Between You and Me

“Hell yes, he was.”

She cocked her head and stared at him. “Are you trying to set me up with him?”

“Uh . . . do you want me to?” Logan asked, even as a surge of jealous heat threatened to choke him.

“No, thank you. I can get dates on my own.” Amused, she arched a thin brow at him, that regal look again. “Besides, I’m not looking to date right now. I have bigger plans, remember? I need to be alone, it’s better that way. The last thing I need as I’m trying to find a sperm donor and become pregnant is someone to mess up my focus. Dating will have to come later . . . if at all. Once I’m a single mother, that’ll change things too.” She sighed. “Too much information?”

“Nope. I understand, it makes sense,” Logan said. Relief unraveled the knot in his chest. “I just thought Ford is healthy, single . . .”

“I’ll find my own sperm donor, thanks,” she said on a bemused chuckle.

Heat rose in his face. “Yeah, I’ll leave that to you. Sorry.”

“Not at all. It was kind of sweet for you to think of that.” Her eyes left his to flutter up to the girl who’d appeared before them.

“Ford asked me to bring these to you,” she said, handing them two plain glass flutes filled with fizzing pale gold liquid.

“Thank him for us,” Logan said as he took them. He handed one to Tess as the music overhead changed to an upbeat romp. Someone gave a hearty whoop and a holler, and the energy in the whole place went up a few notches. Logan checked his watch. “Five minutes to go.”

Tess smiled in response and sat up, looking around the coffeehouse to take in the scene. Logan watched her, entranced. So beautiful. Probably the most beautiful woman in the whole damn room. He was glad to be there with her. He was glad he’d gone out at all, and that it had gone well.

“So,” she said, turning back to him. She held her glass in one hand between long, manicured fingers. “Make a wish for the new year, and we’ll compare notes next year and see if it came true.”

“You first,” he said, taken by the light in her eyes.

“Besides the obvious, I want to have a baby? Um . . .” She considered for a few moments, the sounds of the other patrons and music swirling around them. “I hope to have an unexpected adventure. Something that’ll bring real joy.”

“Along with being pregnant? Sounds interesting.”

“Why not?”

“Why not indeed. That’s a good New Year’s wish.”

“And you, Mr. Carter?”

He grinned, stroking his beard with his free hand as he thought. “An unexpected adventure sounds good. With what’s around the bend, I’ll likely need one. Something to bring me some peace.”

Her gaze softened, went liquid. She gently tapped her glass to his. “That’s a great New Year’s wish. I hope you have that.”

“To both of us having joy and peace in the New Year,” he said. They sipped their sparkling cider and their gazes locked . . . then the room erupted around them. In lively shouts, the people in the room counted down the last ten seconds of the year, and all Logan could do was stare into Tess’s eyes. When the clock struck midnight and everyone cheered and yelled in excitement, he leaned forward, cupped the back of her neck, and gently pulled her in. His mouth grazed hers in a soft, sweet kiss.

He lingered for a delicious moment, savoring the feel of her lips against his. But when he went to pull back, her hand flew up to cup his cheek, bringing his mouth back to hers for more. He kissed her harder this time, full and blazing. Her lips parted, an invitation, and he took it. His tongue swept inside as he deepened the kiss, tasting her sweetness. Insistent warmth flowed through him. She inched closer, meeting his heat with her own, and he lost himself in her. Sounds and colors around them disappeared . . . There was nothing but them, and the moment.

The searching kisses burned hot and slow, their mouths moving sensually together, tongues tangling, shortened breaths. His fingers sifted through her hair, the softness of her thick curls a delicious surprise. She moaned softly into his mouth, yielding to him . . . A loud cheer across the room startled him and he pulled back, breathing as hard as if he’d hiked up the side of the mountain.