by Emma Harley
She grabbed the towel and strode into the bathroom, hearing him yelling a string of curses as she locked the door.
After a quick scrub with the tiny little bottles of hotel soap, she covered herself tightly with the towel and spread her sodden clothes over the radiator. Two bathrobes and a spare towel were folded neatly on the table with a menu as requested, and Logan was still sitting on the edge of the bed, sulking. Raina smirked and swiped the menu, stomach growling. He grabbed the towel before muttering “I’ll be quick.”
Unable to help herself, she called back, “Will be even quicker if I help you.” She turned in time to see him push up against her, his hand bracing the table with the other on her waist. Her stomach fluttered, she knew she had taken the teasing too far, especially since she found herself imagining scenarios where she was in the shower with him.
She was abruptly very aware that her underwear was currently in another room and her towel was one move away from coming loose. His breathing had become heavier, and she could feel that the effects of her earlier teasing hadn’t worn off. He leaned down close enough that their lips were almost touching, his hand gripping her waist. “Keep teasing,” he muttered, his thumb stroking the edge of her towel, “let’s see where it gets you.”
It took all of her willpower not to drop her towel and take him up on his offer.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she whispered in a sultry voice, drawing a moan from him. Logan’s hand fisted around her towel and his knuckles grazed dangerously high on her thighs. He pushed away quickly as though burned, and strode into the bathroom without looking back. Raina suppressed a laugh as she heard the shower turn on, knowing it was probably a cold one. She dug out a hair dryer from a set of vintage drawers and wrapped herself in a bathrobe.
Lounging across the luxuriously soft bed with her hair hanging loosely, she pored over the menu. It was a little too fancy for her taste, but she wouldn’t say no to anything right now. The bathroom lock clicked and Logan strode out, towel wrapped around his waist. Raina tossed the menu at him without a glance in his direction.
“Pick something quick, I’m starving.”
She scrolled through the barrage of messages on her phone as Logan plopped himself on the bed behind her, muttering indecisively about the food. Raina smirked at her phone and rolled her eyes knowing she had made a mistake by telling the girls that she was going to some romantic country house with her new boss. The second mistake was sending them a picture of him to gush over. The messages ranged from guessing his kinks in the bedroom to wondering if he would do it in a club bathroom.
Halfway through a scolding to her group chat, she slapped the phone down onto the pillow with a growl.
“Will you please just pick something to eat or I’m ordering without you,” she snapped, storming over to grab the service phone. She turned to find him looking at her phone, clearly reading the messages she had just got. Raina almost flew across the room to grab the phone off him but he dived away, towel almost slipping off him.
“Give me my phone,” she growled, clambering over the bed to try and reach him. He lifted it high above his head with a cackle. She had sent a few questionable messages herself, both describing him as an asshole but also suggesting that she would be willing to do a number of things to him and simply never talk to him again. She stood on the bed to grab the phone, Logan wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her back while he read the messages. She was too short to reach it anyway, but he liked seeing her try. Her bathrobe had slipped open slightly at her chest, and he was very clearly enjoying the view. He lifted her into his arms and gave her a teasing grin.
“So you were telling your friends about how delicious I was.” Raina scowled, reaching behind her for the phone.
“You had no right to read my messages Logan.” He gave her a feral grin before leaning his face closer to hers.
“You had no right to send pictures of me to your friends but here we are.” Her pulse quickened, and he tapped her phone against her chin. She snatched it off him and tossed it onto the bed carefully. “Put me down before you drop me idiot,” she mumbled.
He arched an eyebrow and lowered her down, deliberately sliding her against him and grazing her buttocks as he set her on the ground. In a split second, she twisted his arm behind his back and slammed his face into the bed. He hissed at the pain and she snarled at him.
“Don’t go through my phone again.” She shoved off him, adjusting her bathrobe. He pushed up with a growl and swiped his legs in a swift spin, knocking Raina to the ground in shock. He pinned her arms to the floor and blocked her knee from connecting with his groin.
“Don’t even think about it princess,” he growled, his eyes shining like deep honey gold as they bore into her, “you’re just embarrassed because I know exactly what you think about me now.”
Raina gritted her teeth as her heart threatening to hammer through her chest. Damn this fucking man. He was arrogant, he was rude, and he was exactly the kind of person she hated. But something in her goddamn mind wanted him.
“Get off me.”
He paused for a moment before getting up and extending a hand to help her up. Ignoring it, she stormed into the bathroom and began putting her warm, damp clothes back on. She yanked on her boots and swiped her jacket off the floor.
“Keys,” she demanded. Logan ignored her as he pulled on his jeans, so she growled louder. “Logan give me the damn car keys.” He laughed coldly.
“You think I’m going to let you leave me stranded while you learn to drive a car? Not a chance.” She dived for his jacket and rummaged through the pockets, before he pulled them from his jeans and jingled them.
“I’ll drive you back,” he said, shrugging on his shirt. She shook her head.
“I lied when I said I couldn’t drive. I learned in the army. I just didn’t want to be distracted in a car with a potential psychopath.” He just stared at her vacantly before rolling his eyes. She extended a hand for the keys again but he ignored her.
“I’m going back to pack my stuff, I’m sure you’ll find a new tutor in no time.” She grabbed her phone from the bed and thrust it into her pocket as Logan stepped up to her.
“Seriously, you’re quitting before you even start?” She nodded. “I’m not working for you. I can’t have a boss who tries to screw me in my first week.” Logan scoffed and snatched his jacket off her.
“Let’s get one thing clear princess, maybe I’ve been flirting with you, but you’re doing it back. Kissing my neck on the bed and offering to shower with me is going to do some things to a man, but I haven’t pushed you to do anything,” his voice was laced with venom as he snapped at her, but he stood back to breathe deeply. “If you want to quit that’s fine, I’ll tell Kal you just didn’t want to live so far away from your family.” Raina cocked her head and folded her arms.
“Or you could just tell him the truth?”
“Yeah I’ll tell him I was in a hotel room half naked with you and tried to screw you, I’m sure that conversation will go brilliantly,” he snorted sarcastically, “Should I mention that you pulled a gun on me and mounted me on the bed or would you prefer we leave that part out?”
She huffed a laugh and put her jacket on.
“I’ll tell him my damn self, now give me the keys.” He slid them back into his pocket with a shake of the head.
“I’ll take you back, honestly if he’s going to lose his shit I’d rather just get it over and done with,” he sighed. At that moment, Raina’s stomach audibly growled, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Logan.
“I’ll make you a deal. Sit and have dinner with me before we have to endure 4 hours driving and yelling at each other, and when we’re done, if you still want to quit, I’ll pay for your flights home myself,” he offered. She just stared blankly at him as her stomach rumbled again.
“You’ll be able to think of insults more clearly if you’re well fed.” Raina paused for a moment, thinking it over. She just wanted to get home and pa
ck her stuff, to get away from him before this turned into a messier situation. Despite herself, she nodded.
“I don’t want to eat here though. I’m pretty sure your girlfriend at the desk will put glass in my food. Find somewhere with pub grub,” she insisted. He gave her a wide grin.
“I know the perfect place princess.”
∞∞∞
Logan didn’t say a word to her as they walked back to the car, despite the desperate begging of the receptionist to call her sometime. I never get to see you anymore she had whined, drawing an eye roll from Raina. He didn’t offer for her to drive this time, probably afraid she would find somewhere remote and dump his body, but he did make some small talk as they drove into the city. He pulled up outside The Brantley and got out, waiting patiently for Raina. She joined him and walked in through the battered grey doors.
It looked cosy, yet still too fancy to be considered a pub. She didn’t say a word as he led her to a booth and slid in opposite her. The music was quiet for a bar, yet loud enough to scramble the conversations at the tables. A broad shouldered waiter brought menus to their table and asked for their drink orders. Logan ordered a soda, while Raina requested a cocktail menu, much to his enjoyment.
“Cocktails?” he chuckled in a condescending tone.
“If you weren’t so afraid of damaging your masculinity, you would learn that cocktails are deliciously fruity and they’re wonderful,” she explained, browsing the menu. He puffed his chest indignantly. “I’m perfectly content with my masculinity princess, I just pegged you for a pint of beer kind of girl.” She lowered her menu to scrutinize him.
“Beer is okay, I’ll drink it if it’s on offer but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it. Let me guess, you sip whiskey because you think it makes you look sophisticated, but you actually hate the taste of it?” He gaped at her for a split second before a bright grin crept across his face. “You’re not as dumb as you look Raina. But I don’t particularly mind the taste.”
Before she could bite back, the waiter returned with a cocktail menu and they ordered their food. The next half hour was spent discussing food preferences, interrupted only by the waiters bringing a bright green cocktail for Raina. Logan moved on to discuss action movies, and if Raina had watched them and thought they were too far-fetched from her own experiences. She had almost choked on her drink laughing at his expression when she told him she had yet to find a decent action movie. Their starters arrived, and neither bothered to savour the food, inhaling their plates in record time. Raina tossed him a napkin, noting the sauce on his face with a chuckle.
As their plates arrived and they tucked in, Logan paused to gaze at her.
“Why did you join the army?” he asked innocently, sipping his drink. She thought for a moment.
“Due to some bad decisions and falling in with the wrong crowd, I lost out on a scholarship to university. My mom tried her best, but I knew she couldn’t put me through university, and when my friend Luke said he was signing up, I did too. I was fit and healthy, and my mom had trained me for as long as I can remember.” He looked confused.
“Trained you for what?”
She stilled before adding, “I think something bad happened with my biological father, she always acted like we needed to be prepared in case someone came for us. She had me at boxing classes, karate, even sent me to these back alley scrap classes with some guy who said it was called self-defence, but it seemed to lean more towards attacking and almost killing someone.” He nodded along, deeply immersed in what she was saying.
“Is that why you never tried to find him?” he pressed, resuming eating as she set down her fork. She shrugged.
“I’ve never had any interest in meeting him, and I doubt he has any interest in meeting me. My mom wouldn’t talk about him, she only said he left when she was pregnant or when I was born or something. I never asked much more, I don’t even know his name to start looking.” She sipped at her cocktail as the waiter arrived to clear their plates and leave a dessert menu. Logan spun the ice in his glass and continued his questions.
“Did you know much about your mom before you were born? Might give you clues there,” he suggested, but Raina just shook her head.
“Actually no, she never talked to me about it. I don’t know anything about her life really. My earliest memory was waking up in bed. I’d been playing in an old tree house and fell out, I never regained my memories from before that. She had a job at the corner shop just down the street from our house, but that’s all I really know.” Logan rubbed his stubbled chin thoughtfully.
“What about your aunt? Wouldn’t she know about your mom? And she’d probably know something about your dad too,” he offered. Raina paused her glass in mid-air and narrowed her eyes at him.
“I literally couldn’t care less about my father, I don’t want to know about him. Why the sudden interest in my mother’s life?” she demanded. He stammered but was interrupted by the waiter.
“Would you like to order dessert?” he said jovially. Raina flipped a sweet smile onto her face and put on a cheery tone.
“Hot chocolate fudge cake please, and another Lucky Clover,” she said with a wink. Logan ordered a cheesecake, relieved at the interruption. Once the waiter was out of earshot, he apologised. “I’m sorry for prying, honestly I was just curious. If it was me I’d want to know about her, that’s all,” he mused, taking Raina’s hand in his. She merely nodded, and excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Swinging open one of the stalls, she pulled out her phone and sent a text to her aunt.
Hey Thea, would you by any chance have any of my mom’s stuff from when she was younger?
Barely a minute later, the screen flashed with a response.
What kind of stuff do you mean honey?
Raina thought for a second, Things like old photographs, maybe a school yearbook, anything she would have kept safe like favourite jewellery or ornaments.
The next response took longer, but she finally replied. I have some old photographs and jewellery of hers, I can send it to you. Is everything okay?
I’ll send you the address when I get home. Everything’s fine, I just started missing her.
She slid the phone into her pocket and re-joined Logan, who was now tucking into his cheesecake. The decadent chocolate fudge cake was devoured in minutes, following a series of mm’s and aw’s, much to Logan’s eternal enjoyment.
Suddenly, he swung himself over to sit beside her on the bench with a muttering of swear words she couldn’t quite make out.
“If they say anything tell them we’re leaving,” he sighed in her ear. Raina looked around bewildered, earning herself a flick on the cheek. Before she could start he put a finger on her lips.
“You might think I’m the most unbearable asshole you’ve ever met, but my friends just walked in and I can assure you, they are worse. Don’t look around, just finish your drink and we’ll go.”
She just nodded, still confused, and sank her drink in one. He just looked at her gobsmacked.
“Damn.”
Gripping her hand he went up to the bar to pay, trying to avoid the group of men that had arrived. All hopes of that dissipated as a rough hand clasped his shoulder.
“Long time no see buddy,” boomed a gruff voice. Logan spun to greet the men who had now clustered behind him with a cacophony of loud greetings. Raina slinked back a bit and pretended to be busy on her phone while Logan’s drove smothered him with invites to various clubs and parties.
“Sorry lads, I’ve got a new employee and Kal has me loaded with work to do, I’ll have to catch up with you some other time,” was the resounding reply from Logan. A skinny man in a baggy t-shirt noticed Raina, despite Logan’s efforts to keep her tucked in behind him. He glanced at the grip on her hand and gave him a toothy grin.
“This must be your new employee,” he said cheerily, giving her an awkward wave. A swift warning squeeze from Logan was ignored and she stepped around him with a soft smile.
; “Yes, I’m Raina, nice to meet you,” she shook the awkward man’s hand and nodded to the others. Logan discreetly nipped her arm before introducing the men.
“Raina, meet Mick, Brian, Jax and Wellan, some friends of mine.” She glanced at her watch and looked up at Logan.
“Sorry to cut this short but I’m already running late, I’m going to head on if you’re staying here,” she said breathlessly.
Logan was enough to deal with, she didn’t want to sit around his obnoxious friends as well. And she had no hesitation leaving him behind with them. She waved goodbye to the group and turned back to see Logan cornered in by them.
He shot her a look of desperation and she grinned broadly, jingling his car keys in the air. He hadn’t noticed her slip them out of his pocket while his friends were guffawing like idiots around him. It was getting late, between the long drive, the hotel and stopping for dinner, she hadn’t noticed it was getting dark and the streetlights were beginning to glow. She slid into the passenger seat and waited. There was no way in hell he’d linger if he knew she was about to drive away in his car.
Sure enough, the front doors burst open and Logan came flying out, frantically looking around. He paused as he seen Raina sitting waiting with a smirk, and jumped into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind him.
“Was it really necessary to steal my keys?” he snapped as she dropped them into his outstretched hand.
“I knew you would leave quicker, you said you didn’t want to talk to them anyway.” A few silent seconds passed, before Logan started the car and pulled away.