Page 25 of A Submissive's Touch

“Yes, Sir, locked car,” she said.

“Good girl,” Logan said. “Where do you keep your Ibuprofen, and what would you like to drink before we start?”

Again, she felt as if her head was whirling. Suddenly, it all seemed to be too much. She sighed and pointed down the hall.

“There’s Advil in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and considering I never got to finish a single glass of wine, I’d like one now, please. It’s in the refrigerator,” she said. Logan began to move down the hall when she added, “Oh, would you hand me my purse? I need to call Jason.”

He immediately put the bag in her lap. “I thought this huge thing was a satchel,” he said, with a smile that caused her to flush again.

“I stand corrected,” she said, and then giggled. As she made her call to assure Jason she was fine and that she would call Nancy the next day so they could begin planning the project, Logan returned from the bathroom and moved past her into the kitchen. Her gaze followed him as she listened to Jason. “I’m not sure. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Good night, Jason. Tell Nancy good night for me,” she said, before shutting off the phone.

Logan asked her what she would like in her tea.

“Tea? I asked for wine,” she said, looking to see him shaking his head as he dropped a K-cup into the appliance.

“I’ve seen you with a wine glass, and besides, tea will soothe you better,” Logan said, as he held up the sugar container. “Sugar, or do you prefer honey?” he asked, as if he was perfectly at home in her kitchen.

“Yes, honey… I mean, honey, please,” she said, and then blushed as the words replayed in her head. She heard him chuckle and mumbled under her breath, “This is why I needed wine.”

“I want you to be relaxed, yet not under the influence of alcohol for this conversation,” he said, obviously having heard her perfectly. He held out a glass. She looked at the contents, a question in her eyes. “Water first. I don’t you to scald your throat taking medicine with hot tea,” he explained, handing her two of the pills.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the medicine with the water and handing back the glass.

“You’re welcome.”

He set the glass down and then caused her to squeal, as he bent to lift her, moving her to the end of the small couch. He positioned her so that her legs were stretched out on the cushions. She simply found she could not move as he picked up the mug of tea and handed it to her.

“Careful, it’s hot,” he warned, as he settled at the other end, put the pillow on his lap and then lifted her feet to rest on the pillow, the bag of peas once more draped across her ankle.

He had moved with such precision and grace that it seemed completely natural. She opened her mouth to protest but, as his hand took hold of her uninjured foot and he began massaging, she simply gave up. She stifled her moan of intense pleasure in the depths of her mug as he slowly rotated her foot.

“To parrot my father, we are both adults and it is time to be frank,” he said without preamble. “What is it about me that bothers you so?” he asked.

Elizabeth immediately flushed as he continued to massage her foot, his eyes on her face. She shifted a bit, the fantasies she been having threatening to pull her into their embrace.

“I’ve seen you three times before, and yet tonight is the first time you seem hesitant and unsure of yourself. Why?” he asked.

“Mr. Dietrich—”

“Logan is fine,” he said. “I might quote my dad, but I prefer that address be left for him.”

She nodded and bit back a groan, as he moved his attention to her other foot, removing the peas from her sore ankle and gently began to massage it. She gathered her thoughts and then sighed. “I didn’t mean to watch,” she said as she tried to ignore the sensations of his fingers on her skin, slowly warming it from the cold of the frozen bag of vegetables. “I was just walking back from the car and—”

“Miss Adams,” he said, his fingers stilling. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Clarity, remember?”

She looked up from her mug to see him looking at her. Suddenly, she was very uncertain of how to proceed. He simply resumed his massage, silently waiting for her to continue. “You said you’ve seen me three times before tonight,” she stated, though it sounded like a question.

He nodded. “I attended the presentation you gave my folks and then saw you that evening.” He paused and then continued, “Tell me, why were you talking about a car?”

If her ankle didn’t hurt, she’d have kicked herself. She dropped her eyes, realizing he hadn’t seen her and now was scrambling to think of a way to extricate herself from confessing her eavesdropping.

“Miss Adams?” he said, quietly.

“That’s why you knew my name,” she said, softly. “I mean, in the restaurant, you addressed me as Miss Adams, but I didn’t remember ever meeting you. You were the man sitting against the wall during the presentation. I guess I did see you but was so nervous about the meeting that I didn’t remember. I thought you looked familiar when I saw you and Carol later, but still didn’t place you.” She looked up, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face.

“You mother showed me tons of photos of you and you sisters,” she said. “Even Garrett was in a great deal of them. Yet, I didn’t recognize you.”

Logan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Parents tend to take thousands of pictures of their children when they are young as a way to remember how they have grown and document the changes during their childhood. Once grown we really don’t tend to change as much from year to year,” Logan said, in way of explanation and then grinned. “Of course, the fact that I didn’t hit a growth spurt until college might explain it too.”

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