Comforts of a Man (The Panty Droppers Series) Read online

  The questions continued for a while until Sam stuck his head in to tell them it was way past quitting time. Logan smiled and after dismissing his class, he set about packing up for the evening. He welcomed the quiet the room gave when he was alone. But he felt the energy from his best friend. There was a silent comfort that Sam gave him that he’d only felt once before—during his stint in the marines.

  “You’re a little more quiet than usual.”

  Logan stopped what he was doing to look over at Sam. He stared for a bit before taking a breath and flopping down on a nearby set of benches. “I have a question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Do you think I’m out of practice when it comes to women? Do you think I’m too nice to the ones I date?”

  “Too nice? Out of practice? What?”

  “You heard me. Do you think I’m too nice?”

  Sam sighed then sat beside Logan. “You’re a bit out of practice, yes because you’ve been in the marines for so long. But I wouldn’t say you were too nice. What’s going on?”

  “Allison asked if I wanted to have children—”

  “Am I missing something?”

  “We’ve been seeing each other. The strange thing is since I’ve been seeing her I haven’t once thought of another woman.”

  “You mean William What’s-his-name’s ex-wife?”

  Logan nodded.

  “Okay, go on.”

  Standing, Logan grabbed a half empty bottle of water from where it’d fallen between the bleachers and shoved it into the garbage bag he’s been carrying around. “We made love and it’s intense. I’m talking the second I see her all I want is her and the moment I leave her it tears me up inside. Call it new love or whatever, but I like how it feels. But she has this hang up about her being older than me and it just seems to rule her life. Yesterday morning we were sitting around and somehow the conversation came up about children. She tells me I’ll one day get tired of her not being able to have children and leave with the first bimbo that comes along. Can you believe that shit?”

  “She said that to you?”

  “Yes.” Logan sighed. He walked across the large space and chucked the garbage bag into a large bin and covered it. When he walked back to Sam, he gathered his folders and files into one pile then sat beside his friend. “I don’t know. I walked out. What else could I do? I told her not to push things—she freaks. I tell her she’s over reacting, she freaks. I tell her to calm down, she freaks. Damn. I have no clue what else to do. I find myself wondering if I need this shit in my life right now.”

  “But you want children. Have you stopped to thinks she’s doing you a favour?”

  “By labeling me the same as all the other turds in her life?”

  “No. By telling you straight up her body isn’t what it used to be. Some women would lead you on and let you go on thinking they can have children when they know they can’t.”

  “But that’s just it. No one ever told her she can’t. And she’s not that much older than me. She just assumes she can’t.”

  “I’m playing the devil’s advocate, Lo. Listen, her husband, from what I read, did a number on her. He leaves her in the worse possible way he could—for another woman and she hasn’t had a chance to get over that before she barreled into you.”

  “I understand that, Sam. I really do. But similar to the way she hasn’t had time to get over that—I do not deserve to be dumped on because he was an ass.”

  The two sat in silence. Logan rested his elbows against the seats behind him and allowed his head to fall back and closed his eyes. His was slowly getting a migraine.

  “Did you send the demo?”

  “This morning.”

  “And?”

  Logan sighed and sat up, reaching for his phone. “I haven’t checked my messages yet.” When he activated his cell, the face was blinking at him. Arching a brow, he checked the messages and his heart instantly began racing.

  “You look like you just saw a ghost.” Sam said.

  “They called back?”

  “They?”

  “Antibes Records.”

  “Well, listen to the message!”

  His hands were shaking too badly to hold the phone so he dialed the number and put the phone on speaker phone. Placing it between them on the bench, he waited.

  “Hello, Mr. Montgomery. My name is Eli Hutchinson and I am the CEO for Antibes Records. Normally I would let my secretary return these calls, but I listened to your demo and thought me calling would swing more weight with you. We need to talk, Mister Montgomery. Gimme a call…”

  In a daze, Logan blinked at Sam.

  “Did you hear that?” Logan wanted to know. “Please tell me you heard that!”

  Sam laughed and hugged him tightly. “Dude! You did it!”

  * * * *

  It was dark outside as Logan listened to his demo again. Technically, he wasn’t even listening. It played, but for some reason he couldn’t really hear it because thoughts of Allison danced through his head. He had to give her space—if nothing else. Taking a breath, he lifted his leg to the balcony railing and eased back in the seat. He was closing his eyes when his cell rang. Without looking at the display, he answered it.

  “Logan Montgomery! You’re a hard man to get a hold of.”

  “Mr. Hutchinson. Thanks for calling back. I was going to wait until the morning.”

  Eli Hutchinson laughed. “Well, I wanted to touch base with you as soon as possible. Can you come in and meet with us in a couple of days in New York?”

  “That soon?”

  “Time is money as they say.”

  Logan chuckled. “You’re right about that. Sure, I can come in and see you.”

  “Perfect. I’ll tell my secretary to send a car for you at the airport. You keep in touch now.”

  “I will,” Logan promised.

  With their conversation over, he picked up his beer and entered the house. He wanted to get his packing done along with a whole host of other things he had to get done for the center before he could leave.

  Chapter Nine

  Sitting side by side with her daughter in the living room on the floor, Allison pressed play on the CD Logan left behind after he stormed out. She hadn’t had the nerve before. The beat was a slow, rhythm and blues sound that took her back the days of old school R. Kelly. She closed her eyes and leaned into the soft, sturdy leather beneath her. When Logan’s voice started, her heart broke all over again and tears toppled down her cheeks. The truth in his voice tore at her. She knew he sang about her. He told her she was his motivation.

  When the song ended, she couldn’t move. It left her paralyzed knowing she’d wronged him—accused him of William’s sins. She was childish with him and he hadn’t stopped to fight her on it. Can I trust a man who simply walks away?

  “Mom, seriously!” Emily cried, tossing her hands up dramatically. “Please tell me you didn’t let dad cost you a good man.”

  “You don’t know if he is a good man.”

  “And now neither do you. How can a man who’s that good be this horrible creature—that sounded dumb, but it still doesn’t take away from the point.”

  “And what point is that?”

  “You sabotaged the thing before it even got off the ground. You know, this should be the other way around.”

  “What should be?”

  “The advice. You should be telling me this.”

  “He just walked away—I started yelling and he got up, got dressed and left.”

  Emily sighed. “And what did you think he would do? He’s not like Dad. Chances are he’s not going to sit here and argue with you and yell just as loud as you—he doesn’t seem like the loud type. He doesn’t seem like the type to like noisy confrontations.”

  “But he should have stayed.”

  “He can’t read your mind. And from what you’ve told me, you wrote him off. No man that’s worth anything likes to know the woman he’s into doesn’t believe in him.”

  Al
lison made a face. “Why are you home anyway?”

  “It’s a long holiday?” Emily cocked a hip. “I cannot believe you said that to him. And for the record—I’ve always wanted a little brother.”

  “No pressure, huh?”

  Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. Look, it’s your life I get it. But I’m pretty sure Logan never asked you for forever. You should try listening to someone else and not your head because when you do—this happens.”

  “How’d you get so smart?”

  Emily rolled her shoulders. “Sometimes the grasshopper becomes the sensei.”

  “Huh?”

  “I mean, sometimes the student becomes the teacher. Jeesh, did you never watch Kung Fu?”

  Allison shook her head as Emily pushed from the couch. Arching a brow at her daughter’s back, Allison watched her walk from the room. Emily couldn’t be right—there was no way she was sabotaging what she had with Logan. Though as she worked away on her business doing the live support for the website, she was beginning to see where Emily was coming from. Making a face, Allison answered one final question then logged out. She gave herself one final glance in a compact mirror and darted out the room almost crashing into her daughter.

  “Whoa! Where are you going?”

  “To talk to Logan.”

  “I’m coming with you!”

  “What?”

  Emily shrugged and reached into her pocket for her own car keys. “I’ll drive. Come on.”

  Allison was too fragile to argue. She slid into the front seat of her daughter’s convertible and strapped herself in as the little beauty roared to life.

  As they sped through the streets, she wasn’t really paying attention. Inside her head she was standing before a mirror acting out, memorizing what she would say once Logan cast those beautiful brown eyes on her. She had to know the perfect words to say to him to gain his forgiveness. But when she showed up and stopped at his classroom door, the man dancing with the teens wasn’t Logan. Same kids, but different teacher. The man looked up at her, said something to the class and jogged over to where she was. He was large, like Logan but Caucasian with shimmering green eyes and red hair. He had a few freckles splashed across his nose and for a moment he looked almost childish as he smiled at her.

  “May I help you?”

  “I’m looking for Logan?”

  The man smiled. “You must be Allison.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry, but Logan isn’t here.”

  Emily spoke up then. “Where is he?”

  “New York. I’m Sam. I’m taking over for him.”

  Allison felt the world open up beneath her. Her knees buckled and she was slipping to the ground before she could catch herself. The man caught her and helped her out of the room and to a nearby set of seats in the hall. Emily sat beside her while Sam hunched down before her.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “She’s fine,” Emily replied. “She’s shocked more than anything else. Is he coming back?”

  “I hope so,” Sam chuckled. “Not sure when though.”

  “Thanks. I’ll take her home now. Mom, come on.”

  But Allison shook her head. “No—I just want to sit here for a while.”

  “I can give you his cell phone number if you’d like.”

  “Sure,” Emily said.

  After Emily had the number, Allison looked at Sam and tilted her head. “You should go back to your class. I’m going to head on home.”

  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m sure.”

  She stood, showing him she was perfectly all right. Flipping her hair from her face, she took a breath and walked away down the hall with Emily running after her. When they were back in the car, Allison took a deep breath and looked down at her fingers.

  “I pushed him away, Em. And now he’s gone and didn’t even say goodbye.”

  “Sam said he was coming back.”

  “No. Sam said he hoped he was coming back.”

  “Mom! For the love of Zeus! Why does everything have to be so black and white with you?” Emily pulled her phone out and dialed.

  She was angry, Allison knew, but her body was still numb with the shock of hearing Logan was gone. It was as if her brain couldn’t process anything else.

  “Hi, Logan? My name is Emily…No, I’m fine…Yes, Mom’s fine…well no she’s not. She misses you.”

  Allison’s head snapped up. “Emily!”

  “She went to the center to see you, but you’re not there…I know we spoke to Sam…okay, hold on.” Emily extended the phone to her. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Taking a breath, she took it. “Hello?”

  “Are you alright?” Logan’s voice was soft.

  “Barely. Like Emily said, I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, but I had to leave for a while.”

  “Because of me?”

  “No, my demo…Allison, what’s really wrong?”

  “I just—I’m sorry for what I said when you were last at my place. I was out of order. You didn’t give me any reason to doubt you or think you were out to get me. I could tell you it was because of what William did, but you had nothing to do with that and I shouldn’t have prosecuted you for what he did. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s alright…there are other ways to have children, Allison, you know that. I never meant to break your heart. I’m too old for accusations and games. I just…I’m not one for noisy confrontations.”

  “I knew Emily’s advice was going to come back and bite me.”

  “I don’t yell—I don’t like the screaming. I would rather walk away, let this calm down then tackle it again.”

  “Were you going to come back?”

  “Home or to you?”

  “To me.”

  Logan went silent and Allison panicked. She held her breath, rubbed a hand over her chest as though that would stop the painful flips her heart was doing.

  “I don’t know, Allison, and that’s the truth. I have to decide whether or not I want to or can live with William’s shadow.”

  “You don’t have to, Logan. Really, I mean it.”

  “Sweetie, I was in a meeting when Emily called. Can I call you when it’s finished.”

  “Oh…sorry.”

  “Allison?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I will call you when the meeting is over. Want me to bring you anything from New York?”

  His voice took on a naughty playfulness she would remember anywhere. Blushing, she glanced back at Emily who was now reaching forward to turn on the ignition.

  “We’ll discuss that later,” Allison replied with a soft laugh. “Just…call me.”

  “I promise.”

  She flipped Emily’s phone closed and placed it in her lap.

  “You’re blushing and smiling—I guess I shouldn’t ask.”

  Allison laughed. “No, you shouldn’t.”

  Chapter Ten

  It felt as if there was a fire under him as Logan went through the different meeting with his lawyer and the record execs. They made him sing different songs, write a couple and record them. By the time he was able to breathe, it was three in the morning. Moaning, he burst out the door into the lobby and was on his phone. The ringing on the other side was long and by the time Allison’s sleepy voice came to him, he was hyperventilating. Throughout he thought of Allison and the way being so far from her was making him feel. It was an empty, hallow feeling that was new to him. No other women made him feel that way. With Allison, he wanted to be there, to feel her soft skin wrapped around him, to taste her flowing freely over his tongue.

  “This day was so long.”

  “Your meetings are over?” Allison asked. “Now?”

  “It’s like no one around this joint sleeps! I feel like a prodded hen.”

  Allison laughed and her mirth gave him something to feel better about.

  “I miss you, Ali…”

  “Logan, you…”

  �
�Hey, Logan!” someone hollered from behind him. He spun around to see his lawyer jogging over.

  “No. Not now.” Logan held up a hand and shook his head. “I was yours all day, all night and part of the new day. I’m not having this right now. I’m talking to my girl, man. Anything you have to say to me, email it, mail it or messenger pigeon it. I don’t care right now.”

  With that said he walked away and pushed out the door to the waiting car. When he slid into the back seat he took a breath and slammed the door. “Like I said. Vultures.”

  “Logan?”

  “Yeah babe.”

  “I’m your girl?”

  Logan stopped and jerked forward in his seat. Had he said that? He thought about it for a bit and found the thought of her being his girl, his woman, didn’t scare him half to death. On the contrary, it sent his heart racing happily as though doing a skip along the ocean. The sudden urge to fist pump built in him, but instead he flopped back against the leather seat with a huge smile on his face. He could feel it tugging his lips ear to ear. “Yes. You are my girl.”

  “Well. I’ve never been anyone’s girl before.”

  “Not even your husband’s? I find that hard to believe.”

  “Not even him. I was just the prize at the end of a business deal between him and my father and after that I was just his wife.”

  “Well, that’s a shame…so…what are you wearing?”

  She giggled. “You horn dog! Behave yourself!”

  “Okay...so…what are you wearing?”

  “You also have a one track mind! I’m wearing clothes. My daughter is home. Can’t necessarily whip off the clothes and strut around.”

  “Slow down, girl! Give a guy a chance to form a mental picture!”

  “Logan. I’m not naked.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  “What if I was naked? I’d be standing across the room from you, ass out...

  “Oh baby, tease me a little.”

  She giggled and he chuckled. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean you’re in New York and I’m here. What if you wanted a booty call?”

  “Wait a minute. Did you just say booty call?”