Love and Temptation

Chapter 4

Don't Impress Me Much

Logan stood in front of the bar and shook his head, "No way Jeanie, there's no way I'm going in there."

"OH! Logan, Please?" Jean pleaded reading the sign in the window again, Karaoke Night 6pm to midnight, "Come on!" Jean pleaded again taking Logan's large hand out of his pocket and wrapping her own dainty fingers around it and tugging on him, "I haven't been able to do Karaoke for years!"

Logan's heart skipped a beat at the electricity that went through him when Jean took his hand, "Jean I don't want to have to deal with a bar crowd…"

"It's 'Karaoke Night' Logan, how bad could they be?" She stuck out her bottom lip and Logan sighed nodding.

"Fine, but I get to buy a pack of smokes at the next gas station."

Jean grinned and pushed the heavy door of the bar open and pulled Logan into the crowded interior. They stood in the door way for a moment and Logan scanned the room. There were plenty of easy looking women wondering around, all of them wanted to be country western stars as it seemed to him. Jean's foot tapped in time to the song playing and she sat Logan down at the bar and scampered gleefully to the stage where she started flipping through the book of songs.

There was a side of Jean that Logan had only had the pleasure of seeing a few times before in his life. It was a wilder more animal side. Twice had been on missions where she had lost it and resorted to physically beating someone to a pulp; and once at the last year's Christmas party, she had worn a tight red dress then that came high up on her legs and then she had been naughty. A flirty, sexy, bitch, that had spent the night on the dance floor. She had the same smile she wore now as she ascended the steps of the stage. It made Logan's breath catch in his chest to watch Jean, her lithe smooth body gyrating in time with the song. She tossed her hair around and gazed at Logan from under the red strands, there was that flash of a wild naughty Jean; the Jean Logan chased up and down the mansion. Jean ran her hands down her body, and tossed her hair out of her face with a flick of her head. She descended from the stage and grinned at Logan, "What'ja think?"

Logan laughed softly and ordered a beer sitting back against the counter his interest peeked by the line of women now cueing up to try and out do Jean's performance. Hank was a firm believer that women were animals of confrontation just as much as men were, but they were passive aggressive about it, as Logan watched their puffy bleached heads bob up and down he couldn't help but think this was just plain aggressive. The truth was Logan thought Jean was beautiful, sexy charming, he felt like he wanted to take her to a hotel room and make love to her, he felt like every guy in the bar felt the same way.

Logan growled in the back of his throat with frustration, he'd only been gone a few seconds to feed the meter, and Jean had already attracted a caller. He let the door of the bar shut behind him and listened to their conversation.

"Come on babe what do you say, one drink and then we head back to my place."

"No thanks."

"Aw sweetie just one drink, I promise I'll make it worth your while." Jean smiled indulgently at the interloper but shook her head again and refused.

Logan's blood started to boil, the idea of some looser in a cheap Karaoke bar fucking Jean was really just too much for him, he had sat through 15 songs only 3 of which had been any good and all of those 3 had been sung by Jean, he had taken it without complaint, he had gone without a single smoke since that morning and had taken that without complaint, but this interloper was the last straw. He strode over to where the man was leaning over Jean and growled in his ear, "You want to move bub?"

Either the man had more balls then sense or he really was that drunk because he turned looked at Logan blandly and pushed him back slightly, "hey man I saw her first."

Logan locked his jaw and balled his fists until he heard Jean's voice in his head, 'Hold up Logan,' She smiled devilishly at the man now turned back in her direction and held up a slender finger, "just one drink?"

"Yeah."

She turned her eyes away from the man and scanned the board above the bar, "Vodka Please, with orange juice, it's on him," The bar tender nodded one eyebrow raised and handed the small glass to Jean. Jean looked at it wickedly and tossed it behind her; the drink splashed across the man's face and he let out a strangled yelp as it burned his eyes, "Come on Logan lets go." Jean murmured giving the man a hateful glance.

"Are you with her?" the man demanded wiping his eyes furiously.

"Yeah," Logan mumbled gazing at Jean with wide eyes.

"Keep your bitch on a leash next time!"

Before Jean could move to stop him Logan had picked the man off the floor where he had fallen and was holding him up by his shirt then slammed him into a wall, "First off bub, she ain't nobody's bitch, and second off," He tossed the man carelessly into a table, "you were fucking asking for it."

The room was silent, as Logan towered over the man whom was lying in the broken shards of table. Jean took Logan's arm and tugged on it gently, 'let's go Logan.' Her voice pleaded insistently in his mind. Logan cast one more threatening look at the man and then turned putting his arm around Jean's shoulders and walking out of the bar.

The car was dark and quite, Logan quietly fumed for a while stewing in a building anger over the night's events, Jean looked at Logan and smiled gently brushing her hand across his shoulder, "thanks."

Logan looked at her from the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel a little more at ease, Jean stretched and looked in the back seat at Stanly, "I could go for a drink," she said as she stretched and turned to face the front again.

Logan laughed under his breath, "we just left a bar Jeannie."

"I want something better then beer, I could go for a nice glass of wine."

Logan nodded and pulled into a new motel and nodded to the office, "you go and check in and I'll go grab a bottle of wine."

"Logan I don't think you know the kind of wine I like."

Logan gave Jean the look she so often gave him, one of how can you be so stupid, he leaned in slightly and put his arm on the back of the seat, "Jean, of all the people you know don't I know the most about booz?"

Jean gazed at Logan's lips and opened hers slightly; he was intoxicating when he did things like this, "yeah," she nearly whispered, then turning quickly she opened the door and snatched her purse up and dashed to the office. It was unfair when Logan pulled trick like that, she thought to herself as she leaned against the wall of the office her purse clutched to her chest and watching Logan drive away. She looked away from the window to see the attendant looking at her quizzically and Jean smiled sweetly trying to cover up her obvious agitation.

Logan sighed and looked at the rack of wine; if he was honest with himself he knew Jean would never go for him. What had he expected when he leaned in like that? He felt stupid, he looked at Stanly whom looked back and wagged his tail, as if to say 'It's OK there are other women in the world Logan.' Logan sighed again, "Yeah I know, but I don't want any other woman."

Stanly sat down and gazed at Logan his head cocked to the side, his eyes seemed to have humor in them as if he were laughing at Logan, 'Then you're not doing a very good job of getting her,' he seemed to say.

"Get off my back Stanly; you don't even like girls yet." Logan grumbled and pulled a bottle of the wrack. Logan trudged to the counter and Stanly bounded behind him looking around and wagging his tail wildly.

Jean sat her legs pulled up to her chest in the large loveseat in the room she had rented, it was more than a little unsettling the way Logan had affected her earlier. Her cell phone rang pulling her with a jump from herself reflection. Fumbling with her purse she saw Logan's number and flipped the phone open, "Yes?"

"Hello to you too Jeannie-girl," Logan said making a slow circle in the motel parking lot, "where's our room?"

"The froth door from the office," Jean said closing the phone and walking to the door and opening it slowly. Logan loosed Stanly on her and he bounded happily into the room jumping up on Jean. She smiled and Let Logan in taking the bottle of wine from him, "Red wine?"

"It's the best," Logan murmured stretching his back, "I bought some plastic cups."

"How very glamorous," Jean said laughing.

"I thought so," Logan murmured taking the wine from Jean and pouring some into the blue plastic cup. He then sat heavily on the couch with a brooding look on his face. Jean Yawned and studied Logan's unhappy countenance, his eyebrows were brought together in a server visage and his lips looked thin and pale. Jean sat next to him realizing too late that the Love seat wasn't quite big enough for two people and ending up with a long slender leg draped over Logan's own. Logan looked up at her and smirked raising an eyebrow, "Don't toss Wine in my face OK?"

Jean laughed and set her cup on a low end table and jumped on Logan her small knees digging into his thighs and beating on him playfully. Logan turned his head to the side but proceeded to grab Jean's wrists and hold her still. They sat still and silent for a moment until Jean's knees slipped off Logan's thighs and she landed straddling his lap. Their lips were mere inches away and Jean's breath came in little shallow gasps. Logan's head started to go a bit fuzzy, he looked into Jean's eyes and he was taken by the green orbs looking back at him. He leaned forward a bit and stretched his neck slightly closing the distance between their lips, suddenly there was a violent rebellion and Jean jumped off the love seat. Logan blinked and rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry Jean."

Jean nodded, "I shouldn't have teased you like that," Jean said rolling her ankle in a characteristic nervous action, Logan nodded and pressed himself against the side of the love seat, "come back and sit down again, I won't pull anything stupid."

Jean smiled and sat down taking a long drink of wine from her cup. Half an hour later the bottle was empty and Jean had her head resting in Logan's chest her last cup of wine resting on her stomach, "you want to hear something funny Logan?"

"Sure," Logan said softly into her hair, he took another sip of his wine and wrapped his arm around Jean's shoulders. It felt so good to sit like this to have her head on his chest to feel like he could protect her, like she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

"When Scott and I were first dating, we sent to a bowling alley, and this guy kept flirting with me, and Scott, he punched the guy right in the jaw. He spent the night in jail for that and was suspended for 3 months from the junior X-men. But he said I was worth it," a tear dripped from Jean's eye and she sighed heavily, "But two months ago we were at a bar having drinks and when I was at the bar to get myself a new drink this guy was flirting with me, even tried to take my arm but when I went back to the table and asked why he hadn't helped me she just shrugged and said it wasn't worth fighting over."

"That's real funny Jean," Logan mumbled and shifted her wait slightly so that she sat back on the love seat and took her drink.

"Where are you going?" Jean asked groggily, stretching out her hand to grab hold of Logan's arm.

"I'm just going to put you in bed," Logan said setting her cup of wine down and picking her up and carrying her across the room to her bed laying her gently down and brushing hair out of her face. Stanly jumped up on the bed and curled next to her chest.

"Thanks for sticking up for me in the bar tonight Logan."

Logan smiled and leaned over Jean, brushing more hair out of her face, "It was nothing Jean; you're worth it."

Jean touched Logan's jaw she felt Logan's strong muscles and let her hand fall to his shoulder and then fall to her side. Logan turned away from the bed and walked to the bathroom where he turned the handle for hot water and stood in the shower shivering in the cold water until the hot water splashed over him. He bent his head into the steaming hot stream and closed his eyes.

***

Author's Note: So I was wrong about the M being this chapter but fo'sho next chapter. It's actually half written in my head right now so it'll be up soon hopefully. Any way… M = Next chapter. Promise.

OH! Also when I was writing this chapter I had a sound track for it, bar = 'That Don't Impress Me Much' and Logan shopping and being all emo = 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'… yeah not that you guys care but that's what was playing in my head when I was writing these.