Her Reluctant Billionaire Read online

  She shook her head, trying to indicate that she couldn’t say anything yet.

  He seemed to understand her. With a nod, he put a hand on her back and turned her so they could walk along the beach.

  Although she was brutally aware of Logan’s tense body beside her—his lean, hot, hard body that she desperately wanted to touch again—she made herself concentrate on breathing deeply and calming her frantic mind.

  This was too important.

  Logan was too important.

  They had to talk about this, or their relationship would be damaged forever.

  The afternoon sun beat down on her face, and the sounds of other beachgoers filled in the background of the scene. Seagulls were circling nearby, attracted by what looked like french fries spilled out on the sand about twenty feet ahead of them.

  But none of that mattered nearly so much as what she could possibly say to Logan.

  When her breathing had mostly returned to normal, she tried out her vocal chords. “I’m… I’m sorry I ran. I just panicked.”

  “I know.”

  “I… It wasn’t because I didn’t want to be with you. It was just because I was scared.”

  “I’m glad.” His face was perfectly controlled, no emotion evident at all except the continued urgent searching of his eyes.

  She cleared her throat a couple of times and stared ahead of her, at the seagulls circling around the fries. There must have been at least thirty birds now.

  Finally she said, “Where did that even come from? I never thought…”

  “I know you didn’t.”

  “We’re friends.”

  “Yes.”

  She had to turn her head to look at him now. His face was still unnaturally composed. “I…” She had to start again when her voice broke. “I think I need to sit down.”

  “My family’s beach house is just up there—about ten houses up. It’s empty right now. We can go there.”

  She squinted, recognizing the big, sprawling, white house in the distance. “Okay.”

  They walked in silence over the sand until they’d reached the walkway leading up to the back of the house. There was a privacy fence surrounding the patio and pool, and Logan keyed in the combination to the lock on the gate.

  They walked across the concrete patio, Katie wincing at the heat on her bare feet. Then they sat down together on a bench swing in the shade near the back entrance to the house.

  Logan didn’t say anything. He was waiting for her—she knew.

  She had no idea what in the world she should say.

  Finally she managed, “So was that just a fluke?”

  “I don’t think so,” he said softly, roughly, after a brief hesitation.

  She turned to gaze up at his face. “Then what…” She trailed off, completely incapable of speaking when a fire ignited in his eyes.

  A fire. Hot, urgent, overwhelming.

  Her breath caught in her throat when he cupped her face with one hand and leaned down into a kiss.

  This one was gentler than the one in the car, but it was just as eager, just as hungry. Her body thrilled with the sensations as she immediately gave herself over to the embrace.

  This was right.

  It was so incredibly right.

  It was better than anything.

  Her arms wound around his neck as he eased her body closer to his. Their positions on the swing were slightly awkward, and Katie whimpered in frustration as she couldn’t feel his body against hers the way she wanted, needed.

  Logan seemed to feel the same way because, never releasing her lips, he lifted one of her thighs and pulled her over so she was straddling his lap, pushing up her skirt so she could fit snuggly against him.

  It was so much better this way. Her chest was pressed against his, her groin aligned with his. Pleasure pulsed deeply as her arousal built and pulsed even more as she felt that he was already hard against her.

  He wanted her. So much. His body was making that very clear.

  And it just made her body want his even more.

  “Katie,” he murmured against her lips, tangling his fingers in her hair.

  She made a sound in response, but it wasn’t any sort of word. The throbbing pleasure filling her was overwhelming her ability to speak.

  “Does this feel like a fluke?” he continued, that same delicious rasp in his voice.

  “No,” she gasped when he began to trail kisses down her neck. “This feels… this feels…”

  She let out a helpless moan when one of his hands cupped her breast, his thumb fondling her hard nipple through the thin fabric of her dress.

  “Fuck, Katie,” he muttered. “You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  There was no way not to love the sound of those breathless words, how utterly sincere they were. She tried to grind herself against his erection to answer the growing ache between her legs.

  She grabbed his head and leaned into another kiss, this one harder, more urgent, hungrier. She couldn’t possibly hold herself back. Every inch of her body and every beat of her heart wanted to do this, wanted to do even more.

  She was never so uninhibited—kissing him so shamelessly on the patio of a beach house—but there was nothing she could do to control herself.

  She was clawing at his shirt, trying to feel his bare skin beneath it, when Logan pulled away with a groan.

  “No,” she whimpered, reaching for him again. “I want to—”

  “I know,” he panted. “I know. But we need to talk for a minute, because if you don’t want to do more than this, then we need to stop now. I’m on the verge of losing it completely.”

  She stared at him dazedly.

  “What do you want, Katie?” he asked, taking her face in both his hands and holding it like it was precious. “Tell me what do you want?”

  “I want you,” she admitted. “I want this. All the way.”

  His groan this time was one of relief as he carefully helped her off his lap. “Let’s go inside then. We can use a bed, and I can hopefully scare up some condoms.”

  Condoms.

  She was so far gone that protection hadn’t even crossed her mind.

  Her arousal was throbbing uncomfortably as Logan keyed in another code at the back door and they entered the house. It was clean and nicely decorated, but it smelled slightly closed up.

  She didn’t care.

  “Wait here for a minute,” he said, disappearing down a short hallway and turning a corner.

  She stood next to the stairs until he reappeared a minute later, holding a few condom packets in his hand.

  “Thank God,” she breathed, pulling him into another kiss as soon as he reached her.

  This kiss was just as hot as their earlier one, and once they’d started, they couldn’t stop. Soon she was half sitting, half lounging against the steps, and Logan was on top of her. She rocked up into his body, wrapping one of her legs around him so they could get even closer, so she could feel him even more. Her skirt was brazenly hiked up around her waist, but she didn’t even care.

  “There are beds here,” he mumbled, kissing his way down her neck and unzipping her dress at the same time.

  “No time for beds.” She was tugging his shirt out of his pants, trying to get it off him without ripping off the buttons. The edges of the steps were hard against her back and bottom, but she didn’t even care.

  Nothing mattered but getting Logan inside her as soon as possible. Right now.

  He had more luck with undressing her than she had with him, and soon he was pulling her dress off over her head. She paused from his shirt to unclasp her bra, and then she cried out helplessly when his face lowered to take one nipple in his mouth.

  Jolts of pleasure overwhelmed her. She arched up into him as he suckled and kept making loud, embarrassing sounds as he tongued her skillfully.

  “Katie,” Logan murmured thickly, finally releasing her breast as he slid off her panties. “You have no idea how much I want you.”


  If he wanted her even close to how much she wanted him, his desire would be pretty damn intense. She had to give up on his shirt and instead focused on undoing his trousers and freeing his erection. That was obviously the most important task at the moment.

  He was big and firm and warm in her hands when she managed to pull his hard shaft out of his underwear and pants, and she stroked him eagerly.

  He moaned, his body jerking dramatically.

  It was thrilling how much he wanted her, how good she was making him feel.

  Logan Anderson.

  Her friend.

  Responding to her this way.

  Then he removed her hands. “Sorry. Any more of that and I’m going to embarrass myself.”

  She giggled, sliding her hands under his shirt so she could stroke his skin.

  He tore open a packet and rolled on a condom without wasting any time, and then he pulled her thighs apart so he could position himself between them.

  She heard herself murmuring, “Yes, yes, yes,” over and over again as he nudged her arousal, found her entrance, slowly edged himself inside her.

  Both of them moaned when he’d fit himself into her completely. She held on to him tightly and wrapped her legs around him, the discomfort of the steps only fueling the hotness of their position.

  He braced himself above her and finally started to thrust.

  She could tell he was trying to go slow and steady, but he seemed incapable of it. His arms were shaking visibly, and he was grunting softly with each pitch of his hips.

  She bucked up against him, urging him on by gasping, “Faster, Logan. Harder. I need it harder.”

  His face reflected relief as he intensified his rhythm, pushing into her urgently, almost roughly.

  It was exactly what she wanted. The coil of pleasure at her center was growing stronger, tighter. And she cried out loudly when the orgasm broke in powerful waves, overtaking her body.

  He bit back an exclamation as her body clamped down around his. He pushed into her a few last times before he let go too.

  They held on to each other until the spasms of their release passed, and then Logan lowered his head to the crook of her neck, panting against her damp skin.

  “Oh God,” she gasped, her fingers still clenched in the fabric in the back of his shirt. “Oh God.”

  “Yeah.” He still didn’t raise his head. He might not be able to do so yet.

  She loved how heat radiated off his body, how relaxed he felt against her now.

  She was the one who had made him this way.

  After a minute, the discomfort started to catch up with her. She unwound her legs and tried to stretch her back. “I can’t believe we couldn’t even make it to a bed.”

  He chuckled and heaved himself off her, helping her stand up too. “We can make it to a bed now if you want.”

  She smiled at him, excitement spiraling up again, despite the hard climax she’d just had.

  She wasn’t ready for this to end yet. She wanted more.

  “Bed sounds good to me.”

  Six

  Logan was trying not to overthink things as he and Katie went upstairs to the bedroom he always used when he stayed in this house.

  The sheets were clean, and the bed nicely made, but that didn’t last for long.

  If he started to worry about what Katie was thinking, how she would feel about this tomorrow, then he wouldn’t be able to enjoy being with her now.

  If this was the only time he could ever have her this way, then he wanted to pour himself into it completely.

  It wasn’t long before both of them were naked and he was kissing his way down Katie’s soft, slim body. He’d known her legs were amazing, and now he could see that her breasts were perfect too—firm and rounded and incredibly sensitive to his touch.

  She was moaning uninhibitedly as he caressed her, and he was already achingly hard again. But he wanted to give her everything he could, so he reined in his own desire so he could bring her as much pleasure as possible.

  When he parted her thighs and lowered his mouth to her warm, wet arousal, he was leveled by the primal scent of her, of how much she wanted him.

  “Please, Logan,” she gasped, rocking her hips, clearly incapable of holding still. “Please, please, please. Make me come again.”

  He bit back a moan at her eagerness for him and focused on bringing her to climax again and again with his fingers and mouth.

  He loved how readily she came for him, how loud and shameless her cries of pleasure were. She wasn’t putting on a show. She wasn’t trying to impress him. He knew her too well for that to work.

  She was being real, letting herself go with him completely.

  His mind was nothing more than a roar of pride and exhilaration and absolute need when he finally repositioned himself so he could roll on another condom.

  When he settled himself between her legs, she was gazing up at him with an expression that took his breath away.

  Yes, there was heat and desire and passion. But there was also trust, affection. A need as deep as his for hers.

  This wasn’t just a beautiful, sexy woman in his bed.

  It was Katie.

  His Katie.

  And now he was making her his completely.

  He leaned down to kiss her, and he kept kissing her as he fit himself inside her again, as she wrapped her legs around him, as they started to move together with a heat and urgency that neither could deny.

  He was in such a state that the slightest nudge would send him over the edge, but he managed to hold out until he felt her body start to tighten, her huffs turn into sobs of pleasure and anticipation.

  He felt her coming all around him, and then he could finally let go himself. The rush of his release was better than anything he could remember.

  Afterward, when they were under the covers and she was nestled against him, he was totally leveled, exhausted. He could barely keep his eyes open.

  But he pressed a few kisses against her hair, wondering if his entire life had changed in one afternoon.

  ***

  They both dozed off for about a half hour, but Logan woke up again when he felt Katie pulling away from him.

  He blinked, trying to orient himself. His body was still tired and deeply satisfied in a way it almost never was. His mind was still clouded with the pleasure from earlier. But a prickling of recognition had begun, and it grew stronger as he focused on Katie.

  She had sat up. Pulled the sheets up to cover her naked body. Her expression was worried.

  “It’s okay, Katie,” he managed to say, responding to the feeling he could sense in her. “Everything’s not going to fall apart.”

  She took a shuddering breath. “What… what were we thinking? What did we do?”

  The joy he’d been feeling earlier was totally gone now. This was more like what he’d always expected out of life.

  The world just didn’t offer everything, didn’t give him exactly what he wanted.

  He was pleased that his tone was composed as he replied, “It was obviously what both of us wanted.”

  “I know.” Her fingers were clenched in the sheet. “I know, but… I don’t… I don’t want a relationship. We both know that. I shouldn’t have had sex with you.”

  His heart dropped painfully at this, although he should have known to expect it. Of course she didn’t want a relationship—with him or anyone else. One afternoon of amazing sex wasn’t going to change that.

  Sex had no power to fix everything.

  It had no power to fix anything.

  It was only an expression of a moment’s feelings—whatever those feelings were.

  He cleared his throat and clamped his mind down around the weight of crushing disappointment. “It’s not the end of the world.”

  “But it will make things… messy between us.” She was so upset she looked like she was close to tears. “Logan, you’re so important to me. I couldn’t stand for things to be messy between us.”

  �
��Then we’ll make sure they aren’t.” It was some sort of miracle that his devastation wasn’t evident in his voice. He sounded… perfectly normal.

  “How?” Her eyes were wide and anxious.

  “We’ll just be honest with each other. If we’re committed to our friendship, then we’ll be fine.”

  She let out a long, shaky breath. “You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. It was just sex. Our friendship is the most important thing.”

  Just sex.

  What a ridiculous lie.

  She seemed to believe it though. She nodded and gave him a little smile. “I guess going so long without sex finally caught up to me. Who knew?”

  And that was like a knife to his chest. Maybe that was why she’d been so eager, so passionate, so completely uninhibited. She’d just gone too long without. It wasn’t about him at all.

  He wasn’t going to let her see it though.

  He might not have her in his bed, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to lose her from his life. If he told her his feelings, that would be the end.

  He knew it.

  “It catches up to everyone.”

  She still looked self-conscious as she leaned over the bed to search for her clothes, but at least she was smiling.

  She wouldn’t let him give her everything—no matter how much he wanted to—but at least he could give her that much.

  He could make her smile.

  Seven

  Katie was so confused and upset that she couldn’t say a word on the short drive back to the Andersons’ house.

  Everything had been so clear earlier when Logan had been kissing her, touching her, making love to her. But once he’d stopped, her brain had started to work again, and nothing made sense any more.

  Logan was blessedly quiet—he must know that she wasn’t yet able to have a real conversation—but she could feel him sneaking sidelong looks at her, as if he was trying to read her expression, as if he was trying to discover what she was thinking, as if he was trying to make sure she was all right.

  It was just like him—those silent, worried looks—and it made her want to cry.

  When they’d parked the car in front of the big garage at his parents’ house, she took a deep breath. She could do this. She could socialize and smile with Logan’s family as if everything was normal. There were only a couple of hours until dinner. Then eventually it would be close enough to bedtime for her to escape to her room and have a good cry. Maybe after that she could start to figure out what was happening, what she’d done to her friendship with Logan.