The Suspicious Proposal Read online

  She felt like she was on a roller coaster that had nothing holding her down. Her heart soared and her head was trying to hold on for dear life.

  "I am open to suggestions,” she said, with no inhibition whatsoever.

  He neared her and lifted his hands to her face, cupping them over her jaw and lifting her chin until it was very close to his. She lost herself in his sky-blue gaze and stopped breathing as he neared her.

  "Would you be open to a little romance?" he asked her in the barest whisper.

  She didn't answer him. Instead, she let her heart lead, closed her eyes and lifted her mouth to meet his, feeling his lips brush over hers and then press against them firmly, as if the first tease of a touch was not going to be nearly enough, and he needed much more from her than that.

  Logan moved his mouth over hers as if in avid exploration and it made everything in her body stop and come to vivid life all at the same time. She reached her hands up to hold his arms as his mouth opened hers and his tongue teased her, moving subtly over hers at first, then twisting with hers, and pulling at her until she moaned in his arms.

  He seemed to react to her with hunger at the sound she had made, lowering his hands from her jaws to the sides of her arms, running his fingers over her bare skin and firmly and slowly sliding his thumbs over the sides of her breasts, drawing little circles with them.

  She gasped and her kiss deepened as everything in her suddenly caught on fire and she grew breathless. This man was teasing her in the most delicious and wonderful way. The movements that his thumbs were making drifted from the sides of her breasts over to the front, and he encircled her hardened nipples, rubbing them through the thin silk fabric of her red dress.

  He kissed her passionately and she moaned again, deeper, and pressed her body against him, responding to him with an animal magnetism. He lifted his mouth from hers and looked down at her, his thumbs still massaging her nipples firmly.

  "Shall we get you to the car, now?" he asked her in a husky voice, his eyes burning into hers.

  Brittany nodded. She wanted him. It hadn't taken much, but there was something about him that stole her breath away and made her hungry somewhere deep inside of her.

  He wrapped one arm around her hips and walked with her toward a long black limousine parked near the gallery.

  She stared at the car and then looked up at him. "That's your car?" she asked in surprise.

  A chauffeur stepped from the vehicle and walked to the back door, opening it up for the two of them.

  "Mr. Grayson,” he said respectfully. Logan nodded and smiled at him, thanking him.

  They climbed in and the door was shut behind them. She looked around and saw that Logan slid into a long and wide back seat, stretching his legs out in front of him as he did.

  "May I offer you a seat?" he asked with a sexy smile, indicating his lap. She felt more than naughty as she moved toward him and his hands reached for her dress, pushing it up over her knees and thighs as he wrapped his hands around her legs and pulled her to him.

  She sat astride his lap, facing him as his hands moved up her thighs and further beneath her dress to her hips. He kissed her ravenously, his mouth moving from her lips to her neck and chest, and before she knew it, his hands were no longer on her thighs, but up at her shoulders, sliding the red silk off them and baring her breasts.

  She gasped as his hands and mouth took them over, cupping them and holding them as he sucked and bit at her nipples. She could feel heat and need tightening her belly and making her ache for him.

  One of his hands left her breast and found its way back beneath her dress as he continued to kiss and suck at her. His fingers moved up her inner thigh until they reached her panties, and in moments, he was touching her beneath the fabric, massaging her gently and giving her just enough pressure to make her moan and begin to move her hips against his hand.

  He grinned as he kissed her and made her begin to sigh with pleasure, slipping his fingertips inside of her, making her move her body harder against his hand. She reached her arms around his neck and held tight to him, and moments later she was crying out as he made her come and he kissed her hard as she did, making her tremble in his arms.

  When she had begun to breathe again, she opened her eyes; he was staring right at her. "Now I want all of you...” he said insistently. He leaned up, kissed her lips, and then looked at her again. "Give me all of you," he requested of her, looking at her. She moved so he could pull her panties from her body, and she helped him take his own pants down. Then she moved back to his groin and he pushed her dress up far and then lowered her body down onto his erection, sliding it into her and filling her with it.

  Her head fell back and she was delirious with pleasure as he began to move in her. His hands were planted on her hips, rocking her over him and pushing himself all the way into her, making her cry out with pleasure as she came again, and then once more, as he finally thrust himself into her and his own orgasm made them both shudder with ecstasy.

  She could hardly breathe as she laid her head down on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her and smiled, laughing lightly.

  "My god, Brittany. You are one incredible woman. I am just amazed by you,” he told her with a smile, rubbing her back. She moved off him and they pulled their clothes back on.

  "Where is my driver taking you?" he asked her.

  She smiled and gave him her address and he called it to the front of the car. The driver pulled the limo away from the gallery. As they rode together in the back seat, Brittany thought for certain that she must have somehow lost her mind, but she was so glad that she had. Her heart was smug and pleased for having outdone her common-sense mind.

  Logan lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers slowly and tenderly, making her raise her eyebrows.

  "That was an amazing night,” she said with a smile.

  He nodded. "It was. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings."

  "Tomorrow?" she asked in surprise and he raised both of his eyebrows and nodded.

  "Of course, tomorrow. Do you think I'm going to have a one-night stand with a woman as incredible as you and let it go like that? Brittany, my dear, you are much too fascinating for that, and I haven't had nearly enough of you yet. Not even close,” he said in a low voice as he reached for her and kissed her lips long and passionately.

  By the time they got to her house, she wasn't sure if she would be in his arms again in the back seat of his car. He let her go when they reached her doorstep, and he took her phone number and kissed her deeply before she waved goodnight and closed the door as he stood at her doorstep, watching her go.

  In the days that followed, almost every night seemed magical to Brittany, as he would take her out to delicious dinners, or hot dancing, or carriage rides through the park. He took her for boat rides and walks along the beach, bringing her flowers and gifts of one kind or another. Their dates were fun, romantic and spontaneous sometimes. Their nights were hotter and hotter as they grew more comfortable with one another.

  They could not resist the passion that lay just beyond the meaningful looks and wandering hands; the heated kisses and burning bodies. There was rarely a time when they weren't exploring one another's bodies with their hands and mouths; in elevators, in bedrooms, in dark corners and just barely behind closed doors.

  Lena had gotten a full review the morning after the art gallery show, but as the days turned into weeks, Lena's opinion began to change as Brittany's feelings for Logan began to grow much more serious.

  They were talking on the phone one day, when Lena asked her point blank what she had been suspecting all along.

  "Britt, I gotta tell you, I think you and Logan are moving way too fast. You are with him almost every day, and you two are just getting a little too deep too quick for my own peace of mind. I think you ought to take a step back from him. I'm just telling you this because I love you and I want you to have the best and be alright. I think it's way too hot, too fast, with you and him
." Lena was never one to mince words.

  Brittany sighed as she laid in bed, luxuriating in the glow that he had left her in that morning before he disappeared through the door.

  "Lena, I am not moving too fast... it's just... it's different with him, you know? It's so amazing. He's thoughtful and romantic, and oh my god, does he rock my whole world when we are together, and he's so smart and sweet, and sexy as hell." She swooned, thinking of him.

  "Honestly, girl, you sound like you have a high school crush,” Lena told her with a bit of vaguely hidden disgust.

  "Oh no..." Brittany said with a wide smile. "This isn't a crush. I'm falling in love with him. He's amazing and wonderful and he treats me so good, and he's successful... there's just nothing at all wrong with him. I am so in love with him. He has totally changed my whole world,” she said with happy sigh.

  Lena groaned. "Britt, you listen to me, you're moving too fast. It has only been a month. You can't be that in love with him yet."

  "Oh yes, I can. There is no one like him, Lena, and he is mine, and I am loving every single minute of it."

  "Is he yours? I don't remember hearing anything about the two of you being a couple. Has he said that or are you two just having a hot fling? Are you official?" she asked.

  Brittany didn't answer right away. Her happy golden glow was caught on a snag. "I... guess so. I suppose we are, you know, we really haven't talked about it."

  Lena made a noise of disapproval. "Mmmhmmm. You better get that figured out now, girl, before you get your heart caught in bad trap."

  "I know, I know. I will. I'll talk to him about it soon,” she said with a soft sigh.

  The truth was that she hadn't even thought about it like that, she was just having so much fun and loving every minute of being with him, that she hadn't much thought about the relationship status between them.

  It played in the back of her mind, nagging at her and making her wonder, and a few days later they were in bed one night, their bodies wrapped around each other in bliss as they stroked each other gently in the afterglow of love and gave one another soft kisses.

  "Logan," she asked him quietly, as the thought finally came to the forefront of her mind and made its way to her mouth.

  "Hmm?” he asked her, sated with pleasure and nearing sleep.

  "Logan, are we dating one another exclusively? Are we... are we, a couple?" she asked with her heart beginning to pound. She hadn't thought about him answering it any way but the obvious yes, but as she asked him, she realized that it was entirely possible that he would say...

  "No, baby, we aren't. I don't want to get tied down to anyone, do you? That's no fun, and look what a good time we're having! We are having such a good-" he kissed her mouth, "time, aren't we?"

  She nodded and made a slightly agreeable sound, but her heart felt like it was going to tear in half.

  "Logan," she said quietly, leaning her head back and looking into his blue eyes, "I love you."

  He stared at her for a second and then smiled and kissed her softly. "Thank you, honey, that's so sweet. It's adorable coming from you." He kissed her again as she realized that he hadn't said it back to her. Then his mouth grew more fervent over hers, his hands moved to cup and massage her breasts, and moments later, he was pushing her thighs apart and driving himself deeply into her. She felt loved, whether she had heard it or not.

  When Lena talked to her a few days later, she was a lot quieter about it, and a little heartbroken.

  "I told you he wasn't playing seriously with you. I knew he was moving way too fast for your own good. You weren't listening to me. That man is just a little more trouble than you need. I know he's fun, and I know you are having a good time, and honey, I am glad for you for that, but he is just not at all what you ought to be having in your life. You need a man who is going to commit to you and mean it.

  “That's not him. That man is out for a good time and nothing but, and he may be setting you on fire now, but you give it a short while and he'll get bored with you and let you go. Then your heart is going to be broken and you won't have anyone but yourself to blame,” Lena told her firmly.

  Brittany sighed. "I guess you might be right, but you don't see him when he's with me... it's like I'm his oxygen and he can't breathe without me. It's incredible. I think he does love me, he's just not able to admit it to himself. He's not used to being in love, that's all it is."

  Lena scoffed. "Girl, you better let your head have some room in that relationship and stop leaving it all up to your heart, or you're going to wind up wanting to die. You trust me on this one. This isn't what you want at all. Take your time and wait to see if he really loves you. You're already nursing the wounds of him not telling you that he loves you."

  Brittany frowned and bit her lip. Lena wasn't wrong. She had spent more than a little time crying to herself over the fact that Logan hadn't told her that he loved her. It was enough to make her heart sore and ache, and she didn't seem to care or have any common sense about it at all.

  She just kept right on wanting him and loving him, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Lena had spoken words of truth. Logan might very well hurt her one day if she wasn't careful about how much of her heart she gave him.

  Chapter 2

  Brittany was sitting at her desk in the bank where she worked one Friday afternoon when her cell phone rang with the special ring that made her heart skip a beat and her breath catch. She picked up her phone and got up to close her office door.

  Her conversations with him were rarely material that should be heard by anyone else.

  "Hi baby!" she said as she answered.

  "How's my hot little number doing?" he asked with a grin she could hear right over the line.

  "I'm good, just thinking about you,” she said with a smile as her eyes danced with the lights of love.

  He chuckled. "That's good... I like it when you think about me. Listen, I wanted to take you out to dinner tonight. Something special. What time can I come and get you?"

  She smiled. "I can be ready anytime. How should I dress?" she reached up and began to twirl a strand of her hair around her fingertip.

  "Wear something that will drive me nuts until I get it off you,” he told her in a quiet voice.

  She giggled at him. “I can do that."

  "Excellent, you do that and then I will pick you up at six, how does that sound?" he asked with s smile she could almost hear.

  "That sounds like a date!"

  After they hung up, she wondered about what Lena had told her. She was torn, knowing that Lena was looking at things from an outsider's perspective, which meant that she couldn't see all the little romantic nuances that happened between them, and also knowing that it meant that Lena was perhaps, just maybe, seeing things that Brittany wasn't able to see with her heart all fogged up.

  That night as they went to the restaurant, Brittany noticed that he seemed a little more uptight, a little more nervous than usual and she was curious about it. His hand was tighter over hers than it normally was, and his smile was a little smaller.

  They were seated at an excellent table on a balcony overlooking a pond set in the back courtyard garden area of the restaurant, where a chamber orchestra played softly to them.

  There was candlelight glowing all around them, and the air was sweet with the fragrance of the roses growing along the balcony, and set into vases near each table.

  Logan ordered a bottle of champagne and after it was poured into their glasses, he lifted his flute to toast her, saying with a smile, "To a woman who has not only turned my head, but also turned my heart in many ways. I wish to express my profound passion and emotion for you, by offering you my own heart and this small token of the future that I want to share with you."

  They drank to his toast as she smiled and wondered what he was up to.

  Putting his glass down, he pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it, and inside was a large diamond ring, glittering and sparkling in the candlelight.
He pulled it from the box and held her hand in his, sliding it onto her left hand as he locked his gaze onto hers and said in a low voice, "Marry me, Brittany. Be my wife and stay with me for the rest of our lives."

  She stared at him in amazement and her heart felt as if it might swell right out of her chest. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here she had wondered at his intentions; worried over his emotions and true feelings for her, and hurt over the fact that he hadn't told her that he loved her. All the while he was thinking of something much more long term. He had been considering her for marriage.

  She was astounded by his gesture and his request. She could never have seen his intentions coming, not even remotely, and it caught her heart by surprise. She blinked at him and as tears filled her eyes, she stared down at the ring on her hand, shining brightly against her dark skin like a star in the night.