by Cathie Linz
Instead of commenting, he merely nodded, kicked off his shoes and climbed under the covers fully dressed.
“Good night, then.” She turned so that her back was to him. She thought it would take her hours to fall asleep but she quickly drifted off.
She woke with her cheek on something warm. Blinking in confusion, it took her a moment or two to realize she was resting on Logan’s bare chest. He must have discarded his T-shirt during the night. The room had gotten quite warm and they’d both kicked the heavier covers out of their way. She tried to shift away before he woke up and caught her cuddling against him. But when she moved, he tightened his hold on her.
She froze. Great. Now what should she do? She waited a minute or two and tried again. This time she got a little farther away before he hauled her back. Muttering something, he nuzzled her neck before sliding his lips across her jaw to her mouth. He was kissing her. In his sleep. And he was doing a damn good job of it.
His hands were on the move now, sliding beneath her oversized T-shirt to cup her breasts. She really should protest. Had that moan come from her or from him?
She was playing with fire here, a dangerous pastime and one she’d never indulged in before. Her body’s instant response bypassed her brain. She wanted him. He wanted her. He kissed her again. He wasn’t aggressive, he was damn tempting.
One of his hands shifted from her breast lower, to the waistband of her boxer shorts. His fingers had barely slipped beneath before she came to her senses. She had to stop this . . . now!
She shoved him away and rolled out of the bed. She stood there a moment, trembling, her fingers pressed against her lips still throbbing from his kiss.
Unable to speak coherently, she escaped to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, she finally found the courage to come out. She was wearing the jumper and white shirt again from the night before.
Looking out the open motel room door, she could see that Logan was once again wearing his T-shirt and was out by the car. As she packed up her few belongings, he came back inside and went into the bathroom without saying a word. When he came out, his dark hair was damp, as if he’d splashed cold water on his face.
“Let’s get out of here. I don’t care if the car is still busted, we aren’t staying.”
“We can’t leave without saying good-bye. And what about paying for the room?”
“Fine,” he growled. “But we are not lingering. Got that?”
“Got it.” Neither one of them referred to what had happened in the bed they both avoided looking at.
Rowdy greeted them as they walked into the café. He was sitting on a chair near the door. “Morning, folks. Sleep well?”
“Not really.” Logan cautiously eyed the shotgun Rowdy had setting across his lap.
“Here’s the deal,” Rowdy said in a no-nonsense voice of authority. “The two of you spent the night together in the same motel room without benefit of marriage. And that’s illegal here. Looks like you two are going to have to tie the knot or face the consequences.”
Chapter Eight
“Tie the knot?” Megan repeated in disbelief.
“Back up a minute. What do you mean, it’s illegal here?” Logan demanded. “You mean here? In Nevada?”
“No. Here in Last Resort. It’s also illegal to spit on the sidewalk.”
“You don’t have any sidewalks.”
“If we did, it would be illegal to spit on them.” Rowdy shifted his hand on the shotgun. “Lucky for you, I’m a justice of the peace, as well as mayor and town sheriff. You have a choice—jail or a wedding. And the costs for a marriage license and ceremony come to a thousand dollars.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“It’s a fair price,” Rowdy said defensively.
“I’m not talking about the money,” Logan said. “I’m talking about this con.”
“I agree,” Megan said. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had underestimated her, thinking she was a mild-mannered librarian only to find she was more than capable of looking out for herself. “You are the one who put us in that room, Rowdy. You said you only had the one room available.”
“It wasthe only room we had available.”
“Then why didn’t you mention this little law of yours when you offered us the room?”
Rowdy shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”
“How could I ask about a law I never heard of?”
“Not being aware of the law doesn’t give you the right to break it,” Rowdy said.
Megan gritted her teeth and counted to five before saying, “Logan slept in the car.”
“Only for an hour.”
“How do you know that? Were you watching us? Did you have some kind of hidden camera on us? That is soooo illegal. And sleazy!” Her stomach turned at the thought of him watching her and Logan in bed this morning.
“Calm down. There were no cameras involved.”
“Then how do you know Logan didn’t sleep in the car?”
Rowdy pointed out the window. “I sat here and watched you. I saw him go in the room with you and he didn’t come out until this morning.”
“Maybe he did in the middle of the night. Maybe you fell asleep and missed that part.”
“I didn’t miss any part.”
“I think you did,” she said. “I think you fell asleep and missed the part where Logan slept in the car.”
“Nice try, but no cigar.”
Which was something Buddy would say, but that didn’t endear Rowdy any to her. “This would never stand up in a court of law.”
He shrugged.
“Where’s Pepper?” Megan demanded. “I can’t believe she’d approve of this.”
“I’ve heard of speed traps in small towns, but nothing this asinine,” Logan said as Pepper came out of the café kitchen.
“Hey, we are not a small town,” Pepper said. “We are an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny town with revenue issues.”
“So you try to make money by forcing people to get married?” Megan shook her head in disbelief. “How crazy is that?”
“No crazier than you going to a brothel to find out about your mother.”
Logan held Megan back, as if afraid of what she might do to Pepper. Instead he gave Pepper an icy stare and said, “That was a cheap shot.”
Pepper looked embarrassed. “Yes, it was. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about your mother, Megan. You can’t help the fact that her high school friend is a madam.”
“Hey, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” Megan said. “It’s not like you all are taking the high ground here by threatening us with a shotgun wedding.”
“What’s the problem? You know you like Logan,” Pepper said. “We’re just speeding along the inevitable. You two were meant for each other.”
Logan released Megan to turn her to face him. “What did you tell them?” he said suspiciously.
“About what?”
“About us. Did you and Pepper have a little heart-to-heart over those vintage dresses? Did the two of you come up with this plan?”
“What?” Megan blinked at him in amazement. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re not denying it.”
Furious at his accusation, Megan turned to Rowdy. “I’ll pay a thousand dollars notto marry him.”
“No can do. And I’ll have to tack on another five-hundred-dollar fine for trying to bribe a city official.”
“Nice going,” Logan told Megan thirty minutes later as they both stood in Last Resort’s version of a jail cell.
“Me?” she said. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You should have done something.”
“Like what?”
“You’re a cop. I thought you were supposed to be trained to handle situations like this. Instead you did nothing. Which makes me think maybe you’re the one who planned this.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Like I said, you were passive. That’s not like you.�
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“The guy had a shotgun.”
“So?” she said. “I’m sure you’ve faced armed situations before, right? You could have taken him. Heck, I probably could have taken him.”
“Don’t even think about it. I’ve seen too many cases where things went bad fast because someone got cocky where a gun was involved.” He took her by the shoulders and gave her a stare meant to make her obey. “Promise me you will not do anything stupid.”
“Define stupid.”
“Trying to grab anyone’s weapon.”
“Okay.”
“Or disobey my orders.”
“Whoa, I have a problem with that one,” she immediately said.
“Why?”
“Because you’re too bossy.”
“I’mtoo bossy? What about you? You’re the one who got the additional charges against us. I could have talked us out of it,” he said. “That’s what I’m trained to do. Instead you flew off the handle and made things worse. And now we’re locked in some stupid storage room.”
“I did notfly off the handle.”
He rolled his eyes.
“And the only talking you did was to accuse me of plotting the shotgun wedding with Pepper,” she said. “That did not help the situation.”
“I’ll tell you what didn’t help the situation. You offering to pay a thousand dollars not to marry me.”
“I can’t stay here forever. I’ve got a flight to catch.”
“Like I don’t?” he said.
“We wouldn’t be in this mess if your car hadn’t broken down.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“You are unbelievable. The truth is we wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t insisted on leaving Las Vegas in the first place,” he said.
“I didn’t know we were heading for a brothel.”
“Would that info have made any difference?”
“No, probably not,” she said. “I can’t believe they locked us up in here!” She kicked the door in frustration.
“That’s a good way to break a toe,” he said, unimpressed with her temper tantrum.
“They didn’t even let us eat breakfast before they arrested us. My stomach is growling.”
“Get over it.”
“Get over it? That’s your way of being supportive?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it stinks,” she said. “That is not supportive.”
“We could make out.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “What?”
He shrugged. “Hey, you wanted supportive.”
“Sex isn’t supportive.”
“It is if you do it right.”
Megan was momentarily distracted by the image of having sex with him before she recovered enough to make a response. “I’m not speaking to you and I’m not making out with you.”
“You made out with me this morning.”
“I was asleep.”
“Not so asleep that you didn’t respond to me.”
“You grabbed me.”
“You didn’t protest.”
“I was asleep.”
“So you already said.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you accusing me of lying?”
“I’m accusing you of bending the truth. But I’m not really telling you anything you don’t already know. I can tell by that blush on your face that you know damn well you responded and you were awake. Very awake.”
Megan silently cursed her pale complexion. “That’s not a blush. I’m flushed because it’s hot in here.” She banged on the door. “Let us out!”
“I don’t think that’s going to help.”
“Well, I’m not going to just stand here and wait for help.” She looked around the room, searching for something to aid with their escape. The storage room held an odd assortment of things—from ceramic flowerpots to velvet paintings to stacks of quilts . . . and teacups. They had teacups! Or one special teacup. She was a “cupaholic.” She collected both orphaned teacups and saucers as well as just orphaned teacups without their matching saucers.
She couldn’t believe her eyes as she gazed upon the Wedgwood teacup and saucer she’d been searching for since her college days. Her breath caught and her heart beat faster. It couldn’t be.
She stood on tiptoe trying to reach the top shelf, where the teacup and saucer forlornly sat amid miscellaneous broken crockery. Her fingers were still a few inches away. She looked around trying to find something to stand on.
“What are you doing?” Logan said.
“I’m trying to reach that cup.”
“Why? Do you think it will unlock some secret passageway out of here?”
She refused to answer him. Instead she tugged a rickety chair from the other side of the room.
“Please tell me you’re not dumb enough to try and stand on that,” Logan said.
She lifted one foot, ready to step up when he swooped in from behind her to stop her. She wiggled against him. A bad move, because her bottom was pressed against the placket of his jeans and she could feel his arousal. She froze.
“I’ll get the damn cup for you,” he growled in her ear.
She shivered at the brush of his mouth against her skin.
He abruptly let her go and reached around her to retrieve the teacup from the shelf.
“Careful,” she said as she saw the dainty china in his large hands.
“If I was careful, I’d have stayed in Las Vegas,” he muttered. “Hell, if I was careful I would have stayed in Chicago.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. You had to help Buddy.”
“And I’ve never been accused of being careful. Here.” He shoved the cup and saucer at her.
She cradled them in her hands and stared down at them in awe. “I can’t believe my luck.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe my luck either. It’s gone down the toilet since I met you.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. “None of this is my fault.”
“Well, it sure as hell isn’t mine.”
Distracted as they were glaring at each other, they didn’t realize the door had been opened. Rowdy stood there behind the screen door with its safety bars.
Rowdy shook his head at them. “Well, you two have certainly caused a major kafuffle. I’m not sure what to do with you.”
“Let us go right now and we won’t press charges against you,” Logan said.
“Against me?” Rowdy’s eyes widened.
“For unlawful detention. Extortion. Entrapment. Assault with a deadly weapon. Unlawful use of a firearm.”
“I didn’t assault you,” Rowdy protested.
“You threatened to do so,” Logan said.
“I did no such thing.”
“Like I said, release us, let me call a tow truck and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“The wedding thing seemed like such a good idea when Pepper, Chuck and I talked about it,” Rowdy said morosely.
“Has it worked before?” Megan had to ask.
“You were our first attempt. Maybe if we’d fixed some of the bugs ...”
Megan shook her head. “I’d stick with that haunted mine thing instead. A much better bet.”
“Possibly.” Rowdy sighed. “What do you two have against marriage, anyway?”
“A shotgun wedding isn’t exactly the beginning of a dream marriage,” Megan said.
“So if we toned down the shotgun part ...”
“It would still be a bad idea,” she assured him.
“Why do you have a teacup clutched against your chest?” Rowdy asked.
“It called to me,” she said.
Rowdy looked at her as if she were a few pancakes short of a stack.
“Being locked in that room nearly drove her over the edge,” Logan said. “You could be looking at a civil law-suit on your hands here. Do the smart thing and call a tow truck to come get us. I know the entire landline phone thing was a con.”
Rowdy sighed. “You do
n’t need a tow truck. Chuck was a top mechanic before he went into infomercials.”
“Forgive me if I don’t trust him or you,” Logan said sarcastically.
Chuck joined the group, wiping his greasy hands on a paper towel. “The Chevy’s ready to go.”
“How do I know you haven’t sabotaged the car to die a few miles from here?”
“You’ve got my word on it. Come on, I’ll show you what the problem was.”
“He has to release us first,” Logan said.
“Just lift up on the left bar. The door pops open.” Rowdy stepped aside and regretfully watched Megan and Logan walk past him.
Megan gathered her teacup and saucer close and hurried after Logan. She found him bent at the waist, leaning over the side of the Chevy, with the hood popped open. He and Chuck were examining the fine points of the engine and other stuff she couldn’t follow.
“You can keep the teacup,” Rowdy told her. “And the shotgun wasn’t loaded.”
“That doesn’t excuse your behavior,” she said.
“That law really does exist. It’s still on the books here.”
“Then you better repeal it.”
“It seemed like a good idea when Pepper found a book about strange laws around the country,” Rowdy said. “We decided to take a look at our town’s laws and ...”
The sight of Logan’s denim-clad butt as he leaned over the car distracted her from the rest of Rowdy’s apologetic explanation. She remembered seeing a T-shirt at the airport when she’d first arrived proclaiming that Girls Go Nuts for Cowboy Butts. Logan might not be a cowboy, but he definitely had a very fine butt.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad when Logan straightened and got in the car to turn the ignition. The car purred like a cat. Or so Chuck proclaimed proudly.
Logan returned to the motel room to grab her stuff and toss it into the car before telling her, “Let’s go.”
Looking at Pepper and Rowdy’s woebegone faces, Megan couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. “What about the hotel bill?”
Rolling his eyes, Logan shoved his credit card at Pepper, who raced inside to run it before returning with the slip for him to sign.
“Wait, I should pay for that,” Megan said. “As you pointed out, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.”