Dreaming of You (7 page)

After lunch, she took me on the tour as promised, while Logan went to get one of the cars out. Emiline and I met back up with him on the front porch. There was a red MGB convertible sitting in the driveway.

“Oh my God.” My mouth fell open looking at it. “I loved these when I was little. It was my dream car. We used to play that game where you folded up the piece of paper and wrote names of cars and girls and the number of kids you would have. You know, your fingers slid under the paper, and you opened them up, revealing whom, what, and where. How your life would turn out.”

“How sweet,” Emiline said.

“I always ended up with the MG.”

“You’re so weird.” Logan gave me his “you’re quite the nut” look.

“Guess you had to be there.”

“Thank you, Momma.” Logan leaned over and gave Emiline a sweet peck on the cheek.

“It was very nice meeting you,” I called out as Logan began to yank me down the steps. “Maybe I could take the two of you out to dinner sometime this week?”

“I look forward to it, I must say. My son has excellent taste.”

I smiled at her as Logan opened the car door for me. I slid into the seat and felt like a little kid in the tiny car. My dad had an MGB when I was very young, although I couldn’t seem to remember what had happened to it. I pulled on my seat belt and watched as he got in and started the engine. It was so bizarre to me how open Logan was about all aspects of his life with his mother. I couldn’t imagine bringing a man home with me to meet my parents.

“Careful now!” She waved from the porch as we pulled out of the driveway onto the street.

Logan turned a corner and looked over at me as I cleaned the spots off my sunglasses with my shirt. “She likes you.”

“Well.” I placed the glasses on with a smirk. “I should be mad as hell at you for ambushing me that way.”

“Hmmm.” He slowed, coming to a stop sign. “You can spank me later if you want to; I deserve it.”

“You wish,” I said, laughing. “You’ll be lucky to get so much as a kiss later, let alone a spanking.”

“Big talker, huh?” He reached over and slowly ran a finger up my leg. “Something tells me I’ll get much more than a kiss tonight.”

Cocky little bastard
. I wish I could say he wasn’t right, but damned if he was. I couldn’t wait to feel his hands on my body, his mouth covering mine. As we drove through the residential neighborhoods, passing the large plantation-like houses, I wondered momentarily where he was taking me. I realized I didn’t give a damn where we were going. I was content merely to be with him. It both elated and frightened the hell out of me at the same time. I looked over at him, watched his face until a smile spread across it.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, I’m just lookin’ at ya.”

He spun the steering wheel, whipped around a corner. “Well, that’s not fair. I’m not allowed the same luxury.”

“You can check yourself out in the rearview.” I reached over, rested my elbow on his shoulder, and played with his hair.

“I meant you, silly. I don’t get to sit and look at you.”

“Oh well, sucks to be you.”

A seriousness suddenly seemed to come over him. “Explain something to me.”

“Okay…if I can.”

“How is it that I feel so completely at home sitting here with you, like I’ve been doing it all my life? Am I crazy?”

“Well, I can’t speak to your mental capacity, but…it’s fucking scary isn’t it?”

“So I’m not alone, feeling like this?” he asked, flipping on the turn signal.

“No.” I let my head fall back into the seat, feeling the warm sunlight on my face. “I feel like I woke up this morning in someone else’s life, and I have to say…I’m likin’ it a hell of a lot better than my own.”

“Aden, I’m not the kind of guy that really spends very much time catering to my own individual wants and needs. Yeah, the restaurant is mine, so the work I put into it benefits me, but outside of that, I don’t really take very good care of myself.”

“I understand that, Logan.”
Here it comes. I like you, and if you lived in LA, I’d pursue it. But I just don’t have the time.

“I would really like to change that,” he said, looking at me.

I suppressed the urge to ask him exactly what he meant by that. Instead, I smiled at him. “I think that sounds nice.” He reached over and ran the back of his hand over my cheek. I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate on the sensation so that when this was all over, I’d be able to remember the way it felt.

* * * * *

I ended up spending the rest of the week with Logan. We pretty much ditched the convention, and he took me all over Atlanta, showing me all his old haunts. One night he took me to his old high school, where we broke into the football stadium and walked across the football field holding hands and talking. It was there he made one of my fantasies come true when I sucked him off under the bleachers. Between the meals, which included Nathan plus one more with Logan’s mother, and sightseeing, we had sex, lots and lots of sex. I was making up for lost time, and he seemed more than happy to oblige. By the end of the week, the feelings I’d developed for him, whether real or something I was inventing to make what I was doing okay in my own mind, were pretty strong. I felt as if I were floating several inches off the ground when I was with him. The whole week took on a kind of romantic-movielike atmosphere. It was really only Nathan’s presence that made me realize it was actually happening and not some type of psychosomatic delusion.

At the end of the week, Logan took Nathan and me to the airport. As I was beginning to head for the metal detectors, he yanked me back and gave me the softest, sexiest kiss. He pulled away, looked me directly in the eyes, and told me, “This isn’t over, you know. We aren’t done. This week was only a beginning.” I wanted to believe him, but that annoying little voice in the back of my head was saying, Don’t count on it, honey.

Carrie took the dinner plate out of my way, cleared all the extra stuff, silverware and bread plate, then pulled out her crumber and scraped it along the tablecloth, scooping up my mess. Feeling stuffed to the point of being sick, I leaned back into the seat. Carrie sat a brandy snifter of B & B in front of me. I looked up at her, and she pointed to Nathan, who looked at me, smiled, and gave me a wink.

“Thanks, Nathan.” I was laughing at his now-obvious intoxication. His cheeks always got a little flushed when he was drunk.

“You’re welcome, gorgeous,” he said.

“You two are going to make me puke”—Finn ran her hand over her tummy—“which at this point wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. I feel like I’m going to pop right out of this dress.”

“I know.” I took a sip of B & B. “Bring on the pajamas.”

“Um, yeah, hi.” Finn pointed at Nathan. “No such luck. It’s so not over yet.”

Nathan started tapping his spoon against his wineglass. “Attention, could I have everyone’s attention?” He clumsily got up out of his seat as the room began to settle down. “Okay, as you all know, this is probably going to be your very last chance… So if anyone would like to share a little Aden story with us, we would love to hear it. For those of you who’ve been waiting for just the right time to tell his ass off…well, we’d
really
like to hear that. We want to hear the good, the bad, and especially the ugly.”

There was some laughing and clapping and a few raising their glasses, making whooping noises.

“Um, yeah…hello”—I raised my hand—“just remember before you all open your fat mouths, my memory is long…very long.”

Finn scoffed. “Like that’s a real threat. Bambi is more intimidating than you.”

Everyone laughed as I shook my head. What followed were stories of all the fucked-up moments we’d had in the restaurant, sort of a verbal bloopers montage. Finn recalled the night she was waiting on two very large rednecks. She’d placed their dinner plates in front of them; one of the guys looked down at his twenty-two-ounce rib eye and back up at Finn and said, “
Damn, I haven’t seen a piece of meat this big since I got out of the shower this morning
.”

I happened to have been walking by with a pitcher of water, and my mouth fell open in disgust. Finn looked at him without so much as flinching and replied, “
Really? Who was in there with you
?”

When the guy came to me pissed, I explained that I didn’t appreciate him coming into my restaurant and sexually harassing my waitstaff, and that maybe in the future he should stick to Hooters.

Several people got up to say how we’d made some special event in their life unique and memorable. Colleen talked about the night she came in for a blind date. In case the guy turned out to be an asshole, she and I had come up with a story about how the police had called and her apartment had been broken into. The guy of course was now her husband. She went on about how much Harlow’s, along with Nathan and me, meant to them, since it was where they first met.

I knew from the minute they walked into the restaurant that night she was hooked. I sat back in my seat listening to her talk, thinking about flying out of Atlanta that day, and all the feelings of anxiety and anticipation that rose up with me into the air. I smiled, remembering how unsure I was at the time about what had happened to me that week. It had been midsummer when I met Logan. It was almost four months later when things shifted and I began to realize my life as I had known it up to that point was over.

* * * * *

“Honey, I really love this one.” I ran my hand over the plush fabric of the chocolate brown sofa with game-show-host flair. Wide-eyed and pleading, I looked up at him.

He snarled up his nose and looked around the furniture showroom, surveying the terrain. Sunlight poured through the two-story plate glass windows located at the front of the store. There were groupings of furniture set up in clusters throughout the room with customers and salespeople weaving in and around them like an obstacle course.

“It’s too poufy.” He cocked his head to one side.

“All the better to cuddle up into.” I sat down, sinking into the cushions. I sighed with a smile and looked up at him, patting my hand on the cushion next to me, trying to tempt him to try it out.

“This sofa leaves me feeling…flaccid,” he said, green eyes twinkling. His sandy brown hair glistened in the sunlight and a mischievous half smile appeared on his face.

“Really.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, I have two words for you, love… Viva Viagra.”

A laugh slipped out from between his lips as he shook his head. “I can’t, Aden, it’s too hideous.” He held out his hands for me to take. “Come with me…let me take you on a tour of the living room for our new home.”

I let out a frustrated sigh and took his hand as he pulled me to my feet. He dragged me through several groups of furniture until we came across a deep brown leather sofa.

“Now I was initially thinking black, but since you liked the brown fabric of the other one, I can compromise with this.”

“Babe, it’s leather.” I pointed at it. “It will be so hot to sit on in the summer.”

He moved up behind me, pressing his body into mine. He placed one hand on my waist and pointed toward the sofa with the other. Bringing his lips to my ear, he whispered, “When I look at this sofa, I picture you naked and stretched out across it. Your legs spread, one hand above your head, and the other stroking your beautiful hard cock. I climb between your legs, lifting them up over my shoulders, and slide my thick, hard nine-inch dick inside you.”

I cleared my throat and licked my lips as he grabbed my hips and turned me to the right, pointing at the matching chaise longue a few feet away.

“Then I’d lay you facedown straddling this chaise and I’d slow-f-fuck you from behind, working that tight, hot hole until I had you dripping wet.”

I let out a low, almost inaudible moan as he pointed to the sleek dark wood square coffee table in front of us. “I’d then lay across the table on my back while you impale yourself on my dick and ride me like a wild mustang. Finally,” he added, turning us back, pointing to a matching sofa table, “I’d bend you over that and power fuck you till you scream with ecstasy, shooting your wad as I come all over your back.”

“Holy Christ!” I attempted to adjust the hard-on in my jeans so it wasn’t as noticeable as I knew it had to be. I faced him and said, “Sold!”

“Sold?” I heard Finn say as my eyes popped open.

“What?” I asked, looking around my bedroom until my gaze landed on Finn standing in the doorway with a curious smile.

She was wearing a formfitting black pencil skirt with a vanilla-colored cotton button-up blouse and a pair of black strappy pumps. Standing in my doorway holding blueberry Pop-Tarts wrapped in a paper towel, she looked funny made up to perfection and ready for work

I began rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “Now that’s a gourmet breakfast.”

“I’m getting ready to leave,” she declared with a dirty look. “Figured I’d better wake you up since I hadn’t heard your alarm go off. Don’t you have to be somewhere in a couple of hours?”

I looked at the clock next to my bed. “Fuck me…this stupid thing must be broken.”

“You definitely don’t want to be late, and you might want to do something about that.” She smiled deviously, pointing to the bulge making a tent under my blankets.

“Get out,” I yelled, sitting up and covering it with my hands, feeling my face flush.

She turned and walked down the hall laughing as her heels made clicking noises on the hardwood floors. I lay back down and smiled, unable to believe this day was finally here.

When I’d left Logan at the airport in Atlanta, we’d exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses. We’d both promised to call and write. I’d figured, even if we did keep in contact, our relationship would naturally progress into friendship, and that would be the extent of it.

I was way wrong. Over the last few months, we spoke on the phone at least once a day. Even with the e-mails flying back and forth, my phone bills began to shoot through the roof. When the phone sex began to get out of hand, he’d decided to visit me for a week.

* * * * *

Sitting on the edge of a fountain in the airport, I was unable to take my eyes off the gate, which all passengers had to come through. It had been so long since I had physically laid eyes on him. I was afraid upon seeing his face I might shoot in my pants. The mist from the fountain settled lightly onto my skin. I closed my eyes, remembering what it felt like to have his hands on me. Feeling myself begin to get hard, I immediately started going over the grocery list I had stored in my head.

A group of passengers began to round the corner heading toward the gate. A family of four: the parents looking particularly exhausted, was first. The boy was poking his sister in the arm as she tried to whack his hand away while complaining to her parents. Two ladies, one of whom had very bright red hair, were chattering away, an older couple following behind them, and rounding the corner, as if in slow motion, Logan was making his way toward the gate. He was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged his body in all the right places, some type of black boots, and a solid black formfitting T-shirt. His blond hair, which looked slightly tousled in that sort of manufactured way, was just as I remembered it. He began looking around to see if he could spot me, and as our eyes met, that sexy megawatt smile spread across his face.

A little groan escaped between my lips, and my heart began pounding as a slight fever ran over my skin. I stood up as he passed through the gate. I walked toward him, all but falling into his arms.

He squeezed me tightly. “My God, it’s fucking great to see you.”

“I missed you too,” I said as I shoved my face into his chest, breathing in his scent.

We finally separated and looked at one another for a long moment before turning to walk down the corridor that led to baggage claim. We continued glancing over at one another and grinning. We didn’t speak, just sort of took one another in. His arm brushed mine, and I jiggled as chills ran over me. We picked up his bags as he told me about his flight. He’d been seated next to some woman who had bawled the entire time. She was flying home after having followed her husband on what was supposed to be one of his business trips. Instead, she’d found him fucking a woman he worked with.

Leaving the terminal, we walked over to the parking lot up to my new green Volkswagen Beetle. I popped the trunk and we threw in his bags.

“Why is it I’m not surprised by this?” He motioned toward the car.

“What?”

“I don’t know. It just seems to fit. You seem like the Beetle type.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked with a smile.

“Nothing bad,” he replied. “It just fits, that’s all I’m saying.”

I pushed the button on my key, unlocking the doors, and we each headed to opposite sides of the car. “Well, what do you drive?”

He opened his door and stopped to look at me. “I guess you’ll have to come to California to find out.”

He got into the car, and I mumbled, “Shady little bastard.”

Once we were both in the car, he grabbed my face and kissed me. I reached up to run my hand through his hair, only to stop, not wanting to mess up his mussed-up do. He pulled away, and I let out a long sigh, finally opening my eyes to look at him.

“Hello, gorgeous,” I said.

“I’ve been waiting entirely too long to do that… I think I’ll do it again.” He leaned in again, shoving his tongue into my mouth.

When he finally pulled away, I warned, “If you keep doing that, I’m gonna lose it right here.”

He laughed and sat back into his seat. “I’ll be good…for the time being, but I suggest you get this car moving.”

“Okay, okay!” I shook my head, biting my lower lip trying to control myself. I pulled out of the parking space, drove up to the lot booth, and paid to get out. The gate lever lifted up, and I zipped out of the lot and onto the circle drive. Rounding the corner to exit the airport, I ran over the curb.