Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) Read online

  JUST ONE NIGHT

  A BLACK ALCOVE NOVEL

  JAMI WAGNER

  Also by Jami Wagner

  Date in the Dark (A Novella)

  Just One Kiss (A Black Alcove Novel)

  To my mom, dad, and sister.

  I love you all more and more each day.

  Just One Night

  Copyright © 2015 by Jami Wagner

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover: Christa Holland, Paper and Sage Design, paperandsage.com

  Editor: Julie Sturgeon, CEO Editor, ceoeditor.com

  Formatting: Jesse Gordon, a Darned Good Book, adarnedgoodbook.com

  Visit my website: jami-wagner.com

  ISBN-13: 978-1516827312

  About Just One Night

  Sara and Logan have always known their relationship was different because they were never very good at the “just friends” thing. They’re finally ready to embrace a deeper side—but are they ready for big-time problems?

  Sara Connelly has a drive for success. She hasn’t made time for men because the way she sees it, a career she can control but a relationship she can’t. Just one night was all it took to send her running on a trip to collect her thoughts and re-group back to her career-focused life. But when she comes home, she quickly learns there might be more important things in life than owning her own business, and that’s Logan Parker.

  Logan Parker coasts through life day by day, and as long as Sara is a part of that life, he’s happy. One night has left Logan with the impression that more than friends is an option. But when Sara leaves without an explanation, he vows to show her how important she is to him. When an opportunity gives him the chance to be someone he thinks Sara would be proud of, he doesn’t pass on the offer. Her moving across state lines, however, wasn’t in his plans.

  Living in two states is going to be hard. Holding a long-distance relationship is going to be harder. They’ve made it this far, but can they make it work or will distance finally tear them apart?

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Also by Jami Wagner

  Copyright Page

  About Just One Night

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Epilogue

  Thank You

  Acknowledgements

  Sneak Peek of Just One Kiss

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Last summer…

  Sara

  I’m fully aware of my own vulnerabilities. I know what I need to do to avoid them and yet, I’m about to be alone in The Black Alcove, the bar I manage for my father, with my number one weakness. Logan Parker.

  The lock clicks under Logan’s fingers after the last two customers are finally out the door. Friday night of finals week is always the busiest night. What better way to celebrate passing finals and the start to summer than with a drink, right?

  “I honestly thought those last two guys were never going to leave,” Logan says, sauntering behind the bar. He flicks the last of the lights on and we both squint at the brightness.

  “They had so many drinks, I was beginning to think they were going to pass out here,” I respond.

  It’s nearing two thirty in the morning, and I can’t speak for Logan, but I’m exhausted and can’t wait to crawl into my bed and fall asleep. This was my final semester, too. I’m officially a college graduate—minus knowing my official grades and the fact I’m choosing not to walk with the rest of the class—and although I should be joining other students my age, I’m working.

  Work before play is the Connelly way.

  My father taught me this motto while he and my mother were splitting up when I was ten. He told me I need to follow it so I don’t make the same mistakes he did. Twelve years later, this motto follows me everywhere. The part where my mother left and never came back proves his reasoning accurate. I get the yearly birthday card from her, but that’s all and I’m okay with it.

  “Did you see the shirt he was wearing?” Logan asks, chuckling as he drains the sinks and begins to scrub them clean.

  “Yes! Oh god. It looked exactly like that blue button up you wore every day of junior year.”

  “I didn’t wear it every day.”

  “Only the ones where you were in class.” I laugh, pulling up a seat as he hands me the cash drawer and turns the credit card machine toward me. I punch a few numbers and the receipt of tonight’s numbers starts to print.

  “Hey, that was a classy shirt. It made me look good, and if I remember right, I was wearing that shirt the day I asked you out.”

  “Yep, that’s right, and you wore it every day that we dated, too.”

  “I wore different shirts that year.”

  “Not that I remember.”

  Logan quickly sprays me with the sink’s hose and I squeal when the cold water splashes against my skin.

  “Okay, okay, whatever happened to that shirt anyway?” I ask when he tosses me a towel, flashing the grin that tugs every emotion I’ve ever felt for him. And it’s a lot. Especially when I know exactly where said shirt is—in my closet. I was supposed to give it back to him but never got around to it and now … well, it’d be creepy if I told him I still had it.

  “It was ripped and a few of the buttons were torn off—”

  “What? You loved that shirt. How did you ruin it?” I ask. I’ve always been curious to what happened.

  “Mark Matheson actually ripped it. The night we broke up, I went to a party out at Wind River field after I left your house and started a fight. It came off somehow during the brawl and I never saw it again.”

  Those same emotions—joy from what we had, fear of losing him again, and hope that we could one day go back to that—flood back into my chest as I gaze up at him from my seat. His eyes flash to mine briefly before he looks away.

  “What do you think would have happened if we hadn’t broken up?” he asks. There’s a hesitation to his voice, but when his eyes land on me again, I see fear. He’s nervous about my answer.

  “Logan, I—”

  I can’t even finish the sentence because although I’ve thought of this moment time after time since high school, my heart couldn’t take it again. I’ll never forget the day Logan told me he couldn’t have a girlfriend because his life was just beginning. He would be going away for college and didn’t want to continue something he couldn’t hold a promise to. That he wouldn’t even try broke my heart the way any seventeen-year-old’s heart would break. I thought my life was
over.

  It took almost our entire senior year of high school for us to go back to the friends we were before dating. I’ve imagined us starting a relationship again, but I can’t lose him the way I did before. Not with the friendship we have now.

  “Wait, don’t answer that. I just—I want you to know that breaking up with you was one of the biggest mistakes I could have made and I’d do anything to take it back.”

  I blink, watching as his eyes bore into my own, and my breathing gets faster. They never break their hold as he quickly rounds the bar.

  “I’m not asking you to make a decision right now, or even tomorrow or the next day. But I am asking you to think about it.”

  “Logan, it’s been five years. Where is this coming from?”

  “Sara, come on, that spark between us—it’s always been there. You’re the first person I go to with good news and I know I’m that person for you, too. We flirt more than your average friends should and that’s because we’ve never been just friends. Never. I’m just finally speaking up about it.”

  “Logan—” The words to disagree catch in my throat because he’s right.

  “Just one night, Sara. That’s all I’m asking. Nothing has to happen that you don’t want to, but just spend one night with me.”

  The fact he isn’t asking for a commitment is comforting. The fact that this is Logan—the guy who holds my first for every important moment in life, the guy who has held my heart since high school—makes my decision easy.

  “Okay,” I answer, not considering that he’s also the guy who could destroy me. His lips are on mine before I can say anything else. Just one night, that’s all I need, too.

  Today I just wish I’d known this one night would send me over the edge.

  Chapter Two

  One year later…

  Sara

  There are only three things in life that terrify me. The first is dying from a freak accident—shark attack, tripping and cracking my head open, or choking while I’m alone come to mind. The second is not being successful. I took college classes in high school and doubled my course load once I was actually attending the local campus just so I could be ahead in my career. My father raised me well, and letting all of that go to waste is a scary thought. And the last thing that scares me, the thing that could ruin me, is committing to someone who will leave me with a broken heart. Committing to Logan Parker to be exact.

  The last part was the reason I decided to travel to all the fifty states and to Europe last year. It was a last minute decision, but one night with Logan had me rethinking the two things in life I thought I knew for sure—my choice in career and rekindling a relationship with him. It was like everything I’d worked for the past few years didn’t matter anymore and I was about to make a huge commitment with someone. I thought getting away, far away, would make us both forget what it feels like to be together. Clearly, I was wrong.

  My back rubs against the tree, and when Logan pushes his body against mine, the bark digs into my skin. In this moment, I don’t care. I will accept it. I’ll even enjoy it. There’s zero amount of pain that could keep me from kissing Logan Parker.

  I run my hands through his hair and pull him closer. I love the way his body feels against mine. I dreamed of this moment almost every day that I was away.

  His lips trail soft and tender kisses from just below my ear down to my chest. Another moan slips past my lips from his touch. The noises I make when I’m with him are uncontrollable. Fighting it has always been pointless from day one.

  Logan pulls away, leaving his hands to rest on my hips. He locks a dreamy gaze with mine and my heart starts to race, the way it does every time his eyes are on me. It makes me feel wanted, desired. I imagine I give him the same exact look.

  It doesn’t help that he’s wearing a pair of khaki slacks with a pressed, white, button-down shirt today. Or that his blonde hair is cut short and shining lighter from the heat of the sun, or that no matter where we are, he keeps those bluish gray eyes that sparkle focused on me. The fact I know he has an amazing and almost unbelievably firm body underneath all those clothes really tests the control I have over how much I want him right now.

  His pleased grin reveals straight, white teeth.

  “I don’t think we should sneak around anymore, Sara,” Logan whispers, moving his hand to mine and pulling me into his arms.

  Since I’ve been back from Europe, sneaking around has been our thing. I left with the idea I wanted space, but I returned with the idea I need Logan. I even had a weak moment and came home to see him for a few days. But when I learned what my cousin had been doing to Kelsey, the idea of trust overwhelmed me and I left again.

  Because our friends saw what happened the last time we split up, telling anyone we’ve started something new isn’t at the top of my list. So it’s been nothing but a few stolen, secret moments together. Moments we never talk about to anyone but each other, not even with Kelsey, my best friend. And I want to tell her so bad.

  A part of me likes the idea of sneaking around. It makes everything between us more electrifying. Not knowing what will happen, not planning anything out, just going with whatever emotion I have right then and there makes me feel free. It’s the total opposite of everything in my life. Plus, the feeling of being caught gives me such a rush.

  Especially right now. We’re at my father’s house for my twenty-third birthday, and we’re hiding in the trees on the side of the house. It’s a beautiful, sunny June day and everyone is in the backyard enjoying the barbeque he throws for me each year. Still, anyone could turn the corner and find us.

  I love it.

  “Sara? Did you hear what I said?” Logan asks, rubbing my arms and hooking his gaze on mine.

  “Yes, I did. I’m sorry. I was completely zoning out.”

  “I could see that.” He chuckles.

  “If you don’t want to sneak around, what do you want?” I ask, mentally crossing my fingers he still wants what he wanted before I left. Me.

  His smirk gives me my answer.

  “I’m pretty sure you already know.”

  My heart begins beating faster as I control my body from jumping up and down, or more specifically, onto him. My lack of outward excitement doesn’t come off positively. Logan’s watching me with a worried expression.

  “I know you’re scared, but I think it’s time we make this official,” he says with a hopeful grin. “I was an idiot to let you leave last year without at least asking you to stay. What I want in life isn’t going to just fall into my hands. I have to work for it, and working for an ‘us’ is what I want.”

  “Okay,” I answer.

  Logan grips my shoulders and pushes me away at arm’s length. He looks me in the eye and a smile I’ve never seen but love already stretches across his face.

  “Okay? As in, okay we’re officially a couple?”

  “Yep.”

  My back hits the tree fast and his lips press against mine. I’m not sure if I’m seeing stars because my head hit the trunk or because he’s kissing me like I’m his air and he can finally breathe. He’s never kissed me like this before. His hands start exploring every part of my body, leaving a tingling trail everywhere they touch. A giddy feeling rushes to my core as Logan grips my ass, lifting me until my legs are wrapped around him. With his hands cupping my butt, he holds me there, pressing me against his hips as they grind into mine.

  What else has he been holding back?

  He breaks away quickly, breathing hard and lowering my feet back to the ground. Before I can tell him I want to keep going, he grabs my hand.

  “Come on. We better go before your dad finds me and kills me for sneaking around with you.”

  I nod and step past him, laughing as he tickles my sides from behind me. I know happiness is written all over my face. This is it. This is the moment I take a risk and begin to conquer one of my biggest fears.

  Logan

  The sound of Sara’s laughter is the most incredible noise I’ve ever
heard. I don’t care how whipped I sound when I say it or even think it. I’m lucky as hell she’s giving me a second chance. Between my last year of college coming up, a student loan that’s falling behind on payment, a rent check two months past due, and a sister I’ve been trying to contact but have heard nothing from, luck is something I haven’t had in a while.

  I pull Sara back at the waist until she’s walking next me. Never letting my hand leave her side, I sneak a glimpse to admire her. Her blonde hair is braided to the side. Her peach summer dress falls just above her knees and flows with each step she takes. The color makes her tan look darker. She isn’t wearing any jewelry or shoes, which is odd because this girl loves her accessories.

  I watch as a glowing smile never leaves her lips. She squeezes the hand that’s tangled with mine as she looks up to me with her light blue eyes. I’m not just quoting a line when I say that she has the most beautiful and breathtaking eyes I have ever seen. They are eyes that twist and break any control I have.

  Sara’s father’s house is at the base of Wind Valley’s mountain and is surrounded by tall oak trees, giving it a slight forest look. Her smiling continues as we step past the last tree. I squeeze her tiny figure again as she walks in front of me. At my touch she trips, falling into my shoulder. I turn her upright, facing me. Right then, she does something amazing. She stands on the tips of her toes and presses a gentle kiss to my lips right in front of everyone we know.

  Expecting to hear shouts and hollers, we hear nothing. Glancing to the party, I see why. Not a single person is looking our way. Sara’s happy smile is still glued in place.

  “And all this time we always thought someone would catch us, when really, no one was ever looking,” she says, sounding as shocked as I am. We laugh as we join the party.

  “Did you know Kelsey and Ethan eloped last month?” I ask, taking a seat around the eight-person metal rectangle patio set. Sara sits on my left knee, resting against me as I wrap my arms around her.

  “I might have known that.” She smirks, leaning forward to open the closest cooler to us. I never let my hands stray from somehow touching her. She hands me a beer and grabs a Pepsi for herself, flipping the top and taking a drink. It’s always amazed me that she practically owns a bar, yet she hardly drinks alcohol. I think I’ve seen her drink three times in all the years I’ve known her. “You do know Kelsey is my best friend, right? We don’t really keep secrets from each other.”