by Cathie Linz
“Uh, no. Faith sent me. She wants you to attend the reception. She doesn’t know what happened between you and Gram and we want to keep it that way. But Faith is getting suspicious that something is up because you’re down here gambling with Logan.”
“Tell her to mind her own business,” Logan said.
“No way. Why don’t you both just come with me ...”
“Because we don’t want to,” Logan said.
“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to because it’s the right thing to do,” Megan said
“And you always do the right thing?”
She nodded. “I would think a cop would be glad to hear that.”
“I’m a detective,” he said.
“One of Chicago’s finest,” Buddy said proudly. “He was recently promoted.”
“I don’t think she cares,” Logan noted dryly.
Megan tried to be polite. “I’m happy for you.”
“I’m so relieved to hear that.” His smile was mocking.
“Listen, I don’t have time to stand around and make conversation with you two.” The constant chirping and zealous beeping of the surrounding slot machines didn’t make it a good spot for talking. “They are expecting me to bring you both back to the reception.”
“And, again, you always do what’s expected of you, right?” Logan said.
Yes, she did. But he made it sound like a crime, so she ignored his question. “If I don’t bring you back upstairs, Faith threatened to come looking for you herself.”
Logan refused to be ignored. “Is this bossiness a family trait of yours?”
“We are notbossy.”
“You’ve been ordering me around since I arrived,” he said. “Or tryingto.”
“That’s not true. Tell him, Buddy.”
“Well, you have been pretty bossy,” Buddy said.
She glared at him.
“But Megan’s not usually like that,” Buddy hastily added.
“It must be the librarian in her, huh?” Logan said.
“Why does everything have to be an argument with you? It must be the cop in you, huh?” she retorted.
“Damn right,” Logan readily agreed. “It’s the cop and the detective in me.”
She took a deep breath and held on to her patience as tightly as she was hanging on to her vintage clutch. “Are you both coming or not? No, forget I asked that. You are both coming.”
“Not that you’re bossy or anything,” Logan said. “Do you plan on grabbing us by the arm and hauling us out of here?”
She refused to back away from his challenge. “I will if I have to.”
“She won’t have to,” Buddy said. “We’ll come along peacefully.”
She heaved a sigh of relief.
“But if that uncle of yours insults me again ...” Buddy said.
“He won’t. Consider this a truce during the reception. We don’t want anything ruining Faith and Caine’s wedding day.” A look in Logan’s direction conveyed the rest of her thought: Any more than it’s already been ruined.
“You’re lucky you caught us before we got to the poker tables,” Logan said.
“Are you a gambler?” she asked.
“He’s a darn fine poker player,” Buddy said. “I taught him everything I know. Well, not everythingI know. A man has to keep some things private.”
“That’s what got you into this mess,” Logan said before Megan could.
“It’s more a misunderstanding than a mess,” Buddy said before turning to Megan. “Back me up here, buttercup.”
“How about an extremely messy misunderstanding?” she suggested.
“I’ll go along with that,” Buddy said. “You know, I’d hoped that you and Logan could meet under happier circumstances. You two have so much in common.”
Megan hoped Logan’s look of utter disbelief was reflected on her own face as well.
“You do,” Buddy insisted.
“How do you figure that?” Logan said. “I’m a cop and she dislikes cops.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. Your attitude said it all.”
“What attitude?” Her voice reflected her irritation.
“That attitude.”
Megan tried staring him down before quickly discovering it was a lost cause. For one thing, his blue eyes were so deep you could fall into them and get lost forever. He had this rather uncanny ability to draw her in. She wasn’t sure what it was about him exactly. Sure, he had great eyes and a hot body. And yes, his smile was endearing . . .
Wait, where had that come from? There was absolutely nothing endearing about Logan Doyle. He was totally aggravating. The man took great pleasure in pushing her buttons, waiting for her to explode. He was playing her as if she were a mega-jackpot slot machine.
There was no way she would pay out.
His mocking, non-endearing smile told her he thought otherwise.
Clearly, Logan was accustomed to getting his own way. He possessed an aura of power and control that went far beyond mere confidence. This was a man used to dealing with danger and winning. And he was smart enough to pick up on what he called her “attitude” regarding cops.
Not that she’d done much to hide her feelings. She had valid reasons for her them—and those reasons were none of his damn business. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and returned to her stare-off with Logan, deciding she’d given up too easily earlier.
“Yes, siree.” Buddy was practically rubbing his hands with glee. “There’s chemistry here. Definite chemistry.”
“Between you and that slot machine maybe,” Logan said. “Although it seems to have given you the cold shoulder tonight.”
“Fight it all you want,” Buddy told him. “I’ve been around long enough to know chemistry when I see it.”
“You need new glasses,” Logan said.
Buddy glared at him. “I don’t need glasses at all.”
“That’s not what the eye doctor said.”
“He just wants more business, that’s all.”
“And the fact that you can’t read a menu?” Logan said, shifting his gaze to his grandfather.
“Means they make the print too small. I can read this.” Buddy patted the slot machine.
“We need to get up to the reception before Faith comes looking for us,” Megan reminded them, trying not to gloat that Logan had looked away first.
“I’m telling you, if that uncle of yours makes any fishy comments ...” Buddy said again even as he followed her toward the bank of elevators.
“I told you, he won’t.”
“What about your dad?” Buddy said.
Megan kept her eyes on the elevators, willing the one in front of her to open immediately. “What about him?”
“He’d better not say anything either.”
“My father is not into confrontations.”
“Not even when it comes to protecting his own family?” Logan said.
She punched the up button several times.
“That doesn’t make it come any faster,” Logan said.
“Maybe not, but it makes me feel better.”
“Feeling a little tense, are you?”
She hit the button more forcefully.
“They have classes for that, you know,” he said.
“For what?”
“Anger management.”
“I don’t need any classes in anger management,” she said.
His skeptical look fanned her aggravation, but she was determined not to let it show. She relaxed the death grip she had on her clutch and practiced deep-breathing techniques until she noticed the way Logan was staring at her cleavage appreciatively, following the rise and fall of her breasts.
Her body turned traitor on her. Instead of outrage, she felt something else. Her heart fluttered, skipped and then raced. Was she blushing? She hoped not.
Logan leaned closer and whispered, “Is there a problem?” His breath teased her ear.
She shook her head, b
it her tongue and began mentally reciting the Dewey Decimal System backwardbeginning with 900—History.
Right, now she felt better. She hadn’t completely lost her mind.
Logan reached around her to place his hand on the elevator opening to prevent it from closing and nudged her forward. She reacted as if he’d hit her with a cattle prod, jumping forward and heading straight for the farthest corner of the elevator.
Where had all that come from? Was her racing heart a result of the oxygen being piped into the casino? She liked that option better than thinking Logan could induce that kind of reaction without even trying. Imagine what would happen if he really tried to seduce her.
No, do not imagine that,she strictly ordered herself. Do not go there. That’s never going to happen.
Faith greeted them as soon as they entered the reception room. “Finally. I’m sorry to tear you away from the slot machines, Buddy,” she teased him, “but this wedding party isn’t large enough that I can have anyone go missing.”
“I was getting worried.” Megan’s dad stood beside her and gently squeezed her shoulder. “You were gone a long time.”
“It’s a large casino,” she said, patting his arm reassuringly.
Dave nodded at Buddy and Logan before saying, “You know, the odds of winning at a slot machine are approximately one in ten thousand. Your odds are better in blackjack.”
“My dad is great at math. He’s a mathlete,” Megan said proudly.
“I like working with numbers,” he said modestly.
“You’d be good at card counting,” Buddy said.
Her dad frowned. “Isn’t that illegal?”
“No. The casinos don’t like it, and they can toss you out if they catch you doing it, but it’s not illegal,” Logan said.
“You say that with the confidence of a man who’s been tossed out of a casino or two,” Megan said.
Logan just gave her an enigmatic smile and shrugged.
“You’re not banned from the Venetian, are you? Some security guard isn’t going to haul you away, right?” Megan said.
“Will you be disappointed if I say no?” he said.
Faith laughed and answered on Megan’s behalf, “No, of course not. Even though I’m not exactly sure why you wanted to stop my wedding, I don’t hold it against you. It will make for a good story for my kids and grandkids. I still don’t know exactly what that was all about, but Gram said you were just kidding around—that cops, doctors and Marines have an unusual sense of humor. She told me not to worry and just enjoy my wedding, so I’m going to do that. Especially since Aunt Lorraine isn’t here this time.”
Megan had to laugh. Aunt Lorraine, aka the Duchess of Grimness, was Faith’s mother’s older sister and hell on wheels. She’d refused to attend any wedding taking place in Las Vegas. Megan thought that had played a large part in Faith’s selection of this location.
“But enough about all that. Now that everyone is here, Caine and I are ready for our first dance. Right, husband?” she called over to him.
“Affirmative, wife.”
They took to the tiny dance floor to the sound of “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” by Journey, a White Sox fan’s favorite song. Not only was it played during their winning World Series season but it was what had been playing when Caine proposed to Faith at Comiskey Park, aka U.S. Cellular Field.
“I know the best man is supposed to dance with the maid of honor, but I don’t dance,” Buddy said apologetically.
“Me either,” Logan said, just in case someone tried to press him into duty,
“Well, I do,” Megan’s dad said, holding his hand out to her as the next song, a slower ballad, came up.
“Gram talked to you about not making a scene, right?” she said. “Not that you would ever make a scene, but Uncle Jeff would.”
“There won’t be any trouble tonight.”
“I sure hope not.” She cast a worried look over her shoulder at Buddy before returning her attention to her dad. He looked rather dashing in his dark suit and crisp white shirt. His quirky math tie was filled with rows of gold and silver pi symbols on a red background. He had another tie with the same design on a blue background. They were the only two ties he owned. “Did you wear this tie to your own wedding?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t have it back then.”
Her parents’ wedding picture sat in a place of honor back in Megan’s Chicago condo. Her mother had worn a navy pantsuit as she stood beside Megan’s dad—staring straight ahead at the camera with that awkwardness that comes from not liking to have your photo taken. “I know you and Mom were married at city hall, but what about your wedding reception?” She knew the story but not the reasons behind it. “Why didn’t you have a wedding reception?”
“We went out and had a nice dinner. I’m not a party person, you know that. Neither was she.”
“Did you ever dance with her?”
“No.”
“That’s so sad.” Megan couldn’t remember her mother, just the memory of her being gone. Growing up, she wasn’t like the other kids who had moms. Instead, her dad had taken over all the parenting duties to the best of his ability. And she reciprocated by looking out for him. The older she got, the more responsibilities she took over: shopping for groceries, cooking dinner, taking care of the house.
“I know you still miss her,” Megan said. “I mean, you never remarried after all these years. I’m sure she’d want you to be happy and find someone to spend your life with.”
He shook his head. “We’ve had this conversation before. Many times. I’m a one-woman man.”
“Soul mates, huh?”
“Something like that.” He gazed over her head. “I, uh, couldn’t help but notice the way Logan was looking at you.”
“Hmm?”
“Logan. Looking at you.”
“With aggravation.”
“Not exactly.”
“Irritation.”
“No. More like attraction.”
She stared at her dad in amazement. “No way. And since when have you ever noticed a guy looking at me? You’re usually totally off in your own world. You’d forget to eat dinner if I didn’t set up that automated program to call and remind you.”
“I know, I know. But there’s something different about Logan.”
“He’s a cop.”
“That’s not it. I’ve come in contact with plenty of police officers over the years in the course of the business. No, it’s something else.”
“If you tell me it’s chemistry, I’m going to have to do something drastic to you. Buddy already tried that line and it didn’t fly.”
“So Buddy noticed it too. Interesting.”
“There’s nothing to notice,” she said.
“You were certainly fast to confront him before any of us could.”
“I’m the maid of honor. Part of my job is to prevent brash Chicago cops from messing things up.”
“So you think he’s brash?”
“That’s just my opinion. And I’ve only just met him.”
“But he’s made an impression.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“He’s watching us now even though he’s trying to hide it.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “How can you tell?”
“I might be in charge of the numbers end of the business but I have picked up a thing or two about investigative and surveillance techniques.”
Megan changed the subject because focusing on Logan was proving to be too distracting. “You don’t think Faith suspects what’s going on with Gram and Buddy, do you?”
“I think Caine can keep her distracted,” her dad said.
He was right. Faith was glowing as the bridal party sat at the head table for dinner. Megan kept her toast sweet and short. Buddy did the same.
During the meal, Megan kept a close eye on Logan, who was seated beside Gram. There were only a little over two dozen people, including the wedding party, so it was impossible to comp
letely avoid someone.
Had Gram shown any sign of stress, Megan would have jumped out of her chair in a second. But instead Logan showed an empathetic side as he spoke to her, which Megan found surprising and completely endearing.
Oh no, there was that word again. Endearing. Pandas and kittens were endearing. Not men who wore power like a weapon.
He looked over and their gazes collided. Her body hummed like a tuning fork. She was about to start reciting the Dewey Decimal System backward again when he looked away. So did she.
When she caught Faith eyeing her speculatively after dinner, she read her cousin’s mind. “Do not throw that bouquet of yours at me later,” she quietly warned Faith. “You hang on to it. Remember, we talked about that.”
“Fine. I can’t believe you’re such a sissy about it.”
“I am not a sissy.”
“You looked positively fierce when you dragged Logan out onto the terrace during the ceremony,” Faith said.
“I’m not a fan of practical jokes, you know that.”
“And you’re not a fan of cops, either.”
“You know why.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then let’s change the subject. How about sex?”
Megan grinned. “I’m sure your mother had that conversation with you. With us, actually. I was sitting right next to you as she told us about sperm eagerly swimming to the egg.”
Faith laughed at the memory before saying, “No, I meant that I’m sensing some sexual stuff between you and Logan.”
“Oh God, not you too.”
“Not me too what?” Faith asked.
“Buddy and Dad already tried saying there’s chemistry between Logan and me.”
“Wow, it has to be pretty strong sexual mojo for those two to notice it.”
“They’re imagining things.”
“And what is Logan imagining?”
“How to avoid me?”
“I doubt that.”
“Forget about my sex life and focus on your own.”
“Good advice,” Caine said as he stepped behind Faith to nuzzle her neck. “When can we leave?”
“Not until we cut the cake.”
He grabbed her hand. “Then let’s do that ASAP.”
Everyone gathered around to watch the couple complete the tradition, laughing as Caine smeared some icing on Faith’s nose and she reciprocated. It was only afterward that Megan looked around and realized Logan had left.