“I’m sorry,” he told Carla abruptly, “but I can’t. I have to get home.”
Carla removed her hand and studied him. “I see. Have a good night then.”
She took her drink in hand and walked away.
Logan dropped some cash on the bar and made a beeline for the door, feeling even more pissed than he’d felt half an hour earlier at his arrival. The fact that he’d been in the bar and that he’d turned down a willing woman proved one thing. Logan didn’t want his relationship with Claire to be just that of co-parents.
He wanted more.
Damn it. And damn Claire too.
Claire’s steps faltered when she entered Logan’s office. He stood facing her, uncharacteristically before his desk rather than behind it. He wore only his customary white shirt and black pants and his eyes seared her with an intensity she had come to recognize as desire. A heady charge filled the air between them, and Claire knew in an instant his summons had nothing to do with business.
Nothing at all.
The door clicked closed behind her, a loud sound in the palpable silence. She swallowed heavily, feeling her heart kick up its pace. He strode toward her almost leisurely, that gaze boring into hers, leaving no doubt to the sensual promise reflected there.
“Lock it,” he commanded, his voice low, deep.
Claire felt breathless. Witless. She’d lost all ability to formulate coherent thought. “What?”
“The door.” He smiled knowingly. “Lock it.”
Oh yes. The door. She shouldn’t lock it. In fact, she should open it and run away from the madness that gripped her whenever Logan was around.
Claire turned and flicked the lock.
Logan’s hands landed on her waist, and he pulled her back against the length of his powerful body. His arousal prodded her lower back. He buried his face in the side of her neck, pressing hot, wet kisses to her sensitized skin, trailing a brand with his tongue. She angled her head to give him better access, a moan escaping her.
His hand slid up the front of her shirt, unbuttoning it as he went. When he reached the top button and slid it from its mooring, he pulled her shirt down over her shoulder, kissing a path there. He nipped at her bra strap with his teeth, sending a shiver skidding through her. His hand found and cupped her breast through the lacy cup of her bra, rotating the nipple with maddening slowness.
“Logan.” His name was a plea on her lips.
“Does he make you feel this way?” he asked darkly, an angry edge to his voice as he continued to lavish her bare shoulder with his tongue, mouth, and teeth.
“Who?” Claire looked at his agonizingly gorgeous profile, confused.
He licked a path back to the curve of her neck. “Your husband.”
“What?” She stilled and turned in his arms, facing him.
Logan’s face was grim, his expression a combination of arousal and anger. “Your mother told me you reconciled with him.”
“She what?” Claire couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Of course we’re not reconciling. Wait a second. When did you talk to my mother?”
“Last night.” Logan’s grip on her had tightened, his face a frozen mask. “I called your sister’s house.”
Claire’s mind flew back to the previous night and her mother’s offer to answer the phone. She wouldn’t have done something so ridiculous, so meddlesome.
Yes, Claire realized as she studied Logan’s face, her mother had.
And there was no hope for it now, no evasion tactics available. “My mother lied to you.”
Logan was having a hard time swallowing that. She could tell by the look on his face. “Why?” His suspicious tone was laced with an angry edge.
“She’s desperate for Garrett and me to get back together. I keep telling her it’s useless, but she’s stubborn.”
The corner of Logan’s sulky mouth kicked up into a smile. He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek. “Stubborn, not unlike someone I else I know.”
