Page 34 of Yo Ho Ho
And she did. She really did. There was nothing normal about what was going on in her life right now. She just didn't realize that maybe it wasn't her and her co-workers who were the only ones being affected by what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry I got so emotional yesterday. I didn't mean to imply that I was happy that you were losing your job."
Max nodded, swallowing the lump forming in her throat as she forced herself to look away. She was going to try desperately to hold on to whatever emotion was trying to break free. Instead, she stared at the ceiling for a minute, collected herself, and looked back at him. Her eyes matched his again, and he gave her an awkward smile.
"I'm really not happy about your job, Max. I mean that," he told her. "But I've been thinking a lot about the fact that the one thing keeping me from you is going away. My words just came out all wrong, so I'm sorry."
There was a calm silence that filled the room and Max didn't know how to fill it. Sometimes there were no words, even for a woman whose job was to write them every day. Sometimes there was nothing that could really be said — or nothing she wanted to say. Because to be honest, she felt the same way about Logan. She had tried to deny it. She had spent the past year pushing her feeling aside and reminding herself that she didn't have a chance with him. Even if she did have a chance, even if there was some way he saw her differently than his normal conquests or differently than all those women who would throw themselves at him in Detroit, even if all that was gone, she still had her job.
But sitting here, in this hotel room with Logan, it was really starting to sink in. What the hell was she going to do next? The times she had really let herself think about it, it was only for a little bit, only for a quick "what if." Because really thinking about what would happen next meant she really had to accept that her job was going to be gone.
"Max?"
She looked up at Logan and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She hadn't realized she had pushed past the point where she couldn't keep her emotions in check anymore. There was a reason she was trying so hard to not let him see her like this, and that reason was clear as he sat there in front of her.
"Please don't look at me like that," she said as she hastily wiped away the tear from her cheek.
"Like what?"
She looked down at her hands. "Like you feel sorry for me."
She could hear the bed squeak as he got up and walked over to her. He stopped and kneeled down in front of her, ducking his head so he was in her line of sight, and smiled at her.
"I just wish I could fix this for you."
"I don't need anyone fixing anything for me."
Logan gave her a small laugh. "Oh, I know that. You've made that very clear."
"When did I make that clear?" she asked.
He shrugged and put his hand on her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the moisture still left there. "Every day," he said. "It's just who you are, Max. You're strong to the point of being stubborn. Like, really stubborn. You don't need any of us to hold your hand or boost your ego. You're fine on your own."
Max gave him a sad smile and turned her head, closing her eyes as she pressed her cheek into his warm hand. She could hear his breath hitch, reminding her that he still felt something for her. It just reinforced that she felt something for him too.
She had never forgotten their night together last year. After that, she had insisted they couldn't have a relationship, which seemed fine with Logan. She had seen him bring a girl or two back to his room on some of their road trips. She had also moved on with a boyfriend who liked her until she went on the road for work and then complained about not seeing her enough.
But this just felt good, and maybe that's all it would be — a nice feeling but nothing more. Logan was a hockey player, and Max was a writer, at least for a little while longer. Then they would go their separate ways and that would be it.
Logan's thumb brushed against her cheek again. "I should probably get going."
His voice was husky and dark, not like it was when he walked in, and it made her feel things. Things she had been denying when it came to Logan.
He stood up, his fingers trailing across her cheek before they were gone. But she couldn't let him leave. Not again.
She instinctively reached out to grab his hand, pulling herself up from the chair, her other hand grasping his strong bicep that clenched under her fingers. Max could tell Logan was wound tight in anticipation, wondering what was going to happen next. She could feel the tension in the air between them.
So Max kissed him. Hard. Logan stood motionless, and she worried that maybe she had read this whole thing wrong. But then his lips responded, and the whole room started to spin. She felt dizzy and pulled her hand off his arm to grab on to his shirt. She needed to steady herself, to get a better grasp on him, but instead it only made things worse. She could feel the muscles under her fingers tense as she touched him, but she couldn't move now. Logan's arm grasped her tightly around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her hand was caught between her breast and his chest, her leg against the hardness under his track pants, which only turned her on more.
She had tried to forget what it was like to make Logan Moore become unhinged like, but she hadn't tried very hard. Because this, right here, this feeling between them was different than with any other man she had known. There was something intoxicating about Logan, something primal that made her forget about her job and the outside world. It was just the two of them together in this moment, and that was all she needed.
Right now, in this moment, she needed him. She was finally able to release her hand so she could wrap her arms around his neck, pulling herself up his body in a way that made her own heart race more. Logan tightened his grip around her waist with his other arm reaching to grab her ass, hoisting her higher on him. Her feet weren't touching the ground anymore, but that didn't matter because she wasn't sure she could feel them anyway.
His lips traveled down to her neck as he carried her over to the bed, peppering her skin with kisses before laying her down on her bed. He started to run his hands through her hair, and she moaned loudly in pleasure.
"Shh," he said quietly before leaning over to kiss her skin again. "There are prying ears in the other rooms. You don't want to be asked to explain yourself tomorrow."
"No, I don't want to explain that I was moaning because Logan Moore drove me wild."
