Page 65 of Meet Me in the Valley (Oakwood Valley #2)

Chapter Forty

LOGAN

She loves me.

She tastes like heaven if heaven tasted like champagne, strawberries, and absolute bliss. And she’s finally back in my arms where she belongs.

I steal every breath of hers, devouring her mouth like a desperate man. My hands slip to her nape, thumbs lightly pressing into the center of her throat.

Her whimper is so soft, just loud enough for my ears only. I want to coax every noise I’ve committed to memory out of her. Every gasp, whine, and moan is mine.

The booming from the fireworks overhead doesn’t compare to the deep thud of my heartbeat, picking up speed every time Tia takes her fill of me, tongues dancing and tasting—remembering each other.

When we pull apart, it’s only to take a quick breath before we’re diving back in, completely uncaring to the world around us. Hoots and hollers and bubbly laughs are just background noise to this moment I’ve been dreaming about since the day she left me.

I fought like hell to get back to her. Everything I learned about myself in our time apart has only made me a stronger man. A better man.

I’m going to be the man who sweeps her off her feet. Who kisses away her pain. Who worships and kisses the sacred ground she walks on.

Then I’m going to make her my wife. Build her a house. Put a baby inside of her.

It’s going to be me. I’m that man. I deserve it.

“Holy fucking shit! It’s official!” Kerry’s loud, exuberant voice has us breaking our kiss, smiling against each other’s mouths as our friends huddle around us.

The girls are shrieking at an inhuman level, holding Tia’s face while they babble on about how cute we are and how happy they are for us.

The boys jostle me between them, like I’m their personal victim in the middle of a mosh pit. As happy as I am to be back home—my real home—with all the people I love, I need time alone with my woman. These hooligans can wait.

“Alright, alright, easy boys! Let me get back to my girl.”

“My girl?! Oh, god, I can’t take it!” Audrey squeals, throwing her arms around my neck.

Audrey then slips a key into my pocket. “The room is all set for you two. Welcome home,” Audrey whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek.

“Thanks, Auds.”

My body hums with anticipation. After weeks of planning this return, I’m beyond grateful for my friends. It wasn’t easy asking them to keep this from Tia—but the look on her face, that heart-stopping kiss? Worth every second.

I pull Tia’s hands into mine, guiding her into my chest as my arms slide around her waist. I kiss her again, slower this time, as if my lips need to reacquaint themselves over and over.

When she pulls back, her smile lights up the room. She glances around at our friends, eyes wide with wonder, arms still fastened tight around me.

“Did y’all know about this?” Tia asks, half laughing, half stunned.

Lips tighten. Faces go still. Everyone suddenly finds the floor real interesting. Audrey lets out a snort that she immediately tries—and fails—to muffle with her hand.

“I’m sorry!” she blurts, grinning through it. “It was just so sweet what he planned for you. I swore I wouldn’t say anything.” Another snort escapes her.

Donovan groans playfully, pressing a kiss to her temple. “So much for keeping a secret, Mouse.”

Tia’s eyes shimmer, giving me that look that will make me run through walls for her.

“You guys gonna stay for sparklers?” Wyatt asks. He has his arm around a petite woman. Donovan told me he was dating someone new. They look nice together.

“You must be Caroline. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Logan.” With one hand still wrapped around Tia’s waist because there’s no way I’m letting her go, I thrust out my hand to offer Caroline a handshake.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” she replies sweetly. “All of you.” Caroline gestures to our little group with a smile. Wyatt tightens his hold around her waist, a look of pride on his face.

“So … sparklers?” Wyatt asks again, jerking his thumb toward the servers handing them out.

I glance at Tia. If she wants to stay, we’ll stay. But the way her eyebrows raise and the sly curve of her lips tell me exactly what she’s thinking.

She wants to leave.

Perfect.

“We’re actually gonna head out,” I answer for both of us, sliding my hand down to hers.

“Shit. I dropped my phone somewhere, and I still need to grab my clutch from the office,” Tia says, scanning the ground automatically.

Audrey reveals Tia’s phone and her clutch in her hands like the best friend she is. I grab them from her, throwing her a wink.

“You’re the best,” Tia beams.

“I know,” Audrey answers playfully, shrugging her shoulders like it’s no big deal.

It hasn’t fully hit me yet that I’m back on home soil. Leaving Texas was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. I knew the minute I booked a flight to see Tia in Vegas, I would follow her anywhere.

Yeah, there were plenty of bumps along the way. Okay, maybe bigger than bumps. More like giant boulders. These last few months apart tested me—tested us—and the relationship we always knew, before it became something bigger.

And now, surrounded by the California air I’ve been dying to breathe in with my best friends around me, and my girl in my arms? What a fucking ride.

“Well, it was a hell of an entrance you made, man. Now go on. Get outta here. We’ll party when you two … resurface .” Donovan smirks. He claps a firm hand on my shoulder.

Isabel leans in and whispers something into Tia’s ear that makes them both giggle. Tia wraps her in a tight hug, then Audrey.

The group gives us a final round of goodbyes and a loud, overlapping “Happy New Year!” as they make their way back into the thrum of the party.

“Hey!” I call after them. “Don’t let Kerry near the sparklers—he’s a walking insurance claim!”

Kerry turns, still walking backward, and flashes me a big grin with both middle fingers in the air.

Tia and I laugh as we watch our friends disappear into the crowd. Her eyes return to me, scanning every inch of my face like she’s memorizing it all over again. Then she leans in, brushing her lips against mine in a featherlight kiss.

“You missed them,” she whispers.

With our hips pressed together, I subtly rock into her, letting her feel exactly what I’ve been holding back.

“Not as much as I missed you.”

Her breath catches when she feels just how much I missed her. She bites her lip in that sexy way she does, and it takes all of my restraint to not claim her right here in front of everyone.

Ah, but my minx isn’t shy to play in front of a crowd. Memories of us dancing at that club in Vegas rush the rest of my blood straight between my legs, and I’m pulling her tighter against me to hide my arousal.

I shield the growing tension in my pants with her body, needing just a few more seconds of control.

This isn’t the time or place—not with Donovan’s family around.

But that key Audrey slipped into my pocket earlier is burning a hole straight through the fabric, and I’m antsy to get my girl out of here and all to myself.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

“On what?” she asks breathlessly.

I chuckle darkly. My girl is so worked up, I can see it in the flush on her cheeks and the way her chest moves with want. Her breaths are heavy, her eyes swimming with untamed desire.

My hands glide down the curve of her ass, gripping her just enough to make her gasp. “First on my bike,” I growl against her lips, voice thick with need. “Then on my cock— slow and deep.”

Then she moans softly in my ear. Moans . And I’m dragging her by the hand to leave the party so I can worship her all night the way she deserves.

Thankfully, the Violet Inn is only a few miles away. Once she sees my bike out front, she freezes. I know why. It’s not the bike she’s expecting to see.

“H-how did you? Did you ride this all the way here?!” Tia looks on, stunned.

My God. She’s a vision in red.

I take a mental snapshot of her looking just like this.

Her hair falls effortlessly over one shoulder like she knew exactly what it would do to me.

That dress hugs every curve like it was sewn onto her bare skin, clinging to her long, sin-worthy frame in all the right places.

She looks like trouble, like temptation, like home —and I’ve never wanted anything more.

“Logan?” Tia cuts through my thoughts.

“Hm?”

She points to the bike. “That’s … your Austin bike.” Her tone shifts like she’s piecing together a puzzle.

“Yeah.”

Her face says it all—wide-eyed, jaw just barely dropped. I take another mental snapshot. I’ll be collecting a lot of those tonight.

“How long have you been riding?”

“Three days.”

“ Three days?! ”

I laugh at her shock, fingers lacing through hers as I guide her toward the bike.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” I say. “I raced like hell to get here by midnight.”

“But—but—” she stammers adorably, blinking fast. “If you rode this here, then … does that mean?—”

I kiss her senseless before she can spiral further, my mouth firm on hers, cutting through the questions she already knows the answers to.

She knows why I rode across state lines instead of flying. She knows what it means. What she doesn’t know is that the rest of my things from Texas arrive tomorrow.

For good.

We pull back to draw in a sharp breath. The hazel in her eyes shine as they bore into mine.

“You told me to come back to you,” I murmur, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, baby. Our time, remember?”

The gold watch on her wrist catches the light, glowing against the warm tan of her skin. I lift her hand, tap the watch face twice, then steal another kiss.

“Come on, T.”

I offer her the spare helmet, but she hesitates. Her eyes flick down her body, then toward the bike, and that’s when it hits me.

“This dress isn’t exactly straddle-friendly,” she says, shifting her weight like she’s testing angles.

I glance down at the tight, painted-on red number and chuckle quietly. “Yeah … didn’t really think that one through.”