Chapter 16
Logan
The sun begins to shine through the window, and I dread the inevitable ending of my new favorite hobby – watching Ava sleep. Somehow, she’s even more beautiful in this state, and I’ve spent most the morning watching her chest rise and fall as her arms lay splayed out on the bed.
Last night feels like a dream. I knew she was going to be incredible, and the buildup was sure to make for an exciting evening, but my God, that was magical. I’ve slept with a lot of women, but never have I felt such a connection with someone like I do with her.
I’m torn between not wanting her to wake so I can continue to watch her, and an intense excitement to hear her voice again.
“Are you watching me?” she asks softly, her eyes blinking into focus.
“A little,” I smirk, wiping the stray hairs from her face as she stretches her arms before covering her mouth while she yawns.
Sitting up, she looks around the room, before looking down at her naked breasts and frantically pulling the sheet up to cover herself.
“You can’t still be bashful.”
“So, that wasn’t a dream, huh?”
“It felt like one,” I shake my head, knowing exactly how she feels.
“Whew,” she sighs before adding, “I need a shower.”
Stepping out of the bed, she begins to look for her dress, and inside I panic knowing she’s planning to leave me. My mind races with reasons for her to stay as she picks up her dress and spots her lace panties.
“Take a bath with me,” I hear myself say.
Ava freezes, looking up at me with shock.
“Really?” She asks, tilting her head, but I’m just as surprised as her.
I’ve never taken a bath with another person in my life. My desperation to be near her has reached new drastic levels.
“Yeah,” I say, silently pleading with my eyes.
“Okay.”
Walking behind her, I wrap my arms around her small frame, kissing her neck as we make our way to the bathroom.
“Yours is nicer than mine,” she says, looking around the marble bathroom.
“I thought you would want that sauna thing,” I explain my reasoning for giving her the other room.
“You don’t have one?”
Shaking my head, I lean down to kiss her soft lips, and she lifts on her toes to press into me further.
Ava handles the bath, running the water and going through the basket of toiletries to add what she wants, while I excuse myself to make a quick call to Rodrick to set up the plans for the day.
When I return, bubbles fill the deep oval soaking tub as Ava hangs two towels on the warmer.
“Ready?” She smiles at me as I watch her and nod, despite the nerves rushing through me.
The fact that I’m about to do something romantic is tripping me out, but knowing it was my idea really blows my mind.
After helping her into the tub, I follow, sitting behind her as the water instantly begins to loosen the tension in my body.
“Come here,” I pull her close to me, and her body melts into mine, making me feel like the luckiest man in the world. Unable to contain myself, I gently kiss her neck, again and again, as she leans against me, smiling.
“I don’t care what you say, Logan. You are definitely a romantic.”
“Only for you,” I kiss her neck once more. It sounds like a cheesy line, but it’s God’s honest truth.
“I can’t believe how comfortable I am with you,” she sighs, leaning into my arms as I surround her.
“I feel the same way, and I don’t get close to anyone,” I stress the final word, because it’s such a huge part of who I am.
“Why not?” She looks up to me with concern in her eyes.
“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve just had a very disingenuous life.”
“And that’s nothing to worry about?”
“It just comes along with the territory,” I say with a shrug, grabbing a washcloth from the side table, dipping it in water and then running the cloth up her arm.
“And what territory is that?”
“When you have a lot, people want a lot from you.”
“Is that what you think? Everyone wants something from you?” She asks with a sadness in her voice.
“They do. My whole life people have tried to get close to me just so they could ask me for things, or use me for this or that. It’s just best to stay to myself and trust no one. At that party, someone stole from my grandma. It’s absurd – it was a charity event for crying out loud. Like, who would even do that? All the measures of security are worthless, because nothing will stop someone who’s determined to get you. Plus, I’ve missed out on this type of connection,” I pull her so close that there’s no space between us, burying my face in her neck.
“I don’t want anything from you, Logan,” she moves her neck so that I’m forced to look down at her.
“I know. That’s why I trust you. Believe me, I wouldn’t be in a bathtub holding onto you for dear life if I thought you were after something.” I nibble at the soft skin on her neck.
“Although you’re always trying to give me things. Freaking me out with your generosity.”
“Yeah, you were kind of weirding me out with your refusals. I’ve never had that not work before. It’s kind of my only game,” I chuckle as her head falls back against my chest, a loud laugh escaping her.
“So that was your game?”
“Well, it didn’t work.”
“No, it didn’t. I still have all that money in the same envelope you gave to me.”
“Do I get to spoil you now?”
“What do you mean?” She tries to turn to face me, but I’m gripping her too tight for her to move freely.
“I mean, will you accept my gifts, now that, you know,” I avoid stating the obvious.
“I prefer these type of gifts, Logan,” she looks up at me.
All she’s said is that she’d rather have me than my money, but it’s profound, and I’ve never felt more attracted to anyone than I do in this moment. Leaning down, I take her mouth, sliding my tongue against hers as her eyes slowly close and my hand cradles the side of her face.
When she pulls away, I hold her face to mine, gently kissing her lips over and over, as my forehead rests against hers.
“Tell me about your tattoos,” she whispers and I smile at her randomness.
With her fingers moving along my arms, I explain every tattoo, when and where I got it, and what it means to me. She’s the most attentive person, listening to my pointless stories and laughing at my less-than-funny jokes.
Once I’ve finished telling her the story of my artwork, we relax in silence, our breathing in sync as she rests against my chest, our fingers interlocked beneath the water.
“Logan, I need you to know something,” she finally breaks the silence, and I feel my chest tighten, not wanting to hear anything that could break this moment.
“Tell me,” I say, but my mind wants to insist she keep it to herself, knowing it can’t be anything good.
“I didn’t steal anything from you when I met you that night at your house. I’m sorry that happened, but I swear I was only looking at the photos,” she turns to face me and I have to strain to bite back the smile.
“I know, Ava. There was nothing for you to even steal over there. That part of the house is empty besides the artwork. There’s a whole other wing on the backend, away from the front. It’s kind of like a servants’ quarters, you have it for your maid and nanny to live with you. But I don’t have any of that, so I’ve been using it to store my grandmother’s things.” I try to simplify a complicated and unorganized mess.
“Oh, okay,” she nods, but I can see she’s mulling over a thought, and before she can relax again, she turns so fast water splashes out of the tub.
“So, you knew I didn’t have anything, and you still patted me down?”
“I just wanted more time with you,” I admit, a smile spreading across my face as she splashes me with water.
“I knew it!” she yells, and we both burst into laughter.
Eventually we calm down, and Ava sinks back into my chest, where she belongs. It feels natural having her body pressed against mine. My hands find hers, and I slide my fingers between her thin fingers, leaning down to kiss her shoulder.
“After this, we’ll both pack and then we can leave,” I kiss her between words as she smiles, leaning into my lips.
“Where are we going?”
“Did you forget about Greece?” I whisper and her body jerks.
“We’re still going to Greece?”
“Ava, when I tell you we’re doing something, you can guarantee we’re going to do it, baby,” I promise her as she turns to me with pure joy in her eyes.
“We’re going to fly out to Santorini, then we’ll spend two days on a yacht. It’s not huge, but big enough for staff. Rodrick is coming, of course, plus there’s a chef, a massage therapist, who can also instruct yoga if you do that. Of course, the captain will be there – all in all including us, there’s nine people in total. Eight or nine,” I look up trying to remember the details as Rodrick explained them to me earlier.
“Yeah, you can spoil me,” she says, biting her bottom lip like a giddy kid.
“Oh, these are the type of gifts you like?”
“Yeah, this is my style. Keep your cash. Give me you, and take me to new places,” she gushes, wrapping her arms around my neck before reaching for a washcloth and bar of soap from the small table she’s prepared for us.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m getting us out of here. How long until the flight?” she asks, dipping the cloth under the water.
“The jet will be ready when we are,” I chuckle, remembering she’s used to commercial flights.
“Can I wash you?”
“You want to wash me?” I reply and she nods, looking deep into my eyes as she awaits my response.
“Yeah,” I lean down to kiss her once more, lifting my arms as she rubs the cloth around the bar of soap until it’s covered in suds.
Watching her intensely as she carefully scrubs my arms, paying close attention to my tattoos, I can’t believe this is my life. Just a month ago, I was bed hopping in Los Angeles with no real plan to stop. Now, I would be perfectly content never returning to the city, and instead traveling the world with Ava, taking her from one new place to the next.
No credit goes to me, because I wasn’t even looking for Ava, or what she adds to my life, but now that I have her I know she’s all I want. All I need. Without knowing what it meant, I knew I had to have her, and now I’m sure it’s the best decision of my life to go after her as intensely as I did.
I’ve set up everything for her to have a trip of a lifetime today, and knowing how blown away she’ll be makes me almost as anxious as her to get on that yacht.
There’s no way she can possibly know how special she is to me, or how much this closeness means, but I’m committed to letting her know through my actions.
I want her to feel as special as I do in this moment, as she massages my neck with the washcloth, scrubbing my body with delicacy. I’m going to spoil her beyond measure, and please her endlessly over the next two days. If everything goes according to plan, she’ll want a ring by the time we get back to LA.