She placed a hand on his forearm. “I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged off her pity. “I healed, came home and moved on.” He was quiet again and she was afraid he wouldn’t finish the story but he did. “A few months ago, a man knocked on my door and thrust Isabella at me. It turns out Celeste was killed in an accident but she'd put my name on the birth certificate without her husband’s knowledge. The jerk found out Bella wasn’t his and tossed her out of his house.”
Jade sucked in a breath. “You mean that little girl lost her mother and then the only father she has known tells her he doesn’t want her?”
“That pretty well sums it up.” He shook his head in disgust. “Celeste wrote letters to her lawyer and to me to be opened if something should happen to her. She wanted me to have custody, apologized for not telling me about Bella. She even gave her the name I wanted to name a daughter if we had ever had one, after the aunt who raised me.”
“Logan.”
Jade waited until he turned to face her. This was important. “You would never know that you haven’t been there from the beginning for Isabella. She completely adores you.”
His shoulder lifted. “I’ve tried my best,” he downplayed. “I will never be able to forgive Celeste for not telling me about her.” He brushed a strand of hair off Jade’s cheek. “You know, Bella loves attention, as you have probably noticed. My biggest fear is that she will want to run away to Hollywood and become an actress like her mother.”
Disappointment pushed against Jade’s chest, threatening to cut off her oxygen. She wanted to tell him who she really was, had planned on doing so tonight. She trusted him and wanted to be open and honest, wanted his trust in return.
“Would that be such a bad thing?” Her voice was husky with emotion.
His eyes roamed over her face, a fingertip tracing a path from one freckle to the next.
“Yeah, it would.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. “Two women have left me for fame and fortune in Hollywood. I won’t lose her, too.”
Every one of Jade’s hopes for a relationship with this man were effectively shredded as thoroughly as the scraps in the garbage disposal he flicked on.
Like a puzzle clicking together, the pieces to Logan’s past fell into place. He said his aunt raised him. She bet that meant his mother left him, too…for the bright lights of the silver screen.
Oh, this was worse than she could have imagined. She could never tell him her true identity. And that meant she would have to lie, something she detested doing. They couldn't have a real relationship because she wouldn't be able to open to him completely. If you didn’t have honesty and trust, you had nothing.
“You know,” Logan said conversationally, “I’ve had your breast in my mouth and I don’t even know where you're from or what you do for a living.”
Jade turned her back to him, her jaw dropping in amazement. Who was he, the Amazing Kreskin? He definitely read her mind this time. And darn him for it…he didn’t give her enough time to come up with a believable fib.
“Uh, I’m from St. Louis.” Not a lie. She was born in St. Louis and lived there for the first years of her life.
“Oh yeah? Do you still have family there?”
She shook her head. “My parents moved to Florida a few years ago.”
“No brothers or sisters?”
“I was an only child, a surprise. My parents didn’t think they could have children. They were well into their forties when I came along. Their miracle baby, they called me.”
“So what do you do in St. Louis?”
Drats. Think, Jade, think. “I’m a…teacher.” She'd played one in Siege at Seattle High, so it wasn’t a complete lie.
Okay, it was.
“What do you teach?”
What was this, twenty questions? She needed to get him off the career track. What’s the quickest way to sidetrack a man? She smiled.
Sex, of course.
She whirled around, tossed her hair, batted her lashes and pinned him with her sauciest smile. Bingo. His eyes darkened, fastened on her mouth. The muscles in his throat worked as he swallowed. The towel in his grip flew through the air and landed on the counter. He took a predatory step forward, another, and another. Her breath caught in anticipation. She reached for him just as he…walked past her? Her head swiveled, following his movement out of the room.
“I’d better check on Bella.”
With that, he disappeared. Her shoulders sagged with disbelief. He could not be so dense to miss the signs she threw out there. “Take me, big boy,” they proclaimed. So much for her alluring sex appeal.
She inhaled sharply as two strong arms wrapped around her from behind. A sexy voice tickled her ear. “Bella’s asleep. Now I can take you up on your earlier offer.” His lips trailed a path down her neck as one strong hand cupped her breast.
Jade clutched the arm around her waist and melted into his hard body, her head tilting to give him better access to the sensitive column of her neck.
This man was no dummy. He'd caught her blatant invitation.
Skin. She needed to feel the hard, muscled planes of his hard, muscled body. She twisted around in his arms. He didn’t miss a beat. His mouth found hers for a hot, wet kiss. Bending his knees, his calloused fingertips caressed her thighs before climbing higher, taking the skirt of her dress with them. His palms cupped her behind. Her bare behind.
He groaned against her lips. “A thong.” He lifted her off her feet, his hands squeezing and kneading her flesh, driving her wild.
He dropped his head to her shoulder, panting. “I don’t know what you do to me, but I can’t get enough of you.”
“I feel the same way.”
He groaned and carried her to the counter. As soon as he deposited her on the cold marble, her hands made quick work of his polo shirt. She stared in awe. She'd forgotten just how incredible his chest was. His body looked as if it had been chiseled in stone, his massive biceps bulging, his stomach rock-solid. Michelangelo’s David had nothing on this man.
“I love your body.” Her fingertip traced the individual ridges of his incredible eight-pack abs. His belly twitched inwards as her fingers worked their way down. Something else a little lower twitched too. Jade lifted her gaze to his and almost gasped at the burning intensity in his eyes. Without looking away, her hand slid lower.
Logan’s head fell back, his eyes closed as his hips jerked forward seeking her touch. Her shaking fingers tugged open the button on his jeans but he grabbed her wrist before she could slide her hand inside his briefs. "You do that and this will be over before it begins."
Somehow he managed to pull her thong down her legs and toss them over his shoulder while she shoved his jeans down his legs. He jerked her forward, skin to burning skin. They both let out shuddering groans.
"I need you now,” she whispered, aligning their bodies.
“Wait.”
“I can’t,” Jade moaned.
Logan’s palms hit the counter on either side of her hips and his head slumped forward. “I don’t have any protection.”
That’s what stopped him? Her inner muscles clenched reaching for the huge bounty just within reach. Yes, it was stupid and yes, she knew nothing about this man, but she trusted him. With her life. “It’s okay,” she soothed. “I’m on the pill.” She grasped his hips and tried to coax him forward. He pulled back, reached down and tugged his jeans back up his long, muscular legs, carefully easing the zipper closed.
“I’m sorry.” He stroked the back of his hands down her cheek. “After Bella, I won’t without a condom and I didn’t bring any with me. I didn’t expect this,” he said with a shy smile.
“I’m sorry, too.” Jade’s hands smoothed his chest, settling over his massive biceps. “And thank you…for not…” She understood his reluctance, admired it, even if it did leave her frustrated and unfulfilled. He'd gotten a woman pregnant once and she betrayed him.
Darn it, in a way, she was betraying him, too.
&nb
sp; His hands slid around to her behind and he hauled her to the edge of the counter, flush against his body. “There are other ways of making love,” he murmured. His sinful lips touched hers and just like that, the fire ignited in her belly again. Too soon, his mouth left hers to trail a path down her body, stopping to linger at her breasts and then her belly button. Before she realized his intent, he dropped to his knees.
Jade clamped her eyes shut as she climbed higher and higher. She'd never allowed any man to do this to her. She knew no one would believe that Kyle Ashton never had but she'd told him she was uncomfortable with it and being the hedonist that he is, he cared more for his pleasure anyway. He never put up an argument. He did when she refused to do the same to him. She just couldn’t put her mouth where so many other women had been. At least when they had sex, she had the protection of a condom.
Her muscles tightened, the pressure built to monumental proportions and she exploded. She barely even heard her own scream over the blood roaring through her ears like a freight train.
Logan’s smiling mouth covered hers, absorbing the sound. “Shh,” he admonished with a laugh. “We don’t want to forget Bella’s asleep in the—”
“Ruff, ruff, ruff!”
Fiji bounded into the kitchen, his paws sliding on the tile floor as he fought for purchase.
“Daadddy?”
“Oh, God,” Jade wailed. She was stark naked.
Logan swiped his shirt off the floor and shoved his arms through the sleeves. He twisted it into place and hurried into the living room.
Jade scrambled off the counter and spun in a frantic circle trying to locate her panties. They were nowhere to be found. Logan was speaking to Bella in a low voice. She tossed the sundress above her head and wiggled it over her shoulders. Bending her arms like a pretzel, she tugged and jerked and managed to get the zipper up just as Logan strode into the room, Bella in his arms. Jade managed a casual pose. Thankfully, Logan tucked Bella’s head against his chest, probably fearing she was still naked.
“Bella wants to say something to you,” Logan said, letting go of her head. The girl faced her with big drowsy eyes.
“Ruff, ruff.”
Fiji trotted over and plopped at their feet.
Bella spotted her puppy and her nose wrinkled. “What’s that?”
Jade smiled at her sleepy voice and followed the direction of her chubby finger.
And gasped.
Logan choked.
“Uh, oh, it’s just a…a dishtowel.”
Jade bent down, swiped her thong from the dog’s mouth, and whipped it behind her back. Fiji, thinking she was playing, leaped up and tugged it out of her grip. Jade gave Bella a tight smile and tried to liberate her panties from the puppy’s surprisingly strong jaws. Fiji was too smart. He took off running, his nails clicking against the tile. Jade groaned. Her twenty dollar, Odille Oasis Victoria’s Secret panties were now a chew toy.
“Fiji, stop,” Logan ordered sternly.
The dog instantly obeyed and dropped to his fuzzy little behind. Jade made a swipe at her undergarment and a tug-of-war ensued. Fiji growled playfully, scooting his body backwards.
“Let go,” Jade whispered urgently.
Fiji ignored her and tugged harder.
“Fiji.”
The poodle obeyed Logan. He opened his mouth, released his lacy toy and Jade went flying. She landed on her back, her legs splayed in the air, showcasing her un-thonged region.
Logan’s eyes widened, he let out a strangled gurgle and swung Bella around before the little girl could witness her humiliation.
Well, no way of saving her dignity now. She scrambled to her feet, her face on level three-alarm.
When Logan turned around again, he couldn’t contain the humor. Jade glared at him.
“Can I see it?”
Having forgotten all about the thong, Jade looked at her hand in horror and stuffed it into the nearest drawer. “It’s just a ratty old rag.”
It was now, covered in dog slobber.
“But it’s sparkwy. Daddy, we don’t have sparkwy towels. Can I have it?”
“No,” she and Logan shouted at the same time.
#
The man paced back and forth, his anger at Juliet festering. The television squawked in the background but he heard nothing except the thunder of his blood pounding in his ears.
He kicked the stack of papers and magazines that littered the floor and they went sailing through the air.
Nothing. Not in any one of them. Not a single word or message from his beloved Juliet. He poured through every book, scanned dozens of newspapers. Not even a mention.
How could she just disappear and not tell him where she was going?
He eyed the wedding dress hanging on a hook by the door, just waiting to be worn by his bride. He knew as soon as he'd spotted the lacy white gown that it'd be perfect for his lovely Juliet. He'd even sent her a picture but still, no response from her telling him how thoughtful he was and how much she loved the shimmering dress.
Why was she making him wait?
Oh, he knew she appreciated it when he killed that monster Frank Talcott for her because she did the one thing that would make him deliriously happy…she divorced Kyle Ashton so they could finally be together.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He hated Kyle Ashton with every fiber of his being. His hands curled into fists. The man wasn’t good enough to walk on the same ground, share the same air as his beloved Juliet.
Inhaling to calm his temper, he pictured Juliet’s beautiful smile. She always managed to ease his burning rage. When he thought of her, his heart sang.
But she disappeared and now he'd no idea where to find her.
“No, Mother, she did not forget about me,” he snapped. “And no, she did not go running back to Kyle Ashton. She loves me. She's just busy planning the wedding.”
His mother made him so mad sometimes, always putting him down, telling him he wasn’t good enough or strong enough or smart enough. At times, he hated her as much as he loved her.
Sometimes he hated her more.
He wanted to climb to the roof and yell at the top of his lungs. All the women in his life were driving him crazy. Mother and her incessant put-downs, Juliet and her disappearing act. He was a good person and he loved both women with all his heart. Why were they treating him this way?
Ignoring his mother’s disapproving glower, he dropped to the couch and pondered the situation. Juliet would never turn her back on him. She was getting creative, testing him. There was a way to locate her and he smiled.
He knew just how to find her.
Chapter Seventeen
Logan stripped off his T-shirt and tossed it into the hamper. Isabella finally fell asleep, but it took four different books to put her there. He'd almost fallen asleep himself on the third one.
He shouldn’t have let her nap at Jade’s house, but he thought he could get her home and in bed and she would be out all night. He might have succeeded if not for Fiji’s animated yaps waking her up.
And then all she could talk about had been Jade’s sparkly towel.
The only way he could get her to quit babbling was to promise to shop for some for their house. He hoped she forgot about it in a couple of days. Otherwise, he’d be buying some white rags and a bag of sequins and learning how to sew.
He chuckled to himself, but quickly sobered. What had he been thinking almost making love to Jade with Bella asleep in the other room?
The truth was, he hadn’t been thinking. He'd only been feeling and the ones Jade stirred in him frightened him. She made him needy, borderline obsessive. One look at her in the revealing sundress and all he could think of was getting her out of it as quickly as possible.
She managed to make him forget all his self-imposed rules about the opposite sex. To make matters worse, he just attacked her there in her kitchen, on a counter no less. Real classy. She deserved much better and that’s why he had to avoid her at all costs from now on. He wa
sn’t a wine ‘em and dine ‘em kind of guy. He didn’t do romantic. He was a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am, love ‘em and leave ‘em type.
He took a quick shower—cold—and dried off. After scrubbing the towel through his short hair, he slung it around his neck and padded naked to the dresser. He slid open a drawer for a pair of boxers to sleep in, something he started doing when Bella arrived. That was a lesson he learned the hard way when she crawled into bed with him one night soon after she arrived.
He glanced out his window as he lifted one foot to slide the shorts on and froze, the boxers tumbling from his grip.
A dark shape stole through the shadows behind Jade’s house. The figure looked around and Logan plastered himself against the wall, out of sight.
Blindly reaching out, he grabbed a pair of jeans while he kept his gaze trained on the intruder. He slid into the pants and carefully inched open the top drawer to unlock the box holding his SIG Sauer. He removed the weapon and stuck it in the back waistband.
The trees beside Jade’s house blocked his view and he couldn’t detect the lurking figure anymore. He quickly checked on Bella, breathing a sigh of relief that she was sound asleep, Cinnamon tucked under her arm and Fiji curled around her feet. He quietly closed the door and hustled downstairs. He disarmed the security system, inched through the sliding glass door and reset the alarm.
His eyes adjusted quickly to the moonless night and he glided silently across the yard. A muffled scream made him pick up his pace.
Jade’s back door was closed but unlocked so he eased it open and peered into the darkened interior. Seeing nothing, he slipped inside and moved stealthily through the house. He crept up the steps and followed the muffled sounds coming from one of the rooms. He inched against the wall until he reached the door and then exploded inside. He flipped on the light, leveled his gun and growled, “Make one move and I’ll blow your head off.”
Jade gasped.
“Who is this, Jules?” The man was lying in bed next to Jade.
Logan spoke before she could answer. “I’m the one with the gun, buddy. Why don’t you tell me who the hell you are?”
The Fan Page 10