The Fan

by Velvet Vaughn

  Jade stomped after him. “I don’t think you mean that.”

  “Probably not,” he agreed easily. He placed the walkie-talkie in a holder and adjusted the volume. The sweet hum of a sleeping child mingled with the night sounds of chirping crickets and the deep bellows of an occasional tree frog. He kicked off his shoes and stripped off his socks. He untied the string of his cut-off sweats and stuck his thumbs in the waistband.

  “W-what are you doing?”

  “I’m going for a swim.” He inched the shorts lower and Jade’s eyes widened. She couldn’t look away. Light from the moon outlined his magnificent body. She remembered the feel of that incredible body in her hands, the strength and heat of him. He cleared his throat. “Just a warning…I’m not wearing a suit.”

  Jade sucked in a startled breath and spun around. If she looked at him naked, she would attack him again, plain and simple. She didn’t turn back until she heard a gentle splash in the water. She watched his dark shadow move beneath the water for what seemed like forever. When he finally surfaced, he stroked smoothly, effortlessly through the midnight blue depths.

  After several laps, he swam over to the side of the pool. “Is there a reason you are still standing here, ruining what is usually the most peaceful part of my day?”

  “You have all the charm of a pit bull,” she snapped. “I don’t know why I bother.” She spun around and stomped away.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Logan flicked water out of his eyes and watched as Jade marched away in anger. She really had the nicest ass. Small, heart-shaped, tone. And he knew how perfectly those smooth globes filled his hands.

  Maybe he was being unfairly mean to her, but she stirred up way too many uncomfortable feelings in him. She was beautiful, classy, generous and his daughter adored her. But that hadn’t stopped her from disappointing Isabella.

  He knew he was being unreasonable thinking she would stop to consider the feelings of a small girl she'd known only a few weeks when her ex-husband had been tragically killed. But damn it, it was his daughter so that made it a felony in his book.

  He had to tread carefully around Ms. Jade LaRossa. He'd fallen into the woman trap once before and he didn’t plan on repeating the process. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well, you know.

  Isabella’s light snore pulsed through the open microphone in her room. He smiled and pushed away from the side of the pool to resume his workout. He stroked through the water, trying to erase the woman next door from his mind but she kept charging right back in. It bothered him how relieved he felt when she explained that the man who had been touching her so intimately was actually her ex-husband. It had taken every bit of his self control to walk out of the room that night. He wanted to pick up the little prick by the scruff of his neck, toss him out into the street, and then cover Jade’s lush body with his larger, harder one.

  And frankly, he was a little disappointed in Jade. The man was a pretty-boy: fake teeth, highlighted hair, spray-on tan. Hell, he probably even wore make-up.

  He felt slightly guilty that the guy actually died.

  Splash.

  Logan sensed rather than heard the sound as it rippled beneath the surface. His night vision was excellent but the moon had disappeared behind a cloud, leaving it virtually impossible to see through the depths of the water. He surfaced and saw Jade stroking in his direction. She looked angry, determined…and so damn sexy he almost forgot to tread water.

  He slowly retreated until his back hit the side of the pool. She kept up her furious advance until she was nose to nose. She wore a lacy white bra that was practically transparent.

  Have mercy.

  “For your information, I had to stay longer than expected in California because on the day of my ex-husband’s burial, my…two of my closest associates were also killed in a car accident.”

  Wow, that was a tough break.

  The brave mask she tried to wear started to crumble. Her bottom lip trembled and she blinked rapidly to stall the onslaught of tears.

  Ah, no, please don’t let her cry. One thing he could not handle was a woman in tears.

  “Jeez, honey, I’m sorry. That’s a lot to deal with,” he said softly.

  She nodded, her brows scrunched. “I-I thought I could cope with it…”

  Suddenly her face crumpled and a sad, tortured sob escaped. She covered her face with her hands. Damn. He reached for her instinctively, pulling her close.

  “It’s okay. Let it out.”

  He held her with one arm around her waist and the other anchoring her head against his shoulder. He stroked her hair and murmured softly to her. She cried on and on, the gut-wrenching sobs making his heart ache for her. He held her and let her lean on him in her grief, rocking her softly, soothingly in the warm water. They stayed that way for a long, long time. The sobs began to taper off and he angled his head to look at her. She'd cried herself to sleep.

  He maneuvered them to the shallow end and swept her in his arms, glad for her unconscious state so she wouldn’t notice what her luscious curves barely constrained in a lacy bra and wispy panties pressed against his very naked body had done to him.

  He debated on where to leave her. The pool house sported a large, comfortable bed but he couldn’t stay with her and she might wake up in the middle of the night disoriented and afraid. He couldn’t put her next to him in his king-size bed. Although the thought of holding her all night and being there if she woke up and needed comfort was mighty tempting, Bella had nightmares sometimes and crawled in next to him. He would not expose his daughter to a woman in his bed who wasn’t his lawfully wedded wife.

  He decided to take her to her house. It would require some crafty maneuvering that would be hard to do without waking her—and in the nude.

  He lifted them both out of the water and waited a minute while they dripped dry. The slight breeze did nothing to cool his heated flesh. He tipped her higher in his arms so he could hold her with one arm and stepped into his shorts. He crouched down and pulled them up his legs.

  He glanced at her face. Still asleep.

  He slid into his sneakers and bent to grab the baby monitor. He considered gathering her clothes, but he didn’t want to risk waking her. She needed sleep.

  Toting her across the lawn, he pushed through the gate and cringed at the rusty squeak, making a mental note to oil it tomorrow. He approached her back door. Unlocked. Tugging the slider open, he angled her inside and closed it carefully with his foot. Silently he padded across the white-tiled kitchen and up the back staircase to the top floor. The chill of the air conditioning made goose bumps pop out along his arms.

  A light shone from the bedroom she'd claimed as her own. He tugged down the covers and placed her on the sheets. Her hair had dried from being held out of the water but her bra and panties were still soaking wet. Should he take them off? He couldn’t let her lay there in damp clothes and risk her catching a cold. He pulled open a dresser drawer and found a red silk nightgown with spaghetti straps. He reached down, unhooked the bra and tugged the panties down her legs and then gently slid the gown over her head and settled it into place without looking.

  Okay, a small peek. He was a guy, he couldn’t help it.

  He tugged the sheet to cover her, bent down to kiss her forehead and run the back of his fingers down her flawless skin. She stirred slightly, a smile curving her lips as she sought out his touch and rubbed her cheek against his fingers.

  Regretfully, he removed his hand and stepped back, gathering her damp undergarments from the floor. Reversing out of the room, he flipped off the light and carried her bra and panties to the bathroom. He draped both items over the shower curtain rod to dry, descended the stairs and locked the door on his way out.

  #

  Did Juliet get his gift yet?

  He hoped so. Even though he hadn’t heard from her, he knew it was exactly what she would want.

  She'd looked so lovely at the funeral. With the large turnout, he feared she wouldn�
�t get the chance to talk to him with all the people surrounding her, but she did. She always made sure to let him know that she was thinking about him.

  Juliet picked a newspaper this time to communicate. He would have preferred the television so that he could look at her exquisite face, but she used the TV last time. His Juliet liked to mix things up, keep him on his toes. He didn’t have to search too hard for her message—she put it on the front page of the LA Times.

  He'd been very upset when the picture adjoining the article was of that smarmy bastard Kyle Ashton. But Kyle was dead, nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes. He couldn’t upset Juliet any longer.

  “See, Mother?” He held up the newspaper. “I told you she didn’t forget about me. She loves me.”

  His mother just scowled.

  He shrugged a shoulder, too happy to let his mother’s disapproval bother him.

  He prepared another package to send his darling Juliet, this one just as magnificent and special as the last one. He carefully tied the red bow and placed the box inside a larger one.

  And this time, he would deliver it in person.

  “Pack your things, Mother. We're going on a road trip.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Jade woke with a congested head and swollen eyes. She'd slept like a rock, not waking up once during the night—a first since the deaths of Kyle, Sid and Nora.

  Last night’s events came rushing back at her…trying to apologize to Logan and ending up arguing. Jumping in the pool to give him a piece of her mind and ending up bawling her eyes out. How embarrassing.

  She hadn’t been able to cry since Kyle’s accident. Oh, she was an actress, so she eked out a couple of tears at the service, but they weren’t the cathartic, soul-deep tears that meant she'd acknowledged the death and was learning to come to terms with the loss. But seeing the one man she knew for such a short time but still felt like her anchor in an unstable world look at her with sympathy, all the grief she'd bottled up bubbled over and exploded in a sobbing rush. She didn’t know how she knew Logan would hold her, comfort her, she just did.

  And he did.

  Beneath all the tough guy bravado beat a heart of a genuine hero. Glimpses of that kinder man escaped periodically, especially around Bella, but there would be no denying it now. When Jade had needed him most, he'd come through.

  She knew it couldn’t have been easy for him. He was mad, no, irate with her. He burst into her bedroom, intent on saving her from an unknown assailant and instead found her in bed with another man proclaiming to be her husband. Then she disappeared for three weeks, missing his daughter’s play without giving an explanation.

  Although she had legitimate reasons for everything, he still had a right to be angry. Instead he comforted her and held her and made her feel safe.

  Men like Logan Bradley didn't come along often. Every instinct she had screamed for her to grab him, hold tight and never let go. But how could she do that when she was keeping a secret from him? She needed to find a way to tell him, one that wouldn’t drive him away. She wanted him in her life—he was her white knight.

  Before she came clean about her career, she had something extremely important to do…apologize to Isabella for missing her play.

  The numbers on the clock read nine. Logan would be at work and Bella at day care. She would have to wait a few hours before she could explain to Bella about her absence and hope the little girl would forgive her.

  #

  Jade waited until Logan’s SUV pulled into the garage before she approached his house. She couldn’t tell if Bella was in the backseat because of the tinted windows.

  Dressed in a royal blue sleeveless shirt and flowered skirt, Jade rang the doorbell, a bouquet of wildflowers from the garden behind her back. It took a few minutes before the door swung wide. Logan looked startled to see her and he shoved open the screen door. He looked gorgeous in a white oxford shirt, a red patterned tie loosened around his neck and black dress pants.

  “I’m sorry, I know you just got home from work,” she said.

  “Come in,” he invited, pushing the screen door wide. He stepped back to allow her to enter and the woodsy scent of his aftershave assailed her senses. Her knees weakened and she had to force her feet to move away from him. She was here to see Bella, not attack Bella’s gorgeous dad. But she did have to thank him.

  She spun to face him, and caught him ogling her behind. A shiver of awareness hummed through her body and slammed into her gut when his eyes met hers. Heat and desire burned hot and heavy. She wanted him like she'd never wanted anyone or anything before.

  Bella. She was here for Bella. “I didn’t want to wait any longer to apologize to Isabella.”

  “She isn't here. I had a late meeting. My brother and my business partner took her to dinner.”

  It took a minute for his words to infiltrate her lust-fogged brain. She loved watching his lips move. She could still feel them on her mouth, against her neck. She wanted to feel them again. Everywhere.

  “Jade?”

  “Hum?”

  “I asked if you wanted something to drink.”

  He was looking at her funny. She realized she'd been staring far too long at his lips. Judging from the look on his face, she didn’t affect him the same way he did her.

  “Sure.”

  He headed for the kitchen and she followed. “What’s your pleasure,” he asked over his shoulder.

  You. Naked. “Red wine?”

  “Coming up.” He tugged the loosened tie over his head and draped it over the back of a chair. A quick snap of his wrists and his shirt cuffs rolled to expose strong, chiseled forearms. He reached for two wine glasses and the shirt pulled taught against his muscular shoulders. She personally didn’t know there were that many muscles in the human back. Each one of Logan’s were pumped and defined.

  And when did she become a butt-woman? Logan’s was absolutely perfect. She wanted to squeeze it.

  What was her problem? Beautiful people were the norm in her career. She'd shared second billing to Brad and George and Leo. Two seconds in this man’s company and she wanted to tackle him to the floor and have her wicked way with him. He was a tough guy on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside.

  And she was rapidly becoming very fond of him.

  #

  Logan watched Jade drink the wine and it was all he could do to stifle a groan. When she licked a drop from the corner of her mouth, he almost dropped to his knees and begged to let him use his tongue to remove the liquid. What possessed him to invite her in for a drink? Everything about her aroused him and he could not afford to lose his head. He needed to push her away far and fast.

  “I’ll let Bella know you stopped by.” From the arch in her eyebrows, she caught his clear dismissal. He appreciated the look of confusion. He didn’t quite understand his actions himself.

  “What time do you expect her back? I brought these for her.” She held out the bouquet of fragrant wildflowers. They looked handpicked, probably from the garden he'd seen her tend to many days this summer. He'd been so preoccupied with her killer body, he hadn’t even noticed them in her hand. He grabbed a large plastic cup covered with the logo of a fast food restaurant and filled it with tap water.

  “Best I can do vase-wise,” he explained.

  Jade brushed past him to deposit the flowers in the tumbler. He caught a whiff of the flowers and her and lust sucker punched him in the gut. He clenched his fists so he wouldn’t reach out and pull her against his aroused body. She took her time arranging the blooms and sap that he was, he didn’t move. He just kept breathing in her scent and tangling himself deeper and deeper into her web.

  Crossing his arms, he leaned against the counter and feigned disinterest when she faced him. Her smile died and he wanted to grab the butcher knife and stab himself with it for putting that wounded look on her face. Instead, he pinned her with his meanest stare, hoping to send her scurrying away, out of his reach. It had worked on many a recruit and had been know
n to send men fleeing from SEAL training.

  But did she turn tail and run? Hell, no. She crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the counter, matching him stare for frosty stare.

  “Was there anything else?” He didn’t mean for it to come out so rough, but she was killing him here.

  Her tough mask slipped and her gaze skittered away. His heart plummeted to his feet. Please, don’t cry again. If she started bawling, he would feel like a first-class ass, be forced to touch her, hold her, comfort her. And then he would probably do the unthinkable and kiss her.

  “I, um,” she cleared her throat and refocused on him. “I wanted to thank you for last night. For listening and everything. It meant a lot.”

  “I’m sorry again for your losses.” That sure didn’t sound very tough guy. Especially when his voice softened.

  She noticed the breech in his armor and pounced. “I hadn’t cried at all until last night.” She gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Lucky you got to be there for the water works.” Her cheeks flushed pink and her voice wavered, obviously still hurting. Only a son-of-a-bitch would send her away now.

  He looked at his watch, the universal sign for “this conversation is over." “If that’s all, I need to jump in the shower.”

  Hey, his mom was a first class bitch, so he was entitled.

  Mouth pursed in frustration, she spun to go when something on the kitchen table caught her attention. Eyes narrowed in consideration, her head tipped to the side. Reaching out, she pulled a note from the stack of mail he'd deposited there earlier. The bright picture on the front almost blinded him.

  Charlotte’s daily postcard. He groaned.

  She flipped it over and read the note, her eyes frightening little slits.

  “That’s a felony, you know.”

  Feeble yes, but hey, it was a crime to tamper with someone else’s mail.

  She smacked the postcard against his chest. “Arrest me,” she growled. “All that time you were calling me an adulteress when your girlfriend was conveniently away on a vacation.”