“It was your idea to be friends.” He looked at me in confusion, and I stared at his handsome face. How I loved his face, it was so expressive, so gorgeous. Even when I was angry at mad at him, all I wanted to do was kiss him and feel his lips against mine. Logan Martelli drove me crazy.
“I wanted to be friends because I thought that would be a good way to show you that you could trust me.” I shook my head. “I don’t need your pity friendship.”
“My pity friendship?” He laughed gruffly. “You’re the one that’s—”
“Oh, shut up.” I grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled him towards me. I looked up at his handsome face and pressed my lips against him, relishing the feel of him as I kissed him lightly. He reached his hands around my waist and pulled me towards him, and his tongue darted into my mouth as his hands ran up and down my back. I reached my hands up to his hair and I kissed him back feverishly, wanting him to know exactly how he made me feel. I pulled back reluctantly after a few minutes, and he looked down at me with a dazed and dark expression.
“I have to have you now.” He pulled me towards him and his hands ran up and down my back and shoulders as he kissed my neck. “What are you doing to me, Maddie?” He groaned and ran his hands through his hair.
“Driving you crazy.” I smiled at him impishly, trying to suppress the sudden joy in my heart. There was a part of me that felt that maybe I was getting to him as much as he had gotten to me.
“That you are.” He grabbed my hand again. “Come.”
“Are we going to look for another car?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I need to get you home.”
“Why?”
“The car idea, it was a bad idea, sometimes I don’t think I’m in my right mind.” He grimaced and I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but I was scared he wouldn’t tell me.
“You’ve got a lot going on.” I squeezed his hand, and he looked down at me gratefully. His hands felt warm and strong, and I was delighted that he hadn’t snatched it away from me.
“Why did you have to be a Wright?” he sighed as he looked at me regretfully.
“Does it really make that much of a difference?” I stared up into his eyes. I just didn’t understand why he hated my father so much, and I didn’t understand what he had said about my father being the reason why he had his scar. I was so confused, and all I wanted was for him to share everything with me.
“I can’t think about it right now.” His eyes were far away. “I have more pressing issues.”
“Oh?”
“Like how I’m going to make money.” He laughed manically.
“The offer is still open for me to talk to my dad,” I said softly.
“Maddie, I’m not going to tell you this again …” Logan pulled away from me and his voice was harsh.
“You don’t know my dad like I do, Logan. He’s a good guy!” I cried out, annoyed at him.
“Many times, we don’t know the people closest to us, Maddie. Many times we’d be surprised at how many skeletons those we love the most have in their closet.”
“So tell me.” I held my breath and my heart was racing. “Tell me.”
“You wouldn’t want to know.” His voice crushed me with its hollowness.
“I think you’re just making it up. I bet you’re just mad because my family is rich and yours is poor. That’s not my fault. I’m so fed up with your shit, Logan. Why won’t you give me a fair chance? I don’t care if you’re poor; I don’t think that makes you a bad guy. Let me in, goddammit.”
“You know why I wanted to go find a car?” Logan leaned in towards me with narrowed eyes. I shook my head. “I wanted to find a backseat to f**k you in.” I swallowed hard as he whispered into my ear. “I wanted to take you in the backseat of a luxury car and f**k you on the seats of some brand new leather.” His eyes looked into mine, searching for my response. “I wanted to f**k you like some easy slut, in broad daylight. Do you still think I’m a good guy? Do you like it when I’m honest?”
I bit my lip as I stared up at him. I hated it when Logan became this guy, and I found it really hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. If it wasn’t for the brief hesitation in his eyes and the nervous throb in his throat, I would have slapped him hard and told him where to get off. As it was, I knew this wasn’t the real him. For some reason, he was trying to get me to hate him, and I didn’t understand why he was fighting the mutual attraction we both felt. An attraction that was about more than sex.
“I, uh, I don’t know what to say.” My eyes widened at him as he pulled me towards him again.
“I told you before, Maddie, I’m not the typical guy you meet. I can do bad things to you, very bad things.”
“Maybe I like it when you do bad things to me,” I breathed into his ear and he stopped still. “Maybe I want you to take me to that backseat right now. Maybe I’d like to choose the car.” I wanted him to know that I wasn’t scared of him, and that I could take it. He wasn’t going to scare me away, and if anything, I was slightly turned on. I didn’t want to analyze what that said about me.
“Come away with me.” He looked into my eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s go away somewhere, just the two of us.” His eyes issued me a challenge. “If you really want to be a bad girl, if you really want to get to know me.”
“I can’t just go away.” I bit my lip, thinking about my parents. They were back in town and I knew my dad would flip a switch if I just left town. “But maybe if I go home and tell them I’m going to a friend’s place for a week.”
“No, you can’t go home.” He shook his head. “You can call them and let them know you’re going out of town, but you can’t go home.”
“But I don’t have anything on me.” I stared at Logan with my heart pounding with excitement; did I dare go with him? I wanted to, but I was scared about the reality of just leaving with him.
“Neither do I. If you like me like you said, then come away with me. Forget about everything and everyone else.”
“But my dad will be so pissed,” I mumbled, not sure what he expected from me. Did he think I could just up and leave? “And what about your brothers and your dad?”
“I’ll call them.” He stood there, tapping his feet. “We can just leave and really get to know each other, without thinking about anyone else.”
“How long will we be gone?”
“I don’t know.” His tone was serious. “A week? A month? Whatever we decide.”
“A month.” I swallowed hard. My dad would freak out if I was gone a month. He would get the FBI involved! “Where would we go?”
“Wherever.”
“Where would we stay?”
“Wherever.” His eyes lit up and he grinned at me. “We could break into empty houses.”
“What?” My voice rose, and I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.
“So, are you in?” His tone was light but I knew everything depended on my answer. I was freaking out inside from excitement and worry. But I had to put the worry aside if I wanted to show Logan that I was in this for real.
“Yes.” I spoke loudly and confidently. I was shocked at how sure I was about this decision. Part of me knew it was foolish. What smart girl in her right mind would agree to just take off with a guy she barely knew; a guy she was just screaming at a few minutes ago?
“Good.” He smiled and ran a finger along my cheek. “I’ll have you screaming my name all night long.”
“All night? Are you sure about that?”
“It can be all night and day if you want.” He laughed and his fingers traced the lines of my lips. I opened my mouth and his finger slid in past my lips and I nibbled on his finger delicately and then sucked on it hard, watching as his eyes grew darker as he stared at me.
“Or I may have you screaming out my name.” I winked at him and leaned towards him and whispered against his lips. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with either, Logan Martelli.”
He stared into my eyes and we stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. I studied his face and noticed the small mole on the left side of his cheek and reached up my hand to touch it lightly. I then ran my hand along the stubble on his jawline and across his upper lip. He reached up to my face and ran his fingers across my eyebrows lightly, and then down the curve of my nose. Running his fingers through my hair, he tucked it behind my ears carefully.
“You’re beautiful, Maddie. You will have beautiful babies.” His smile was light and he turned away from me quickly and I heard him whisper something under his breath, but I couldn’t quite hear what he had said. My stomach had butterflies as he talked about babies. Was he now envisioning a future for us?
“I should call my dad.” I fumbled around in my bag looking for my phone, trying to think up something to tell him that wouldn’t make him completely lose his mind.
“That would be a good idea.”
“He’s going to flip.”
“That’s a shame.” Logan cracked a smile, and he turned away. “That’s not going to be the only thing he’s flipping out about.”
“What?” I looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” He looked back at me and laughed. “I was just thinking about how crazy life can be sometimes. You just never know what’s going to happen.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Who would have thought that the two of us would be going on a road trip together? Logan Martelli and Maddison Wright.” He laughed. “It’s almost too good to be true.”
“I guess.” I paused as I stared at him. There was something in his voice that made me shiver. “Are you going to call your brother?”
“Yeah.” He pulled out his phone and pressed some numbers. “Hey, Jared, it’s me. I thought about what you said, and I’ve got it sorted.” He paused and gave me a small smile. “I won’t be home for a few weeks. Take care of things, okay?” He hung up and stared at me. “Your turn.”
“Yeah.” I took a breath and dialed my dad’s number. I almost fainted with relief when his answering machine picked up. “Hey, Dad, it’s me Maddie, ha, ha, your daughter. I, uh, I just met up with Brittany and Ellen, and they, uh, surprised me with a, uh, surprise trip, to Brittany’s dad’s place in Martha’s Vineyard, ha, so, I, uh, am going to just hang out there for the next couple of weeks. See you soon. Love to you and Mom.” I hung up quickly and saw Logan staring at me quietly.
“Your dad is going to be pissed, huh?” Logan’s eyes were serious but there was a glint of a smile in them.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “But he likes Brittany and Ellen, and this is the sort of thing they would do, so he should buy it.”
“You don’t have to come, Maddie.” He shook his head as if clearing it. “I can get you home if you want.” He paused and ran his hand down my arm. “But I would rather you stay.”
“Logan, you change your mind more than a contestant on The Price is Right. I’m cool, I’m coming. I want to come.”
“You want to come?” He licked his lips.
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes, not taking the bait.
“How badly?” He kissed my lips lightly.
“How badly what?”
“How badly do you want to come?” His tongue traced the line of my lips and he gazed into my eyes.
“As badly as you want me to,” I whispered softly, and my tongue darted out to meet his. I watched as he inhaled, and desire darkened his eyes.
“You’re going to be the undoing of me, Maddie Wright.” He leaned back away from me, and I could see a mixture of emotions in his eyes. “What are you doing to me?”
“The same thing you’re doing to me.” I laughed, happy that I was having this effect on him. Jared had been right. I only hoped that everything else went as according to plan.
“It’s not all about the sex you know.” His eyes took me in and his hand caressed my hair. “I want you to know that whatever happens, it’s not about the sex.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I know.” I knew what I was getting into, I knew from the beginning. If I got burned, it would be my own fault, I knew the score going in. But it was worth it to me; the possibility of having more with Logan was worth it.
“I can’t believe you just did that. Your dad is going to be pissed.” There was a new respect in his eyes as he stared at me. “You’re pretty fearless, aren’t you, Maddie?”
“Not really.” I shook my head in wonder. “I honestly have never been this way before,” I continued on, as I pondered his comment to myself. I’d never been the rebellious type. I’d never been the one who snuck out of the dorms to meet up with boys. I’d never given my parents any headaches. I wasn’t really even a wild one. I’d only slept with two guys before, and both of them had been guys I’d been in relationships with. And we’d never had sex out in the open before. I almost didn’t recognize the girl I was becoming, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
“You’re more fearless than me.”
“No way,” I scoffed. “You’re Logan Martelli, you steal cars for a living, you are way more fearless than me.”