A weird sense of relief slid through her. Intellectually she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong and she felt stupid for beating herself up. But some things had been drilled into her since she was young and they were hard to overcome. “Really? You don’t think I should feel embarrassed?”
“Oh my God, no! Why would you feel bad? I mean, I can only guess what you guys did when you left, so… Was it great?”
“Incredible.” That was all she was going to say about that. She kept getting flashes of the night before in her mind. Hot, naked, sweaty flashes as he kissed her entire body. God, the sexy growling sounds he’d made? Yes, please.
“You’re totally giving me details later.”
“No way.”
“Hey, I tell you everything.”
“Exactly. You give me TMI all the time.” She didn’t bite back a laugh because it was true. Sierra was so dang happy with her husband Hayden, and she told everyone.
“Whatever. So how was this morning? Was he weird?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Wait…why wouldn’t you know?” Sierra asked cautiously.
Grace bit her bottom lip. “Well, I might have snuck out of the hotel room.”
To her surprise Sierra let out a burst of laughter. “You’re adorable and ridiculous. Man, your loser ex really did a number on you.”
“True enough.” No reason to deny it. “I just couldn’t stand the thought of having that weird or awkward conversation with Logan where he told me last night was awesome and that he wanted to stay friends. Ugh, I’m such a coward. I cannot believe I ran out like that.” She paused. “I also stole his jacket and sunglasses.”
Sierra laughed even harder now. “You’ve got to stop! You’re killing me. Just call him and talk to him. You’ll feel so much better.”
“I will.” Soon enough.
“Good, because you know he’s going to be at Friendsgiving tomorrow.”
“Ah, crap,” she muttered as she pulled up to a red light. She’d forgotten about that. A whole bunch of them were spending Thanksgiving together this year. And of course Logan was going to be there. “I’ll call him, I promise.” Yeah she definitely needed to call and apologize for running out of there like a lunatic. So what if they were going to have an awkward conversation? She should have just dealt with that in the moment and talked it out with him.
Gah. She internally berated herself as she took a left turn toward her neighborhood. It was too late to change things now.
The spicy scent of his cologne wrapped around her, and she realized it must be from his jacket. She liked wearing it, liked the sensation of it wrapped around her—and kinda wished he was currently wrapped around her instead.
Damn it, she needed to stop thinking about him, but that was pretty impossible when he was imprinted on every part of her now. At that thought her cheeks flamed hot, even though there was no one else in the vehicle with her.
After more teasing from Sierra, Grace ended the call, and by the time she got home she was feeling somewhat better. She needed to call Logan though.
She just…had to work up to it.
Chapter 3
Logan grabbed his phone and hit his second speed dial. “Come on, come on,” he muttered. Water still dripped from his hair onto his bare chest as he waited for Grace to pick up. He’d come out of the shower moments ago and realized she was gone.
At first he thought she’d gone into the living room area maybe to call for room service. Then he realized her dress and shoes were gone. So was his jacket, for that matter.
“Hey,” she answered on the fourth ring, her tone tentative.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, because he needed to know that first.
She shoved out a breath. “Yeah…I’m sorry for leaving.”
Feeling as if he’d been punched, he sat on the edge of the bed, the sheets and comforter rumpled and half on the floor, half on the bed. “Why did you leave?” He simultaneously wanted and didn’t want the answer. They’d had an incredible time last night. Of that he had no doubt. Maybe this morning she’d realized he wasn’t what she wanted after all. He closed his eyes tight.
“I panicked and acted like a maniac?”
“Is that a question, or are you telling me?”
Her sigh was heavy. “I’m telling you. Look, I’m sorry. Last night was amazing but…ah…”
Oh no. He knew where this was going. She was going to let him down easy. Sonofabitch, he thought he’d played things right, that he’d waited until she was ready for more. Maybe she hadn’t been ready for anything serious. “Please don’t give me that speech.”
“Well last night was amazing. So…” She cleared her throat.
“Yeah it was amazing. More than. And it shouldn’t be a one-time thing.” Hell no. He wanted it every night. And in the mornings too.
There was another long pause. “You’ve been such a great friend, Logan. I don’t want to lose your friendship.”
Sighing, he lay back on the bed, staring at the sparkling chandelier above him. The knots in his stomach tightened as he digested what she was telling him. Last night and then this morning had been incredible. He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her. She was even better than he’d imagined—and he’d had far too many fantasies. He’d made her come so many times and was desperate for more. To bind her to him so she never wanted to let him go. “I don’t want to lose your friendship either.”
“Okay good, then. So we’re good?”
He closed his eyes. No, they weren’t good. “Grace, I want—”
“I really value our friendship,” she whispered, the raw vulnerability in her voice cutting at him.
Ah, hell. She’d said the word friendship about a billion times now. Message received. He wanted to push so badly but it clearly wasn’t the time. Maybe it never would be. Maybe…she only saw him as a friend.
No, he needed to see her in person, to talk. “You’re not going to lose that. I promise.”
“I’ll see you at Thanksgiving tomorrow, then?” Her tone sounded almost normal now. At least she wasn’t whispering and sounding all sad and dejected. He couldn’t handle that.
“Yes. Damn it, I mean no.” He’d gotten a text from his boss, Wyatt, last night telling him he needed Logan for a job. Since he was the only single person on Wyatt’s team who hadn’t made Thanksgiving plans to travel out of town, he’d agreed. “I took a last-minute job thing. It shouldn’t take too long but I definitely won’t be there tomorrow.”
“Well, I’ll miss seeing you.”
He was going to miss her too. “I’ll text and send you inappropriate memes while I’m gone,” he said to lighten the tension pulled taut between them.
She snorted, sounding much more like the Grace he knew and cared for in that moment. Not the Grace trying to have an uncomfortable conversation with him. “I look forward to your memes.”
He could have teased her, could have said something about last night, but he got the feeling she was too raw. So he reined in the impulse to make a joke.