Page 23 of Logan

As soon as the cheeseburger was gone, I grabbed a bowl of soup and drank it down so quickly I barely tasted it.

Logan forgot all about his own food as he watched me. I waited for him to say something, to protest or chastise me for my appalling table manners, but he said nothing. He even started pushing the plates closer to me one at a time, so they’d be easier to reach.

I didn’t manage to eat everything, but I polished off a significant amount of it and had the rest boxed up to take with me for later. Nearly two hours had passed when we finally left the diner. I fell asleep in the car before we even pulled out of the parking lot, warmed by the afternoon sun and the weight of my first full belly in years.

CHAPTER 10

Clay

We drovethe rest of the day and didn’t stop until well after sunset. We’d just crossed from California into Nevada, and the long strip of desert ahead of us was completely barren. There wasn’t even a rest stop or a gas station. It was not the kind of place to try crossing in the dead of night, so we decided to stop and resume our journey in the morning.

The little desert town we managed to find also didn’t have much. There would be no fancy hotels for us that night, but at least there was a motel with some vacancies. The room even came with a fridge for me to store my leftovers from lunch, so we wouldn’t have to worry about breakfast in the morning.

I was feeling surprisingly optimistic, until I stepped through the door and was greeted with the sight of a single king-size bed.

Right.

Of course.

It was as I expected. No one just gave away things for free.

I glanced over at Logan as he locked the motel door behind us.

Well, at least he was attractive. That would make things easier. I’d thought the same thing when I first met him, back in a San Francisco hotel, and here I was in the same position again.

Dropping my bag off in a nearby chair, I combed my fingers through my hair a few times to detangle it, then laid myself down on the bed.

“Sorry about the room,” he said as he hung up his jacket on the peg by the door. “It’s...” He trailed off when he turned around and saw me.

I refused to squirm under his attention.

I was a professional, damn it. I should be used to this.

“Well, here we are.” With one hand, I slid the bottom of my shirt up until most of my stomach was exposed. “So, what’d you want?”

He didn’t move or say anything as he continued to stare at me.

I wanted to scream at him.

What was he waiting for?

Just get it over with already.

Did he want me to beg, or play coy?

Some clients only enjoyed it if they could delude themselves into thinking I wanted it as well. Maybe Logan was one of those.

I sat up on my knees and bit my lip, looking him up and down with my best look of desperation.

Yet, just as I opened my mouth to start begging, he held up a hand to silence me.

“I’m sorry. I think there’s been a misunderstanding. This was the only kind of room they had available. But...”

He looked around at the room, taking in the walls, the cracked television, and even the bathroom door. Everywhere but in my direction.

“I’ll, um... I’ll go sleep in the car.”

He was already reached for the door handle before I spoke up.

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