Page 8 of One Night Seduction (ONS #1)

His eyes rake over her, and she preens at the attention, but the indifferent expression on his face is, I’m sure, more than a little disappointing for her.

“I think you might be a little overdressed, Kel. Looks like there is plenty of food here. I can cook,” he offers.

My mom’s smile falls at the clear brush off, but she masks it quickly enough.

“Yeah, it was just what I had on. I was going to get changed. I’ll be right back.”

She struts back towards the stairs, albeit with a little less swagger in her hips this time.

“We were just planning on making some sandwiches for lunch if that’s okay?” my aunt asks Logan.

“Sounds great. How can I help?”

She waves him off. “We’ve got it handled. Ari, help Logan find a free room. Unless you’re staying with Kelly…”

“No,” he quickly intervenes. “I’d like my own room if there’s space,” he says.

My aunt gestures for me to show him the way to the stairs. Hesitantly, my feet begin moving. Not sure why I have to show him, it’s not like he doesn’t know the house as well as I do. Not to mention, I literally just got here. I haven’t even grabbed a room for myself yet.

Grabbing my bag, I start up the stairs, almost missing the second step because I can feel him closing in on me. His heady presence is suffocating me on this staircase, and I want nothing more than to get to the hallway already.

When I finally make it to the top, I feel like I can breathe again. Well, that lasted all of two seconds until he’s behind me once more. I glance over my shoulder at him, coming to a stop when I see that the two empty rooms left are right beside each other.

Great .

Turning to face him, I awkwardly point.

“You can have whatever room you want.”

He shrugs his shoulders. “You pick. I’m good with whatever.”

I shrug. “Me too.”

We just stand there, staring at each other for several seconds before he speaks.

“That one has a bathroom attached. You take that one.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I insist,” he says.

“Why?” I question.

His eyes close, and he lets out a frustrated breath.

“Just take the fucking room.”

I lift my eyebrows in surprise, shaking my head and stepping into the room. Another exasperated breath escapes him before he follows me into the room, throwing the door shut behind him.

We stare at each other for several seconds, the silence almost deafening.

“I’m sorry. I just…why do you have to be so difficult?” he says on a heavy exhale.

“Why do you think you have any right to order me around like?—”

My words die on my tongue as Logan’s head tilts in curiosity, staring at me intently as he takes slow, measured steps towards me.

“Like what?” he asks.

For a moment, I lose my nerve. Why, though? Rolling back my shoulders, I lift my head a little higher as I stare at those chocolate brown eyes with enough contempt as I can muster.

“Like you’re in charge, like I have to bend to your every whim. Like... ”

This time, I let my words hang between us, because too many words and thoughts are flickering through my head. Ones that I have no right to be thinking. Ones that I don’t want to be thinking.

“Finish that sentence. I dare you,” he challenges, a trace of mirth swirling in his eyes. Is he enjoying this? Does he think this is cute or fun? Spoiler alert: it definitely isn’t.

I stay silent, my eyes flicking back and forth between his for several seconds before I lower my tone.

“What are you doing here?”

He lifts his shoulders. “I was invited.”

I roll my eyes, backing away from him and creating much needed distance.

“Oh, please! You’ve been invited for years. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?”

Logan stares at me for several seconds before slipping his hands into his pockets.

“You’re a brilliant woman, Arianna. I think you know.”

My head rears back, completely blown away by his audacity.

“You’re…disgusting! Are you fucking serious? You were married to my mother,” I whisper, though it’s coming out more like a shout.

“I know,” he says.

“You were my stepfather.”

“I know.”

“You…fucked me,” I say as I glance around like the walls are listening in on us.

His lips mash together in a tight line as he stares at the ground.

“I didn’t know,” he says.

Logan’s eyes come to meet mine as he continues .

“I would have never approached you, never touched you, never even looked at you if I knew who you were. Then, by the time I figured it out I…”

He pauses, his head dropping in defeat.

“I didn’t plan this, Arianna. I didn’t want this. I’m not some predator that’s had my eyes on you for years.”

“It sure as hell feels that way.” I laugh bitterly.

He shrugs. “You can believe what you want, but it’s the truth. When I touched you, I wasn’t touching my ex-stepdaughter, I was?—”

“Ew, you know what, stop. Just stop,” I say with a wince, shaking my hands. “Hearing you say it out loud is so much worse. Just…stop. It’s done, it happened, and maybe one day, if we’re both lucky, we can scrub the memory from our brains.”

His eyebrows pinch together, but he doesn’t speak as I continue.

“You’re here. There is no way in hell my mom is going to let you leave now. Let’s just…keep our distance and get through this week.”

Turning away from him, I walk through the doorway into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub and hoping he will get the hint and leave.

“Is that what you want?” he asks from the doorway.

“Hm?” I ask.

He takes a few steps in, keeping his tone even and emotionless as he speaks.

“You want to scrub the memory from your brain? Want to pretend it never happened?”

I frown, looking over my shoulder at him.

“Of course. Don’t you?”

His face is impassive and cold as his posture stiffens .

“Of course.”

With that, he slips out of my room, shutting the door a little harder than necessary. As soon as he’s gone, I can finally catch my breath. A sinking feeling settles in my stomach immediately after, though. A foreboding feeling from what has happened or what’s to come? Does it really matter which?