He shook his head. “I can’t. We’re in the middle of a huge ad campaign for Pierpont Hotels, we’re down to the wire on the sugar substitute ads, Scrubby Soap has us reworking our pitch, HRC Insurance just took us on board.”
“So delegate. Give everyone specific jobs, leave the next in line in charge, and go for a week. Just a week. You can swing that, Loge.”
He had Logan there, and the grin on Derek’s face said he knew it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Maybe the idea wasn’t so bad, supposing he could actually convince Claire to accompany him anywhere. The idea of having Claire alone and all to himself for a week sent a thrill coursing through his veins.
Still, he hesitated. Walking out for a week, leaving matters in the hands of his staff, would be a risky venture. He always scheduled his vacations around lulls in campaigns.
“I don’t know. Who will take care of Caesar?” Logan was stalling and he knew it.
As if on cue, Caesar strutted into the kitchen with a loud meow. He made a beeline for Derek, purring loudly along the way.
Derek chuckled and leaned down to scratch the cat’s head affectionately. “I will. He likes me better than you anyway. Can’t say I blame him.” He looked up at Logan. “Just stop being yourself for a change and do it. Christ, you don’t know how lucky you are to be in your position. You’re going to be a father, Loge. That has to come first. Even I know that, worthless fuck-up that I am.”
Logan drained his glass. “You’re right. Not the part about being a worthless fuck-up, but the rest of it.”
Derek looked startled at Logan’s capitulation. He’d obviously expected more rigorous objections before a concession. But Logan was beginning to realize success in business didn’t fill in the hollow void he’d felt all his life and continued to seek so desperately to fill. And neither did money, a mansion, or expensive cars, regardless of how fast they were or how badass they looked parked in his garage. Maybe it was time to reconsider his life.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” Logan said suddenly, an idea striking him with full force. “I’ll go on a vacation for a week, try to slow things down a bit, if you promise to stay here for a month.”
Derek made a face at that. It had become the proverbial vicious cycle with him to fly in for rehab, stay with Logan for a week or two, and fly back out to LA and all his addictions. Logan had always been loath to interfere in his friend’s life, but Derek was more depressed now than he’d ever seen him. It scared the hell out of Logan to think his friend couldn’t continue to live like this without killing himself.
“No offense, Loge, but I wanted to get back before the end of the month for a part in a movie.”
“I think you need to stay the hell out of Dodge for a while.”
Derek turned that over in his mind before nodding. “All right. It’s a deal. You go on vacation with Claire for a week. I stay here for another month. But you’ll be tired of me, I’m warning you.”
“Won’t happen,” Logan assured him.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Logan decided to wait until Claire stopped inside the parking garage before springing the question on her. She had unhooked her seatbelt and was reaching for the door when he caught her hand in his.
She looked over at him, clearly startled by his gesture. Rattled, he thought. He’d rattled her calm façade with just one touch. Her lips, a glossy pink this morning, parted, her eyes vivid blue. And just like that, Logan’s carefully practiced speech went straight to hell.
He leaned over and kissed her, as deeply and as hotly as he’d been wanting to ever since he’d gotten in her car that morning. He cupped her cheeks, caressing her delicately smooth skin. Her mouth opened to allow his tongue and he tasted the sweet vanilla flavor of her lip gloss. It was heady stuff. The feel of her, the taste of her, the scent of her, the tiny, breathy noise she made when he kissed her, all combined to make his senses reel. He was rock hard from one kiss, already envisioning taking her right here on level three of the parking garage where anyone could see.
Maybe he was going a little insane. Maybe it was just the effect Claire had on him. He pulled away, staring down into her sparkling eyes. “I have a vacation scheduled next week,” he told her, the words sounding abrupt even to his own ears.
A frown wrinkled her brow. “What?”
“I wasn’t sure if I could get away, but I think it would be good for me.” He paused, allowing his words to register in her mind. “I want you to come with me.”
Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. She was clearly taken aback. Logan had never seen Claire speechless before. The urge to chuckle rose within him at the charming look on her face. God, she really was adorable.
“What? Where?” She shook her head vigorously, as though trying to break a spell. “What am I saying? Of course I can’t go away with you next week. It’s my last week of working at LM and I have tons of loose ends to tie up before—”
“I was hoping you might want to rethink that,” he broke in. “You know I’d love to keep you on as creative director. Now that I know about the baby, there’s no reason for you to hide from me.”
That got her back up. Her eyes snapped at him and her face flushed. She looked exceptionally gorgeous when she was pissed, he decided, unable to tear his eyes from her.
“I wasn’t hiding.”
Logan wanted to argue with her on that, he really did, but he also recognized that doing so would put the kibosh on any hopes he entertained of convincing her to go on vacation with him. So he did something else, something infinitely better.
He kissed her again.
God, she tasted so good, so sweet, Logan didn’t want it to end. From the way Claire clung to him when he finally came up for air, neither did she. She looked dazed, her lips swollen. All argument between them was forgotten. For the moment, anyway.
