To Make You Feel My Love (2 page)

Dusty jumped out of the truck, taking two steps as a time up the steps to Logan sitting on one of the swings on the porch. “Hey man, what’s up? What did the doc say?”

“He said to stay away from motorcycles and drunk drivers, or I’d have to have a lobotomy.”

“Well, the up side is,” Dusty lifted his Alabama State hat up and rubbed a hand through his hair, “you’ll still be able to get all the ass you want, right?”

“
Right
. Leave it to you jackass.” Logan shook his head at his friend. Everything always led to sex with Dusty. “I can’t believe women actually let you touch them.”

“Alright, seriously, what did the doc say?” He had a serious look on his face now.

“He said I was clear for lift off. He’s going to recommend reinstatement with light duty to begin with,” Logan looked proud and satisfied.

“Well then, let’s get the hell outta here and go celebrate. Break that new leg of yours in right,” he grinned. Let some hot young thang give you proper therapy.”

“Yeah, what do you suggest?”
“I’m headed to Paradise Beach next week for the bike rally. Mike and Troy are going to go for the week end. Pick up some horny females, drink some cold beers. You up for some fun in Sun City?”

“I don’t know man. It’s been a long time since I went out to the party scene. You boys hit it pretty hard.”

Dusty had been part of the reason Logan had gotten into trouble after high school. Starting a drunken brawl with some guy who had hit on his younger sister, Shelby Lynn, in Ole Joe’s Corner Pub. The guy’s buddies had joined in on Dusty’s beating, so Logan grabbed a pool stick and defended his friend. Who knew the guy’s father was the district attorney?

“Hey man, I know I ain’t always done what’s right, but I have grown up. I can control my actions better now. Hell, I ain’t been in a drunken brawl in years. I ain’t even picked up a married chick lately.” He rubbed the stubble on his face between his thumb and fingers, “Might be bout time though,” he laughed. “Get your shit together man. You’re going if I have to hog tie your ass!”

CHAPTER TWO

“I cannot believe I let you guys talk me into this,” Alana said with furrowed eyebrows, her arms crossed over her chest. She had tried adamantly to get out of going. All she wanted to do was go home to her small one bedroom apartment, eat half a key lime pie, watch a raunchy comedy, and sleep for two days. But Becky had been relentless, even showing up and going through her closet to find the sluttiest clothes she could. It was slim pickings.

“You’ll thank us tomorrow kid, trust me.” Becky just laughed, with Ella in the backseat of the car. “You need a little Sex on the Beach,” she winked. “Am I right Ella?” Eleanor Reid or “Ella” as she liked to be called, was a friend of Becky’s. She was an events director at one of the local resorts.

“Hell yeah!” she said, flailing her arms about in the wind to the loud music. They decided to take Becky’s black Mustang convertible out for the night. It was surprising how rowdy professional women could be when they wanted to
unwind
.

“Whatever. You guys are assholes, you know that right?” Alana said, trying to control her hair blowing in her face from the wind. Knowing they were right, but not wanting to admit it, she fought to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up into a smile.

“Ah, but you love us anyway, now shut up and enjoy the ride!” Becky reached to turn the radio up as they listened to Luke Bryan singing about speakers going boom boom.

Alana was a no nonsense kind of girl. She learned from her parents mistakes, and wasn’t about to repeat them. Due to her parent’s indiscretions and one-night stands, she never had a relationship with her father. That, and the fact that he had spent the last eighteen years of her life in prison for the death of her mother. She had lost both parents in one night with her mother’s death and her father’s conviction. She worked extremely hard to get where she was. No, Alana wasn’t about to let bad decisions ruin her life. She had a five-year plan. Save her money, buy a house, meet the right guy to marry and start a family.

They finally pulled into the parking lot of the Paradise Yacht Club. A man and woman
opened the door and you could hear someone slurring the words to Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks. The doorman was an older gentleman in his forties. He had a beard that was in desperate need of a trim, and held a cigarette between his lips. He wore an old black Stetson cowboy hat and a red western shirt, rolled up to his elbows.

“My, my, don’t we look fine tonight ladies,” he said looking Alana up and down, slowly, as if he were removing her clothes
with his eyes. The thought made her shudder. She thought twice about wearing the low cut black tank top, with rhinestones outlining the neckline, but it had looked nice with her designer jeans with large sparkly stones on the back pockets. She decided to wear it against her better judgment. Now, seeing the way he was staring at her, she regretted the decision.

“Shut up Lou!” Becky said. She was a regular at the Yacht Club, and was familiar with the man.

“Ah hell Beck, you know you’re sexy,” he laughed

They paid their cover charge and entered the building. The cigarette smoke was so thick it burned Alana’s eyes. The music was blaring. Every seat in the building was taken. There was a blend of people, some in western wear, and some in T-shirts and holes in their jeans with baseball caps on. Some of the women wore shirts that showed a little more cleavage then Alana thought was necessary. Since it was bike week, there were a lot of bikers there, with leather vests covered in patches. Not the sort of people Alana had imagined would be at a place called the
Yacht Club
. Then again, she didn’t know what kind of people she would have expected. She didn’t go out much because there wasn’t much time for fun in her life. That’s the way she wanted it, or at least that’s the way she made it.

There was a tiny stage to the right of the bar that was cattycorner and barely had enough room for the karaoke machine and DJ, let alone the five drunken women who were doing their best rendition of Redneck Woman. There was a small area being used as the dance floor where more inebriated women were lined up, arms around each other’s shoulders, swaying back and forth to the song. Some held their beer bottles up in the air to honor those singing.
Oh dear God, please tell me I won’t end up like that by the end of the night
, Alana thought to herself.

They made their way to the bar and Becky bought the first round, a lime beer and a shot of Patron for each of them. Although Alana enjoyed going out for drinks with friends, she rarely had the opportunity to party because of the long hours spent nursing and helping her Aunt Penny. She filled her life with work, work and more work.

The building wasn’t very big. To the left were several pool tables. Each one had a low hanging light over it. There were racks along the walls with pool sticks and mounds of white chalk. Neon beer signs adorned the walls. Men were standing with one foot propped up against the wall, or sitting at the small round tables with bar stools and covered in empty bottles and ashtrays.

Scanning the place, checking for seats, she spotted him. He didn’t quite fit in with the rough and rowdy bunch he was with, but he certainly stood out in the crowd. He wore a tight navy t-shirt, and she could see his muscles moving beneath the fabric of the shirt. And lord have mercy did he fill out his jeans. She wondered what he would look like out of those clothes. He hadn’t tucked the shirt, but his belt buckle was visible each time he raised his arm for a drink from the long neck bottle in his hand. He kept his fingers tucked into the front pocket of his jeans, and he smiled and laughed with his friends at something one of them said. His smile was contagious and she
smiled as he smiled. She couldn’t help but lick her lips as she looked him over and watched his muscles move. Was the alcohol already making her warm inside, or was it something else?

* * * * * * * *

“See man, I told you, after a few beers and a couple hotties you won’t need a physical therapist,” Dusty said with a devilish smile. “They’ll have you stretched out in places you didn’t know you even had.”

“You might need a sex therapist though!” yelled Mike, another close childhood friend of Logan and Dusty. He had always been fun to hang with, and Logan was enjoying the company of his old friends.

They all laughed, and Logan thought about the disgustingly perverted stories Dusty told of his sexual escapades with various women on his regular trips to Paradise Beach. He smiled thinking Mike was probably right. Logan enjoyed being in the company of a woman, but he had never wanted to live the life of a porn star, unlike Dusty

“Or an
infectious
disease doctor!” laughed Troy, one of Dusty and Mike’s work buddies who came along for the weekend. They had heard Dusty’s wild tales as well.

“Now that’s the truth!” Mike laughed and pointed the end of his pool stick at Dusty’s crotch. “That damn thing might rot off yet.”

“Watch out now,” Dusty said, covering his groin with a hand and looking defenseless, “He’s sensitive, you’ll scare him.”

Logan took a long pull from the bottle and scanned the room. That’s when he saw her. She was staring right at him. Was she licking her lips? Nah, he shook his head, she had probably just taken a drink. He nodded at her and smiled. She smiled back and turned to talk to the women at the small table by the bar.

God, she was beautiful. Her hair was straight and caramel colored, with blonde highlights that hung between her shoulders. She wore a black tank top that displayed just enough cleavage to make you want to see more. Her breasts were plump, and her skin was tan. The tank top and her jeans didn’t quite meet, leaving a gap just wide enough to see her flat stomach and the outline of each hip. The jeans fit her snug all the way down to her ankles. She had a petite little frame, and her ass,
oh
her ass made him lick his bottom lip and catch his breath.

He continued to watch her until she finally turned her head just enough to see him staring at her backside. Her smile widened as her eyes met his and she turned her head back to the girls.

“I’m empty,” Alana said, “I’ve got this round, be right back.” She turned to see if he was still looking at her. He was.
Oh shit
, she smiled to herself. Was he really looking at her? She made her way to the bar well to order three more lime beers and shots of Patron. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him. And he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

“Hey, I’m going for another round, you guys good?” Logan asked.

“Nah man, grab me another beer,” Dusty said. “Now watch me make the money shot,” he said to Mike and Troy, hitting the cue ball.

Logan made his way over to the bar, never taking his eyes off her. He didn’t hear the song that was playing in the background or all the loud voices stirring around him. He didn’t even hear the drunken off key karaoke singer. All he heard was his heartbeat getting louder with each step as he came closer to her. When he finally made it to the bar, he tipped his head to the bartender and ordered two Bud Lights. He lightly bumped his elbow against her arm, then looked up to see if he had gotten her attention. He had.

“Excuse me,” he said. He couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face. What the hell was wrong with him? It was like high school all over again, trying to get the nerve up to ask Nikki Hammonds to the prom. Their eyes met again. Her eyes were sparkling sapphire blue with flecks of turquoise, like nothing he had ever seen. They sparked
in the light like the fire in a diamond. She literally took his breath away. He had traveled to some exotic places and seen some beautiful women, but none held a candle to her.

Not able to form coherent words, she just smiled at him. She couldn’t speak. What was he doing? Had he bumped her arm on purpose or was she reading too much into this? She couldn’t look away from his beautiful light hazel eyes. His hair was a light brown, very short and clean cut.

“You, uh, enjoying yourself?” he finally broke the silence. Obviously he wasn’t very good at this.

“I am…” she said looking down at the bar to break the spell he had over her. She shook her head just a bit to remind herself it wasn’t a dream. She had only had one drink so far so she knew she wasn’t drunk. But there was a heat rising throughout her body.

“You?” she asked back.

“I think it might be getting better.” He smiled, trying not to look at the crevice between her breasts. Did he say that? Where the hell had that come from?

She could feel the heat moving up her neck to her cheeks. He moved his arm just the slightest so he could touch hers again and it felt like electricity running through her whole body. She nervously laughed.

“You think so?” she asked. She took a look at his physique. She could see the shape of his biceps through the shirt. She didn’t know what cologne he was wearing, but it was a fresh, clean spicy scent that made all her senses aware of his presence. Her nipples began to harden. What was coming over her? She had never been attracted to a stranger in her life. It wasn’t part of the plan.

He felt her hunger as she eyed his arms and chest, and felt a twitch in his groin. He had never been this attracted to a woman, ever. But there was something about this woman that made his groin ache.

“What’s your name?” he asked in a husky voice.

“Alana. Yours?”

“Logan.”

“Well,
Logan
, it’s nice to meet you.” The way she made his name roll off her tongue sent a sensational chill down his spine. Wondering what else she could do with that tongue, he got a slight shiver.

“The pleasure is all mine, Alana.” He couldn’t help but take a look at her plump, tan cleavage. A fine mist of sweat was covering it and glistening in the light. He unconsciously licked his bottom lip.

Alana was pleasantly flattered and turned away before he saw the cheesy grin she was wearing on her face. Maybe Becky had been right in the outfit she had picked out for her to wear. She was like a giggly little schoolgirl. Giggly? Really? Seriously, who was she?