Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (8 page)

“You want to talk
about it?”

I shake my head again.
“I promise, everything is fine.”

“Okay, well, look I’m
aware that you’ve had to leave all your friends and family behind.
I mean you and that Logan guy clearly have a thing going on, and Dean
said you were finally giving it a go when he sent you down here.”

They talked about me.
About my love life. My father barely knows this guy. And how in the
world are they already on a first-name basis?

“Why would my father
talk to you about me?”

Liam pauses with his
mouth open. His bottom lip twitches as though he is about to say
more, but he closes his mouth and frowns.

“I just want you to
know that I have pretty great listening skills. And if it’s about a
guy, I think I could give some pretty great advice. I know a lot
about them.”

He stands up, pulling
his jacket off the bar and heads for the door.

“I’ve got some
things to do on the east side of town near a few furniture
warehouses. I’ll pop in and see what they have in stock for tables,
alright? I’ll be back in a bit.”

He doesn’t even wait
for my reaction before he steps through the door.

I can’t tell if I’m
upset my father talks to him about me, confused he seems to really
care, or angry. I’m angry because his departure made me notice how
not together this place is and how the chances of being done by the
end of summer are fading fast. I’m also a bit thrown off at the
fact he just left. I should probably put him on a schedule.

The phone rings behind
the office door and I almost sprint to it in hopes that it’s Logan.

“Hello?” I sound a
bit out of breath.

“Sara, how are things
going there? Everything moving along smoothly?” My father’s voice
does nothing but add to the depressing stupor I’ve fallen into in
the last five minutes.

“Hi, Dad. Yeah,
everything is going fine.”

“Liam is working out
well?”

“Yeah, he’s a great
help. Hey, should we hire someone else in addition to Liam? I don’t
think this place is going to be up and running as soon as we want
with just Liam and me. It might make sense to get employees in here
sooner rather than later. Oh, and how did you come onto the subject
of me and Logan with him?”

Silence.

“Dad?”

“Sorry, dear, the
phone cut out. Listen, I can’t chat long, but I wanted to let you
know it would be a great opportunity for Liam to learn more if he
came home with you this weekend.”

Now it’s my turn to
be silent. He can’t be serious. I haven’t seen Logan in weeks and
now my father wants me to show up with another guy I’ve known less
than a week?

“We can have him
train at the BA over the weekend.”

Oh right. This is work
related.

“He could stay in
your spare room if it’s available.”

“It’s not,” I
blurt out. What the heck is my dad thinking? Liam is still kind of a
stranger. “Sorry, I—told a friend she could crash there while I
was home.” I let out a breath. “I’ll talk to Liam when he gets
back and see if he is available. It’s a little short notice.”

“I spoke with him
this morning. He’s very well aware and was pleased by my invite.”

I roll my eyes.
Sometimes I think my father considers himself some form of royalty.
Every time we talk, I swear his words sound more and more formal.

“Dad, you gave me
this bar, so I should be the one to make these sort of calls, don’t
you think?”

“Until the papers are
finalized with your name as owner, I’ll make the calls.”

“And when are those
papers coming in, Dad? You told me they would be here this week and I
took your word for it.”

“Soon, dear. Now, I
have to go, but we can finish this conversation when you come home
this weekend.”

He ends the call before
I can reply. Shaking the conversation from my head, I review the list
in front of me, looking for the next item on my to-do list. Keeping
busy keeps my mind from overthinking, and making a final read-through
on the alcohol contract sounds like a great distraction.

Logan

Every
computer cubicle in Wind Valley’s High School library is filled,
each student working quietly. And although the room is silent, my
mind is loud with the anticipation of how Sara will reply when I ask
her out today.

Tyler’s
girlfriend, Kelsey—who also happens to be Sara’s best
friend—well, she told Tyler that Sara is into me. Like really into
me. Not just as a friend the way I thought she saw me. And ever since
he shared this piece of information, I’ve been going crazy deciding
how I’m going to ask her out.

“
Logan,” Sara whispers next
to me. My neck pops as I turn to look at her. I painfully rub it
while she looks at me with sympathy. After a moment, she slips a
piece of paper into my work area. I glance around to be sure Mr.
Cleo, the librarian, isn’t watching us. When I find him comfortably
sitting at his desk with his head down, I quickly unfold the note.

Do you feel okay? You look like you’re sweating and you’re a bit
pale.

I scribble something to tell her
I’m just fine and pass the note back to her. It’s embarrassing
how obvious I am. The note comes back fast.

You promise you would tell me the truth?

Again,
I scribble that of course I would tell her, she’s my best friend.
Before I can think too hard about the fact I wrote the word friend,
fully ruining my chance, her hand touches mine and she leans into me.

“
You
really just want to be my friend, Logan?” she asks, her words so
soft and quiet I know for a fact no one heard them but me. Instead of
answering, I take a deep breath and press my lips against hers.

“
Hey,
you two!”

We
both jump at Mr. C’s voice.

“
Get
back to your work, and I don’t want to see that again.”

Facing forward in my seat, I pull
out a fresh piece of paper. As clearly as I can in my handwriting, I
write my reply.

I will never just be your friend, Sara.

And
from that day forward, I never was.

* * *

“Dude, how many times
have you changed your shirt?” Ethan asks sarcastically, pulling me
off of memory lane.

“As many times as I
need to. I want to look good for Sara.”

She comes home today
and I’m going to surprise her with a picnic dinner and a movie
night in the park with a little dancing after. Technically, it’s
our first official date as a couple again, and I’m not going to
screw this up. I’m planning to make the entire two days I have with
her the best. I miss her, and I’m not afraid to show it.

“She has seen
everything you own a million times, man. Whatever you pick will be
fine. Sara isn’t a material kind of person—you do know that,
right?” His brows come to a point as he looks at me with pity.

“Yeah, man, I do know
that.” Doesn’t mean I can’t look nice.

I flip the collar of my
navy-blue polo down and give myself a dab of men’s Lucky You
cologne.

“You sure it’s cool
if Conner crashes here for a while?” Ethan takes a seat on my
couch, making himself comfortable as he waits for Conner’s arrival
to check the place out. He crosses his ankle over his knee and leans
back as he grabs the motorcycle magazine stuffed between the
cushions.

“Definitely,” I
say. I have a plan to turn my lease over to Conner when Sara’s back
so we can get a place together. It may sound like I’m rushing it,
but this is Sara. I have faith in us.

I grab my wallet off the counter and
slip on my watch. My cell phone buzzes in my pocket as I start for
the door.

Sara: Finally got a new phone! Can’t wait to see you.

Me: Me too

There is a spring in my
step as I hop in my truck and drive to a flower shop a few blocks
over. Arranging the schedule to give myself a Friday night off felt
weird. I feel bad for being so selfish, but when I think about who
I’m going to spend the night with, any guilt is gone.

With lilies in hand, I
shoot a text to Sara, letting her know I’m on my way. Then I shoot
another text to my buddy Tyler. Except he hasn’t really been my
buddy since he cheated on Kelsey, but that’s all in the past. Since
my letters keep coming back, I need him to find out if her mailing
address has changed for some reason. If you’re going to have a
friend whose genius smart, pick the one who can hack almost anything.
Tyler is that friend for me.

Once I hit send, I turn
the key and head for Sara’s. I’ve got a plan to find my sister,
and my girlfriend waiting for me. Life couldn’t be better.

Sara

Tears sting my eyes as
I watch Logan walk up the stairwell to my apartment with the largest
arrangement of lilies I’ve ever seen. He smiles at me, and we just
stare at each other. In this moment, we don’t need to say anything
because we already know how the other feels. I never thought I would
be so excited to see someone, but I’m slowly learning that
everything is different with Logan. Then, our moment is ruined.

“Ok, so I’ll call
you tomorrow then. Or you’re coming over for breakfast, that’s
right. Sorry, I keep forgetting. That car ride was killer. This state
is nothing but dead grass and hills. How your dad managed to talk me
into this, I have no idea. I still can’t believe he offered to let
me stay—”

My eyes pleading for
Liam to stop talking finally do their job. Liam drops his bag and
extends his hand toward Logan.

“Hey, man, you must
be Logan. I’ve heard so much about you. The name’s Liam.”

Logan’s eyes narrow
as he looks at Liam’s hand. The coldness doesn’t leave them when
he glances at me. I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve never seen
Logan go from happy to mad so quickly.

“Funny, man, cuz I’ve
heard nothing about you.”

My eyes go wide at the
tone of Logan’s voice. I’ve never heard that voice before either.
It sounds so deep. Powerful. Masculine. Logan has never looked so
sexy!
Poor Liam.
You
could almost hear him gulp as he shook Logan’s hand. I definitely
didn’t miss the tense bob of his throat as he did it.

“Okay, well, Liam,
you should get going. We have plans,” I say quietly as I gesture to
Logan. I give Liam a friendly and hopefully gentle push away from my
door.

“Oh right, damn, man,
sorry I ruined that there for a sec. I’m gone.” He raises his
hands like he’s surrendering as he backs up toward the stairs. “Act
like I wasn’t even here.”

I laugh as he jumps
down the steps two at a time and then I glance at Logan. There’s
nothing left to laugh about. Now it is me who you can hear take a
scared swallow at the stare Logan is giving me.

“Anything you want to
tell me?”

I shake my head.
“That’s the new assistant manager in Colorado. I guess, according
to my dad, you’ll be training him this weekend.” I shrug and
relax as Logan’s angry expression lightens and quickly turns to one
that suggests he was afraid.

“So you work with
him, every day?”

“For now, yes.
Eventually, I’ll be able to let him do things on his own. After
this weekend with you, I’m hoping that will be sooner rather than
later.” I quickly put the flowers in some water before grabbing my
green jean jacket off the hook behind my door and joining Logan in
the hallway. Once the door is locked, I push onto the tips of my toes
to give Logan the kiss he should have had the moment he arrived.

“Oh, uh—”

Seriously!

Does this guy have bad
timing radar or what? I throw an annoyed look in Liam’s direction.

“I forgot my bag,”
he says quickly. He snatches up his bag and then darts down the
stairs.

When Liam is out of
eyesight, Logan licks his lips, and I can tell he is trying to hide a
smile. “Guy doesn’t seem very bright. You sure he can handle the
job?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t
think that maybe telling your boyfriend you’re working with a guy
was important?”

“No, I didn’t.
Because Liam is my assistant and nothing more. I haven’t spent that
much time thinking about him to know it was going to be an issue.”

Logan’s face lights
up. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

His hand reaches around
me and pulls me close. He locks his arms at my lower back and lifts
me off the ground as he slips his tongue between my lips. The pleased
sound that comes from his throat and vibrates against my lips tugs at
my heart.

A horn honking outside
breaks our kiss, and I swear he blushes. “We should get going.”
He gently places one more kiss to my lips before taking my hand and
leading me down the stairs.

A warm breeze brushes
my skin as we step outside. The sun is just starting to lower,
leaving us with a beautiful cast of red and orange. Sunsets in
Wyoming are one of the reasons I never left this state permanently. I
can’t imagine a better evening for tonight.

“I was thinking we
should keep things more intimate tonight. Call me selfish, but I
don’t feel like sharing you with anyone, especially if this is the
only night I’m going to get you to myself.” He opens the
passenger door of his truck for me and I freeze.

“I thought you were
coming out tomorrow night after Kelsey’s birthday dinner?”

“I was, but then your
dad said he needed me at the bar tomorrow. I didn’t know exactly
why until you just told me I’m training Liam.”

“I’ll make sure we
come in to see you after dinner.”

A grin stretches across
his face. “Sounds great.”

I pull myself up into
the truck and he closes my door. I relax back into my seat.
Everything between us is so … normal. I wasn’t sure what being
apart would do to us, but clearly it does nothing. I’ll be able to
juggle this career/relationship better than I predicted.