Page 5 of Meet Me in the Valley
How he does this so easily, I’ll never know.
Logan’s easy chuckle tumbles out of him, smooth like aged-whiskey. I’m reminded then—that’s how.He’s too good. Just his laugh alone can make a woman’s panties drop.
“I’ll call you, gorgeous,” Logan drawls.
He won’t.
I cringe when I hear sucking and slurping, scrunching my nose up because, no matter how many times I’ve been in this position over the years, it still makes me want to hurl.
Finally, the mystery girl comes out from the doorway, revealing herself.
Ah, receptionist number three. One more tally mark for Harper.
Our eyes lock, and I give her a sweet smile with a tiny finger wave. Her dirty blonde hair is mussed from sex, and her makeup is slightly smeared under the eyes where her mascara flakes.
She looks like she’s seen a ghost, and I almost feel bad. She’ll probably quit within the month.
“Hi Valerie,” I chirp.
Logan’s head cranes around the door frame, smiling like an idiot when he sees me. I glare at him before turning back to Valerie, giving her a soft pat on the shoulder.
“It’s okay. I won’t tell. Have a great weekend,” I reassure her, and the color returns to her face as she scurries down the hall with her heels dangling from her hands.
If Roy found out the reason all his receptionists keep quitting is because Logan can’t keep it in his goddamn pants, he’d shit a brick.
As soon as she’s out of sight, I slap both of my hands against his naked chest, shoving my way through his door.
“Ugh! Ew! You’re so sweaty!” I stalk to his kitchen sink and wash my hands with a dramatic amount of soap. Logan shuts the door behind him and laughs with his whole body, his smile stretching all the way across his face where the lines around his mouth crease and his eyes crinkle.
It sucks how contagious it is when I’m absolutely disgusted by him right now. I’m laughing too before I can stop myself.
At least he has his jeans on, although the fly is unbuttoned and his zipper is all the way down. I avert my eyes, throwing a dish towel at him.
“I’m sorry, T. Valerie had been teasing me for weeks. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Okay, but like, do you have to hook up with the girls from work? You’re getting sloppy with age. This isn’t college anymore. These girls want to have a career, and you’re corrupting their ambition with your dick.” I give him a deadpan stare when I notice his place is more messy than usual. A few dishes pile in the sink. A box of cereal left out. Blueprints strewn across his coffee table.
“Jesus, Lo. You could keep this place tidy, you know,” I huff, moving across his condo like a little worker bee, putting food back in his pantry and organizing the mess of work sketches he’s left scattered across the living room.
Logan shrugs, striding back to his room without a care as he shouts over his shoulder, “That’s why I have you! You keep me in line!”
I grumble under my breath, cringing when I find a pair of purple lace panties between his couch cushions.
“Oh, God.” Gagging, I grab a pair of tongs from the kitchen so I don’t have to touch them, gripping the barely-there lace. I stand in Logan’s bedroom doorway, pinching my nose and holding out the panties in front of me.
He throws on a t-shirt, and I can’t help but stare a little longer at the way his abs ripple and his biceps flex as he fits it over his head. He’s tan—golden—with a smattering of light blonde hair across his chest and a darker shade of hair that leads down past the waistband of his jeans.
A strange twinge twists inside my stomach. I push it away quickly, becausewhat the fuck?
He catches me looking with a sly grin and an upturned eyebrow.
“Shut up.”
His hands come up in defense. “I didn’t say anything!” he chokes out with a laugh.
I thrust the panties in front of me, shaking it in his face. He grabs them from the tongs, examining them while stretching and pulling the fabric as if he’s trying to remember who they belong to.
“Valerie,” we say at the same time, and we stare at each other for all of five seconds until we are cracking up.
