by Kait Gamble
She had made it almost embarrassingly easy for him.
“Turn around.”
He’d lowered his voice to a pitch that reminded her of what he sounded like during sex. Afterward. And he knew it.
Jackie didn’t move a muscle. Mostly because she was preoccupied with memories of when he’d used that voice on her in the past.
When she continued to stare at him, Logan closed his hands around her hips and slowly spun her around until she looked upon the undulating ocean again.
“What are you doing?” Jackie tried to turn back but he held her in place against the glass with the weight of his body. Excitement spiked, even as apprehension wormed its way into the back of her mind. “Logan.”
“Shh.” He notched the wide ridge of his erection into the cleft of her ass.
Jackie fought the urge to press back against him. It was completely insane. She should hate him. But inexplicably, stupidly, she wanted him. The ache felt worryingly close to need. The same response that used to cloud all her judgment took over her consciousness until there was nothing but Logan.
He slid his large hand up her side to cup her breast.
Jackie gripped the lip of the wall. “Stop. Someone is going to see.”
He pressed his cheek to hers. “Not if you don’t make a scene.”
It wasn’t easy, especially when he curved his other hand around her hip and traced the edge of her swimsuit with his fingers. Heat flared. Every stroke sent shafts of sensation to a place deep behind her belly button.
Jackie knew that it was just the tip of the iceberg. The sensations the man could evoke… Did she dare lose herself in them again?
It was so tempting. Why shouldn’t she have a little fun? And why not use the man who had been the cause of the dramatic changes in her life? At least she knew she’d get satisfaction out of being with him. Use him and toss him, just like he’d done to her. Meanwhile, having some fantastic sex would distract her from having to deal with the gawkers and leave her with good memories to last her.
Decision made, she shifted, sliding that tiny bit so his fingers slipped just under her suit.
Jackie felt his smile against her cheek, heard it in his voice.
“That’s my girl.” Logan eased his finger inside and twisted his hand back and forth to slide another in with it. “Still so tight.”
“Will you shut up?” Jackie didn’t want anyone catching on to their game and stopping them.
“As you wish, princess.” His voice had lowered, taken on a husky, gravelly quality he knew she loved. Logan rocked his hand, slowly pumping his fingers in and out. He knew exactly what to do, the pressure, the rhythm, to surely build her toward a searing orgasm.
Jackie’s breath began to hitch as he quickened the pace. Her fingers and toes tingled. Her muscles slowly contracted as she got closer to climax.
Grazing her clit with the heel of his hand, he slowed his movements. It earned him a disappointed mewl from Jackie.
She arched against him, seeking his hand, needing more friction.
“What’s the matter, princess? Am I not pleasing you?”
“Logan.” Jackie fought to keep the whine out of her voice, but from his chuckle, she assumed she’d failed.
“Ask nicely.” He nipped her earlobe as he waited. Sucked it.
She wriggled and repeated his name.
Logan sighed, plunging his fingers deeper before sliding them almost all the way out.
Jackie growled at him, but refused to plead.
He huffed a humor-filled breath, but said nothing as he twisted his fingers and thumbed her clit in gentle circles. It was good. But it wasn’t enough to bring her what she wanted. Jackie writhed against him, trying her best to find some satisfaction.
“Still as stubborn as ever, I see.” The friction turned into a slippery, less satisfying slide of his fingers.
Pinned as she was, she couldn’t get any leverage. Couldn’t get the friction that she wanted—needed. She was just so close. If he would just add a little pressure. Do that thing with his fingers that had always sent her over the edge. “Please, Logan.”
“That’s right, princess. You know who does it for you.”
Logan rubbed the ridge of his cock into the cleft of her ass as he plunged his fingers inside her again, hitting all the right places to build her up into a spectacular orgasm.
Her entire being converged to a single pinpoint then exploded.
Logan smothered her cries with his free hand while wringing out the rest of her orgasm.
Jackie sagged against the wall dazedly trying to catch her breath. As she came down from the high, Jackie realized what she had let him do. What she had begged him to do. In broad daylight. In clear view of everyone in the pool area.
What the hell had she been thinking?
Thinking? That was the problem. Whenever she was around Logan, her brain took a back seat. So, while she had an amazing time with him, it wasn’t good enough. At least, it hadn’t been enough to keep them together.
Euphoria burned away to be replaced by mortification in an instant. Jackie wriggled free. Shame kept her eyes on the water as she darted past him to swim away.
He closed a gentle hand around her wrist, stopping her. “Hey.”
“I’ve got to go.”
He hauled her against him. “You don’t.”
She allowed him to hold her, but glared at him. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, Logan, but I can’t do this.”
Not again.
Logan held her stiff body against his and stared down into the face that featured in his dreams far too often for his liking. He hated that she was still so attractive to him. That he still wanted her with a burning ferocity that made no sense.
What had started out as a game, a test to see if she was still as responsive to him as he remembered, had turned into something more. Something infinitely more dangerous.
He couldn’t afford to lose himself in Jackie again. Logan knew she had the ability to make him forget about everything. What they’d shared blotted all else out until there was nothing but the two of them. At least that’s how it had been for him.
Jackie had once been the center of his world.
Never again.
That didn’t exclude some time together this week, though. It would be a means of getting closure. She’d just proved that she still responded to him as if there had been no time lost between them. Jackie had reacted so readily and come so quickly and sweetly around his fingers that it had almost pushed him over the edge with her.
And now he wanted to see if she still responded to him in other ways.
Though, considering how she ran away from him, that would be a harder sell.
Hard. Not impossible.
As he recalled, persuading her could be a lot of fun. Once he got past her barriers… His groin throbbed at the images that flashed through his mind. Then he could get her out of his system and get on with his life. He just had to convince her to let him in.
“Jackie. Think about it. What are the odds of us meeting up again? In a place like this?”
She narrowed her eyes at him in condemnation. “Next you’ll tell me it’s kismet. That the cosmos wants us to be together.”
“And if it does?”
Jackie shoved at his shoulders. “You were never a sap. Stop bullshitting me.”
There was the fire he was looking for.
He smirked. “I’ll tell you what isn’t BS.” Logan stared her straight in the eyes. “This thing between us. The chemistry is still there. Don’t say you can’t feel it because I know you can.” He tipped her chin up with his finger to look at him before settling his hands on her shoulders. “We’ve got a five-star hotel at our disposal for a week. I’m thinking we could make the most of our time here.”
“Then we simply part ways? How convenient.” She brushed his hands off her. “I’m not interested.”
Logan smirked. “Liar.”
“I’m not lying,” she snarled
.
“Prove it.” Logan leaned in close enough to smell her. “Kiss me.”
Shit.
Spending time with Logan didn’t sound bad. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted more of what she knew he could give her. But she refused to say it to his face.
And now he wanted her to kiss him to prove she wasn’t interested? There was no way she could do that without making her attraction to him incredibly obvious. As if she hadn’t already proven he had her wrapped around his little finger.
Just the thought of his fingers sent a tremor through her. After what he’d just done, it was quite apparent what he could do to her with the rest of his body. Would it be so bad to enjoy that—enjoy him—again? She was smart and mature enough now to handle him.
Wasn’t she?
There was one way to prove it to herself and him.
Jackie tunneled her hands through his hair and dragged his head down. There was a brief look of surprise on his face before their mouths met somewhere in the middle.
The sexy groan he uttered sparked heat low in her belly, as if he hadn’t just given her a toe-curling orgasm.
She might have been the one to instigate, but Logan took full control. He parted her lips expertly and tasted her with teasing strokes. Jackie clung to him, the sensation of his mouth against her bringing back a myriad of memories and evoking so many more at the same time. The tumultuous mix left her weak in the knees.
Logan flicked her bottom lip with his tongue as he drew back, keeping her pressed tightly against him. “I’m taking it that you’re not opposed to my proposition.”
Definitely not. “Not as such, but we need to lay down some rules.”
“As I recall, we never needed rules before.”
She edged back a little. “Well, I think we do now. The situation is a little different, isn’t it?”
His eyes darkened. “It is.” Logan studied her a moment, stared into her eyes. “So? What kinds of rules do you have in mind?”
Jackie pursed her lips. It wasn’t something she knew much about. What did she know about casual sex? “I guess we should start with the basics.”
Logan smiled as he crept his hands around to cup her ass. “Basics, huh?”
The feel of his big hands on her ruined the arguments she could barely formulate in the first place. What was she thinking? Basics? “Yeah,” she croaked. “Like…”
“Like…?” he urged. Logan lowered one of his hands, sweeping it over her thigh.
Jackie swatted at his hand. “Will you stop that?”
“Sorry.” Only his smile proved that he wasn’t. “Should we make the rules up as we go…?”
And let him change them as they went along? Hell no! “Why don’t we get out of the pool and go get a drink so we can hash this out?”
“Whatever you like, princess.”
“Stop calling me that.”
Chapter Four
She might have gotten out of the pool, but Jackie hadn’t taken into account the fact that she would then have to walk with him, mostly naked and without the protection of other hotel patrons. She pulled the towel tighter around her shoulders, careful to hide as much of her skin as possible.
Meanwhile, the man next to her seemed perfectly at ease sauntering alongside her in nothing but his shorts.
She wouldn’t look at him. She wouldn’t.
Despite her best intentions, Jackie couldn’t help herself. Logan certainly hadn’t gotten any less handsome. Watching the droplets of water slowly skate over his muscles was only slightly more distracting than seeing the few sparkling in his sparse chest hair. She tried tearing her eyes away, but as they turned the corner, the waning sunlight hit the water just right and Jackie couldn’t help but watch it lazily find a path down his pecs, over his rippling abs and into the waistband of his shorts.
Jackie gulped, startling herself. He must have heard it. A quick look had her breathing easy. Logan was more interested in the scenery than what she was doing.
She brushed her hair out of her face. “Okay, I’m going to get changed. I’ll meet you at the bar in ten minutes.”
He paused to look her over. “Sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
Logan’s smile was far too appealing. It was too soon. She needed to set some rules before letting him come anywhere near her bed.
“I’ll be quick.”
He smirked. “As I recall, it took you at least forty-five minutes to get ready for anything.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Like I keep saying, things have changed. Ten minutes. At the bar.”
He nodded with a small smile. “See you there.”
Jackie hurried to her room. She wasn’t about to waste any time after making a point about how much she’d changed. It was the truth, however. With fewer clothes to choose from, less time and not as many snooty opinions to worry about, getting dressed was a breeze.
Though now she had Logan’s judgment to deal with.
She dragged her tiny suitcase to the bed and quickly rooted through it, looking for anything that would be sexy but casual.
Jackie had a total of one dress that fit the bill. It was classy and revealed just enough skin to even be described as sexy, but she was saving it for at least one dinner during the week. Maybe two if she disguised it with a wrap or perhaps a jacket.
She grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. They would have to do.
After a quick shower, light makeup, putting her hair up in a ponytail and sliding into sandals, the outfit looked cute and casual. Good enough for a non-date at the hotel bar.
Only Jackie had underestimated the type of bar she was to walk into. The moment she strolled in the door she knew she’d miscalculated. The rest of the patrons looked like something out of a vacation brochure for the rich and famous. Men wore jackets for the most part. The ones who didn’t wore button-downs and pressed trousers. The women might as well have been gracing a catwalk.
And there she was in ratty old jeans and a faded T-shirt.
Why had she imagined a Totally Five Star Hotel bar filled with tiki torches and kitschy décor?
Because I don’t belong in this world anymore.
On the verge of turning on her heel and dashing back to her room to change into the dress, she heard Logan’s familiar drawl.
“Jackie. Right on time.” He smiled broadly as he sauntered over. Like her, he wore jeans and a T-shirt, but he didn’t seem to give a damn that he stood out like a handsome sore thumb.
Logan curved his arm around her waist to steer her to the drinks he had waiting at the bar. He picked them up, but before handing one over to her he asked, “Want to go outside?”
Nodding, she led the way. Anything to get away from the censure clear in the looks she was receiving from all around.
She walked straight out onto the balcony where others had had the same idea. Logan took the lead then, using his big body to plow a path through the crowd. He finally led them to the wide railing and set the drinks down on it.
The view took Jackie’s breath away. The incredible splashes of purple, red and gold fought for dominance overhead and into the horizon.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Jackie absentmindedly picked up her drink and delicately tasted it. Once the flavors came together on her tongue she smiled. “You remembered.”
Chuckling, he took a slug of his beer.
She copied him, tipping the glass back further for more. “So, why are you here? Did Charles talk you into it?”
Logan shook his head. “I’m actually here to work.”
“Yeah? What do you do now?”
“I handle the security systems here and in all the Totally Five Star Hotels.”
Jackie grinned at him. “I knew you’d make it.”
The easy smile faded from his face. “Did you?”
The air between them crackled, but it wasn’t sexual tension. The shift in mood had her rocking from foot to foot. “Why don’t we keep the past out of this? And th
e future too, for that matter.”
“Fine by me.”
The old hurt throbbed in her chest at his dismissive tone. If he could make her hurt with just a few words in one conversation, what could he do to her after a week? “You know what? This was a bad idea.” Jackie pushed the glass away. “Thanks for the drink. I’ll see you at the rehearsals.” For the dinner, the wedding, then the event itself. She would have to see him at each one. There would be no avoiding him.
She made it to the door before his hand closed around her wrist.
“Jackie.” Logan held tightly when she tried to pull her arm from his grasp. “Dance with me.”
“Have you completely lost it?” Jackie whipped her arm away from him.
Logan snared her hand and dragged her close. “Just shut up and dance.”
The way Jackie scrambled his brain pissed him off, but he couldn’t let her get away. From the instant she walked into the bar looking so cute and perfect, he knew he was in over his head. And he hadn’t been the only one to notice her. Logan fought away the very visceral need to take out every man staring at her.
On the balcony, she stared at the horizon, as if she’d never seen anything so beautiful. He probably had the same expression on his face as he stared at her.
Jackie was still the most breathtaking woman he’d ever seen. When she’d threatened to leave, he’d done the only thing that came to mind. One of the best times they’d ever had, while clothed, was when they’d danced on a beach. Well, they were at the beach now and they couldn’t get naked. Yet. But he would work on it.
The way she’d responded to him in the pool was proof that she still wanted him, and he would use that to his advantage. Not that he doubted the chemistry between them. It was potent and almost palpable. Even if they weren’t going to admit it, they were undeniably attracted to each other.
Even now, with her anger and reticence coming off her in waves, he had only to look into her eyes to see that she felt the same attraction he did.
Logan pulled her against him, and they fell into time with the soft beat of the music. His body reacted immediately at the feel of her body pressed to his, further proving his theory. He needed to work off this tension.