Ellie sagged against the counter with a dramatic groan.
I stepped forward, laughing softly as I rubbed a comforting hand along her back. “She’s always such a handful,” she muttered.
“But you handle her like a champ.”
She stood, shot me a halfhearted glare, and I smirked right back.
“Do we even know why we’re supposed to meet at the barn tonight?” she asked, untying her apron and hanging it neatly on a hook behind the counter.
I shrugged, playing it cool. “Nostalgia, maybe?”
I might have known the real reason, but I couldn’t tell her just yet.
Ellie grabbed her bag, slung her purse over her shoulder, and called out, “Bye, Sandy!”
Sandy poked her head out from the back room, smiling. “See you later, sweetie! No need to come in tomorrow, take the day off.”
Ellie blew her a kiss, and we stepped out into the warm Texas sun.
“Oh,” I said, slipping my arm around her shoulder as we headed toward her truck, “Mrs. Conrad says you’re one lucky girl.”
Ellie arched a brow. “I know I am, but what makes her think so?”
“She squeezed my bicep,” I said with a wink, pulling open the driver’s side door for her.
She rolled her eyes, but I caught the grin tugging at her lips before she climbed in.
50
ELLIE
“How are we the first ones here?” I asked, glancing around the empty barn, the warm afternoon light slanting in through the high windows, casting golden streaks over the old wooden floor.
“Beats me,” Logan said with a shrug. “But it gives me time to dothis.”
Before I could react, he reached out, grabbed me by the waist, and effortlessly lifted me onto a nearby stack of hay bales, my laughter echoing through the open space.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer, still smiling. “Dowhatexactly?” I teased, biting down on my lower lip.
Logan didn’t answer with words. He leaned in, kissing me slow and deep, his lips warm and familiar. His hand slid along my thigh, fingers trailing a line of fire up the inside in a slow, teasing motion that had me gasping into his mouth.
A moan escaped before I could stop it, swallowed by the kiss, and my entire body sparked to life under his touch. His fingers traced up my side, slipping beneath my shirt, brushing over myskin like he had all the time in the world. My breath hitched, every nerve ending tightening in anticipation.
His lips left mine only to press against the sensitive skin of my neck, and I groaned, placing a hand at the back of his head, holding him there. “Now this, I can get behind,” I murmured with a breathless sigh, heart pounding against my ribs.
The air around us thickened, humming with heat and hunger. Every drag of his fingers sent a shiver through me, every kiss felt like a promise. I leaned back into the hay, tugging him with me until his weight covered mine, the world narrowing to the feel of his hands, his mouth, his body pressing against mine in all the right places.
Our breathing grew heavier, frantic even, as we grabbed at each other like we’d waited too long. We kind of had.
I half-laughed, half-moaned, my body arching into his. “How fast do you think you could?—?”
He groaned, lips against my throat, “I want you. Right here. Right now.”
The heat in his voice, the way his tongue dragged along my skin, I was lit up like a damn Christmas tree. The thrill of getting caught only made it hotter, a dangerous little secret waiting to be exposed.
“Right here?” I asked, breathless.
“Yes,” he growled, fumbling for the button on my shorts, desperation in every movement.
