen this man. And yet she seemed to know him just the same. In some ways, it felt as if she knew this man better than the other.
She pushed herself from the desk as he took a step away. The connection of their gazes never broke as she twisted to face him, and then dropped to her knees.
Logan issued no complaint as she worked to free his erection from his jeans. She dragged the denim to his knees and then took his cock in her hands.
He didn’t say a word as she stroked the thick, hard flesh. God help her if she thought three of his fingers stretched her. He’d tear her apart with this baseball bat. And she’d love every second of it.
She ran her tongue along the bottom of his cock, her eyes studying his face. She’d never been very sure of her abilities when it came to blowjobs. She’d gone down on a few guys and while they made all the right noises, sometimes she felt like those sounds were similar to her grunts when the guys fucked her. They were based more on encouragement than actual excitement.
Logan didn’t make any sounds, but his face and the way his hand cupped her cheek told her he liked what she was doing.
It gave her the confidence and courage to continue. Parting her lips, she sucked the head into her mouth, enjoying the way Logan’s hand flew from her face to her hair.
She closed her mouth around it and applied a bit of suction. Then, recalling the way Logan had suckled her nipples in his truck, she sucked harder.
His fingers gripped her hair tightly, tugging it. As she lessened the pressure on his cock, he softened his hold on her hair. She repeated the suction and his hands gripped her hair almost uncomfortably. The burning in her scalp traveled straight to her pussy, her own arousal returning with a vengeance.
Lacy held on to the base of his dick as she moved her mouth lower, trying to take more of him inside. She hadn’t even hit the halfway point before his head brushed the back of her throat.
While Logan’s hands remained in her hair, he didn’t seek to drive her actions. Instead, he let her continue to explore, to play, to figure it out. He was a very well-endowed guy, so she had to improvise. Lacy was desperate to give him the same pleasure he’d just offered her.
Soon, she found her pace, moving her lips and her hand in unison along his erection, trying to keep the pressure tight, hoping it was enough to push him into climax.
Whenever his fingers tugged her hair roughly, she knew she’d hit a sweet spot and she catalogued the information, returning there over and over.
For several minutes, she worked her mouth on his hard flesh, losing herself in the quiet magic of the moment as Logan rocked gently toward her.
When Logan’s fingers tightened on her head more roughly than before, she thought he’d made it to the brink. She started to move faster, but he halted her motions.
Tipping her face up until her eyes met his, he held her there, his cock still in her mouth.
“You ready?”
Her brows creased, slightly confused. She assumed he meant for his climax, but he didn’t look like a man on the verge of blowing.
She nodded slightly—and then everything she ever thought she’d known about blowjobs was blown out of the water.
Logan gripped her cheeks as he took the reins from her. Lacy’s fingers flew to his thighs, seeking purchase when he tripled their previous pace.
He fucked her mouth, pressing deeper than she’d dared to take him on her own. All she could do was hold on as he took. Her eyes began to water and she gagged a couple of times, but Logan didn’t cease the movement.
Once again she was overwhelmed by the sensation of being taken. Claimed. When he’d spoken that word in the truck, she’d thought it sounded hot. It triggered all those sexual fantasies she’d never shared with anyone before, the ones where she was captured by a stranger and used roughly. She had always felt slightly ashamed of those dreams, like they were wrong, like she shouldn’t feel arousal over such things.
Then Logan had promised to claim her, and it had brought all those shameful fantasies to the surface.
She couldn’t find a damn thing wrong with what she wanted now. Instead, she struggled with the realization that she was close to coming as well. How was that possible? He wasn’t touching her.
“Fuck yourself, Lacy. Put your fingers in that hot pussy of yours and fuck it. Hard.”
Her fingers tightened in the hard muscle of his thighs, her nails scratching his skin. However, she wasn’t sure if his loud grunt was due to pain or a precursor to his climax.
Then she obeyed his command, pressing two fingers inside herself as he continued to pound inside her mouth.
“How many?”
He tugged his cock out of her mouth briefly and she cried out in frustration.
“How many fingers are you using?”
“Two,” she gasped.
He shook his head almost angrily. “Not enough. Four. Shove four in there.” He punctuated his command with a rough return, his cock trying to slide all the way in. She panicked for a moment before her throat opened and he slid deeper.
“Fuck,” he murmured.
Lacy added two more fingers to her pussy, curling them to find that special place that never failed to set her off.
Stars exploded as she came. Logan was mere seconds behind her.
One moment he was pounding into her mouth, the next he was jerking roughly as he came, jets of hot come splashing against the back of her throat.
She swallowed several times, but didn’t seek to pull away. Even as his cock softened in her mouth, she held him there.
Wanted him there.
She was his. Completely.
But more than that, he was hers. And she was never going to let him go.
Off-limits or not.
* * * *
Eleven years earlier…
Logan tilted his head, confused when Lacy opened the door, wearing a tatty old t-shirt and jeans. “What are you doing here? Thought you were going to prom tonight.”
She shrugged casually, though her painted-on smile looked fake. “My date got chicken pox.”
“Oh man. I’m sorry.”
She stepped aside so he could come inside. “It’s okay. It’s not like he did it on purpose.” She paused for a second, and then looked at him, concerned. “You don’t think he got them on purpose, do you?”
Logan chuckled. “I’m one hundred percent sure Tommy didn’t get chicken pox just to get out of going to prom.”
“Yeah. I guess not.”
“You could always go stag,” he suggested.
She looked at him like he’d sprung a second head. “That’s social suicide. No thanks.”
Logan figured she was probably right. He’d been out of high school for too many years to remember all the silly rules.
Lacy’s mom, Beverly, walked into the room before he could devise a way to cheer her up.
“There you are, Logan. I just finished wrapping the tray of cookies for you. Lacy, will you go grab it for me?”
Lacy nodded and headed for the kitchen.
“Tough break on prom,” Logan said when Beverly’s gaze followed her daughter’s retreating form.
“I absolutely hate this. You know Lacy. She smiles and pretends it’s okay, but she’s devastated. She worked every single day after school in the bakery with me for six months, saving the money for that dress.”
Beverly quickly dashed a tear. Logan couldn’t stand the thought of Evan’s mom and sister upset. They were two of the sweetest women he knew. “Mrs. Sparks. What if Lacy comes to the barn dance with me tonight? Evan’s heading over there in a couple hours, once his shift ends. Tyson and I will keep an eye on her until then.”
“Are you sure?”
Ordinarily, Beverly would never have consented to let her sixteen-year-old daughter hang out with them, but the fact that she so quickly agreed proved how much she wanted to see Lacy happy. It wasn’t that they hung with a rough crowd. Hell, half the people there tonight would be Lacy’s older cousins. She’d be surrounded by friendly faces and Logan didn’t doubt for a second they’d all make sure she had a prom night to remember.
“We just play music and dance. I’ll make sure she stays out of the spiked punch and Evan will get her home at a decent hour. We won’t let her out of our sight. Promise.”
“Oh, Logan. How can I ever thank you for this? She’ll be delighted.”
Lacy entered the room with the cookies Beverly had made for the barn dance.
“Hey, Lace,” he said, taking the tray from her. “Go upstairs and put on your prom dress. You’re going to the barn dance with me.”
Lacy’s eyes widened in sheer joy. “Seriously?”
She glanced at her mom for confirmation, who grinned. “Logan and Evan will keep an eye on you.”
Lacy dashed toward the stairs excitedly. “Five minutes. Give me five minutes.” With that, she raced up, with Beverly hot on her heels.
“Better give us fifteen, Logan. I have the cutest idea for her hair.”
Logan waved, grinning. Surprisingly, he was kind of looking forward to taking Lacy to her first barn dance. God knew the kid had been begging him and Evan to let her tag along with them for years.
Beverly and Lacy split the difference on the time it took to get ready. Lacy descended the stairs ten minutes later.
She looked absolutely gorgeous—and Logan suddenly regretted the offer. It would have been easier to keep an eye on her when she was still dressed like a gangly sixteen-year-old girl. Right now, she would pass for much older in her form-fitting dress. It was way too fancy for the barn, but no one there would care when they heard about her sick prom date.
“You look amazing, Lacy.”
Her smile lit her entire face.
“Here,” Beverly said. “You two stand there real quick and let me snap a picture.”
“Mom. It’s not like Logan is my date.” From her blush, it was clear she was embarrassed.
“I don’t mind.” Logan set the cookies down and put a friendly arm around her shoulder. They both said, “cheese” and then, somehow, Logan found himself taking Lacy to “prom.”