Lifting onto her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth. “Take me to bed, you big bad hunk.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Logan scooped Scarlett into his arms and headed for her bedroom, glad he’d followed his instincts and sought her out tonight. Those six hours between learning she’d decided to return to L.A. and showing up at her suite had been hell and he had no interest in reliving them anytime soon. His unhappiness at her leaving had forced him to assess just how reluctant he was to be without her.
How far would he have gone if she’d been determined to leave Las Vegas? Once upon a time he’d let Elle go and had never really stopped regretting it. What was happening between him and Scarlett claimed neither the duration nor the depth of what he’d shared with his ex-fiancée, but he felt as invested as if they’d been together for years.
Laying Scarlett on her bed, he began unfastening his shirt buttons. She made no attempt to remove her bra or panties, knowing he preferred to strip her bare himself. All she did was shake her hair free of the pins that held it in place and kick off her shoes.
She lifted herself onto one elbow and twirled a lock of her hair as she watched him shuck off his shirt and send his pants to the floor. She gave him a sultry, heavy-lidded look as she waited for him to join her.
He trailed his fingertips up her thigh and felt her shudder as his thumb whisked along the edge of her panties. With a half smile, he used his hands to memorize each rise and dip of her body. No matter how many times he touched her, he found something new to fascinate him. With her full breasts and hourglass shape, she was built for seduction, but as he’d discovered the first time he’d made love with her, she had a romantic’s soul.
Taking her hand, he kissed the inside of her wrist, lips lingering over her madly beating pulse. He’d cataloged about a hundred ultrasensitive areas on her body and enjoyed revisiting them each time they made love. The inside of her elbow was mildly ticklish and she loved being lightly caressed on her arms. He did so now and was rewarded when she uttered a little hum of delight, her version of a purr.
It had taken her a bit to realize he wasn’t going to rush the sex between them. Even when they were both too caught up in their passion to enjoy extended foreplay, he made certain to arouse her with words as well as hands and mouth.
He leaned forward to kiss her mouth, pressing her back against the pillows. She melted against him, soft curves yielding to all his hard planes. They kissed long and slow, enjoying the blending of their breath, the feint and retreat of tongues. Logan slipped his hands beneath her and rolled them a half turn so she sat astride him.
She lifted her hair off her shoulders, arching her back and tilting her breasts toward the ceiling. Her movements were measured and graceful like a cat indulging in a languid stretch after rising. The flow of muscle beneath her soft skin mesmerized him. He ran his hands over her rib cage, riding their waves upward until he reached the lower curve of her breasts. Through half-closed eyes she watched him cup her breasts through the black lace and gently massage.
Reaching behind her, she popped the bra clasp and the fabric sagged into his hands. He tossed it aside and traced the shape of her breasts with his fingertips. He circled the tight nipples, noticing that she rocked her hips in time with his caresses, easing the ache he inflicted on her.
His erection bobbed with her movements, the sensitive head scraping against her lace-covered backside and aggravating his already ravenous hunger. As much as he yearned to seat himself inside her, the pleasure he received from watching her desire build made the wait worthwhile.
Noticing his eyes upon her, Scarlett shook her head, her hair cascading about her shoulders in riotous waves. Some of it fell forward over her face and she peeked at him from between the strands, her eyes beckoning. Setting her hand on his chest, she bent forward and planted a lusty, openmouthed kiss on him, showing her delight in the moment with a deep thrust of her tongue.
Logan filled his hands with her firm backside.
“Let’s get these off you, shall we?”
“Please do.”
Working together, they slid her panties down her thighs. As he tossed them aside, she produced a condom and used her teeth to tear open the package. Logan braced for the wonderful pain of what would come next and locked his jaw as she fitted the protection over the head of his erection, and with a thoroughness that was both a torment and a treat, rolled it down his shaft. A groan ripped from his throat as she finished, but she gave him no chance to recover before settling herself onto him.
The shock of being encased in so much heat so suddenly made his hips buck. She rode his movement with a faraway smile and a rotation of her pelvis.
“Geez, Scarlett,” he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. “Warn a guy.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
And fun is what she was having. Letting her do whatever she wanted with him was almost as entertaining as making her squirm. Half his delight came from watching her explore his chest and abs while maintaining that delightful rhythm with her hips. She was a living, breathing goddess and Logan couldn’t take his eyes off her.
But the chemistry between them had a mind of its own and soon they were both swept into a frenzy of movement where each surge pushed them closer to the edge. Wanting to watch her come, Logan slipped his hands between them and touched the button of nerves that would send her spinning into the abyss. Her eyes shot wide, signaling the beginning of her orgasm. She clenched him tight, increasing the friction, and he pitched into the black, spinning in a vortex of pleasure so intense it hurt.
With a whoosh of air from her lungs, she collapsed forward and buried her face in his neck. Logan didn’t have enough breath to voice his appreciation of what had just happened, so he settled for a firm hug and a clumsy kiss on her shoulder.
His heart rate took a long time returning to normal. The way she affected him, Logan wasn’t surprised. Since that first kiss in the elevator, she’d shattered his serenity and caused him to reevaluate what made him happy. For a long time he’d resisted accepting how much he needed her. Today, he stopped fighting.
And now she was all his.
“I’m going to make damn sure you don’t regret turning down the part,” he told her, gliding his fingertips along her soft skin.
She laughed breathlessly. “I like the sound of that. Can we start now?”
He snagged her questing fingers and returned them to his chest. “I can’t stay. I promised Madison that when I got back we’d talk about her moving to L.A.”
“What?” Scarlett made the leap from languid to outraged in an eye blink. She pushed herself up so she could meet his gaze. “But yesterday she was talking about college.”
Logan approved of her irritation. It matched his own. “Apparently that changed after she met your producer friend and Chase Reynolds.”
Her face shuttered. “Bobby is a man who makes things happen and Chase is larger than life. I can see how they could’ve reawakened her dreams of going to L.A., but she and I talked about how important college was to your family. She agreed to get her degree and afterward, if she was still determined to be an actress, to then go to L.A.”
“Apparently Bobby gave her his card and told her to look him up.” Logan recalled the rest of what his niece had said. “She believed since you were returning to your acting career that you would offer her a place to stay.”
A pained expression twisted Scarlett’s features. “I’m sorry she got the wrong impression of what I intended to do. As for Bobby, I know he really liked her,” she admitted in a low voice. “Even told me he might have a part for her in an upcoming TV series. I told him not to mention anything about it to her. I guess I should have been clearer and told him not to give her any encouragement at all.”
“That might have been a good idea.”
Scarlett tried to stay calm as she was caught in the riptide of Logan’s growing annoyance. “I told him she was going to college this fall. I’m sure he didn’t expect her to change her plans because he told her to look him up.”
“There must have been more to it.”
“I’ll call her tomorrow and get her back on the path to college.”
“I’d really appreciate that.”
“My pleasure.
“Maybe she’s just impatient to start living her dream,” Scarlett suggested. “I certainly don’t blame the girl for going after what she wants.”
Placing her palm on Logan’s chest, she set her chin on her hand and scrutinized him. What was it about this often difficult, sometimes surprising and always sexy man that turned her insides into mush? They were at odds as much as they were in accord, but whether they were arguing or making love, he always made her feel as if being with her was exactly where he wanted to be.
And for that matter, what did he find appealing about her? He was scornful of her lack of a college education. Disparaging about her former occupation. Critical of her wardrobe, her abilities as a businesswoman and the way she used her sexuality to her advantage.
Granted, the chemistry between them was off the charts, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t just a conquest. No, there was something more between them than fantastic sex, but she had no idea what.
“I’ll tell you what,” she said into the silence. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow and get her back on the college track. Will that make you happy?”
“Are you sure you can do that?”
She had absolutely no clue. “Haven’t I been doing a great job so far?” She acknowledged his skepticism with a wry smile. “Up until yesterday, I mean?”
“You have.”
“Grudging praise from Logan Wolfe? I’m thrilled.”
With a humph, he deposited a brief kiss on her mouth and began rolling toward the side of the bed where he’d left his clothes.
“Do you have to go?” Scarlett flopped onto her stomach and kicked her legs slowly in the air. As if drawn by a force too powerful to resist, his gaze swept over her disheveled hair and toured her naked backside. She knew exactly how appetizing she looked lying there and thrust out her lower lip in a provocative pout. “If you stay the night I’ll make it worth your while.”
Logan paused with his boxers in one hand, his shirt in the other. “How?”
“Let’s see.” She tapped her chin with a finger. “I can cook you breakfast.”
“You mean order room service.”
“I’ll listen with interest as you tell me all about your work.”
“You’d be snoring in five minutes.”
“I don’t snore.” She pursed her lips and frowned as if in deep thought. “There’s always morning sex.” At last she’d found something to pique his interest. “I’m very energetic after a good night’s sleep.”
He dropped his clothes and rolled her onto her back. “How are you after no sleep at all?”
“Try me,” she dared, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down for a kiss. “And find out.”
Ten
“S
ee,” Scarlett murmured, sounding sleepy and smug. “I told you morning sex was worth sticking around for.”
Logan slipped a hand along her delicate spine as she set her cheek against his heaving chest. He soothed a strand of dark hair off her damp forehead and deposited a kiss just above her brow.
“I never doubted you for a second.” Logan rolled her onto her back and kissed her slow and long.
The sky visible through Scarlett’s bedroom window was a bright blue. Not wishing to set a bad example for Madison, he’d never stayed the whole night with Scarlett. She’d said she understood his reasons.
But last night he’d let her see how much she meant to him, and sharing his emotions with her had increased the intimacy between them. Leaving had been impossible, so he’d called the guy keeping an eye on Madison and told him to stay until morning.
Tangled in sheets and warm, naked woman, he pushed all thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on the contour of her lips, the way she moaned when he licked at her nipples and the unsteady beat of her heart as he nibbled on her earlobe.
“Last night was amazing.” She burrowed her face into his neck so he couldn’t see her expression. “I’m really glad you came by.”
“I’m glad you decided to stay in Las Vegas.”
“You were pretty sure I needed to go.”
“I wanted my life to get back to normal.”
She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back so she could look into his eyes. “Has that changed?”
“No.” He flopped onto his back beside her and set his hands behind his head. Staring at the ceiling, he debated how much to tell her. “But I’m not sure I recognize what’s normal anymore.”
She rolled onto her side and rested her head on her palm. “What does that mean?”
“You’ve bothered me from the first moment we met.” The words came out of him slowly. “Whenever we’re in the same room it seems as if my senses sharpen. I can discern your voice amongst a dozen others. Your perfume seems to get on my clothes and infiltrate my lungs. And when I close my eyes it’s your face, your eyes, your body I see.” From her wide eyes and open mouth, he gathered his romantic blathering had surprised her. Logan let a smile creep over his lips. “In short, I’ve been obsessed with you for five years.”
“Were you one of those little boys that shoved and shouted at the girl he liked because he didn’t want to be teased for liking her?”
“I don’t remember.” He did recall in junior high that he’d been a lot more comfortable with computers than the girls in his class. While his buddies were serial-dating, he’d been modifying motherboards and hacking into the school’s database. “Lucas was the one who excelled with the opposite sex ever since he was six years old. Always dating someone. Most of the relationships didn’t last more than a couple of months before he was on to someone new.”
“You are never going to get me to believe that you were a monk.”
“Not a monk. I had a steady girlfriend from the time I turned fourteen. We dated all through high school and college.”
“Fourteen?” She gave him a wry grin. “What happened after school?”
This was the part he didn’t like talking about. After ten years, it still stung. “She chose her career over me and moved to London.”
“Why didn’t you go with her?”
Because he’d been too stubborn and arrogant to realize he was losing the best thing that had ever happened to him. “My life was here. I’d started a computer security company and I wasn’t about to give it all up.”
“Then it couldn’t have been that serious.”
Resentment burned at her easy dismissal of what had been the most important relationship of his life. “We’d been dating almost nine years. Been engaged for three.”
“But neither one of you had pulled the trigger. Maybe it was more about how comfortable and easy it was than that you were in love.”
His temper continued to heat. She was the furthest thing from an expert on how he felt.
“You weren’t there.” He’d devoted years to loving Elle. Giving up a future with her hadn’t been easy. “You can’t possibly know how it was between us.”
“Of course not,” she soothed. “I’m simply pointing out that if she’d been your everything you’d have figured out a way to stay together.”
It cut like glass that he considered the merits of her argument for even a second. He and Elle had been devoted to each other for nine years, and he had let her go without much of a fight. Just like he’d been ready to let Scarlett move to L.A. Only this time, he’d come to his senses and asked her to stay. He hadn’t done the same with Elle. She’d been determined to go, asked him to join her, but he’d never requested she turn down the job offer. Had she been waiting for him to?
“From your expression, I’m going to guess something new has crossed your mind,” Scarlett said. “Care to tell me what?”
“You might be right. Maybe what kept us together all through school was that we were traveling the same path.”
“Sometimes that’s the only thing that does keep people together. Giving up your dream so another can live theirs isn’t a sacrifice many are willing to make.”
“When I came in tonight you were dressed up. No matter how dedicated you are to managing this hotel and competing against your sisters to run Fontaine Hotels and Resorts, you are at heart an actress.” He noted the way her lashes flickered at his statement. “Are you sacrificing what you truly want to stay here?”
“I made a choice between two heart’s desires,” she said, her smile cryptic. “And I’m never going to second-guess myself about it.” With a languid stretch she swung her feet to the floor and stood. “I’m going to grab a shower. Want to join me?”
* * *
After an early lunch in her suite, Logan headed to Wolfe Security, leaving Scarlett to wander downstairs to her office in a happy daze. She sat down behind her desk and stared out over the Las Vegas skyline, hoping no big emergencies came up while she was in this state of bliss because she couldn’t count on her problem-solving abilities.
Her cell phone rang at a little after two o’clock, rousing her out of a pleasant memory of the night before. It was Grady.
“Scarlett, I think you are going to want to come down here and see what I found in Tiberius’s files.”
After the theft of documents in her suite, they’d agreed nothing was to leave the secure-documents facility.
“Can you tell me what it is?”
“I’d rather not. You will want to see it for yourself.”
Disturbed by Grady’s caginess, Scarlett grabbed her car keys and headed for the door. “I’m going to MyVault Storage,” she told Sandy as she left. “I’ll be back by four for the senior staff meeting.”
Through most of the half-hour drive she wondered what Grady might have found. The fact that he’d been reluctant to share the information over the phone had been odd. What, was he thinking that someone could be listening in? For an instant all she could see was the man in the ski mask. How easy it would have been to plant listening devices in her suite while she was unconscious. Almost as soon as the thought occurred, she brushed it away. Logan’s paranoia was beginning to rub off on her.
She used her key card and entered the facility. The security guard in the lobby nodded in recognition as she signed in. Cameras watched her from three directions. The security had seemed a little much when she’d first visited the place, but right now she was glad she’d listened to her gut.
Halfway down a long corridor, she stopped in front of a door marked 23. Again she used her key card to gain access. Grady spun around as she entered. She noted his pale complexion and startled gaze and decided he needed to spend a little less time here.
“Have you eaten lunch?” She held up a bag of Chinese food and a six-pack of Diet Mountain Dew, his favorite.
“No. I was going to go grab something before I found this.” He nudged a file toward her and accepted the bag of takeout.
What he showed her was an old photo of a group of teenagers. One of them looked familiar, but she couldn’t place why.
“This is a photo of someone named George Barnes and his buddies.” Grady turned the photo over and showed her the names jotted down on the back. “There’s an old police report from 1969 that mentions George Barnes as well as a few other guys in this photo in connection with some neighborhood burglaries, but nothing was ever solid enough to arrest any of them.”
“So Barnes was a bad kid.” Despite her confusion, Scarlett felt a jolt of excitement at the old documents and what they meant to Grady.
“In another file, I found this newspaper clipping about an accidental drowning during a storm. A local boy by the name of George Barnes had been killed. An eighteen-year-old kid from California had tried to save him. A wealthy, orphaned kid by the name of Preston Rhodes.”
“Preston Rhodes?” Scarlett looked from the article to the photo. “As in Tiberius’s brother-in-law, the current CEO of Stone Properties? That explains why Tiberius had collected information on George Barnes. But what does it mean?”
“The article says Preston was traveling cross-country on his way to attend college on the East Coast. Thought he’d go out and do a little hiking.”
Despite the weird sensation crawling up her spine, Scarlett couldn’t discern anything in either the article or the photo that had prompted Grady’s call. “I’m not sure I understand what’s so important about this information.”
“Look more closely at George Barnes.” Grady was buzzing with excitement. “Does he remind you of anyone?”
“No. Yes. I’m not really sure.”
“He looks like JT Stone.”
“What?” Scarlett looked closer and the pieces slipped into place. “You’re right. What are you thinking, that this George Barnes guy and the Stone family are related somehow?”
“No.” Grady grew serious. “I’m thinking that Barnes and Preston Rhodes are the same guy.”
“How is that possible?” Then a door in her mind opened and a hundred detective-show plots raced through her brain. “You think George Barnes stole Preston Rhodes’s identity?”
“Why not? Barnes’s file paints a picture of a kid with no future. Mom’s a hooker. Dad’s probably one of her clients. He’d been in and out of the foster care system. Spent some time in juvy. Three of his buddies in the photo are in prison. Then he meets Preston Rhodes, a kid his own age who has money and no family, and who’s moving clear across the country to go to college. Who would know if George Barnes put his wallet in the dead kid’s pocket and assumed Preston’s identity?”
“And when Tiberius found out...” Scarlett stopped breathing as she absorbed the implication. “You think that’s why he was killed.”
“Makes a good motive.”
It certainly did. Perhaps it was time to let the police know what they’d discovered.
* * *
As Logan was turning into his driveway, his cell rang. It was Scarlett.
“Logan, you won’t believe what Grady and I found in Tiberius’s files.” She sounded both exhilarated and anxious. “We might have figured out who killed him.”
Logan entered his house and made a beeline for Madison’s room. Earlier that afternoon his sister had called. Madison hadn’t done as he’d asked and called her parents. Nor was she answering her phone. Giving her the summer to change her mind about college wasn’t working. It was time for her to go home.
“The police already have a suspect in custody. A detective buddy of mine has been keeping me updated on the case and he called to tell me that a little after noon today.”
Madison’s bedroom had an empty, unlived-in feel. No clothes cluttered the chair by the window. The dresser wasn’t littered with jewelry and cosmetics. Even as he crossed to the closet, his instinct told him what he’d find. Nothing. His niece was gone.
“Are they sure they have the right guy?” Scarlett’s doubt came through loud and clear.
“Positive.” Cursing, he retraced his steps down the hall and found a folded piece of paper on the breakfast bar. “He confessed that he was hired by Councilman Scott Worth to silence Tiberius and get a hold of some documents that proved he was embezzling campaign contributions.”
“That’s what he stole from my suite?”
“And grabbed some other random files to hide his true purpose.”
Madison had taken off for L.A. again. No wonder she wasn’t answering her cell. What the hell was she thinking?
“Oh, well, good.” Scarlett sounded less enthusiastic than she should.
“Did you ever talk to Madison?” he asked.
“No. I was going to and then Grady called.” Scarlett sounded subdued. “Have you tried her cell?”
“She’s not answering. She took off for L.A.”
“No,” Scarlett assured him. “She wouldn’t do that. Not without talking to me first.”
“Well, she did.”
“Damn.” Worry vibrated through Scarlett’s tone. “I really thought I’d gotten through to her.”
“I think you did,” Logan said. “Only not about college. Ever since that producer friend of yours came into town, Madison has had nothing but stars in her eyes. And you didn’t do anything to dissuade her.” Even as he took his frustration out on her, Logan recognized it was unfair to blame Scarlett when he had a truckload of regrets at how he’d handled Madison yesterday. “Can you try her cell? Her mother and I aren’t having any luck getting her to pick up. Maybe she’ll answer for you.”
“Sure.” Her voice was neutral and polite. “And then I’ll call Bobby to see if he’s heard from her.”
“Is he trustworthy?”
“Absolutely. She won’t get into trouble with him.”
“What about the rest of the people she’s bound to meet?” His concern came out sounding like accusation.
Scarlett’s answer was slower in coming. “She’s a smart girl, Logan. She’ll be careful.”
“She’s ambitious and overly optimistic.”
“I told her in no uncertain terms how hard the business is,” Scarlett countered. “She isn’t as naive as you think.”
“She’s only eighteen.”
“I get that you’re worried about her, Logan.”
“Do you? She was hoping to stay with you in L.A.” He knew Madison had enough money from her birthday and from what she’d earned working for Scarlett to put herself up in a decent hotel for a week or so. Longer if she chose something on the seedier side. “Where is she going to go if you aren’t there?”