Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (9 page)

Logan

“I thought you said
we going to be alone tonight?” Sara asks.

I survey the park in
front of us. A few months ago, the city started showing old movies
every other Friday night in one of Wind Valley’s parks. Tonight’s
film is
The Breakfast Club
and
the park is full of people. Groups big and small fill the grass in
front of the temporary screen. Some people are lying on blankets,
some are in camping chairs, and a few have even gone as far to bring
beanbags and small reclining chairs for their children

“We will be alone. I
came earlier today while they were setting up the screen to scope out
the place. I found the perfect spot in the trees over there.” I
point to our left. “It gives us a clear view of the screen and
privacy.”

Sara’s smile beams
and she rushes out of the truck. In good ole’ fashion, she swings
open the back door and starts unloading blankets and pillows. I rush
around to help her before she tries to carry the entire load without
my help.

“Oh wait! Let’s
take a picture real quick. I want one of our nights together, but I
don’t want to take my phone with me. No interruptions tonight.”
She half climbs back into the truck through the passenger door and I
smile to myself as her legs dangle out the door. Damn, she sure does
have a nice ass and that dress is riding up just far enough to keep
everything hidden. Her legs flutter as she leans more into the truck
and her flip-flop falls off. She falls back to the ground and bounces
in a circle on the foot that still has a shoe.

She giggles as she
leans forward to pick it up. “If you’d been watching me with
those eyes when you picked me up we’d never have made it here.”

“That wouldn’t have
been a terrible idea.” I step up behind her, wrapping my arms
around her waist. I lean my head to the right and smile as she holds
up the camera. Right before she touches the button, I turn to kiss
her. I only reach her temple, but the way she stares at the finished
photo tells me my choice was the right one. Sara looks up at me with
watery eyes and I kiss her again. I’m going to kiss her as much as
I can in the next two days. I have weeks to catch up on.

After she places her
phone back inside the truck, I do the same with my own. Then Sara
grabs all the blankets in one big pile. I shake my head at her.

“What? I got this,”
she says and heads for the spot I picked in the trees.

I know she can do it on
her own—they are just blankets after all—but she has me now. Her
days of doing anything alone are gone. I jog up behind her and swing
both her and the blankets into my arms. Attempting to be as romantic
as I can, I carry her the rest of the way. I set out the blankets and
pillow and Sara sits between my legs, leaning against my chest, as we
settle in to watch the movie.

Everything about this
moment is perfect. The girl in my arms is both my best friend and my
girlfriend. I can talk to her about almost anything, but my worries
about contacting my sister and Sara being in a whole other state with
another guy—those issues will have to wait another night.

“Did you bring
snacks?” she asks.

“Maybe, maybe not,”
I say and listen as she laughs. I squeeze her tighter and kiss the
back of her head.

“I miss this stuff.
The easy ‘we can just be here and do nothing together’ stuff.”

“Me too. Tell your
dad you quit and come home.” I say it jokingly, but on the inside
I’m serious.

“I wish I could do
that, but I want this too much. I want to be successful now while I’m
young.”

“Yeah, but you’re
really young. Twenty-three is a little early to be planning
retirement, isn’t it?”

“No, not if one day I
plan to start a family, and I want to make sure they are taken care
of before kids happen.”

I nod my head in silent
agreement. Those exact words are what I should be saying to her. I
should be the one working my ass off to make sure she has all those
things. Maybe if I had been more driven in high school and not so
focused on college life and parties or on finding my sister, I’d be
able to provide for her right now and we wouldn’t have to be apart.

“I don’t tell a lot
of people this, especially not around my dad since he has that whole
‘relationships ruin people’ thing going on and I guess I used to
think he was right, but I want kids and a house and to be able to
make enough money that I don’t have to be on a schedule all the
time. What about you—do you want kids someday?” she asks.

“If it’s with you,
I want everything.”

Sara twists around, she
studies me as a slight grin appears and then touches her lips to
mine. She moves swiftly to straddle my lap and turns her soft kisses
into passionate and desperate ones. I grab her hips to hold her in
place as I slide my tongue past her lips. The movie starts in the
background, louder than I’d anticipated but extremely appreciated
at this moment because I have no intentions of stopping whatever Sara
is about to initiate.

“I like this snack,”
she says, breaking the kiss and traveling kissing across my jawline.
I love that she wants to be in control right now, but I can’t let
her do that. In this moment, I want to show her how much fun it is to
lose control.

Lifting my hips, I push
her up and then flip her over, wrapping my arm around her waist to
lower her gently to the ground. A smile appears on her lips but I
hide it when my mouth meets hers. One thing I’ve never understood
but will never complain about is how Sara has always carefully
planned her life out. She’s polite and caring and considerate of
others. All those things together, I would never think that sex in a
public place would be an option for her. Yet, it happens with us all
the time.

I pepper kisses from
her lips to her ear, tugging on the lobe and sucking. A hum of
pleasure is barely audible from her lips, but her grinding hips is
louder than any noise. Inching my fingers up her thigh, I grab hold
of one leg, pulling it to the side, and let myself fall between her
legs. Her back arches the moment my hand moves from her outer thigh
to her inner one. I slide my hand toward her core, but before I reach
it, she pulls me up, latching her lips onto mine. She tries to flips
us over, but I hold my position. If she thinks I’m going too slow,
I’ll change that.

I pin her between me
and the ground with just enough pressure to keep her from trying that
again. Then I skip the slow movement and place my hand right where
she needs it. Pulling her panties to the side, I slide two fingers
into her. She moans loudly, but I know no one can hear it but me. Her
hands spring from my hair to my jeans as she makes quick work of the
buttons. Pulling them down just far enough to make people still think
my pants are on, I remove my fingers and enter her slowly.

Fully inside her
warmth, I kiss her hard and thrust into her harder. It’s easy to
lose myself when I’m with Sara.

Logan

It took everything I
had to get out of Sara’s bed this morning. It took even more work
for me to leave her this afternoon and come to work. I don’t want
to be here because I dread spending any time with Liam. I’m usually
pretty cool with everyone, but there’s something about this guy. He
just shows up out of nowhere and all the sudden lands a job working
with Sara every day. Then, after one week, he’s traveling home with
her. Even if he isn’t staying with her, something about this entire
situation doesn’t seem right. Either something is going on or I’m
jealous and can’t handle the fact they work together alone. They
may be just coworkers, but I don’t like it. And I really don’t
like that I’m the one training him.

A passing car and
chatter outside brings my attention to the door opening.

Look at him. Walking in
here like he owns this place. Thinking he’s all fancy with his
clothes cleaned and pressed. I hold back my laugh. Doesn’t he know
he works in bar now? Something is going to get spilled on him before
the night is over. I roll my eyes as I catch him smiling at a few
girls like a professional player. Disgusting. Real men don’t act
like that. They are calm and cool, like me—in every other moment of
my life but this one.

I watch him with
intensity as he steps closer to me. I’m standing behind the bar. I
don’t like this guy, and there was no way for me to hide it. I
won’t try to be friends with him or even get to know him. All I
have to do is train him—that doesn’t require me to be nice to
him.

Shit.

I hold back another eye
roll as Sara’s dad follows Liam into the bar. My fists tighten as I
realize I’m going to have to play nice until her father leaves. He
scans the room on his way to the bar. His eyes stop on me.

Force a smile, Logan.

Do
it!

“Liam, Dean.” I
reach out to shake both their hands. “Good to see you again.”

“Oh, you’ve already
met?” Dean sounds surprised. He tilts his head, but his eyes remain
on me. I nod and he looks to Liam.

“Yeah, yesterday at
Sara’s apartment,” Liam shares with him in a cheery tone. “Logan
was picking her up for a date, and I just happened to be leaving at
the same time.”

“I’m surprised you
made it to my house in one piece.”

He’s staying with her
family?

“Of course.” Liam
gives a slight chuckle but glances my way with questioning eyes. “Any
friend of Sara’s is a friend of mine.”

Friends,
Logan.
Liam even said it himself: they are just
friends
.

Dean watches me for a
moment. He can give some pretty intimidating looks and I’m positive
he can read my mind. He knows I don’t like Sara and Liam working
together. The fact I just learned he’s staying with her family
isn’t helping. Obviously this new guy already has her father’s
approval, and me, I’m still busting my ass to earn it. I really
want to look away from his gaze, but I don’t. I can’t let him or
anyone see any signs of weakness.

“Alright,” Dean
says, clapping his hands and then rubbing them together. “Since we
don’t need to cover introductions and I assume my daughter filled
you in on Liam’s role with her new bar, I trust you will teach him
everything you can in the one night.”

“Yes, sir.”

Teach
him on the busiest night of the week? Yeah, Dean, no problem.

“And, since you can’t
train him on his whole job in one night, I plan to bring him back
throughout the summer until we are confident he can run the place
without supervision.”

Yes! That means Sara
will be coming home more too.

“In the meantime,
Sara will be training him in Colorado, along with other new
employees. Things are growing busier by the minute with The Silver
Tap.” Dean smiles wide. “That girl is going to be successful. I
will do anything I can to help her.”

Yeah, anything that
means keeping her away from me. I’m not the idiot he thinks I am,
but damn, I’m crazy about his daughter. I’ll put up with this
shit to have her in my life.

“Sara is one of
kindest people I know—anyone would do what they could to help her,”
I reply. He needs to know I’m as fully supportive of her career as
he is.

“Then you better get
started,” he says, giving Liam a pat on the back before leaving us.

I step around the bar
to Liam’s side. We stand in the middle of the room as the door
closes. The music has stopped playing and he glances as me with a
half-smile, shrugs, and then looks away. Only dead silence and a
shitload of tension follow. I glance at him one more time, keeping my
eyes narrowed. He’s not facing me anymore. Instead he’s taking in
the bar. His head starts to bob up and down.

“Did Sara give this
place its look? If so, the place in Colorado is going to be a huge
hit. I wonder if we can get a jukebox too,” Liam says. “What do
you think?”

I hate to admit it, but
the tone of his voice almost convinces me he might actually only be
here for a job. Nothing more.

“Sara is beauty and
brains. The bar will be huge success either way,” he adds.

Like I said, I was
almost
convinced.

Someone needs to set
this guy straight. Warn him about his actions before it’s too late.
Seeing as how I would be the one to enforce punishment, it only seems
right I explain the rules, too.

“Her father mentioned
you recently started playing live bands again. What are your thoughts
on doing that in Colorado? I mean, not right away, of course. If we
added that to the list, Sara would be gone a lot longer, and we both
know that is definitely not something she wants.”

I nod my head. “Yeah,
I think eventually it would be a great idea, but you definitely want
to make sure you can bring in enough to compensate what you need to
pay the bands. New businesses are hard to make those kinds of bets
on. I have no doubt Sara will open a bar that’s going to be a huge
hit, but you still don’t want to make those kinds of commitments
until you have the facts.”

“I completely agree.
So, what are you going to train me on first?”

Yeah, okay, this guy
might be harder to read than a girl. Either that, or he’s one of
those guys. The kind who is a ladies’ man but oddly enough knows
they aren’t the man for your woman so they are just nice enough to
make friends with her and you.

Fuck.
This would be a whole lot easier if he were just an upfront dick.
Now, I’m not sure what to make of him.

I open my mouth, but
the sound of the door opening and a hysterical blonde running inside
takes my full attention.

“Logan! Logan, I need
the night off!” Abby says between sobs.

Looks like his first
part of training is going to be how to deal with an overdramatic
employee who finds the craziest ways to get out of work. I definitely
don’t have this part of the job perfected.