Lean On Me
Chapter 55
Friday November 23, 2007
The moment Logan opened his door for Georgie that night she saw worry etched onto his face, sending worry flying into her own heart. And even worse she noticed a bruise on his jaw. She had a pretty good idea where that came from. "You okay?"
He gave her a crooked grin. "You're here so yeah I'm pretty good. Get in here, girl."
She couldn't help but smile at the low growl in his voice. Georgie walked inside and went to take out her coat. She was surprised to feel Logan behind her, slipping it off her shoulders. Heat coursed through her at that little bit of contact: his breath on her neck, his hands brushing her shoulders.
This man could get her so tempted without even trying at all.
"So, brown eyed girl, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
"What do you have? Maybe I could cook for you."
"I didn't ask you over to slave away in my kitchen."
"I'd like to, though."
"Some other time. Tonight I cook for you." Logan started to head into the kitchen but Georgie grabbed his hand, stilling his steps and making him look back at her.
"Lets sit for a second, okay?"
Once they were sitting on the couch, facing each other, Georgie gently brought her fingers up to brush a feather light stroke over his jaw. She said "My cousin did this to you, didn't he?"
"Don't worry none about that. Being bruised and banged up ain't nothing new for me."
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears as she brought her hand back down. "Lucas had no right to put his hands on you. How bad was it....did you punch him back?"
"Would have but your friend Brooklyn broke it up."
"You met Brooke? I would think she would have called me to tell me that." Georgie moved away from Logan, grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. She looked at it. "Dead. I forgot to charge it. I don't know where my head is today."
A sexy little possessive grin curved his lips, one that said her thoughts were stuck on him and he loved that.
Georgie's voice was filled with concern when she said "So go on. What happened? Where were you guys at when you ran into Lucas? What did he say to you?"
"Kelly's and its no big thing. He just let it be known I better not hurt you."
"That's all? Then how did you get that bruise?"
"Okay, girl, he let it be known with a right hook."
"I'm so sorry!"
"Georgi ...come on....its okay. I expected this kind of stuff anyway. I wouldn't have be surprised if Spinelli jumps out from behind some bushes tomorrow and bashes that laptop of his upside my skull. These guys care about you. It ain't no big surprise to me they want you with a better class of man by your side."
"No one gets to decide who I'm with but me."
"And tonight you're here with me, girl."
Her eyes locked in on hers. "Maybe we should have just kept this....whatever we are now...a secret..."
His jaw tensed and he leaned away from her. "A secret, huh? Does that mean you're ashamed of wanting to be my girl?"
XXXXXXXXX
Dillon walked into his bedroom to find it empty. But he heard the shower running in the adjoining bathroom. Sarah was still getting ready for their night out.
He silently fumed over what his mother had told him just moments before. She had tried to pay Sarah off to dump Dillon- as a screwed up test of Sarah's love.
His eyes were wild when he walked into the bathroom and tapped on the glass doors of the shower. "Turn it off!"
"What, D?" she asked over the running water.
"We got to talk!" He opened the shower and flipped the dial to stop the water.
"What the hell? What's the emergency?"
He threw a towel at her and then started pacing around the huge bathroom.
"D?" Sarah wrapped the towel around herself and climbed out. "Hey....what's the matter, sweetie?"
His voice was cold when he asked "Do you have something to tell me?"
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"Your mom ratted herself out? My mom would never do that."
"Well my Mom thinks we need to start off our marriage," he said the word bitterly "being honest with each other."
"You're mad at me?"
"What was your first clue?" He walked out of the bathroom.
She followed him, dripping water everywhere. "I didn't do anything! You blame me for your crazy family? They were crazy before I got here. You said so yourself."
He gave her a cold look out of the corner of his eye.
Sarah shook her head. "What? What did I do?"
"We don't lie to each other. I won't live that way. I thought.....I thought you never lied to me before."
"I haven't. You know that, D."
"Do I?"
"Whatever." She walked in the bathroom and slammed the door.
"Secrets are lies, too, Sarah!"
"Go yell at your mother! I never wanted to come to this fucking nut house full of your family in the FIRST place!"
XXXXXXXXX
She was too good for him. Logan knew that. It was plain and simple. But tonight- of all nights, when his mind was filled with worry over Cooper- was the night he needed Georgie most to be the light in his otherwise fucked up dark little corner of the world.
He didn't want to be the man she was embarrassed to call her own. He asked her "You want to be with me just as long as nobody knows you're hot for such a loser, huh?"
"Logan, you know better than that."
"Nah, I don't know jack. You and your good buddy Spinelli use to cuddle up and talk smack about me every chance you got. That diner ain't that big. Sound carries."
"I was hurt!"
His face softened.
She went on "And disappointed and I hated a lot of the things you did. I won't lie about that. But its not like you ever, even one time, went out of your way to show me something different back then. You blew me off every chance you got. If you didn't need coffee, you didn't need me."
"Not true. How many times did I try explaining to you what I was going through?"
"So I could make Lulu understand. Well, sorry, but I couldn't help Lulu be with you. I tried but it only made me bitter. Maybe I'm not as good a person as you think after all. I can't be perfect or say the perfect things or even put in words how I am feeling most times....but know this...I wanted you long before you even knew me as anything but Maxie's annoying, self righteous little sister. That was me...standing there...with my heart on my sleeve...wanting you. So why would I be ashamed if you finally woke up enough to open your eyes and want me back?"
His voice was low and intense when he leaned close to her. "I do want you....you just don't know how bad. But if you're looking for some on the down low fling....you better speak up now."
Just say no, Logan silently urged her. Say you want it all with me.
Her eyes were wide with insecurities when she asked "Is that what you want? Be honest."
The truth was Logan needed to know that tomorrow she would still want him, still come around, still bring a smile to his lips, still give him a chance to be her man, still see in him something worth fighting over...worth getting so worked up she screamed and maybe even cursed him out but she never, never wanted him it disappear forever from her sight.
He didn't know how many days they might make it though. They were so different and it was so easy one second, so hard the next.
He didn't want to agree to a fling. But if that is what she asked for....there was no way he could send her away. No way he could never kiss her again. Never get a chance to make tender, sweet love to her for hours, see her eyes so dark with desire for him that...maybe...just maybe...some place in him would became whole again. Knowing she believed in him that much.
But how could he tell her that? He didn't have the words. "You're call, brown eyes. Don't be shy now. If you're in this just to burn me out of your system then say so. You won't be hurting my feelings none. Just let me know where I stand with you."
"And what? You'll be happy either way? It makes no difference to you?"
"I got no problem with just hot sex," he lied. Though if she had been someone else that would have been the truth. That used to be his truth. "So what's it gonna be? Am I your dirty little secret? You wanna run to all your friends and pretend you saw the light about me...then come here at night and work out all those frustrations you got out in my bed? Come on....I'm waiting....time to come clean."
Looking in those big brown eyes of hers, Logan could hardly believe that three days back he didn't need her like this. Wasn't waiting on freaking bated breath to hear he meant a damn to her. Day three they were on now. Only day three.
He never thought he'd care so damn much this damn soon. She was getting under his skin in a way no one ever had before. Crawling inside of him and taking up residence. Marking him as hers....and now she wanted to talk fling.
And Cooper was somewhere thinking about death.
Tonight was just not Logan Hayes night for happy endings, was it?
He whispered out her name. This name that had come to equal happiness to him in less than seventy two crazy hours. "Georgie?"
(I was believing in I mistaken?
Do you say...?
Do you say what you mean?
I want our love to last forever.
.
But I'd rather you be mean
than love and lie.
.
I'd rather hear the truth
and have to say goodbye.
.
I'd rather take a blow-
at least then I would know.
.
But, baby, don't you break my heart slow...
I'd rather take a blow-
at least then I would baby don't you break my heart slow.) (Vonda Shepard)
