The What If Guy - Lauren Blakely Page 0,62

from our section. The Bronx Bombers win, and on the way home, I’ve arranged for a town car.

With the partition up, she makes good on her promise.

She takes me deep, and I thrust hard, fucking her mouth, holding her head, telling her how good she is at this, then flooding her throat with my release.

After, we swing by her place to grab a change of clothes and feed her cat. Then she comes over and spends the night before she has to leave for Los Angeles late Sunday night for a work trip.

In the morning, when I wake, I tug her back to my chest and slide inside her, fucking her slowly and sensually, but still gripping her tight, controlling her pleasure, and giving it to her how she wants.

So she doesn’t have to think.

So she only has to feel.

It’s the perfect weekend.

So perfect, it feels like this is the true kismet.

Later, as I make her lunch, I draw a breath, ready to take another step with this woman.

“Would you want to meet Amelia later this week? After you return from your trip?”

Her green eyes shine with delight. “I’d love to. But are you sure?”

“I’m positive. It would mean a lot to me. I want you in my life, Bryn. I want you to meet my daughter.”

“I want to be in your life, and I do want to meet her.” She clears her throat. “But how are we doing this? This whole disclosure thing? This weekend is like a dream, but we have to face reality.”

I turn off the stove, plate the pasta and veggies, and sit across from her at the table. “I can talk to HR tomorrow and work on it.”

She inhales deeply. “I want to be there though. It’s important to me to do this together. To be in this together. I return from California Wednesday afternoon.”

“Of course. So we do it on Thursday. That’s the day I’m heading to the West Village offices to check in and meet with everyone. We’ll make it a double, since we’re seeing Casey that evening for our meeting.”

She wiggles her brows. “We disclose, and we date. That sounds totally unsexy, but with you, I know it’ll be hot.”

“And so much more.” I set down my fork, meeting her gaze. “It’s more than dating. You know that, right?”

She swallows a little nervously. “What is it, Logan?”

What I’m about to say ought to scare me. It should be terrifying. But it’s not at all. I feel free with her. I feel safe with her. I feel trust with her. “I’m falling in love with you,” I tell her, and it feels so damn good.

Then it feels ten million times better when she says, “I’m falling in love with you too.”

28

Logan

As I end my final work call on Tuesday, I hang up the phone with panache, hold my arms out wide, and stare happily at the little person patiently waiting on the other side of my desk, flipping through an old Far Side comic.

“I’m done now. All done,” I say.

Amelia holds up a finger, speaking quietly under her breath. “Blah, blah, blah, Ginger.”

I smile. “That’s one of the best ones.”

She looks up, shuts the book, and shrugs. “I like Calvin and Hobbes better.”

“And that is your prerogative.”

“What does that mean? Like pierogis? Because those are good.” She slides out of the chair where she’s been quietly reading since my sister picked her up from school and dropped her at my regular Upper East Side office an hour ago.

“‘Prerogative’ means choice. It’s your choice to like what you like,” I say, grabbing my cell and tucking it into the pocket of my slacks.

She nods. “I don’t think I want to use that word for a while though. It’s too hard to say.”

“Confession—it’s a little hard for me to say too.”

“Nothing’s hard for you,” she says as we leave the office and head to the elevator.

“That’s not true at all.”

“What’s hard for you?” she asks as she presses the button for the lobby. “Not tying your shoes.”

“True. I mastered that a while ago.”

“Not reading. You’re good at that,” she points out as the car arrives and we step inside.

I want to tell her all the things that have been hard for me. Trust would be top of the list. Believing in second chances. Letting go of my armor.

But I’ve done all that lately. Thanks to my friends and their support, thanks to my daughter and her attitude, and most recently, thanks to Bryn and her