The Posse (13 page)

He kissed up the column of
her throat to her ear lobe. “Jude, my God, you’re beautiful.”

She dropped her head into
onto his shoulder. “Do you want to go upstairs? To the
apartment?”

He turned her sideways and
threaded an arm beneath her knees, scooping her up and holding her
against his chest. Lowering his head, he caught her lips again, and
moved carefully around the tables and chairs until they reached the
steps. He climbed one step at a time, keeping Jude’s head away from
the wall.

It had been years since he’d
been in the small apartment, but even in the semi-darkness, he
could see the open bedroom door. He pushed the door wider with his
foot and lay Jude on the bed.

The buzz from limoncello had
given way to the high of touching Jude, kissing her. He leaned on
one knee, the mattress dipping as he balanced with one hand on
either side of her head. He kissed her once softly before he
gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Tossing
it to the side, he took off his own and lay down, feeling her skin
against his.

Jude ran her hands down his
back, kissing his shoulders and then turning his head back toward
her so that she could cover his lips. Her nails on his arms raised
goosebumps. Logan slid a hand beneath her and unhooked her bra,
catching his breath as he palmed her breast. His lips skimmed over
her chest, and he sucked at one nipple, even as his hand covered
the other.

Jude’s breath hitched. She
trailed her hands to the top of Logan’s jeans and fumbled with the
button.

“Hold on,” Logan murmured.
He eased her shorts down, kissing down her legs and unhitching them
when they caught on her feet. He stood for just a minute to shuck
off his jeans, and then returned his mouth to Jude’s stomach,
dragging lower and lower until he met the top of her underwear.

There was so much he wanted
to do, so many things he wanted to experience with Jude, but the
throbbing desire made him impatient. He hooked his fingers beneath
her underwear, tugging down. Jude mirrored his actions with his
boxers, and in moments nothing was between them.

Logan slipped his fingers
within her folds, groaning again when she arched her back as though
desperate to get closer to his hand. He eased one finger within her
as he used his thumb to massage the small knob of nerves. She
writhed, breathing hard.

“Logan, my God. Please...”
Her voice was filled with raw passion, and Logan knew he could not
wait a minute longer. He held himself over her, lacing his fingers
with hers and holding her gaze before he plunged inside her.

He was still for a moment,
and then they both began to move. Logan could feel the building
momentum, and he fought to keep control until Jude jerked her hips
upwards and cried out. He gasped as she tightened around him, and
he called her name as he emptied himself deep within her.

Logan held himself on elbows
and knees, keeping his weight from Jude. Her eyes had drifted shut,
and he brushed kisses over each lid. Her lips curved into a
smile.

He eased away slightly and
lay down next to her. She turned, eyes still closed, and cuddled
into him. Logan fumbled with a blanket folded at the end of the
bed, pulling it over them.

“Logan, don’t leave me,
‘kay?” Her words were so soft, he almost didn’t hear them.

“Never.”

***

Jude opened her eyes to bright sunshine.
She groaned, covered her face, and rolled over, stopping abruptly
when she ran into the hard body in bed with her.

Logan.

She sat up too fast and felt
the morning-after effects of the limoncello. Dropping her head into
her hands, she tried to sit very still, just until the room stopped
spinning.

“Morning.”

Memories from the night
before washed over Jude, and she was positive that her blush
reached places she didn’t even want to consider. Logan’s hand
brushed over her bare back, skimmed lower. She groaned.

She wasn’t sure, but she
thought she heard him chuckle. If it hadn’t required moving, she
might have reached over to smack him.

“Your head hurt?”

Jude peeked out from one
hand. “What do you think?” Her voice was thick, and her mouth felt
as though like she’d eaten a bag of cotton balls.

“I think you need coffee,
maybe with a little something in it.”

Jude gasped and jumped out
of bed, her heart pounding. “The sun! My God, what time is it? The
Tide, I’m late! People are going to be waiting...” She trailed off,
abruptly aware that she was completed naked and Logan was enjoying
the view.

She yanked the blanket off
the bed and wrapped it around her. “Would you please stop? You’re
staring at me.”

“Yes, I am.” He leaned
toward her, as though to snag the blanket, and Jude skirted out of
reach.

“Logan, did you hear me?
I’m--” She squinted at the old digital clock next to the bed.
“Shit, it’s almost eight. I’m two hours late opening the Tide.”

He sat up and the sheet
sagged dangerously low around his waist. Jude’s eyes ranged over
his chest, the defined pecs and abs and the trail of light brown
hair that trailed down—

She closed her eyes as the
room swung around again.
My God, I slept with Logan.

He was speaking, and she
tried to focus on his words, not on his chest. “Yes, it’s almost
eight. And yes, the Tide is going to open late today. But guess
what, sugar? The world isn’t ending. Calm down.”

Jude perched on the edge of
the bed, still clutching the blanket. “People are going to know.
Your car is parked in the lot, right? And when my regulars showed
up at six, expecting their breakfast, they saw
my
car, and
they saw
your
car. And a locked door.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”
Logan found his boxers, stood and pulled them on. Jude averted her
gaze as memories of the night before burned. She couldn’t think of
that now. It was all too much, too confusing on top of the mess
that was her life. She dropped back onto the bed, throwing an arm
over her eyes. On second thought, maybe hiding up here wasn’t a bad
option.

She felt Logan’s finger
trace her cheekbones. “Jude, take a breath. Get a shower. I’ll go
down and start the coffee, turn on the grills. If anyone asks, I’ll
explain you weren’t feeling well last night, slept here and called
me to come over to help this morning. Okay?”

Jude nodded, not quite ready
to trust her voice yet. She heard Logan moving around the room,
pulling on clothes. She heard him go into the bathroom, and when he
passed her a few minutes later, heading for the steps, she reached
out to catch his hand.

“Logan, thank you.” She
swallowed. “For this. And for last night.”

He was still for a moment,
then his hand within hers and squeezed it. “Jude, I hope by now you
know I’d do anything for you.”

She didn’t answer, and he
kissed her hand before releasing it.

Jude listened to his
footsteps on the stairs. She didn’t move until the scent of coffee
drifted up to her.

The shower helped. She stood
beneath the stream as bits and pieces of the night before flashed
in her mind.

Joseph.
She cursed
out loud, remembering that she had told him to text her when he
arrived safely in Clearwater. Of course, about the time he would
have been texting, she had been...heat that had nothing to do with
the water temperature sluiced down her center.

She shut off the water and
toweled herself dry, glad that she always kept a few extra pairs of
shorts and t-shirts and a change of underwear in the apartment. She
dressed quickly and had just stepped into the living room when
Logan climbed the steps, holding a steaming mug of coffee.

“I need to find my phone.”
She blurted the words without thinking and wanted to kick
herself.

When a man brings you
coffee, say thank you.

One side of Logan’s mouth
lifted, and he pulled her phone from his back pocket. Jude took it
from his hand and then accepted the mug. She sipped and sighed in
appreciation as the sweetness tinged with something else slid down
her throat.

“I put a little Bailey’s in.
Not much, just enough to get you over the hump this morning.” Logan
grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And Joseph
made it safely to Clearwater about seven-thirty last night.”

Jude quirked a brow at him
over the rim of her mug. “Did you look at my messages?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes.
“He texted me, too. To check on you.”

“Oh.” She took another drink
of coffee. “Was there anyone downstairs?”

“No. Sadie and Mack just got
here, so I turned everything over to them. I told them you’d had a
rough night.”

“Yeah, you could say that
again.” Jude set her mug on the table and pulled out a chair.
“Logan, I want to thank you again for last night.”

He sat down across from her,
legs spread wide and a hand on each knee. “I think maybe I should
be thanking you.”

Jude’s cheeks burned.
“That’s not what I meant. I was talking about you coming over so I
didn’t have to be alone.” She toyed with the edge of her shorts. “I
don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come. Probably
passed out in the bar. Sadie would’ve had a heart attack when she
came in this morning and found me.”

“Jude.” She looked up,
hearing the serious tone in his voice. “I know you got hit with a
lot last night. What happened between us—I didn’t mean to make your
life more complicated. But it wasn’t because I was trying to make
you feel better. It wasn’t because I’d been drinking. What we did
last night, I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.”

Jude’s mouth sagged a
little. “You did? Wait. Just...Logan, what are you talking
about?”

He reached across the table
and covered her hand. “I’d rather not get into that right now, when
you’re still slightly hung over, worried about Joseph and itching
to get downstairs. I was thinking maybe we could have dinner
tonight.” He licked his lips, and Jude realized he was nervous.

“Tonight?” Her mind darted
about madly.

“Yes.” Logan nodded. “You
know. A date. The thing most people do before they do what we did
last night.”

Jude swallowed. “Okay, but
what if Joseph needs me? What if he comes back tonight?”

Logan sighed. “Jude, do you
really think he’s going to drive back here today, after he just got
to Clearwater last night to meet the son he didn’t know he
had?”

She ran a hand over her
hair, lifting it off her neck and wishing she had a ponytail
holder. It was warm in the apartment, which didn’t help with her
already-shot nerves.

“No, you’re probably right.”
She met his eyes, and her heart sped up when she saw his
expression. It was soft and understanding, mixed with something
else she wasn’t ready to name.

“Tell you what.” He stood,
stretching. “I need to get home, get changed. Go into the office
for a little while. I’ll call you right after lunch. By then, you
should have heard from Joseph. If he tells you he’s coming home,
we’ll put off our date for a few days. But if not, I’ll pick you up
at your house at seven. Sound like a deal?”

Jude found herself nodding
before she could really think about it. Logan smiled and leaned
over her, trapping her in the chair with his arms on either
side.

“Meanwhile, think about this
today.” He kissed her, and it wasn’t the sort of see-you-later peck
she might have expected. His lips coaxed hers open, and his tongue
moved within her mouth until she responded in kind. She lifted her
arms to wrap around his neck and arched closer, not even noticing
the low moan that escaped her.

Logan finally broke away,
softening the separation by trailing his lips down her neck and
then returning for one final soft touch at her mouth.

“I’ll see you tonight.” He
straightened and touched her cheek before leaving.

Jude sat perfectly still
after he left, one hand covering her mouth. In the space of less
than twenty-four hours, her world had been turned upside
down—again. And she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it.

With effort, she rose and
headed downstairs to face Sadie and Mack.

***