Fender Benders And Consequences

On Saturday morning Marie decided that if she was going to be stuck with the ugly little brown Toyota for a whole week, it might as well be clean. She was giving the car its final rinse when she heard a familiar "Hey, there" behind her. Swinging around sharply, forgetting about the hose in her hand, she caught Logan dead center with a blast of water.

"Thanks, but I already took a shower this morning," he said with a grin.

Marie was mortified. "I am so sorry! You startled me and....." Then she started to laugh - hard.

Logan was starting to puddle in her driveway and the sight was just too funny. She laughed even harder.

"Thanks a lot. Glad you find my dousing so amusing. Do you think I could trouble you for a towel?"

"I think I can manage that. Come on in."

"So, is this how you greet all your guests?"

"Only the ones who sneak up on me," she flashed him a dazzling smile.

She bounced ahead of him towards the house.

{There's that wiggle again. Damn, she's got a cute little ass.}

"I decided to take your advice about that body shop," Logan offered in way of an explanation for why he was in Westchester.

"Well, at least your rental car's not as lame as the one they foisted on me. How'd you rate a Mustang?"

"Flirted with the clerk at the car rental place."

"That figures."

"I'm kidding, the clerk was a guy. And no, I don't go that way."

"Good to know."

They both laughed.

The house was just as he'd imagined - very homey and comfortable looking. How he pictured she would live. It looked like a home. Nothing in his loft had suggested anything about its occupant. Even after Jean moved in the place was still cold and impersonal even though he'd given her free reign to decorate however she wanted. Probably because Jean was cold and impersonal Logan thought. Hard to warm a place up when you're lacking warmth yourself. He loved being in a woman's 'lair'; it gave him such insight into the real person. In Marie's home, he liked what he saw.

In their brief time together he'd gained more insight into Marie as a person than in the whole seven months with Jean. Marie held nothing back, while Jean held back everything. He had been starting to dislike himself because of the way he conducted his life. Now, he felt there was hope for him, because he liked the person he was when he was in Marie's company. He wanted to be a decent person for her. He couldn't believe the impact she was having on his life so quickly, but he knew he liked it.

Marie came back into the room and handed him a large, fluffy pale lemon towel.

"I could throw your clothes in the dryer if you like? she offered.

"Er, yeah, that would be fine. If you don't mind me sitting around in my boxers?"

Thankfully, the water hadn't soaked through to his underwear. Thankfully, he'd chosen to actually wear underwear today. That wasn't always the case.

Marie blushed deeply at the thought of an almost naked Logan in her house.

"Looks like you need a dry shirt, too," Logan remarked nodding his head in her direction.

Marie looked down and sure enough, washing the car had caused her to be doing her own version of a wet t-shirt contest. The shirt clung to her body enough to show Logan she had not bothered putting on a bra this morning. Marie turned even redder.

"Excuse me for just a minute." She bolted from the room mortified.

Logan grinned and removed his shirt and shorts.

When Marie returned a few moments later in a dry shirt (and bra) she found Logan standing in her kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of black silk boxers and a dirty grin.

To say her jaw dropped to the ground was an understatement.

She remembered from the day of the accident how nice his chest had looked in that black t-shirt. But. Oh. My. God. To actually see it in all its magnificent naked glory. Those pecs. Those abs. All that glorious dark hair that fanned across all those muscles then trailed down his stomach and disappeared into his boxers. His legs were just as equally nicely muscled. Forget GQ magazine, Logan could be on Muscle and Fitness magazine. Or better still, Playgirl. This man was perfection personified. Her mouth watered and extremely X-rated thoughts floated through her lust-addled brain. She had to remind herself to breath. The guys in her circle of friends were boys. This was a man.

He calmly handed her his wet clothes. If he noticed her reaction, he didn't comment. Marie figured he was probably so accustomed to women melting into puddles at the sight of him that it no longer surprised him.

"Figured you for a briefs man, not boxers," Marie said mischievously trying to regain her composure.

"I wear either type... or nothing." {Can't believe I just told her that. She's gonna think I'm a pervert.}

{My, my, my - aren't we the little pervert. Is he actually blushing? He is. Is he too cute or what?}

{Jesus, now I think I'm blushing. Crap, I am!}

Marie casually took the clothes from him and walked into the laundry room to deposit them in the dryer. She needed the momentary break to calm down and collect her thoughts.

{It's not working. I'd have to be three days dead before I stopped thinking about the God standing in my kitchen. STANDING IN MY KITCHEN!!!}

Walking back into the kitchen she saw Logan holding Rogue, petting her gently. Rogue was purring loudly and rubbing against Logan.

{Damn lucky, cat. Put the cat down and rub me instead.}

"Hope you're not allergic to cats."

"Don't think so. What's its name?"

"It's a she and her name is Rogue."

"Where'd you find that name?"

"Someone told me Rogue's a comic book character. She's a tough cookie who kicks some serious ass!"

"Yeah, this kitten looks real dangerous." He nuzzled her against his face and kissed the top of her head.

{Damn lucky cat. Hey, Rogue wanna trade places?}

Rogue jumped down out of Logan's arms.

{Dumb cat, if he were holding me like that, I'd stay there forever.}

"Can I get you something to drink? A soda, or some juice?"

"As long as you're not gonna pour it on me. Can't afford to get what's left of my clothes wet," he chuckled.

{Yeah, well, Logan, you're making me wet, so we're even.}

"Ok, I promise no more attempts to get you wet." {Wait. That came out wrong.}

{'d like to take a shot at getting you wet, darling. Shit, I AM a pervert.}

{God, I'm glad he can't read minds. Talk about embarrassing. When did I become so skanky? Since Wednesday, that's when.}

{Glad she's not psychic, I'd be tossed out on my ass if she knew what I was thinking. Thought you were gonna be different with her. Behave yourself, Logan.}

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Do you have Coke... Pepsi, whatever?" Logan said recovering first.

"Soda, right."

She filled a glass with ice and poured him the Coke. {Are my hands shaking?}

She handed him the glass. His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her. Marie felt a charge just from the brief touch. She'd let Cody feel her up senior year, but Logan just barely touching her hand was more erotic than Cody's paw all over her boob.

{Because Cody didn't turn you on, that's why.}

Right after the initial grab and squeeze, she'd pushed Cody off of her. She just couldn't bring herself to do *it* with someone she didn't give a shit about, it wasn't right. She was now the only virgin left amongst her friends and it was getting to the point of becoming downright embarrassing. She just hadn't met anyone who did it for her, until Logan.

{He's a man, why the hell would he want an inexperienced little girl like me?}

She watched him quietly sipping his soda. When he was done he put the glass on the counter.

"Thanks." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then stepped back again.

Without hesitating, Marie stepped towards him, stood on her tiptoes, put her hand on the back of his head, pulled it down and reached up and kissed him on the lips. It was a brief, but sweet kiss.

"You're welcome, Logan."

It didn't take Logan long to recover from the shock. He put his hand on her waist, pulled her close, his other hand cupped her face, and tilting it up, he bent down and pressed his lips to hers. His thumb gently pulled down on her chin, parting her lips slightly, he slid his tongue into her open mouth.