It was more than a week before Logan saw Marie again down at the house. She'd lost to him at poker and this time she owed him dinner and a fancy dessert. He was out on the deck with a beer in his hand when she arrived. The box she carried had his stomach growling in anticipation. She was a good cook and even better company.

He saw her with new eyes now, changed forever by what he'd read — and his visceral reaction to it. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what she'd written. Reading it had made him hard. Made him come. Made him see her differently. It was a welcome change. She was still young, but she had some very compelling, adult thoughts that had radically shifted his perspective.

He'd needed some time to let that settle. In fact, he could probably use more of it. It wasn't that they'd been avoiding each other. He'd run into her at the school a few times and had sat across the table from her playing poker a couple of nights back, but this was the first time they'd been alone together and free to talk about the intimate words she'd shared with him. The faint color in her cheeks told him she was thinking about it too.

Good.

She was probably wondering if he'd read any yet. She should know better. He never did anything by half measures.

Logan knew he couldn't just jump right in. Despite his propensity to be painfully direct, it was the kind of conversation that needed to be eased into, maybe after dinner and a few beers on the back deck. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable. Especially here.

He acknowledged her with a nod as she came up the path. He could wait. Patience and hunting went hand in hand. Reading those words had flipped some sort of switch inside him. What had been affectionate and familial was now electric. Predatory.

She fidgeted a little under his intense gaze. It gave him an inward stick of satisfaction that was spiked heavily with pleasure. She was not unmoved. He could tell she felt it too, even before he'd said anything, but he kept his tone light as he greeted her. Like he hadn't just had a very intimate walk through her head. From sweet and sensual to dirty and rough. She'd let him see it all.

The change in their energy was profound.

"Hey, kid." As she grew closer the wind shifted, bringing with it a mix of scents that made his mouth water. "Smells real good."

"Chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, black eyed peas and…?"

He sniffed. "Somethin' chocolate."

"Bite your tongue, sugar. That's my mama's better-than-sex chocolate cake. Show some respect."

Heh.

He should have known she wouldn't tuck tail and run. Meek wasn't in her nature. She was here on his deck with mischief in her eyes and a little wild in her smile as she teased him. Her choice to make him that particular dessert hadn't been arbitrary. She liked winding him up. There weren't too many people who could throw down with the Wolverine and hold their own.

Amusement rumbled in his big chest. "Better than sex, huh?"

"Yep." Marie nodded. "You can give me the full report tomorrow." She sounded half disappointed and half relieved. He knew they needed to talk, but maybe she needed a little more time.

"You're not stayin'?" The day seemed suddenly less bright.

"Can't. Hank roped me into helping him take a group of the advanced students to the observatory. I just can't say no to that guy." Her voice was warm with affection. She genuinely liked big blue and it showed. However warmly she felt about Hank, Logan could sense it was more about needing a little time and less about helping a friend.

"More for me, then." He tried for a lightness he didn't really feel. He wasn't going to push. Not about this. He wasn't that big of a dick. "Let me get that for ya, darlin'."

He moved to take the box from her. She let him, but took the precariously balanced cake back off the top and followed him inside. Looking around, she was a little surprised. Logan was an efficient, skilled craftsman and it was strange to see the space looking exactly the same way it had the last time she'd visited a week ago. No new work had been done. He hadn't even put the tools away after they'd finished the floor. Her eyes slipped around the large open space. It was exactly the same - except for the new slim laptop sitting on the bed.

Just the sight of it sent a hot rush of blood to her face. It tingled under her skin, surging wildly as she realized how he'd been spending his downtime.

After driving a sore and tipsy Marie back to the mansion last weekend, Logan had found a bar and done some fighting. And then he'd found a shittier bar and done some real fighting. He had bought a laptop with his winnings on the way home and then he'd gone straight down the rabbit hole. Marie had written a lot. And he had consumed every word. The state of the house said that it had been to the exclusion of everything else.

"Whatcha been doing, sugar?"

Because it clearly hadn't been renovation.

"Readin'." His eyes glowed. Her face flamed hotter.

"Stop right there."

His eyebrow went up.

"I have not had enough alcohol to have this conversation with you right now."

"Raincheck?"

"You bet."

Pleasure curled low in his belly at the warmth in her words.

She turned to go.

"You better not be runnin'," he tossed at her back.

"I'm not." She actually even sort of wanted to have that conversation with him. She wrote erotica. He'd read it. Hell, he'd inspired most of it. There was definitely a lot to discuss.

"Good. 'Cause I know where ya live."

Marie giggled. "Enjoy the cake, sugar."

"Will do."

Up Next: Rock the Casbah. Drinking. Dancing. Flirting... and Marie gets her answer about the cake…

For those of you who like a heads up, the next couple of chapters are on the shorter side (under 1000 words - short, in my book) but they set up all kinds of good things to come. Ha! See what I did there? I'll try to post one every day instead of one every other day, RL permitting. Even though it's a slow burn, there's a method to my madness. We're picking up steam and heading for critical mass. The chapters will get longer and, uh, dirtier. It's me, after all. Heh.