Pistol Whipped - Ashley Bostock Page 0,26

suspense for her answer. Finally, it came. “Of course. Who else would be here?”

“The chef.” He didn’t like how his voice was laced with sarcasm. He sounded jealous to his own ears. “I just didn’t know.”

Again, she was silent. The one time he would feel a lot more comfortable if she would talk and fill the void like she always did, and yet all he was getting was silence. “Are you mad?”

“No,” she whispered. “I could never be mad at you. It was my fault. The details are fuzzy but…I asked you to sleep with me?”

He let out a low chuckle, no longer sounding like the jealous ex-boyfriend. “You sure did, Cinderella.”

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I hope I didn’t freak you out.”

He didn’t want her to be sorry for fuck’s sake. He wanted her to still want to sleep with him. “You shocked me only a little bit, but I got over it quickly. That’s why the next day I asked if you were serious and you said yes. I thought you still meant it.”

“I kissed you, too…didn’t I?” Her voice was just above a whisper, causing him to ache inside his pants yet again.

“Yes, you did. Do you actually remember that part?”

“Yes.”

“I liked it, Gabriella.” He swallowed the tightness in his throat. It was about time that he admitted the truth.

Again, he was met with silence.

“Gabbie?”

“I did, too.”

He stood from his desk, feeling like he’d just gotten pummeled by a ton of bricks. “Where does this leave us?”

Silence.

“Fuck, Gabriella, why the silence all of the sudden? You’re driving me crazy. Just tell me, should we try this or not?”

“I love you, Logan.”

“I know, I love you too, but you’re killing me.”

“That’s why I can’t sleep with you. As worried about sex as I am, about whether or not I will be able to enjoy it during my lifetime, I don’t want to ruin our friendship. Don’t you agree?”

Should he push? Spout out all the reasons he thought it was a great idea? Should he tell her he had gone past the friendship feeling with her and into the I-like-you-in-a-sexy-way and that he damn well fantasized about her in red lingerie zone? That he would damn well make her forget her fear of getting pregnant when he was having his way with her?

“Are you there?”

“I’m here,” he replied tersely.

“Don’t you agree that we can’t ruin our friendship over this? I was drinking and brought up a stupid idea, I’m sorry. But I love you too much and want you in my life too much, to risk anything more.”

No, I absolutely do not agree with you. “Yeah, sure. I agree.”

“You do?” She sounded surprised…or let down. Most likely the latter was his ego talking.

“Yeah, sure. Are we good now? Because we have a big trip coming up. The trip of your life.”

“The trip of our lives,” she emphasized.

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something definitely changed between them. It was present between them over the phone lines. It hung thick in the air like wet towels over a clothesline. Any moment he feared it would snap from the gravitational pull. He knew it and he knew she knew it. He didn’t mistake the lust in her voice admitting that she enjoyed kissing him. He damn well didn’t mistake the desire in her eyes when he’d told her to go to bed.

He’d have five days.

Five days in Japan to convince her otherwise.

Chapter Fifteen

Gabriella was amazed by their quick arrival into Tokyo. Having had a full-sized bed on the plane, neither of them felt any jetlag. The air was slightly brisk with the breeze coming off the water, but the sun was shining as they got into a private car that would take them directly to their hotel. It was mostly a quiet ride for the hour it took the driver to get them to Shinagawa where their hotel was located—both of them staring out their windows in awe at all of the buildings, the surrounding farmland, people and the massive amount of signs written in Japanese.

“It’s beautiful,” she remarked.

“It’s different, isn’t it?”

“Did you see all of the rice fields we passed?”

He nodded in agreement as the driver pulled up to their hotel. The cobblestone drive ran underneath part of the hotel and once the car came to a halt, two members of the valet were there to assist them out of the car and collect their luggage.

“These will be delivered to your room.”

“Thank you.”

The hotel lobby was breathtaking,