Pursuit (10 page)

****

Logan thought he was doing exceptionally fucking well until the John fucker asked Lauren to dance and without even giving him a heads up, she took the fucker's hand and went to the dance floor with him.

When she stood to her feet and walked off, his temples began throbbing and tension filled his muscles.

The song was a fast one, but it was almost over and by the time they got to the dance floor, the music had turned slow. Logan fisted his hands and cracked his knuckles under the table and waited, not knowing what he was going to do or if he could even control his reactions. When she went into the motherfucker's arms and began dancing with him, Logan saw red and began counting.

Exactly how many goddamn weeks had Logan been sleeping with her?
Was it too fucking soon? Could he reasonably go over there and put his fist in that motherfucker's face and then drag her ass out of here and take her home and explain exactly how the fuck it would be from then on?

Logan kept his eyes glued on her and could see that Lauren was watching him in return. She was dancing with the other guy, but she was
watching him
. And then, like a bolt of lightning, he knew. This was a
fucking test
. She was testing him to see if he could keep his ass in his seat and not cause a fucking scene.

Goddamnit.
He wanted to beat the living shit out of the guy. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would please him more.

He took five deep breaths and slowly began counting to ten, and then to fifty. Could he make it through the dance? He wasn
't even going to think about whether or not she was going to dance with the dude again. Even in his brain, he couldn't go there yet. One fucking thing at a time.

He had a decision to make. If he wanted to keep her,
and he did
, he had to sit here and prove he . . . what? Wasn't an animal?

Did
she think
he was an animal?

Fine. He
'd sit here and nurse his drink and play nice. He could play nice when he had to. But later,
when he got her clothes off . . .

****

The song ended and segued into another round of slow music. John raised his brows in question but Lauren shook her head and he began leading her back toward the table.

They hadn
't taken two steps before Nico came upon them and made a grab for Lauren's hand. Not knowing there was a problem, John walked off the dance floor and left Lauren to face Nico alone. Lauren shook her head with a half smile, trying to get out of this without any repercussions.

"
Oh, come on, Lauren, you danced with John," Nico began, belligerently.

"
I know, but I'm tired. I feel a bit light-headed and--"

Her words were cut off when he swung her around and wrapped his arms around her, preparing to dance with her whether she liked it or not. Her hands went to his chest and she began pushing against him.

He reared back from her, and she was slightly amazed that she'd been able to get him off her that quickly. It took a moment to realize that Logan held Nico by the shirt collar and that the look on Logan's face portended trouble,
bad trouble
. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, asshole? She clearly told you that she didn't want to dance."

"
Get the fuck off me, you piece of shit," Nico said to Logan. "
You don't deserve her."

Lauren recognized the glimmer of emotion that shone from Logan
's eyes. It looked as if he finally had somebody he could take his anger out on. And unfortunately for Nico, he happened to be that person. There was no question in Lauren's mind that Logan was about to hit the other man. He pulled his arm back and was about to let loose when he was stopped abruptly by two big, beefy bouncers. "That's enough. All three of y'all can leave. Now."

Logan released Nico instantly with a look of resentment. His nostrils flared, his legs were braced apart, but all he did was grab Lauren
's hand and say, "We're leaving."

Logan gave Lauren time to grab her bag but that was it. He escorted her out of the door under the watchful eyes of one of the bouncers. He hustled her into his truck and started the engine.
"Buckle up."

Lauren fumbled with the buckle, her head spinning.
"I'm sorry about that. Nico's a douche sometimes. Heidi invited him, not me."

As Logan pulled onto the street, he said,
"That was
your
fault."

"
My fault?"

"
If you hadn't been dancing with the other fucker and laughing and joking and flirting your ass off like you
were goddamn single
, then that jackass wouldn't have thought he had a chance at you. You gave them both entirely the wrong impression and you expected me to sit on my ass and watch it happening. Yeah,
your fault,"
he seethed
.

"
Logan. . . "

Logan stopped at a red light and turned to her, anger on the clear cut lines of his features.
"What?"

Lauren took a deep breath and confessed,
"John's gay and everyone, including Nico, knows it."

If looks could have killed, Lauren would have been a dead woman.
"Gay," Logan said flatly, his mouth held rigidly. "You neglected to mention that to me, didn't you?"

"
Yeah, it was just an oversight--"

"
Bullshit. And the guy wasn't watching you like he's gay. He was watching you like he wants to fuck you."

Lauren
's throat tried to close up as she felt his animosity. "No, you're mistaken. He tries to protect me, that's all. And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, it was an oversight--"

"
Bullshit. You were testing me. And who better to test me with than someone who isn't a threat to you?" Logan pressed on the brakes and made a barely legal u-turn. "And you weren't going to tell me the dude is gay. You were going to let me stew in my own jealousy."

As he made the u-turn, Lauren felt almost faint.
"Where are you going? You can't go back there."

"
I'm not going back there. Being around a crap load of people is the last thing I want right now. Besides, we got thrown out, remember?"

He didn
't want to be around people? Lauren swallowed as she saw the brooding displeasure clearly written on his face and in the rigid way that he held himself. She cleared her throat. "Then I don't understand. Why'd you turn around?"

"
We're going this way."

"
But I live that way," Lauren said softly as she pointed behind her.

"
Yeah, and I live this way," Logan kept his eyes on the road and tilted his head forward.

She watched him, analyzing his statement.
"You haven't asked me if I want to go home with you--"

"
No, and I'm not going to."

Lauren was held spellbound by that tersely worded announcement and by his thick, sinewy wrists gripping the steering wheel.
"Logan--"

He looked to the left and to the right and swiftly pulled the truck into a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart and idled the engine.
"It's time to get some shit straight," his said in a voice so guttural, so primal that Lauren knew he was about to unleash the dominant personality he tried so hard to keep hidden from her. She wasn't fooled; she'd known what lay underneath that thin veneer of civility since the day she'd met him.

She began shaking her head.
"No, it's
not
time to get shit straight. It's way, way, way
too soon
to be getting any shit straight."

His mouth clamped and his muscles corded angrily in his neck.
"Fine. I'll let it be for now. But answer me one goddamn question because I'm sick and fucking tired of tiptoeing around you." Logan's hands were wrapped around the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Tiptoeing around her? Holy crap, he thought he
'd been tiptoeing around her? How the hell would he act if he wasn't taking care?
"What?" she asked, almost afraid to know what the question was going to be.

"
Are you scared of me? You think I'm going to go off the deep-end and hurt you or some shit?" He turned his head to look at her, and she could read his eyes. "Because I'm not." As his words stilled, his expression grew agonized. His gaze swept over her, and his unguarded look of longing was defined by his exposed anxiety.

Lauren stared, not sure how she should answer. She wasn
't scared of him, exactly. She didn't think he'd hurt
her.
She actually didn't doubt that at all. In fact, she felt . . . utterly safe with him. But . . . she wasn't so sure that he wouldn't hurt someone else or put a hole in the wall or something like that. "I don't think you'd hurt me, no."

"
I'd
never
hurt you." His voice was adamant.

She studied him a moment before answering.
"You're pretty damn intense, Logan."

"
Yeah, I get that." He exhaled deeply. "So, here's the question. Can you handle it?"

"
I . . . I--"

""
Cause I have to know pretty damn soon. If you want to cut me loose then you just need to do it now. I can't change the way I am, Lauren. The longer this goes on . . . I don't know . . . "

"
What? The longer this goes on, what?" She wanted to know; she needed to know.

"
I don't know. I'm getting in deeper."

"
Have there been other . . . "

"
Other what?" he prompted when she didn't finish her thought.

"
Other women who . . . had to cut you loose because of your . . . intensity?"

"
Hell, no
. Nobody has ever dumped me and there damn sure hasn't been a woman who . . ."

"
Who what?" she asked him quietly.

His gaze was riveted on her face, and his expression filled with heart-rending confusion.
"Fucked me up like this. Made me feel the way you do."

Lauren
's heart clenched and turned over. Her stomach did a somersault and she moved just a tiny bit closer to him.

He noticed and moved a hand from the steering wheel and wrapped it around her neck, massaging it in a circular motion. His forehead landed against hers.
"I passed your ridiculous test, you know." His voice, although low, dripped satisfaction. "I was doing fine until that second mother fucker pushed you into dancing with him when I knew you didn't want to."

"
I know," she said simply.

He lifted his head from hers and stared down at her.
"I passed your test," he reiterated in a vulnerable tone that pulled at Lauren's heartstrings.

He
had
passed her test.

"
Yeah, you did."

"
I don't want you to put me through that shit again. I think once in a lifetime was enough, okay?" His tone had regained the strength that Lauren was used to hearing from him.

"
Okay," she agreed.

"
Pretty soon it's going to be time to get some stuff straight, you know?" he demanded in a raspy tone.

She knew he wouldn
't let her postpone the day of reckoning forever, but that day wasn't here yet. "I know, but not yet."

His finger trailed down her cheek and then dropped to stroke her arm sensuously.
"Do you trust me enough to let me take you home?"

Her heartbeat fluttered and then went into overdrive.
"Yes," she answered, readily and unequivocally.

****

He'd mentioned where he lived, but she'd never been to his house before. He drove to the south side of town, to an upscale, gated neighborhood close to the Space Center.

Lauren almost held her breath as she walked into his house for the first time. He had parked in the garage, and they walked in through the backdoor. But right away, she could see that he had not an ounce of decorating skills at all. He
'd told her that he'd bought the house some three years before. The house was big and newish, but it was a man's house, with the
entire
concept being that of a 'man-cave'. She noticed one thing immediately. There was no junk strewn about. Everything was in perfect order and seemed to have a place.

She thought about her apartment and what he must think about it. She kept her living room reasonably tidy because she liked it that way, and after all, you never knew when someone might stop by. And her kitchen was always clean, because, well, you
had
to keep your kitchen clean. But her bedroom . . . my God, what must he have thought of her bedroom? She usually changed clothes four or five times before she found what she wanted to wear, and because her closet was tiny and barely held half her stuff, she had shirts and skirts and shoes strewn everywhere around her bedroom.