Crush(59)

“No. Not that.”

I tipped my head back even farther. “Help a girl out and tell me.”

He spun me around.

That grin. The look. Heat. God, I loved him, every piece of him. Happy or sad. Right or wrong. Dressed or naked. Sober or drunk.

“I can do better than that,” he growled, and then his lush lips were on mine, parting, demanding, seeking.

Breathless, I pulled away. “Oh, if you wanted a kiss goodbye, all you had to do was ask,” I said with a wink.

In the midst of all the sadness surrounding him, he gave me a heart-stopping smile that I would remember forever. “I shouldn’t have to ask,” he teased.

On my toes, I gave my own alpha male another kiss, not like his but memorable nonetheless. Wet. Wild. With a little bit of tongue. “Was that better?”

“That’s enough, Romeo.” James’s big hand was on Logan’s shoulder, yanking him back. “It’s my turn.”

He pretended to go in for a full-on mouth kiss, but Logan shoved him away before he got too close.

Laughing, Lindsay and I left the pub.

Being free of Miles felt good. I appreciated the protection he had provided for me but was more than thankful when Logan called it off. After everything, Logan knew the one thing Tommy hadn’t lied about was leaving me alone.

Also, I hadn’t received any more blocked calls or messages, for which I was also thankful.

Outdoors, it was still light. Although inside it seemed like midnight, it was actually only six o’clock. Since Michael’s office closed early on Fridays, I was confident that even though it was right around the corner, he would have left already. Still, to be safe, I took Lindsay down the side streets.

We walked down one and up another, passing store after store. Soon, the light started to drain from the sky. “We should probably head back,” I suggested.

It was then that she spotted a stationery store called Love Notes and clapped her hands together. “Oh, let’s go in.”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

Myself, I’d never been into cards. Then again, I’d never had anyone to give one to.

Inside she found the section she was looking for immediately. It was in the back and designated by a sign that read naughty.

“Porn cards.” I had to laugh.

“Erotic cards,” she corrected. “Haven’t you ever given one to Logan? I give them to James all the time.”

Rather shocked such a section even existed, I shook my head. “No, I haven’t.” Surprised she gave them to her husband, I had to ask, “How long have you and James been married?” Logan hadn’t spoken of his friends much, so I knew little about them.

She laughed. “Not long. The same amount of time we’ve known each other.”

Eyes wide, my mouth dropped open.

She glanced at me. “We got married the night we met, or maybe it was the next day.”

Perplexed, I had to ask, “How does something like that happen?”

With a head shake she answered, “It was a Friday night and I was out with my friends. Next thing I know I’m on a private jet headed to Vegas with about twenty people, and then I’m in a chapel saying ‘I do.’ Sounds crazy, but it was love at first sight and we both knew it, so since we were in Vegas, we decided to do the deed.”

“Sounds almost like a fairy tale.”

She gushed, “He is my Prince Charming.”

My eyes wandered the section in front of us. There was a card with two cherries and a tongue between them, one with a woman stepping on a man’s ass in high heels, and another with a woman in a garter belt sitting forward on a man’s knees while he had his hand inside her panties.

Lindsay browsed for a few moments and then she picked one up. On the front was a picture of a woman bent over a man’s lap, his hand on her bare ass. The card read, “I’ve been naughty. Punish me.” She handed it to me. “Do something bad and then give this to Logan. I guarantee you’ll like the results.”

I didn’t take it. “Oh, Logan and I don’t have that type of relationship.”

She shoved it toward me this time. “Trust me, Elle, all men like a woman to be submissive once in a while. I doubt Logan is any different.”

I took the card and stared at it.

Did I want him to spank me?

Did he want to?

I remembered what he’d said to me the first day we’d met with a gleam in his eyes when we talked about the sex toys I was selling, “My friends from New York would love these,” or something like that.

She picked up another card, this one of a woman’s arms and legs bound to a bed frame and a man’s head between her legs.

My face must have registered my unease. Too many ghosts from the past.

She looked at me and simply said, “The best orgasms come when you give up control. I was never submissive with a man until James.”

Inserting my card back into its sleeve, I was interested as to what changed her. “What made you decide to be submissive with him, then?”

She set her card down and picked up another. “It’s what makes us work. It was what I needed and what he needed. I had a mother whom I always had to take care of and my entire childhood and teen years were full of decisions she should have made for me, but instead I was the one making them for her. James, on the other hand, had a very controlling mother and I think because of that, he needs to feel in control himself. It just happened naturally between us.”