THE Date
Logan tore out of the garage on his motorcycle to get to their destination just moments before the conspirators started filing into it.
Tabitha flawlessly delayed Rogue from reaching the building just yet while the others smiled happily as they watched the man leave.
When the sound of his bike faded away into silence, Betsy, Brian, Jean, Kitty, Kurt and Scott all piled into Jean's SUV.
Betsy cued Tabitha and the occupants began complaining loudly about the tight squeeze with everyone inside the vehicle.
Just then, Rogue and Tabitha entered the scene.
Rogue frowned at them while listening to comments like, "I can't breath here" and "Looks like you'll have to keep Tabby on your lap, Brian."
"Why don't we just take tha van?" she broke in to ask.
The group smiled at the minivan that sat in the garage with it's hood upraised.
For some reason Logan still didn't have it running. Every time he fixed one thing another went wrong. It was almost as if someone were ... sabotaging it.
Kitty coughed to cover a laugh.
They all then focused on the 'X-Van,' the only other vehicle in the garage that could haul them all.
"We're trying to keep a low profile tonight, Rogue," Scott finally answered.
"Then why not just split up and take a few cars?"
They all looked at each other, then Betsy spoke up.
"Smashing idea, luv! We'll go in this and you follow behind us on your motorcycle."
Taking it for granted that the girl would agree to their plan, Tabitha dove into the vehicle to settle on Brian's lap and Jean started the engine.
Rogue simply stood there, in her black leather pants and zipped up jacket, gaping in surprise as the older girl put her SUV into reverse and started leaving the garage.
"Wait for me," she hollered as she snapped to, pulled on her helmet and leapt onto her motorcycle.
~*~*~
They pulled to a stop next to Logan's motorcycle in the parking lot of what Rogue considered a 'Yankee' version of a southern honky tonk.
Staring curiously at the motorcycle beside her, she slid from her own bike and removed her helmet.
Betsy and Kurt tumbled out of the SUV to stand stretching on the pavement.
"Logan's here," she part stated, part asked.
"Looks like he is, luv," Betsy said as she strode over to Rogue's side.
There was a commotion in the SUV and Betsy's purple head whipped around to see what the ruckus was about.
Jean called the telepath back over to the vehicle for something and she shrugged at Rogue.
After a quick exchange that Rogue couldn't hear, Betsy looked over her shoulder to say, "Luv, why don't you and Kurt head on in and snag us a table. My clumsy oaf of a brother has gotten all stuck in here with the girls."
Rogue tucked her keys in the pocket of her jacket and zipped them in while moving curiously over to the vehicle.
Before she could get a look at the situation, Kurt grabbed her arm and pulled her away into the building.
Standing just inside the double doors, her green eyes landed upon Logan as he leant against the bar directly in front of her – his black motorcycle helmet on the wooden surface next to his elbow.
His back was to her, but that was a damn fine view in her opinion.
He was wearing his brown leather jacket, those tight blue jeans that cupped his tight butt like her hands so would love to one day and a pair of black cowboy boots.
As she always did when he wore that outfit around her, Rogue bit her lip and resisted the urge to leapt on him while shouting, "Ride 'em, cowboy!"
Kurt was saying something beside her, but she didn't care what it was.
The man she was staring at so intently turned away from the bar with a bottle of beer in hand to look right back at her.
She jumped a little guiltily at being caught gawking at him and turned to tell Kurt they should go get a table now.
Only to find the boy gone.
~*~*~
"You mean ve're not going to eat anyzhing?!" Kurt moaned as he joined Betsy outside.
"We'll get you something on the way home, luv," the girl said as she motioned for Brian and Tabitha to join them.
Once he was standing next to her, Betsy thrust a set of keys into her twin's hand.
"Don't try anything fancy with it, mister. Rogue will kill us all if the bloody machine gets so much an itty-bitty nick on it."
"Not to worry, luv, we're taking it straight home," Brian promised as he slid on the helmet he'd had in the back of the SUV and mounted the bike.
Tabitha gave them a smile that said that was far from what they'd be doing if she had her way then slid on her own helmet and climbed on behind him.
With Betsy frowning after them, the couple started the bike and raced from the parking lot.
Trusting that her brother would show his usual reserve, she shook off any worries about Rogue's motorcycle and moved to place a sealed envelope on Logan's bike.
She tucked it away so that passers-by wouldn't get curious, but left it showing enough for the couple inside to spot easily when they stopped to look.
Betsy stepped back to admire her work, sighed with satisfaction then turned to tuck her arm through Kurt's and lead him back to their ride.
"I think we've pulled this off rather splendidly," she announced as Jean started the vehicle and the group left the parking lot.
~*~*~
"Where are the others?" Logan growled as he came to a stop at Rogue's side.
She inhaled deeply and realized that he'd found a place to smoke one of his cigars not too long ago.
The lingering smell of smoke would have bothered her on anyone else, but mixed with a hint of sweat and a million other little things that were Logan it was a heavenly fragrance.
He shifted impatiently next to her, reminding Rogue that he'd asked her a question and she thought of the answer.
"Ah'm not really sure. Kurt and Ah came in to get a table and the others are out in tha parking lot."
"Where'd the elf go?"
"Ah don't know. He," she paused then fibbed, "he said something about the bathroom Ah think, but the music was too loud for me to be sure."
Logan turned his gaze to the jukebox that had just stopped blaring an old country favorite about an 'achy breaky heart.'
"So let's get that table while we wait for them," he suggested nudging her forward with the helmet he held in his hand.
"We?" she gasped as she followed behind him with only a moment's hesitation.
"Yeah, we. The Prof. set me ta babysittin' you kids tonight."
He came to a stop at a booth near the back and urged her sit down while he put his helmet down then slid into the seat across from her.
She inwardly fumed at always being put in the 'kid' category and slumped down in her chair.
"This table ain't big enough for all of us," she argued.
"It's a slow night, they'll manage to find something."
Rogue's eyes watched his lips as he spoke those words then raised his beer to them to finish off the bottle.
Without even thinking to do so, she followed the liquid's path down his throat and stared at the way his Adam's apple moved as he swallowed the beverage.
Closing her eyes, she silently cursed him for not even being able to do such a mundane thing anymore without turning her on.
Across the table, Logan arched a brow at that reaction and stared a little more intently at her.
If he wasn't so sure it was impossible, he would have thought young Rogue to be … affected by his presence.
Even as he discarded the idea, his lips curled into a little smirk as the waitress arrived and got Stripes' attention.
"Want another?" the buxom blonde hovering at their table asked with a nod toward his empty bottle.
When he nodded, she placed menus and utensils in front of them, picked up the bottle then strode to the bar to get him another one.
"Lemme know when you're ready to order," the waitress said with a smile at Logan as she returned to give him his refill.
Rogue turned to glare after the woman's sassily swaying hips.
"She didn't even ask if Ah wanted somethin' ta drink," she griped.
Logan picked up his menu and flipped it open to cover his smiling mouth while looking at her over the top edge.
"Want me to call her back?"
Typical Stripes, the girl just glared at him and began looking at her own menu.
"Wanna go ahead and order or are we waiting for the others?"
At his question, Rogue frowned and put her menu down to scan the room around them.
"Thay should be in here bah now," she muttered, not seeing a sign of her friends inside the establishment.
Scooting across the bench seat of the booth, she looked out the window they sat next to and looked out into the parking lot toward where Jean had parked.
The man across from saw the puzzled and disbelieving expression that came over her face and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"It ain't there," she said, almost to herself.
"What ain't where?" he took at sip from his beer and tried to see what she was staring at outside.
"Jean's SUV," Rogue pointed to a parking space, "it was rahght there."
Logan stared at the spot that was currently occupied by a shiny new Ram.
"Ya sure that's the spot?"
"Positive."
They both stared silently at the pick-up and thought of what it's presence in place of Jean's vehicle meant.
"They set ya up again, darlin'," he concluded.
She fell back in the booth as pleasure at being called 'darlin' by him in that smoky gruff voice of his distracted her from the situation.
Then his words before the endearment sank in and she frowned.
"Whaddya mean, thay set me up again?' she demanded.
"That little scene in the kitchen last night? Yer gal pals set ya up."
"Huh?"
He rolled his eyes a bit, took a bracing drink from his beer then set the bottle down to explain it nice and easy for her.
"You slept through dinner last night. You awoke in the night feelin' hungry. You went downstairs to grab some grub. Your friend Betsy sent me some message about a stranger messin' around downstairs to get me investigatin'. I wondered in to the kitchen just like they planned ta find ya playin' in the fridge nearly naked."
She blushed furiously at the reminder and dropped her gaze to the table as she sank down in her seat.
"Ah was not playin' or nearly naked," Rogue protested.
The waitress returned to see if they were ready to order and the conversation was forgotten as they opted to eat something.
~*~*~
While Rogue mostly fiddled with her dinner, Logan devoured the large rare steak he'd selected for himself.
Again she cursed her body for reacting at simply watching his teeth tear into the meat and chew it up.
Showing no signs of drunkenness he finished off his sixth beer with the steak and stretched with satisfaction.
To distract herself from the way his rippling muscles were apparent even with the jacket he wore, Rogue focused her attention on the couples dancing around the dance floor.
Eventually she became genuinely wrapped up in enviously watching the pairs as they swayed and shuffled around the floor together.
The song shifted to some man crooning a ballad and she sighed as the dancing became more slow and intimate to match the song.
"Wanna give it a whirl?" Logan offered unexpectedly.
She turned to look at him, startled by the suggestion.
"It's just a dance, darlin', even I can manage one of those."
"Ah nevah said ya couldn't, shuga, Ah'm just suhprised yer offering to try it with me."
He rose, slid off his jacket to reveal a black T-shirt stretched over the broad expanse of his chest and shoulders then extended a hand toward her.
"This song ain't gonna play forever, Stripes."
Not wanting to blow this probably once in a lifetime chance to dance with him, Rogue slid quickly from the booth, unzipped and removed her own leather jacket then turned to place her hand in his.
Logan didn't lead her right to the dance floor like she'd imagined he would.
With her hand pretty much unnoticed in his own, the man simply stood there staring at her.
At her chest to be precise.
And the lush swell of cleavage revealed by the plunging cutout in the middle of the brief halter-top she wore.
Had the other girls been there, Rogue would have bowed at their feet in thanks for forcing her to wear a top that got such a reaction from the infamous Wolverine.
Somewhere inside her, an imp came to life and it knew just how to deal with this situation.
Keeping a giddy smile of delight hidden, she raised her free hand to Logan's chin and lifted it until he was looking into her eyes.
"It's impolite ta stare like that, ya know."
He blinked.
Then he remembered himself and jerked his chin from her hand.
"What the hell are you thinkin' wearing something like that out in public?! Ya wanna get raped or somethin'?"
As he snarled out the questions, he shifted his body to shield hers from any curious stares and bent to pick her jacket up from the seat of the booth.
The move pressed his chest against hers and bent her backwards so that she had to grab his shoulders to keep from falling.
With the jacket he was stretching for right beneath his fingers, Logan froze.
Against his still body, Rogue's began going haywire as did her breathing, which stopped then started coming in slow little pants.
Her nipples grew hard while every other part of her went soft.
Her dry lips parted and ached to kiss his neck, which was so close to her mouth.
Automatically her tongue slid out to moisten her lips and in the process it touched his flesh.
His body jerked in reaction.
He wrapped his right hand around her waist and clutched her jacket in his left.
He swallowed and Rogue watched the way the muscles in his throat flexed at the action.
A growl vibrated his chest against hers as he shifted his attention from the jacket in his hand to her face.
Sensing his intense gaze on her, Rogue lifted her somewhat dazed green eyes to stare into his.
She gaped at what she saw in those velvety brown depths and he growled again at what he detected in her expression.
"We're leavin'," he straightened and shoved her into her jacket. "Now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know I said in the last chapter that things would get hot here, but as I got to writing the 'plot' thickened so to speak. Much to even my own disbelief this and the next chapter are without any sex. It just … didn't go with the flow yet. *pouts at my stubborn creative process*
