by Anna Durand
The sun kissed her back, making me want to kiss it too.
But if I touched her, she'd wake. And I loved watching her sleep too much to disturb her. Being with this woman, it was nèamh.
Her lids fluttered partway open.
"Good morning," I said, bending to kiss her forehead. "It looks to be a bonnie day."
She rolled onto her back, stretched, and moaned with pleasure. "Good morning. I feel fantastic. How about you?"
"Fantastic, aye. Thanks to you."
She smiled with serene contentment. "Last night was incredible. Not only because of the sex. I loved having a real conversation with you, even when we were ripping open old wounds. I feel closer to you now."
"I feel the same way." And oddly, I didn't mind having opened up to her. Sharing my feelings had never been my strong suit, but I'd gotten much worse about it over the years. Serena had unlocked a vault inside me that I'd kept sealed shut for a long time. "What would you like for breakfast? I'll call room service."
"Mm, something decadent." She sat up and stretched again, smiling, then hopped off the bed. "I need the bathroom. You order for us both."
She sashayed across the room.
The view of her round erse and shapely legs kept me distracted from my breakfast ordering task until she shut the bathroom door behind her. I picked up the phone and ordered the most decadent foods available at this hour. While I waited for Serena to come out of the bathroom, I checked my phone for messages.
I'd gotten three texts and a voicemail from Alex Thorne.
The man was relentless. He wanted an answer about the job he'd offered me, and I had a suspicion he would get more relentless and demanding the longer I delayed giving him that answer.
My attention wandered to the closed bathroom door.
What about Serena? I was pursuing a relationship with her. I couldn't take off to parts unknown without even telling her, but I had no idea how she might react to the news. Not that I'd decided to take the job. It was tempting, though.
Serena ambled out of the bathroom wearing a plush terrycloth robe.
"Where did you find that?" I asked, gesturing at her now-covered body.
"In the bathroom." She stopped a few feet from the bed and fingered the lapels of her robe. "I could get used to this. Complimentary luxury items."
"You should've married Evan, then. I'm not wealthy."
"And I don't care." She settled her bottom onto the bed and twisted around to see me. "What matters to me is the kind of man you are, not how much money you have."
"Evan's a better man too."
"Cut that out, Logan." She scooted closer. "No more trying to convince me you're a cold-blooded killer. I'm not buying it. You're a good man, the kind who's honest with me about what he wants and what he can give. I appreciate that."
Honest? Christ, I needed to tell her about Alex's offer.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You look like you're either having an attack of irritable bowel, or you're afraid to tell me something."
"You're as canny as a spy sometimes."
"I'm the mother of a teenage boy. I've developed a sixth sense for detecting when a male is holding out on me."
"Of course." I fidgeted where I sat on the bed, my back against the headboard, then cleared my throat. "I, ah, need to tell you something."
"And you think I won't like it." She turned fully sideways to look at me. "Rip off that Band-Aid. You won't know how I'll react until you do."
I hesitated. This was ridiculous. Me, wavering. I'd delivered uncomfortable news many times, and I'd been tortured for information, but telling Serena about Alex's offer turned me into a twisted mass of nerves.
Clearing my throat again, I plunged ahead. "I've had another job offer. It's a limited-time job, but it would require me to travel." I tried not to wince, but my face had other ideas. "Globally."
Her lips warped into a half-repressed smile. "Are you signing up as a stripper on a cruise ship?"
"No, you cheeky lass," I said. "Do they have strippers on cruise ships?"
"Beats me." She clasped her hands on her lap. "Tell me about this job."
"An old acquaintance has asked me to help him out with a small problem." I moved to sit on the bed's edge alongside her. "An item has been stolen, and he wants me to retrieve it."
"How does that involve global travel? Isn't that a matter for the police to deal with?"
"Normally, but there are extenuating circumstances."
She flattened her lips into a slash, shaking her head. "No more hemming and hawing. Spit it out, Logan."
I massaged my jaw. "You've spent a fair bit of time with the MacTaggarts. Have you heard the name Alex Thorne?"
"Don't think so."
"What about the British Bastard?"
Her lips formed a perfect O. "Yeah, I've heard that one. Isn't he the guy who broke Catriona's heart? Lachlan, Rory, and Aidan get very gruff whenever someone mentions the British Bastard. His name is Alex Thorne?"
"Yes." I rubbed my jaw again, realized what I was doing, and cursed under my breath in Gaelic. I was nervous. No one would believe it. "I've worked for Alex before."
"Why would you do that? He hurt Cat."
"I know, but I had just left MI6 and didn't know what the bloody hell to do with myself. Alex had heard about my past and thought I would be the right man for the job." I bent to rest my elbows on my thighs. "Alex is an archaeologist, like Cat, and he's also very wealthy. Family money. He asked me to recover a statute that had gone missing from his private collection. Things did not go as planned."
"Was it dangerous?"
"Alex had...misrepresented the facts about the case. It was much more complicated than he'd let on, and I ran into some dicey situations. In the end, I retrieved the statue and got paid." I studied my hands, running my fingers along the lines on my palm. "I was glad when Aidan offered me a job at his construction company. I shouldn't have accepted Alex's offer. It was too soon after I'd left the SIS, and I hadn't fully recovered from this." I pointed at my back. "Had no business getting into a risky situation."
"But now you're recovered." She toyed with the belt on her robe, winding it around her finger again and again. "You want to take the job Alex has offered you."
"Maybe. Not sure I can trust him to tell me the whole truth about the situation, but the idea of putting my covert skills to use again is tempting."
"You don't trust Alex, but you want to work for him."
"Alex isn't a bad bloke. He can be very personable, and in a pinch, he will come through for you." I lay back on the bed, scratching my head. "But he also likes to exaggerate the positive aspects and downplay the risks. To get what he wants, he will manipulate anyone. I have to admit, though, he never knowingly put me in danger. And he apologized for the trouble I did run into. I believe he honestly felt bad about it."
"Sounds like he's a charming rogue."
"I suppose you could put it that way."
"Listen," she said, planting a hand on the mattress beside me and tipping forward, braced with her straight arm, "if you want to take the job, don't hold back because of me."
"But I don't want to ruin whatever we're trying to build here."
"And I don't want to be the reason you turn down a job you really want to take."
I groaned. "Where does that leave us? I can't turn it down without making you feel guilty, and I can't accept it without abandoning you."
"This is your decision, not mine."
"I won't make the decision without you." I sneaked my hand under her robe to caress her thigh. "Isn't that what couples do? If not, then I learned the wrong lesson from my cousins' mistakes with women."
"Yes, that's the way it's supposed to work, in theory. We hardly know each other, so I can't ask you to include me in your decision-making."
"I need your opinion. I care what you think, what you want."
She chewed on her bottom lip, her fingers drumming on t
he bed.
While she cogitated, I glared up at the ceiling. Maybe I was expecting her to walk away, but if I was, she proved me wrong.
"There is another option," she said cautiously.
"What do you mean?"
She straightened and set her palms on her lap. "Take me with you."
"Are you daft? It might be dangerous."
"You said Alex never knowingly put you in danger."
"I also said he often misrepresents the truth."
"You're too smart to let him get away with that again." She flapped her robe's belt while she continued. "Last time, you were still shell-shocked from your war experiences and your injuries. This time, you're in top form. Alex Thorne won't stand a chance."
"But—"
She sealed my lips with two fingers. "I trust you, Logan."
I sucked her fingers into my mouth, enjoying the flavor of them for a moment before I took her hand in mine. "I trust you too."
Why did I feel like I'd declared something far more meaningful than my trust in her? I hadn't. Maybe one day I would, but not today.
Someone knocked on the door and called out, "Room service."
"Breakfast is here," I said. When Serena started to get up, I waved her away. "I'll get it."
By the time I'd tipped the cheerful young woman who'd delivered our meal, Serena was walking toward me while re-tying the belt on her robe to make it more secure. I waited at the table by the window, where our breakfast was laid out, though every dish had a half-dome cover on it to keep things warm. I'd ordered every decadent breakfast food I'd seen on the menu, along with plenty of syrup, butter, and jam.
Serena leaned her hip against the table and surveyed the hidden treasures. "What exactly did you order for us? It looks like a meal for ten people."
"Pancakes, waffles, eggs Benedict, bacon, sausage, croissants—"
"Okay, I get it. You ordered the entire menu."
"Not quite. After last night, we both need a hearty breakfast." I slapped her erse. "You wore me out."
She trailed a fingertip along the table's edge. "Oh, that's not how I remember it. You kept seducing me over and over again, and I was too dazed to resist."
"You kept begging me to do it again."
Her grin brightened her face, her eyes, her entire spirit. "Yeah, I did."
I lifted one of the lids to peek at the pancakes underneath it. "Are you sure you want to go with me?"
"Yes." Her fingers crooked on the tabletop, and she glanced out the window. "Before we get too deeply involved, there are a couple things I need to confess. First, I don't want to have any more children. I'm too old for it."
"Keely's your age, and she's having a baby."
"That's not what I meant." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm too old to do the whole raising a child thing all over again. I'd be in my sixties when the kid finally goes to college."
"Keely doesn't mind that."
"I'm not Keely." Serena picked up a packet of butter and turned it in her hand, over and over. "The men Keely was with before Evan wouldn't let her have a baby. She's finally getting what she always wanted. I've already had that. So if you've got your heart set on starting a family of your own, I'm not the woman for you."
But she was the woman for me. I'd realized that while she was telling me she wasn't the right one.
I took hold of her shoulders and rotated her to face me. "I want you, Serena. Full stop. I don't have my heart set on having children. There are plenty of MacTaggarts to perpetuate the line. My multitude of cousins are seeing to the next generation."
"Okay." She bowed her head, peeking up at me through her lashes only to avert her eyes. "The truth is, I probably can't have children anyway. I had—" She pulled in a long breath, straightened, and met my gaze. "I had two miscarriages before Chase was born and another one after that. A doctor told me I couldn't have children anymore. I got a second opinion and was told I probably couldn't. By the time we'd gone through all that, Rob was deployed to Iraq again, for the last time. We never had the chance to see if the doctors were right."
I got the impression she'd needed to work up to telling me the truth of why she didn't want more bairns. Did she think I'd walk away because she couldn't have children anymore? "None of that matters. Having you is enough for me."
Her eyes grew large and luminous, their gray color mesmerizing.
"Besides," I said, "Chase is a tolerable lad."
She punched me in the chest without much force. "Hey, that's my kid you're talking about."
"I like him. He doesn't assault me with questions and not give me time to answer like Iain's daughter, Malina, does." I took the butter packet she'd been holding and tossed it onto the table, my thoughts returning to Alex's offer. "I need to talk to Evan. I don't even know if he'll give me time off to do the job for Alex."
Serena gave me a look that suggested I was being an eejit.
I sighed. "Aye, you're right. He will."
"Wow, you admitted I'm right. Is that a first in our relationship?"
"Hardly. Last night, I admitted you were right about me being a flaming eejit and a coward."
"You're neither. I said you were scared of this thing between us, that's all."
"Not sure there's a difference, but I won't argue the point."
"Good." She stretched her arms above her head and made a satisfied sound. "Let's skip the conference today."
"But our CEO commanded us to attend."
"We both know this trip was not business. It was a matchmaking ploy." She stretched again, this time leaning backward enough to make her breasts push against the robe. "Keely and Evan will be thrilled if we spend the day getting to know each other."
"What did you have in mind?"
"The usual things, like sightseeing and shopping for useless knickknacks to give to our friends and family. You know, stuff they'll re-gift at Christmas."
"I see." Nodding toward our breakfast, I said, "Should we eat? Sounds like we'll need plenty of fuel to get through the day you've got planned."
She undid the belt on her robe. "How about a poke first?"
"The food will get cold." Not that I cared. The idea of getting her naked again appealed to me much more than pancakes and croissants.
"Make it a quick poke, then," she said, giving me a wicked little smile as she let the halves of her robe fall open.
"Thought you were offended by the term having a poke."
She moved closer, laying her palms on my chest for a moment before she pressed her entire naked body against me. "I have another confession. Every rude, crude word you say makes me want to smack you or rip your clothes off. Usually both. I may have called you disgusting, but that was only to cover up the fact your dirty mouth makes me hot."
"In that case..." I lashed an arm around her waist and spun us around, pinning her to the window. "Let's have a quick poke."
Afterward, I'd worry about whether I was being reckless in letting her go on a mission with me, especially one organized by Alex Thorne. I wanted her with me. Maybe I didn't have serious feelings for her yet, but I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I could love this woman.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Serena
On the flight home, Logan and I sat on the sofa and talked. Really talked. He told me stories about his cousins that made me laugh so hard my eyes watered and my stomach muscles hurt. I told him stories about the crazy things a little boy will do, making him laugh, though not as hard as I had. The MacTaggarts were a wild bunch, for sure, but they all had hearts of pure, twenty-four-carat gold. Even Logan.
Maybe him most of all.
A few days ago, I'd dismissed him as crude and obnoxious. Today, I had a better understanding of why he was the way he was. Elspeth's illness had clearly changed Logan and his immediate family, but joining the military had been the defining moment in his life. He didn't like to talk about his time overseas, and much of it he co
uldn't talk about anyway. Still, the bits he'd shared convinced me he was a brave and selfless man who do anything to protect the ones he loved and would lay down his life to save strangers.
How many times had he put his life on the line?
I asked him that as the jet began its descent toward landing.
Logan shrugged one shoulder. "I don't keep count."
"Oh please. You have a photographic memory, but you want me to believe you don't remember the times you almost died saving someone else."
"I was doing my job."
The way he stared out the window, with lines tightening around his eyes, convinced me he was embarrassed to talk about his heroic exploits. I decided not to press the issue.
He propped his ankle on the other knee. "You haven't told me about your family. I know everything Chase has done since he was born, but I know nothing about your parents, or if you have any brothers or sisters."
"Oh, that." I slumped against the sofa. "I haven't talked about it because it isn't very interesting. I get along fine with my parents and my brother, but we're not the close-knit kind of family that you have. My brother Carl lives in Japan with his wife and two daughters. I haven't seen them in years. After Rob died, my family started to keep their distance. I think they didn't know how to handle my grief, and they hadn't known Rob that well, so we kind of drifted away from each other."
"Don't your parents care about their grandson?"
"Sure. They send him cards and presents for his birthday and Christmas."
"Baothairean," he hissed.
"What?"
"Your parents are idiots."
The vehemence in his voice made me look at him. His expression evinced a deadly calm that, combined with the harshness of his voice, made my pulse beat faster and my tummy flutter. Maybe I should've found his attitude disturbing, but instead it made me feel safe and horny at the same time. If anyone tried to hurt someone Logan cared about, he would terrify them into submission with one glance. I hadn't totally believed Keely when she'd told me Logan had gotten a sleazy toad to confess his crimes to the cops merely by talking to him. Today, I believed it. That voice. That icy calmness. If I didn't know him, I'd be scared shitless too.