Let Love In
Georgie let out a sigh tinged with tiredness, frustration, loneliness and something she couldn't quite name. She watched as her ex-husband and the woman he'd cheated on her with left the restaurant laughing and talking about plans for a classic movie night. She began to wipe the counter down the more force wondering just how many time she and Dillon had left this same diner making those same plans. No matter how many times she swore that she was over him, it didn't change the hurt that accompanied watching him move on with someone else, while she was alone.
She walked around the counter, flipped the sign to closed, and began flipping the chairs onto the table tops. When she was finished she moved to the kitchen to finish cleaning up in there and doing the dishes. She was so consumed with her thoughts of Dillon and Lulu and her own emptiness she was oblivious to the sound of the door to restaurant opening. She turned and started back to the dining room at the sound of footsteps approaching the counter. "We're closed."
"Money now!" The masked intruder barked motioning with his gun to the cash register. Georgie froze at the sight of the masked gunmen. All that she could focus on was the gun that he was waving around. "Now." The man demanded.
"Ok." Georgie whispered quietly trying to make her feet move the rest of the way to the register. All the while her mind was frantically searching for a way out of this, trying to decide what Mac would do in this situation, or her Mom, or even Maxie. She fumbled nervously with the cash register trying desperately to open it and then to place the money in a bag. "I'm trying." She whispered, sensing his impatience, and trying not to cry at the same time.
"Try harder." He barely got the words out before force sent him smashing against the counter.
Georgie let out a scream of surprise and instinctively jumped back. She recognized the other man as Logan Hayes, a friend of Cooper Barrett, her sister's latest boyfriend. She instantly felt relieve spread through, just at knowing that she wasn't alone to deal with this anymore. She ran into the kitchen and placed a call to 911, and then rushed back into the dining room. Logan had the man in a deadly looking choke hold. "Logan!" She called out to him. He clearly had the situation under control, but showed no sign of backing off. "Logan, you're going to kill him." Fear and apprehension were quickly replacing any momentary relief she had felt. "Logan stop!" Fear tinged her voice. She cautiously reached out and touched his shoulder, and only then did the haze covering him seem to lift.
He delivered a blow that knocked the man out cold, and looked briefly at Georgie registering the fear that he not the armed robber had put there, and averted his eyes. He took a couple of steps away from her and raked his hand through his hair, trying to rein in his temper and regain some control of himself. "Are you ok?" He asked roughly, finally turning back to her. "Did he hurt you?"
"What the hell was that?" She asked fear making her emotions raw. She had never seen anyone in a trance like that.
"Instinct." Logan answered her steadily almost coldly and without any hesitation.
"Instinct makes you almost kill someone?" She asked incredulously, running her hands over her hair.
"Instinct has saved my life a butt load of times, and just saved yours tonight." He responded hotly. "You could show me a little gratitude."
"Thank you."
Before he even had a chance to react or respond he found his arms full with a crying mess of girl. It was instinct that made him bring his arms up around her and hold her close. It was instinct that made him murmur words of comfort he didn't know he was capable of. "Georgie." He needed to get her out of his arms.
"I was so scared, and I didn't know what to do." She held onto him tighter and buried her face in his shoulder.
"You did good. Its ok, you're safe now." He promised, never taking his eyes off the man on the floor a few feet away. He would have killed him if she hadn't been here, if she hadn't put her hand on his arm and broken the red haze that had settled over him.
Finally the wail of sirens could be hear approaching, and a minute later he was able to transfer Georgie into the waiting arms of her father, and walk out amidst the chaos that had engulfed the small diner.
The next few weeks passed and Logan managed to not see Georgie. Most of the time he could even make himself forget about the way she'd felt in his arms; forget the softness of her skin, the silkiness of her hair, the feel of her breath against his neck, and the faint floral smell that clung to her. He'd stepped up his attempt to seduce Lulu, but something had changed, and his heart just wasn't in it the way it had been before. The knock on the door to his rented room above Jakes' bar startled him. No one except Cooper knew he was staying here, and he knew his friend was otherwise occupied tonight. He took a pull from the bottle of beer he held and sauntered to the door. "How the hell did you know where to find me?" he asked shock evident in his voice and on his face as he looked at the woman standing in front of him.
She just smiled. "My father is the police commissioner." She reminded him. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt wasn't lost on her, and she was sure her face was flushing. "Can I come in?" She asked, even as she said it was she was wondering about how smart a move it was.
He stepped back and let her in. "How did you get in here?" He asked shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. "This is a bar." And he knew she was underage, not that rules or details like that really mattered to him.
"I just came in." She shrugged simply. "And I might have bribed Coleman with some of these." She handed the container she'd brought with her to Logan. "These are for you, my way of saying thank you for what you did for me a couple of weeks ago."
He opened the lid and took a peek. "You bribed Coleman with my cookies?" He asked teasingly, as he looked up at her, and took a real look at her. She might have given Coleman cookies but that wasn't what got her into the bar. She had a beautiful face, and a body that was curvy in all the right places. The girl was gorgeous, and she didn't even know it. Which made her even more sexy in his opinion. He had to shake his head again. "It wasn't you." He said finally. "There was trouble, it was just…"
"Instinct." She finished for him smiling. "Yeah, I know, you told me. But I still owe you."
"Whatever." He said putting the container on a small rickety card table that served as counter space and dinner table for him.
She frowned. He was shutting down right in front of her, and she wasn't sure why. "Guarded much?" She asked and instantly regretted it. What was she doing? She wanted to deliver the cookies and leave. She'd given him the cookies, why was she still here. She didn't care if he was guarded tight as Buckingham Palace, it was his business, and she wanted no part of it. "Sorry, out of line." She apologized, and started for the door. It was best to get out of here, before she made a bigger idiot out of herself.
He grabbed her arm, turned her towards him, and kissed her like she hadn't been kissed in her entire life. Not even by Dillon. He let go of her arm, and brought his hands to her face to deepen the kiss. She kissed him back, before sanity pushed its way into her head and she pushed him away. "What is wrong with you?" She asked him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
"Guarded much?" He threw the words back at her.
She took a deep breath and met his gaze head on, refusing to be intimidated. "I've been married, cheated on, and divorced all before my 19th birthday. And my ex-husband is currently dating the girl he cheated with, which I know you know since you've spent so much time trying to seduce Lulu yourself."
"Jealous?" He asked tauntingly.
"Go to hell Logan. I came here to thank you for saving my life. I've done that. Have a good life." She threw open the door to his room and stomped down the stairs wondering how on earth the whole encounter had managed to do such a 180. But wanting to know even more how he'd managed to get to her like this. She most certainly did not need a man like Logan Hayes in her life in any context.
The next time she saw Logan Hayes, he was hiding behind a park bench, sweat covering his face, and his darting rapidly back and forth as if he was trying to see everything at once. "Logan?" She asked cautiously and concerned.
"Get down!" He yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her down on the ground next to him. "Stay down damn it! Do you want to get yourself your killed?"
He kept a firm grip on her arm. And she looked around the park, trying to see what he saw. Trying to figure out what was going on. "Logan! Logan, there's, there's nothing." There was no danger here, but he couldn't hear her.
"Damn it, they're everywhere." He muttered.
Again she looked around. The only thing that was everywhere were the little kids running around playing. There was a youth soccer game on a nearby field, and the ref seemed to blow his shrill whistle to signal an infraction every other play. She turned back to Logan, and freed her arm from his grasp. She took his face in her hands. "Logan, hey." She said gently but firmly. "We're in Port Charles, not Iraq." She said softly.
She watched his face carefully, and slowly he began to drift back into reality. He did nothing but stare at her for a minute, and she let her hands drop away from his face. "Jesus." He said warily, and ran his hands over his face.
"Are you ok?" She asked quietly, putting her hand on his knee in an attempt to comfort.
"I..uh…" He stopped unsure how to continue; how to explain what she had just scene. He'd never wanted anyone to see him like that, least of all her, but he didn't see any judgment or condemnation in her eyes, only gentle concern. And it was almost his undoing for the second time.
"Its ok." She told him, shaking her head in understanding. "Do you want me to call Cooper?" She asked, knowing they'd been in Iraq together.
She took her hand from his knee and started to reach in her purse for her phone. He grabbed it and put it back on his leg, but didn't let go, just let his hand cover hers. "No, I'm ok now."
She didn't think that was true, but wasn't going to argue with him either. "Do you want to go somewhere? The docks maybe? Its quieter there."
"I'm fine." He said standing up, and pulling her up with him. "I don't need a babysitter, Georgie."
"I don't know why I even bother." She muttered shaking her head as she started to walk away.
"Georgie, wait." He took a couple of long strides and fell into step beside her.
"What?" She wanted to know, stopping and turning to face him.
He looked at her and for a second struggled to form a coherent thought, let alone say anything. "Thank you." He finally said. Then a wolfish grin crossed his face. "Maybe I'll even bring you some cookies to show my appreciation."
She bit back a smile and shook her head. She knew he was playing with her. "You're not going to rob a Girl Scout to get them, are you?"
"Who me?" He asked putting a hand over his heart and faking indignation. "Do I honestly look like the kind of guy who would do such a thing."
"Absolutely." She shot back.
"I wouldn't have to rob her." He leaned in close to Georgie until she could feel his breath against her ear. "I'd just charm her into giving them to me." He whispered and walked away.