Matter of Time (16 page)

Living with Bobbi Jo was a challenge.

But living without Lizbeth was hell. It was crazy to be so attached after just one weekend, especially since he’d lived without her for the past fifteen years. But during that time, he focused on Bobbi Jo and the kids and refused to allow himself to dwell on Lizbeth. Now, having her back in his life and knowing they had a future, he could hardly think of anything else.

During their talk the other night, she agreed to travel to Charlotte for as long as necessary. She understood his situation with the kids and trying to deal with the insurance company, as well as his fear of being gone again so soon after last weekend’s potentially deadly disaster. And since she didn’t have any events scheduled, she agreed to come to Charlotte this weekend.

Telling the kids he wouldn’t be home—which seemed weird considering it was
his
house—had been interesting. Brianna was shocked to learn he was seeing someone. Luke couldn’t have cared less. And Maggie said nothing, like she wasn’t sure what to think. After a while, though, each of them came to him on their own with additional questions.

Brianna wanted to know how he and Lizbeth met, so he told her Lizbeth was an old friend Lucas ran into not long ago. The light bulbs instantly fired, and when she turned on him and said, “You were with her last weekend,” his chest filled with renewed guilt. He was still struggling with the events surrounding the fire and his unavailability, and her statement, which sounded like an accusation, didn’t bring him any closer to forgiving himself for not being home.

Luke’s only question was, “Will we be able to get you on the phone if we need to?”

Logan reassured him he wouldn’t turn his phone off or to silent—probably never again. Satisfied with the answer, that was the end of it between them.

Maggie, the ultra-sensitive child, took things more to heart and asked if his new friend would keep him from spending time with them. That was more difficult to manage because, as was the case this weekend, the answer was yes. But after things settled down and the kids and Bobbie Jo were back in their own house, he could spend time with the kids
and
Lizbeth.

Telling Bobbi Jo he wouldn’t be home hadn’t been quite so easy. She handled it as expected—not well. He tried to be as diplomatic and vague as possible, but it was like she had this deep-seated desire to be tortured. After days of hammering him for details, he started getting a really weird vibe about the whole thing and actually called the hotel and changed the room reservation to a false name. He couldn’t believe Bobbi Jo would turn into a deranged stalker or do anything to harm Lizbeth, but he wasn’t so sure she wouldn’t show up and make a scene.

He pulled into the hotel parking lot, put the truck in park, then sat there staring at the side of the building. Lizbeth was in there somewhere, waiting for him, and he couldn’t wait to get to her. But sadness kept him glued to his seat as he realized this—clandestine meetings in hotels—would be their existence for the foreseeable future.

It would take time for Bobbi Jo and the kids to find a new home, which meant having Lizbeth come to his place would be impossible. Going to Riverside would be a possibility down the road, but not until things settled down at home. He snorted and rolled his eyes. Yeah, home… where he used the front door like a visitor and hadn’t seen the inside of his garage—his pride and joy—for the past five days.

He slung his bag over his shoulder, shoved open his door, and hit the call button on his phone. Lizbeth’s husky voice filled his ear and caused an immediate redirection of blood flow in his body. Once he reached her room, it wouldn’t be five seconds until he was balls deep inside her.

“Which room leads me to heaven, sweetheart?”

She laughed, and he imagined her hair falling over her shoulders and down her back. At least it better be down. Needing to erase the memory of waking to find Bobbi Jo’s mouth on him, he gave Lizbeth specific instructions to keep those long locks down and accessible… and to be prepared.

“I’m in six-fourteen.”

He pushed through the revolving door at the front, waved to the front desk clerk he knew from previous client meetings held here, then continued on to the bank of elevators. “Are you naked?”

This time, her laugh held the purr of a well-tuned machine, and he hardened even more. “Mostly.”

The elevator opened and he stepped on. Figuring he’d lose service, he growled into the phone, “I can’t wait,” then disconnected the call.

When he got to her door, he found it propped open and didn’t miss a step as he barged in, then slammed it shut behind him. He’d booked a suite, so when a quick glance around the living room revealed nothing but chairs, a couch, and a desk, he took a hard left and proceeded to the bedroom.

Lizbeth lay on the bed, propped up against the headboard, one long leg stretched out in front, the other bent provocatively at the knee. She wore black lace panties, a black bra that scooped under her breasts to leave her nipples exposed, and a big red bow tied around her hands.

“You better not have enlisted anyone else’s help to make that happen,” he said, nodding to the bow while stripping off his shirt and toeing off his shoes. By the time she finished running her gaze over his chest and stomach, he had his jeans undone and halfway down his thighs.

“That’s what teeth are for, love.” She gave him a Cheshire Cat smile and chomped her teeth together.

He was so fucking hard he ached from head to toe, and as he crawled onto the bed with her, he knew he should greet her with a tender kiss and stroke her skin to warm her up. But he wasn’t feeling gentlemanly at the moment. His need for her was all consuming, and he would die or at least pass out from excessive blood loss to the brain if he didn’t get in her immediately.

He slid off her panties, spread her legs wide, and dropped a kiss to her inner thigh. Her heady aroma filled his senses and her pussy glistened in the dim bedroom light. Thank God she was as ready as him. He ran his fingers through her slick folds and spread it around, then brought it to his mouth and licked his fingers.

“You’re as hot and ready as I am, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

Her hooded eyes blinked and she drew in a shuddering breath. “I’ve been lying here waiting for about ten minutes, but it felt like hours. I need you inside me now.”

“Yes, ma’am. Your wish is my command.”

He settled between her legs, then took himself in hand and ran the head of his cock through her folds, gathering some of her moisture before easing in an inch… then another… and then, unable to hold back any longer, he sank balls deep in one fluid motion.

“Oh, hell yeah. I’ve missed you so damn bad.” He drew back, but before plunging into her again, he slipped his head under her tied hands so her wrists wrapped around his neck and they were nose to nose. “I’ve missed your scent and your smile. And while I love seeing you on FaceTime, your eyes are so much prettier in person.”

As he continued to stare into them, he thought about the hours of conversations they had via phone and webcam over the past week. They were so in sync with each other; they picked up right where they left off all those years ago. Except the entire state of North Carolina separated them.

“I need you with me all the time.” It didn’t seem fair to ask her to uproot her life and move to him without any discussion of him moving to Riverside, but… “We’ve got to figure out a way to make this permanent.”

Her breathing stuttered, and he worried he might’ve said something wrong or moved too fast, but then a slow, sexy smile crossed her lips, and his worries faded away. “I love you, Logan. And I meant what I said the other night. I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if it means moving to Charlotte.”

While talking, he managed to slow his strokes and be somewhat civilized. But her offer to move without him even asking filled his heart and soul to overflowing, and his cock took over as if on autopilot. He needed to possess and mark and make sure she and the world knew she was his in every way and they’d never be apart again.

Reaching between them, he stroked her clit, and she shot off like a rocket. She arched her back, cried out his name, and wrapped her long legs around his waist, drawing him in even farther. He wanted to make this defining moment last, but he was too far gone, and with a final stroke, he let himself take the ride with her.

He became aware of nearly incoherent mutterings falling from his lips and… well, damn. He hadn’t intended to pour out his heart and soul like that, but since he had, he figured he better straighten his shit out and do it right.

As soon as he caught his breath, he rested his forehead against hers and kissed her slowly and deeply, letting her feel the truth of the words he inadvertently spoke and the ones he was about to say again. “I love you, Lizbeth. I’ve tried so hard over the years not to, but… You stole my heart a long time ago, and it’s so nice to get it back.”

More content and peaceful than he ever remembered being, he rolled to the side and pulled her with him. He must’ve dozed off, because the next time he opened his eyes, it was completely dark outside and his cell phone was ringing from somewhere on the floor. The last thing he wanted was to break contact with Lizbeth, but he’d promised Luke he would never intentionally miss a call again, so he untangled himself and grabbed his jeans from the floor.

Seeing Brianna’s number and not Bobbi Jo, as he feared, he breathed a sigh of relief and answered. “Hey, Bri.”

“Dad!” Her frantic voice sent a jolt of alarm through him, and he was grabbing for his clothes before he even realized he was moving. “They’ve arrested Mom.”

“What?” That drew him up short, and he froze with his foot partially into his pant leg. He lost his balance, stumbled back onto the bed, and found Lizbeth on her hands and knees, right there, ready to catch him. Her eyes were wide, and he didn’t know if she’d been able to hear Brianna’s scream through the phone or if she could simply tell from his reaction that something was wrong.

And damn if he must not be turned ten ways from sideways, because he could’ve sworn Brianna just said they arrested her mom. “What did you say?”

“Mom. They arrested her for burning down the house.” She was no longer screaming, but seemed to have devolved to a state of shock and was having as much trouble grasping this conversation as him.

He ran a hand over his face, trying to understand. Bobbi Jo had been arrested? For burning down the house?

“Where are you? And what about Maggie and Luke?” Okay, this was good. Some part of his brain must be functioning, because he was back in the business of taking care of the kids.

“We’re all at home. The cops came to the house, knocked on the door, and asked to speak to Mom. After a minute, they told her she was under arrest and they handcuffed her.” Hysteria started to creep in again, but she took a deep breath and settled herself enough to continue. “They asked who to call to come be with us, and I told them I’d call you. I think you know one of them. He looked familiar, and he specifically asked if you were in town this weekend.”

That was probably Hernandez, an old racing buddy from back in the day who worked with the fire department as an investigator. At least Logan had someone to call to find out what the hell was going on.

Arrested?

A small, niggling voice in the back of his head, one he didn’t want to hear and sure as shit didn’t want to listen to, pointed out there were things over the past week that seemed off. Starting with Bobbi Jo’s comment,
“Maybe this is what needed to happen to make us see the light. To force us back together so we can work this out,”
followed by the look of devastation and panic on her face when he told her about Lizbeth.

There had been other comments and gestures that seemed strange, but he thought she was just on an emotional roller coaster from the fire and all the stress that came from trying to put their lives back together. He never in a million years would’ve believed her capable of burning down her home. And for the purpose of forcing their lives back together? With one of the children in the house?

Fury filled him, and he squeezed the phone so hard the case cracked from the strain. Lizbeth’s soft touch, stroking across his back, eased him enough he was finally able to draw in a deep breath before exhaling as if he’d been punched in the gut. Which made sense because that’s how he felt.

“Okay, Bri. I’ll be home in ten minutes. I’ll see if I can reach Hernandez on my way and figure out what’s going on. Okay?”

He disconnected the call and stared at the floor, trying to grasp all the implications of this latest development. The anger that had started to wane returned, and he practically vibrated with his growing rage.

“How could she do something like that?” He turned to Lizbeth, knowing she couldn’t possibly answer that or any of the other questions running through his mind. But he needed the connection with her to keep him from spiraling off into outer space.

“Maybe it’s a misunderstanding. Or they have something that appears to be evidence but isn’t really. Innocent people are arrested all the time, unfortunately. And then, after they gather more facts, they’re released.”

True, but Logan knew Hernandez. Had known him for years. He was a stand-up guy, and from everything Logan read about him in the paper, he was also one hell of a detective. Given their relationship, Logan found it hard to believe he would’ve arrested Bobbi Jo without good cause.

Shaking off his thoughts, he said, “I’ve gotta go. The kids are home by themselves. And I need to be there with them. I can’t believe I have to leave you again. Son of a bitch!” Anger had him exploding off the bed as he jammed his feet into his pants and stood to pull them up the rest of the way. “How many more times is she going to fuck things up for us?”

Lizbeth, who’d been sitting up on her knees, sank onto her heels. “I’m sorry this is happening to you. Throughout all this, you’ve been there for the kids. You’re their rock and you keep things together for them. What can I do for
you
?”

There weren’t enough words in the English language to adequately express how much he loved this sweet, thoughtful woman.