“That’s exactly why I should push him away,” I grumble, biting off a large piece of pizza and chewing angerly.
I can’t get involved with my boss, no matter what feelings are passing between us.
17
Parker
THE MEMORY OF LOGAN cuddled up at my side, her hand on my body, has me itching for a reason to touch her again. I tap my fingers on my desk, trying to come up with a reason to ask her to come in here, but I’ve got nothing.
“Logan?” I call out the open door. This is what’s become of my life, I now keep my door open in hopes of catching a glimpse of Logan throughout the day.
“Parker?” I can hear the smile in her voice, making the corner of my lips twitch.
“Can you come in here?”
“Sure.” She walks in with a swagger that makes me laugh. I never know what to expect with this woman. “What can I do for you, Mr. Scott?”
She perches herself on the edge of my desk, crossing one bare leg over the other, making my mouth go dry. I lean back in my chair, trying to keep some much needed distance between us.
“Um...” I try to pull my attention away from her legs, but it’s so so hard. “I can't find the paper.” I swallow hard, lifting my gaze to her eyes, then dropping to her lips.
“Which paper?” She smirks.
“The paper... for the Newton buyout... I think.”
“You think?” She giggles, twisting to the side, reaching across my desk and grabbing the exact document I wasn’t actually looking for. “This one?” She arches a brow. I don’t bother glancing at her findings, I don’t need anything but to have her near me.
“That’s the one.” I grab the paper and throw it back on my desk, exactly where it was before she came in here, never removing my attention from her.
“Wanna tell me what you really wanted?” She challenges me.
“Nah, I’d rather not.”
“Parker...” She draws out.
Ever since the limo ride back on Friday, Logan’s been flirtier with me. I'm not sure what changed but I'm not going to complain about it. I'm loving this new side of her.
Moving my chair closer to her, I lean in close. I place one hand on either side of her hips, caging her in, her legs between my own. I gaze up at her, moving my hands closer until my thumbs stroke the outside of her thighs.
“Logan...” I whisper in a husky voice.
She leans forward slightly, but before I can claim those lips I’ve been dreaming about, there’s a pounding on the door. Owen saunters in with Lucas following behind him. Mother fuckers.
“Worst timing ever, boys,” Logan chuckles, raising to her full height and spinning on her heels.
“Nope, don’t leave us, we have things to discuss.”
18
Logan
“I’M NOT THE BOSS, OWEN, I'm a lowly assistant.” I smirk.
“Like fuck you are!” Parker protests. “You know damn right well we don’t see you as an assistant. You’re a peer to us, you aren’t lesser in any way.”
I blink in surprise several times; this is the last thing I’d expect to hear out of Parker’s mouth. Lucas, sure. Owen, maybe but not Parker.
“He’s right, Little L, your opinions, thoughts and views are important to us,” Owen says softly.
“We’re making an announcement at the meeting, you’re the new executive assistant, the only one in the company.” Lucas smiles like a proud father.
“Do we have to make a big deal out of this?”
“Yes. Everyone needs to know you’re to be respected and you deserve the position we’ve given you. I won't put up with anyone questioning your worth to this company.” Parker’s gaze is heavy on me, his words warming my heart and making me want to know him even more.
He isn't the hard-ass businessman everyone thinks he is. He doesn’t trust easily, but when you prove to be faithful, he takes care of you. I'm so glad I found this job and this man.
“Aww, are you saying I'm more than just a pretty face?” I bat my eyelashes at him, trying to lighten the mood slightly.
He takes slow steps, like a lion stalking its prey, until he stops in front of me, forcing me to tilt my chin up to maintain eye contact. His warm palm cups my cheek, I lean into it, enjoying the touch.
“You are definitely more than a pretty face.”
“You gotta pretty ass, tits and face.” Owen clarifies, making Parker and Lucas groan in unison and has me rolling my eyes.
“You’re gorgeous and smart. A dangerous combination,” Parker says softly.
“Guess you better keep your distance then.”
“Oh, Honey, he couldn’t keep his distance from you if he tried,” Lucas chimes in.
“Let’s get to this meeting and we can talk later,” Parker whispers, leading me with a hand on my lower back to the conference room.
We settle in long before anyone else arrives. Parker at the head of the table, Owen on one side, Lucas and I on the other.
“How many times do you think Anderson’s going to bash us today?” Lucas mumbles.
Before the boys can answer him, people start filing into the room and taking their seats. As soon as everyone’s here, Parker starts the meeting.
“...The Smyth buy has been canceled.”
“Whose doing is that?” A plump man with a combover asks.
“Ours.”
“Why would you back out of that deal? It was amazing. I did so much work to find a company like that, I presented it to you on a silver platter and you ruined it. I told your fathers you three weren’t ready to take over this company, all you do is screw around, you have no clue how to be a businessman.”
Parker’s jaw clenches so hard, I'm worried he might chip a tooth. His arms hang at his side, his hands fisted, itching to punch this man in the face.
I push my chair back and stand; I'm not putting up with this. I cut him off mid-sentence earning myself a glare.
“Excuse me, sir. I have no clue who you are or what your position is in this company, but frankly I don’t care. You have no idea why they pulled out of the deal, why are you attacking them like this?”
“Who are you? I’ve never seen you in this office before.” His eyes narrow on me.
“This is Logan Johnson, our new executive assistant,” Lucas states in a calm but stern voice.
“Didn’t take you three very long to get a piece of eye candy to stare at, huh?”
“Watch your words, Anderson,” Parker growls.
“You see... Mr. Anderson... I’m so much more than a piece of eye candy. I actually care about the company I work for and want them to succeed... unlike you.” I raise a brow, daring him to argue. And, of course he does.
“Excuse me? You listen to me, princess. You might be new here but don’t be confused, I’ve been at this company since the beginning and care more about it than any of them.” He gestures to Parker, Owen and Lucas.
“Aww, well I'm glad you think of me as royalty, but sadly I'm not. My name is Logan but you can call me Ms. Johnson. And I doubt you care more about this company than these men do. If you did, you wouldn’t have presented them with the Smyth company because it was worth millions less than what you or Smyth were claiming.”
“What are you talking about! That company is worth over one hundred fifty million dollars!”
“No, Mr. Anderson, it’s not. It’s only worth about eighty million, but you didn’t do your homework. You took what Mr. Smyth said to be truth instead of looking into the company by yourself. I did though. I checked up on the company the night before the meeting, even though it isn't my job. I did it on my own time and stopped these men from signing the contract when I saw the documents you and Smyth were presenting them.”
“She saved us millions you would’ve cost us,” Parker growls.
“She’s lying!”
“She’s not, but if you care to keep insulting Ms. Johnson’s character, you’re free to quit or I'm sure we could fire you.” Parker glances over at Doris who giv
es him a slight nod. They have reason to fire him now.
“This is ridiculous! She’s only an assistant! She shouldn’t be touching any of this! She shouldn’t be at meetings; I'm not even allowed at meetings with clients!”
“Because we don’t trust your ass. And Logan is so much more than an assistant. She’ll be at every meeting the three of us attend from here on out. She might even handle some meetings alone because we trust her.” Owen levels Anderson with a glare that would make any human wiggle in discomfort.
Damn. I'm glad I'm on these men’s good side. I can only imagine how miserable they could make my life if I wasn’t.
My gaze falls on Parker, he must feel me staring, his hardened eyes move to me, instantly softening. His lip twitches but he refuses to smile, he needs to keep his expressionless exterior, he can't allow anyone to see beneath the mask he wears.
19
Parker
I LEAVE THE MEETING early with Logan by my side, I can't deal with Anderson anymore. If I had to sit and stare at his face for one more second, I would’ve fired his ass faster than he could argue. He was completely disrespectful to Logan and what she’s done for this company.
Logan heads to her desk, but I gently grasp her wrist, leading her into my office, shutting the door behind us. I drop into my leather desk chair, tugging her to my lap.
Wide eyes stare up at me, a smirk tugging at the edges of her plump lips.
“Parker...” She breaths.
“Logan...” I grin, she’s beautiful. I want to run my hands through her hair and over the curves of her waist. I want my lips to trace every inch of her flesh and make her mine. She’s already mine, we both know it.
“What are you doing?” Her gaze snaps to my hands caressing her waist.
“If you don’t want this then tell me now,” I whisper into her hair, my breath fanning over her skin.
“I can't,” She mumbles.
I pull back, staring at her. Have I read this all wrong? I thought she felt the same way I do. She’s been flirting constantly. Shit.
“You can't what?” I squeeze my eyes shut; I don’t want to see a look of pity on her face.
“I can't tell you I don’t want this... because I do.”
My eyes fly open, falling on her beautiful smile. She wants this, she wants me.
“You do?”
“I do.”
“Oh, thank fuck!”
“Aww, were you worried I was turning you down and bruising your precious ego?”
“No. I was worried you didn’t want me as desperately as I want you.”
I place a kiss on her neck, her pulse beating erratically under my lips. Her hand slides up my chest, threading through the hair at the nape of my neck. Mine skim up her back, tugging her closer to me. I move my lips up her neck, kissing along her jaw line, towards her lips.
My office door bangs open and Owen saunters in.
“Motherfucker,” I groan.
Logan’s head falls against my shoulder, her body shakes with laughter.
“Oh, shit,” Lucas mutters under his breath. “Owen, you seriously need to stop barging in his office. I don’t wanna walk in on them fucking one day.”
“Speak for yourself, I’d love to walk in on them fucking. It’d be like watching a real life porno.” He bites his bottom lip, his eyes traveling up and down Logan’s body.
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
I rip my phone off my desk, calling the maintenance department. They answer on the second ring.
“Hey, this is Parker Scott. I need a lock installed on my office door... I know no one has access to it once I leave... I don’t want people to have access when I'm in here either... Mr. Powell... Thank you.”
“Did you seriously just ask for a lock to keep me out?” Owen’s jaw falls open.
“Yes. The door only locks when the door is shut and my key fob isn't close. There’s no way to lock it when I'm here.”
“Wow... I don’t think I’ve ever been so offended in my entire life...” His eyes snap to Lucas. “Are you gonna push me outta your life too?”
“If I have someone like Logan working for me, then yes.”
“What the fuck! I thought we were brothers! Sharing everything with each other.”
“I'm not sharing Logan,” I hiss.
“Fine! I'm not sharing my girl with you then either!” He roars.
“You don’t have a girl!” I yell back.
“Oh, but I will! I will! Just to piss you off!”
“You’re gonna date someone just to piss off Parker?” Logan’s brows knit together but her expression is full of amusement.
“Aww, sweetie, you don’t know me at all, huh? I’ll do just about anything to piss off Parker.”
“We both know you won't break some girl’s heart just to annoy him.” She crosses her arms over her chest, staring him down.
He narrows his gaze at her but doesn’t say a word. I swear Logan’s the only person who can get to him like this.
“Come on, Big Man, you’re a big softy. We both know it and I love that about you. You wouldn’t hurt someone on purpose.”
“I’d hurt Anderson on purpose,” He grumbles under his breath.
“Only because he hurts the people you love,” She says softly.
Logan rises off my lap but I grasp her hips, tugging her back towards me. She kisses my cheek, pats my chest and rises again. This time I let her go.
I stare as she rounds my desk and plops down on the couch between the two men I consider my brothers. She cuddles into Owen’s side, hugging his waist. He wraps her in his arms and kisses her forehead. I don’t understand their weird relationship but I don’t need to. Logan fits in with my brothers like she was made for us, she’s ours now and we’re never letting her go.
“I won't put up with how he spoke about Logan.” Lucas breaks the silence. “That was uncalled for and he will be punished.”
“What can we legally do?” I ask.
“I’m going to speak to Doris, but he said she was a piece of eye candy in front of a board room full of people, that’s more than enough to prove sexual harassment. We can write him up, maybe even fire him.”
“You’re not firing him,” Logan says firmly.
“What the fuck, Little L? He’s acting like you shouldn’t be here, you deserve to be here more than he does!”
“We’ll catch him on something better than sexual harassment and bury his ass. I think he’s hiding something and I'm going to figure out what it is.”
“Logan...” Lucas begins, his gaze darting between the three of us.
“Please, Lucas? You can have the sexual harassment on file, but let me figure out what he’s hiding before you toss him to the curb.”
“Fine.” I scrub a hand over my face. I hate having someone like him in our company, but at this point, he’s been here for so long, what’s a few more months? “But if he touches you or makes you uncomfortable, I need to know right away.”
“Thank you.” She rewards me with a beautiful smile.
20
Logan
MY CELL PHONE RINGS for the third time and I still can't find it. I finally dump the entire contents of my purse onto my desk, snatching up my phone the second I see it.
“Hello?” I answer without checking to see who it is.
“I'm looking for Ms. Logan Johnson.”
“This is her.”
“Ms. Johnson, this is Dr. Garfield. I'm the radiologist who read your mammogram.”
“Hi...” I whisper, my eyes squeezing shut. I know what he’s going to say. A painful ache fills my chest, reality crashing into me.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this...”
“My cancer’s back,” I whisper.
“It’s a possibility. I'm sorry. We found a mass on one breast that seems to be cancer. We’ve sent our findings to your surgeon.”
“Is it the same side?”
“Yes, it is.”
I blow out a breath I didn’t realiz
e I was holding. If it’s the same side it means it might not have spread throughout my whole body... right?
“Do I need to call them and schedule surgery?”
“You should call him to see what your best option is for this round. This time we caught it early, Logan.”
“Thank you.”
I hang up, immediately calling Dr. Rodger’s office. The secretary puts me through to him as per his request.
“Logan, I'm sorry to hear from you under these circumstances.”
“Me too.” I whisper.
“We could do a needle biopsy and see if this is cancer again...” He trails off.
“Or?”
“Or we remove your breast completely and hope your cancer doesn’t come back again. We’ll check your lymph nodes and make sure it hasn’t spread.”
“Which treatment do you recommend?”
“If you were my daughter, I’d suggest we perform the mastectomy. I don’t think it’s worth chancing this again.”
“Let’s do it.”
“I can add you to the schedule next week if that will work with your schedule.”
“The soonest you can do it, I’ll make it work.” I swallow hard, fighting to keep the tears at bay.
“Perfect. Monday morning I have an opening. The hospital will call you Friday afternoon with your surgery time and any other information. I'm sorry, Logan. I wish you didn’t have to go through this again.”
“Will I need chemotherapy again?”
“If it comes back as cancerous, I’d suggest it. You’re so young, it will decrease the chances of cancer cells in the rest of your body.”
“Ok. Thank you, Dr. Rodger.”
I hang up, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I need to tell Parker.
My mind races with all the possibilities. He could fire me. I’ve barely worked here a few weeks and now I'm going to be out for a month or two, recovering from having my breast removed.
Holy shit... I have cancer again.
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