Chapter 26
Ava
“Promise me something,” Logan whispers on my lips.
He was already dressed in his sexy business suit after leaving me naked in bed following an exhaustive morning tumble.
“What?” I smirk, interested to see what he has up his sleeve.
“You won’t go out without Rodrick,” he kisses me again.
“Logan, you can’t be serious.”
“Promise me.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I roll my eyes.
“When we get back to LA you can roam about freely, but we’re far from home and I need to know you’re safe,” he rationalizes as I fail to counter him with a reasonable excuse to deny his request.
“I thought Rodrick was going with you.”
“Nope. He stays with the precious cargo. Promise me, Ava,” he repeats himself, sprinkling kisses down my neck as he awaits the response he knows he’ll receive.
“Okay,” I groan, less than thrilled to have a shadow following me around during my sightseeing.
“Good. Rodrick has all the info to the touristy things you can do while I’m working. I shouldn’t be too late, okay?” He kisses me over and over.
“I’ll miss you,” I confess, squirming beneath his lips.
“You have no idea how much I’ll miss you, Ava,” he says before kissing my forehead.
My thighs press together as I watch him head to the living area of our hotel suite. When we arrived, he asked if I wanted to sleep separately, and I laughed in his face. While I find it to be sweet that he booked us a double suite again, not being too presumptuous, there was no way I wasn’t falling asleep and waking up in his arms.
“Oh yeah, this is for you,” Logan holds up a manila envelope, much like the one he gave me in Istanbul stuffed with cash. Grabbing the sheet from the bed, I wrap myself in the incredibly soft fabric to chase after him.
“No, Logan!” I yell as he pretends not to hear me, rushing into the common area where I can already hear men speaking.
He’s going to get enough of treating me like a kept woman disguised as generosity. Deciding I don’t care to embarrass myself, I open the bedroom door, but his large frame stops me before I can take one step.
“I knew you’d be crazy enough to chase after me naked,” he shakes his head, trying to hide his amusement.
“I’m not naked,” I correct him, gripping the long sheet tightly around my body.
“Baby, believe me, every guy out there would have been very sure you were completely naked under this sheet.”
“Logan, I know there’s money in there and I don’t want it,” I push my shoulders back, holding my head high in defiance.
Glancing at his watch, he looks up at me. “I’m already running late from this morning. Can you please just let this go for today and we can discuss it tonight?”
“Okay,” I sigh, not wanting to interrupt his workday or add to his stress after hearing a brief rundown of how tiring and tedious his meetings can be.
“So, you won’t use any of your money, right?”
“Right, control freak,” I say as I roll my eyes.
“I’ll see you later,” he smiles at his success before kissing me briskly and turning to leave the bedroom for good.
After a quick shower, I dress in a simple pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt, ready to explore the city.
Following a brief hesitation, I open the envelope Logan left to reveal six-thousand Australian dollars. My mouth drops as I calculate the currency with my phone. I get that Logan and I have different lives and lifestyles, but how on earth would a person spend that much money in one day? Does he think I’ll be needing to pay a ransom before he’s done with his meetings?
Deciding it’s too much money to carry at once, I stuff half of it in my pink crossbody purse before throwing the envelope into the drawer of the nightstand.
Rodrick practically jumps to his feet when he notices me, and I make a mental note to tell Logan not to put any pressure on him. I can only imagine how much he’s stressed the importance of me having a good time while he’s away.
“Good morning, Ava. I have some brochures for you to look over,” he collects a catalog of pamphlets from the table before handing the stack to me.
Nothing seems too impressive to me, especially considering I’ll have to go without Logan. He’s left me a bit exhausted, yet still longing for more of him.
Honestly, I’m becoming an addict for this man, missing him the second he’s gone, and constantly craving him, even in the middle of sex. No one has ever brought me to climax as easily or consistently as he does. Every time is a multiple explosion, and my body has become spoiled and obsessed with the pleasure.
“How about we just get some food, and I’ll figure it out from there,” I suggest and Rodrick happily obliges.
Thankfully, he doesn’t feel the need to eat with me, because I’m not quite sure I could carry a conversation with him for too long. He barely says anything that isn’t informative, and to tell the truth, I need a bit of alone time to clear my thoughts.
Ever since I got in the car with Logan, my mind has been warped. It’s so hard for me to think clearly and rationally when he’s around, sending my hormones into a frenzy.
I’d expected to put up a much bigger fight against Logan’s quest to move past our debacle of a relationship. Brushing over his deceit was the last thing I wanted to do, but I truly felt like he was remorseful, and understood why his manipulation bothered me so much.
There was no point in trying to deny how I felt about Logan. The moment he confided in me about wanting to come home to me, and have a real relationship, I was done. He all but professed his love, and as wild as it seems in my mind, I feel the same way.
It doesn’t matter to me that we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, or that our lives are like day and night. When I’m with him, I feel like my true self, and I love the way he takes care of me, despite how much I enjoy giving him a hard time about it.
Paying for my blueberry muffin and cappuccino with a hundred-dollar bill just makes me laugh, but a promise is a promise.
For the next few hours, Rodrick drives me from one tourist destination to the next, giving me a few minutes to walk around on my own before returning to the car and heading to the next stop.
Everything feels a bit dull without Logan, but I try to make the best of it. My favorite parts of the day are driving through the city, people watching from the backseat of a Bentley, grateful for the tinted windows as strangers strain to peek in as we drive by.
It’s always fun to see new places, but I’m relieved when we make it back to the Four Seasons Hotel. The concierge is always jumping up whenever he sees Rodrick or Logan, I’m guessing because he knows they’ve booked the most expensive suite, but today he comes bearing gifts.
“I’m so sorry, I’ve forgotten to give you complimentary tickets to a few shows and sites around the city. If you’ve paid for anything on your tour today, we would be more than happy to reimburse you for the inconvenience,” he smiles apologetically and I’m stunned.
So, this is how rich people stay rich, having everyone give them things for free.
“Don’t worry about it. Thank you for these though, I’ll be sure to look them over.” I try to smile wide enough for him to relax before making my way to the elevator with Rodrick close behind.
I can hear his phone vibrate as the elevator doors close. After a quick glance, he pushes a button and answers curtly.
“Rodrick here,” he says before flashing his key card over the security decal to access our private floor.
“Is that so? I’ve spoken with Jeff about it. He has the surveillance video from the night of the party,” he says and my ears perk up, wondering how the investigation into Logan’s theft has gone.
“He’s considering pawn shops, but I doubt they’ll be dumb enough to sell it,” he adds as I strain to hear the other side of the conversation, but I can’t make anything out.
“No jeweler in the city will dare do business with them, but I’ve put out the call for anyone approached to pay any price just to secure its return. Okay, I’ll call to discuss that later,” he glances in my direction as if the caller has just told him a secret about me.
The doors open, and I’m eager to put some space between us, so I assure him I’ll be in for the evening and go to my suite, leaving him to return to his.
It’s just after seven in the evening when Logan comes through the door, his tie hanging miserably around his neck, the top two buttons of his dress shirt undone. His eyes are droopy and he barely smiles when he sees me.
“Hi baby,” he groans, gently collapsing on the sofa as he lays his head in my lap before pulling my hand to his head, urging me to soothe him.
“Hi,” I whisper, my fingernails running the length of his scalp as his eyes close over while a deep breath escapes him.
“Can we please stay in tonight? I don’t feel like going anywhere after the day I’ve had,” he says lazily, running his hand along my calf.
“Of course, we can stay in. There’s a menu for room service on the table. I’ll go get it.” I try to get up, but he holds me down.
“Later. Let’s get that later. I just need you right now.” He looks up at me, his blue eyes cloudy with exhaustion.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, running my fingers through his hair.
“Same old, same old. Meeting after meeting with these ping pong arguments while I’m on the side with a group of investors, deciding who is making the most sense.”
“Well, now you’re with me, so you don’t have to worry about any of that,” I smile and the left corner of his mouth slightly turns up as he stares into my eyes.
“I missed you,” he says as if it’s a remarkable feat. “I knew I would, but it’s a new feeling. I thought I’d think of you less than I did when you weren’t speaking to me, but it was the exact opposite.”
“I missed you too,” I say before leaning down to kiss him.
“You didn’t have fun on the sightseeing tour,” he states more than asks.
“It was nice,” I try to argue, but he doesn’t seem convinced. His eyes squint into tiny slits as he watches me suspiciously. “I just missed you.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you, babe. Believe me, I’d much rather do that.”
“I know. It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”
For the next two hours, we lie cuddled together watching TV, moving only for a brief kiss or readjustment of limbs. As mundane as it is, it is by far my favorite part of the day. Watching the stress leave his eyes, knowing I’ve had something to do with it is the greatest feeling.
“Where are you going?” I ask when he finally stands from the sofa.
“I need to feed my woman,” he jokingly calls over his shoulder while walking to the bar area. Returning with the menu, he lays back down, angling the folder so that I can watch over his shoulder as he flips through the pages.
“Surf and turf?” He looks up at me and I nod in agreement before handing him the cordless phone from the end table.
We both are too tired to make a big deal of dinner, choosing to eat our expensive meal on the sofa as we guess the culprit in a rerun of Law & Order between bites of lobster.
Afterwards, we make our way to the bedroom as Logan nibbles at my neck and my body begins to wake up knowing what’s soon to come.
Stripping down to his boxer briefs, Logan joins me in bed, wrapping his arms around me tightly as he spoons me. His cock presses hard against my backside, and I know it’s only a matter of time before he makes a move. To my surprise, deep sighs in my ear are all he offers me that night.
Wiggling free from his grasp, I wrap my arms around him as he quickly falls into a deep sleep. My poor baby is exhausted, and I’m more than happy to watch him drift off.