I pressed her back against the cool wall beside the window, still holding her weight, and began to move. My thrusts were rough, rhythmic, and utterly consuming. The world narrowed to the feel of her around me, the sound of her ragged moans mingling with my own, and the distant, growing chant of the countdown from the television.
"Three... two... one... HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
As the crowd roared, the night sky erupted. Colorful fireworks blossomed overhead, their brilliant colors and sparkling light flashing through the window, illuminating our tangled bodies in bursts of gold and blue.
There was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be. I drove into her, feeling the telltale tremors build within her until she cried out, her body clenching around me as she fell over the edge. The sensation was too much, and I followed her an instant later, my own release crashing through me with a guttural groan.
Still buried deep within her, both of us breathing heavily, I leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her damp forehead.
"Happy New Year, beautiful," I whispered.
"Happy New Year, Logan."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
LOGAN
I didn't know why I had thought this was a good idea.
To be fair, the idea wasn't even mine, but Evelyn's—a way to practice for my interview in a low-pressure setting while including the girls. At least they were having fun. For me, it was proving to be a unique challenge.
Across from me, Anna stared with defiant intensity. She even raised her eyebrows, waiting for my answer. And I couldn't for the life of me remember the question.
“Could you repeat that, please, Anna?” I asked.
“Miss Bean,” she corrected me, emphasizing the surname.
“My apologies. Could you repeat that, please, Miss Bean?”
“I want you to tell us what you think you can contribute to our hospital, especially in the health sector of...nephronology.”
“Neurology,” Evelyn gently corrected from beside her, struggling to hold back her laughter.
All the questions had been prepared by Evelyn. She’d written them on slips of paper for the girls to draw, and they took turns reading them across the dining room table. We were conducting a mock interview for my hospital position, scheduled for the next day.
“Well... what I have to add, especially to the...nephronologysector...” I began to laugh, but the three of them remained utterly serious.
Anna scolded me. “You’re not taking this seriously, Dr. Turner. I think we’ll have to replace you with another doctor.”
“My sincerest apologies, Miss Bean. To answer your question, what I have to add to the Neurology department is...” I launched into the well-rehearsed speech I had prepared, detailing my research and vision.
Anna and Aurora stared intently, nodding with grave expressions as if they understood every single word. They were taking their roles far too seriously.
Next, Evelyn opened the final question, dictating it slowly to Aurora until she had memorized it. Rory then turned to me and asked the question in sign language. I’d heard Evelyn dictate it, but I still concentrated on each sign, trying to learn.
“You want to know about my previous work, don’t you?” As I spoke, I managed to sign “a little” and “previous”—words I’d recently learned.
When Rory nodded, a faint smile touched her lips. It appeared again when I incorporated a few more signs into my answer. They were still few, but I prided myself on learning quickly. I hoped that soon, I wouldn't need an interpreter to understand everything she said.
When I finished, the two finally broke character, applauding the fact that I’d answered all their questions.
“I liked that,” Anna declared. “When I grow up, I want to be anintreviewer.”
“‘Interviewer,’” Evelyn corrected, laughing. “I think you’d be brilliant at that, Anna.”
“Excellent, even,” I added. “You’re very good at making the interviewee nervous.”
Aurora signed something, and Evelyn translated: “She wants to know if she was also good at asking the questions.”
