Her lips curved up into a tender smile, as she looked first at the tray, then up into his eyes. They stared for a moment, feeling absurdly affectionate towards one another, before her eyes drifted back down to the glorious body half-hidden behind the tray.
“I hope it’s breakfast and a show...”
The old Logan would have blushed a million shades of red. The old Logan wouldn’t have been caught in bed at ten o’clock to begin with. But the new Logan flashed her a mischievous smile before dancing towards her—still holding the tray.
It was like she had unlocked something deep inside him. Made him lighter, made him free. There was a playful energy to the way he danced his hips back and forth, a careless ease to the way his locks of wavy hair fell messily into his face.
Lacy burst out laughing, clapping her hands in applause. He soaked it in for a moment, bowing ostentatiously, before setting the tray on the nightstand so he could lean down for a kiss.
“So this crazy guy wanted to wake you up this morning,” he murmured between kisses, pulling back every so often to stare deep into her eyes. “He missed you like crazy and didn’t want to wait another second. But I saved you. Told him not to be an asshole. Told him to wait.”
“Is that so?” Lacy’s eyes sparkled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “So this first guy—the jerk—did he have anything in particular in mind?”
Logan bit down on his lip with a grin.
“Oh, I’m sure he had a few ideas...”
Without another word, Lacy pulled him down into the bed.
WHEN THE TWO OF THEM finally reemerged, a few hours later, it was already coming up on one. Their brilliant plan to go to the lake was pushed to the next day, and Logan was content to stay in bed all day—cuddling and making love—until Lacy reminded him about the dog.
“He would have been fine,” Logan said sullenly, as they made their way up the front walk to his house. “The thing’s a giant—if he really needed to get out, he could just break a window.”
Lacy chuckled as he fished out his keys. “And that would be okay with you? You’d rather that Spartacus broke one of the windows, rather than you just opening a door?”
Logan almost shrugged and said ‘not my house,’ before he caught himself. Instead, he just shrugged as the two of them made their way inside. The house was still chilly—he had yet to pay the utility bill—and two of them huddled close as he called around for the dog.
“Spartacus?” A ringing silence echoed through the house, and Logan took a cautious look around. “Hey boy—you in here?”
He’d better be. Dylan would kill him if he somehow lost the dog.
“Come on, you beast! You’re not fooling...”
He trailed off when he spotted a happy tail wagging in the backyard. Spartacus barked twice in greeting, then continued to dig around the fence—looking for gophers.
A little frown flitted across Lacy’s face as she gazed out with him.
“Did you let him out last night?” she asked quietly.
“No,” Logan replied, just as confused. “I made sure he was in—”
A sudden noise upstairs made them both freeze in place. A muffled thud that could only have been made by a person. For a second, they stood there—staring up in alarm. Then Logan pushed Lacy back and began walking up himself.
“Stay here,” he whispered. “I’ll be right back.”
By now, he should have known that was never going to happen. As soon as he turned his back, her hand slipped into his as she began climbing with him.
“Between the two of us, you’re the one who got knocked out by his own dog,” she whispered back. “I think I’ll come along.”
He knew better than to argue, and together, the two of them climbed the stairs. There were no lights since the electricity was still down, but the drapes had been pulled open in the bedroom to let in the afternoon light. Logan and Lacy approached the door carefully, paused outside, then yanked it open as they jumped inside.
...only to see a naked woman grinning back at them.
“Oh,” her pouty lips turned up in surprise, “you brought a friend?”
Logan froze. Lacy froze. The woman froze.
Then, all at once, everything started to crumble.