Logan's Redemption (8 page)

“About the other night,” she said.

“No problem,” he said.

“We just forget it, right?”  She pressed the barrette into her palm.

He nodded. “Forgotten.”

She let her breath out. “Stress and overwork. That’s all.”

He moved closer. She wanted to back off but held her ground.

His features tightened. “It was a hell of a lot more than stress and overwork and you know it.”

He turned and strode quickly from her office. The click of the door closing mocked her with the truth of his words.   

The barrette felt hot in her hand. She dropped it onto the soft carpet and walked to her desk. Holding her coffee mug, she sank into the leather chair and stared at the door. She ran her tongue over her lips, reliving the feel of Logan’s hot mouth on hers. She’d wanted to kiss him and taste him again almost from the minute he’d walked back into her life.

Trying for calmness, she took small sips of coffee and glanced over at Josh’s picture. She couldn’t get involved with Logan again. She owed it to Josh.       Heck, she owed it to herself. And what made her think she and Logan would get involved again? It was only one kiss. No big deal. The lie didn’t go down easy.

* * * *

Logan sat on the corner of his desk and picked up a glass paperweight, holding it tight against the urge to fling it at the door. “Damn,” he said to the empty room. Doriana was fire, a fire that threatened to destroy all he’d worked for. Why couldn’t he leave her alone?  

The truth hit him like a hard right to the jaw. Doriana had gotten under his skin a long time ago. An ice princess with a core hotter than the Arizona sun, she excited him like no other woman. But she was way out of his league. Daggers of regret twisted his gut.

He edged off the desk and plunked down the paperweight. It landed with a loud thud. A reminder that he’d wasted enough time on impossible dreams? He had a job to do. He powered his computer and sat down, scrubbing a hand over his tired eyes. His mind barely registered the images on the screen.

Doriana’s kiss and the yearnings she stirred in him had kept him awake the last two nights. He’d used his insomnia to review the dossiers of Callahan’s top managers. It had taken all his training to focus on the boring reports and not on his need for Doriana.

His study of the dossiers confirmed a feeling that had gnawed at him from the beginning. Something about the sales director, Bryce James, didn’t ring true. A gaping hole in the man’s report challenged Logan to find the truth. He trusted his instincts. Those instincts had saved his life and the lives of his men on countless covert operations for the Army.

He needed more on James’ background. The man was Candi’s boss. The pornographic note he’d found in Candi’s desk was unsigned but he recognized James’ handwriting. James was married. Maybe the guy needed money to support his family and his mistress.

Yesterday morning Logan had called his second in command in Arizona. Jo promised to get back to him with any information she found about James. Logan leaned back in his chair. He was on to something. He’d resolve this job soon and kick the dirt of Philadelphia off his shoes. But he knew he couldn’t kick aside the memories of Doriana and the dreams that had died that awful night so many years ago.

He gripped the chair arms. Only two others knew about that night—his dad and Father Jessup. Shame and bitterness washed over Logan, but he forced the feelings away. He’d made his peace with God a long time ago. He turned to his computer. Better to concentrate on the numbing boredom of the Tremont report than pummel himself with what might have been.

* * * *

Logan and Candi sat alone in the cafeteria. The blonde’s cloying perfume overpowered the spicy aroma of Logan’s chicken stir-fry.

He’d befriended Candi for the sake of the assignment, but he genuinely liked her. She wasn’t his type, but beneath her brash, sexy exterior, he’d glimpsed sadness, a sadness he knew too well. He’d spent his younger years covering his hurts and fears with machismo. The Army and maturity had knocked that out of him. He wondered what hurts Candi covered with her blatant sexuality.   

He suspected the brassy blonde held the key to the bid thefts, and maybe the vandalism. He had yet to establish that the theft and vandalism were connected.

He’d caught looks between Candi and her boss, Bryce James. The looks solidified what he’d found in the note in her desk. He’d heard Candi’s boyfriend had done jail time. Candi played a treacherous game. A game she couldn’t win.

“Logan, have you listened to a word I’ve said?”  Candi’s perturbed voice hammered through his thoughts.

“Sorry, Candi,” he said, smiling. “I was too involved with my chicken stir-fry.”

She snorted. “Food had nothing to do with your thoughts. You were mooning over Boss Lady.”

“Why would you say that?” he asked with as much detachment as he could muster. He knew how to hide his emotions. He was really slipping if Candi had picked up his feelings about Doriana.

Candi leaned closer, touching his arm with one of her red-tipped talons. “I know you’ve got it bad for Boss Lady.”

When he started to protest, she held up her hand. “Don’t worry, Logan. Your secret’s safe with me.” Tension tightened her pretty features. “I know other things, too.” Tears glistened in her blue eyes. She dug into her oversized purse and pulled out a tissue, swiping at a tear tracking down her cheek.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked.

She looked down at the table. “I’m scared.”

Logan sat straighter. Sympathy for Candi warred with his training. He couldn’t become emotionally involved in a case.

He squeezed her hand. “Tell me.”

“Hey, you two, quit hogging the table.”

Logan looked up to find the redhead, Karen, holding a food-laden tray and staring down at them. Damn! He put on his best smile. “Sit down.” He moved his chair so she could squeeze into the one next to him. He and Candi couldn’t talk here. He had to see her somewhere other than work. She might furnish the clues he needed to solve this case. And he just might help Candi too.

* * * *

Logan took the letters off the printer and headed for Doriana’s office. She needed to sign off on them to make today’s mail. The door to her office was slightly ajar. He started to push it open but Doriana’s voice stopped him. She was talking to someone. But no phone call had come through. She must be on her cell. Guilt at eavesdropping nagged him and he started to move away.

“No, Josh,” she said. “You can’t come to the office.”

Logan froze. Josh? A lover?   

A heavy sigh from her. “Because you can’t. I’ll give you the money later. There’s no reason for you to come all the way into the city.”

Money? Blackmail? Logan shook his head at the outrageous idea. He’d been in the security business too long.

Doriana quieted. Logan figured the person on the other end must be doing a lot of talking. He knew he should step away, but curiosity and a twinge of jealousy held him.

“No,” Doriana said more firmly. “You’ll have to wait for the money. You are not to come to my office.” She was quiet again. The guy must really be pleading his case.

“No. And I mean it,” she said at last. “We’ll talk later. I love you.”

The breath knocked out of Logan. Love? Doriana in love with another man? The thought wrenched Logan’s gut.

Who was this Josh and why was she giving him money? Did she need money badly enough to steal from her father? Nothing he knew about Doriana remotely suggested she could be involved in anything sordid.

Gripping the unsigned letters, Logan stepped away from the door. He slapped the letters onto the desk. He would not let anyone hurt Doriana. But he had no right to interfere in her life.

* * * *

Doriana exited the elevator into the quiet hallway. At seven in the evening, most employees had left for the day. If she hadn’t forgotten the papers she needed for her meeting cross-town tomorrow morning, she’d be at the charity function now. God, she hated those dull parties, but she’d promised her dad she’d go. The sooner she arrived, the sooner she could leave.

A sound at the end of the hall drew her attention. Her dad and Logan stood close, talking in muted voices. They seemed chummy, too chummy. Her father kept his distance with his employees, other than his top managers. But he was listening intently to Logan. Something was going on, something hidden just below the surface. She’d been unable to shake the feeling since the day Logan arrived.

She rushed into her office, driven by some instinct that told her not to let her dad and Logan know she saw them. She gathered papers from her desk and stuffed them into her briefcase, snapping it shut. A quick glance at the clock told her she needed to hurry.

“You’re far too beautiful for him.”

She froze at the sound of Logan’s voice and turned toward her office door.

He stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his broad chest. His gaze scanned her body slowly and deliberately, making her face flood with heat.

She squared her shoulders. She would not let his bold sensuality intimidate her. “What do you mean?”

“I assume you’re on your way to meet a guy,” he said.

“You assume wrong, not that it’s any of your business.” She frowned. “What are you doing here so late?”

He moved into the room. “I wanted to get a head start on the Fisher proposal.”

He stood close, too close. “You look sexy in that black dress.” He gently brushed back a tendril of her hair and skimmed his thumb along her cheekbone. “But you look sexy in anything.”

The huskiness of his voice and the roughness of his skin against her sensitized flesh sent pleasure jolting through her. The heat of his body seemed to reach out to her, warming her all over. Anxious to escape the temptation Logan offered, Doriana pulled away and headed for the door.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “So beautiful,” he whispered. He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. Doriana held her body rigid, refusing to respond.

Logan’s lips moved expertly over hers, drawing her despite her resolve. Unable to resist his erotic pull, she pressed closer and opened her mouth to him. His soft moans made feminine pride surge in her.

Footsteps and raised voices penetrated Doriana’s brain. The sound of a vacuum cleaner cut the quiet and destroyed the sensual web Logan wove with his mouth and his tongue.

She pushed away from him. They stared at each other, their breathing ragged.

Doriana rubbed her mouth, as if she could rub away the memory of Logan’s hot kiss. She turned and strode swiftly from the office. She knew Logan was watching her. She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting him. It would be a very long night.

~~~~

CHAPTER SIX

Logan leaned over Doriana and studied her computer screen with her. The fresh scent of roses wafted from her glossy black hair. He itched to lift the heavy fall of hair and kiss the back of her neck, to discover if her skin there was as soft as he remembered. Pressing his palm on the desk, he leaned closer. She stiffened and he knew she felt the heat that pulsed between them.

“Do you see what I mean?” she asked, her voice a little breathless. “These figures are all wrong.”

Logan smiled. Despite their hot kisses earlier in the week, Doriana had tried to keep her distance with cool professionalism, but whenever she spoke to him her voice held a husky tone and she averted her gaze from his.

Reaching across her, he traced his finger over the lines on the screen. His hand lightly brushed the silky strands of her hair and he heard her sharp intake of breath. Her mind wasn’t on the chart any more than his.

“You’re right,” he said, trying for coolness. “There’s something wrong. Another Franco screw-up?”

She nodded, still not looking at him. “We’ll have to re-do all the figures.”

“I can come in tomorrow,” he said.

The next day was Saturday. Was he the only worker in the country who dreaded the weekend? No Doriana to look at and talk to, and flirt with. Lonely hotel rooms got old quickly, especially when his dreams were peppered with visions of a chocolate-eyed beauty who had never really belonged to him, and never would.

She turned until their faces were inches apart. Desire softened her eyes to velvet, making his pulse quicken. Her gaze scanned his face, resting on his mouth and she licked her lips.

Logan reached out and lifted strands of her hair, letting the silky smoothness slide through his fingers. “Doriana.”

Her lips parted for him and he leaned closer.

“Am I interrupting something?”

The throaty female voice coming from the doorway jerked them apart.

Logan straightened and followed Doriana’s gaze to the stunning brunette, dressed in black, who stood framed in the doorway, arms folded across her chest and her brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Anita.” Doriana’s voice shook.

The other woman’s gaze traveled over Logan, and she smiled. “He’s certainly an improvement over Lisa.”