Crazy for Her (13 page)

The only way he’d known how to keep that from happening was not to be intimate with them. He’d done his share of kissing and a little fondling, but every time he had come close to breaking his vow, he had ended the relationship.

Funny how it had never occurred to him to think Maria would turn out like their mother. If he hadn’t fallen into whoring his way through life by now, the odds were high it wasn’t going to happen.

Mrs. Jankowski’s words had sunk in, and as he stared out over the ocean, he accepted the truth that he didn’t have it in him to be like Lovey Dovey. He gave a humorless chuckle. Too bad he hadn’t understood that years ago, because he wouldn’t be a thirty-year-old virgin. Yet he didn’t regret Dani would be his first. At least, he fervently hoped so.

He still wasn’t sure he was good enough for her. She was a princess and he was trailer trash. His lips curved in a smile. Mrs. Jankowski would box his ears for thinking that way. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Just look at what you’ve done with your life,” she would say
.

Logan turned and stared at the house he had bought two years earlier. He’d long dreamed of having a beautiful home on the gulf, one where he could walk out his back door and feel the sand warm on his bare feet or stand under the night moon and feel the breeze on his face.

Except for necessities and what he gave Mrs. Jankowski and Maria, he had saved every penny of his Navy pay. When he left the military after twelve years, he’d had enough for the down payment. The first thing he did was start looking for a house.

The minute he walked in the door, he knew it was the one. It was the one time in his life he’d been selfish. Because he didn’t want Maria, whose taste ran to craftsman style, or Mrs. Jankowski, who preferred traditional, to try and influence his decision, he hadn’t told them he’d bought a house until the final papers were signed. It was his house and he wanted a contemporary with clean lines and no clutter. As different from his past life as possible.

Looking up, he admired the tall windows reaching from the ground floor to the second. In daylight, the views from inside were spectacular, and sometimes he stood in a room overlooking the ocean and pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

What had Dani thought of it? Maybe his ego needed to show her what he’d made of himself, because he had wanted to be the one to take her on a tour, wanted to watch her face, to hear her comments.

Did she like it enough to consider living in it? She was a writer and could live anywhere, whereas his company was in Pensacola, and as much as he loved the mountains, he didn’t think he could bear giving up his ocean.

Getting ahead of yourself, here, Kincaid. She’s given no indication she wants your ring on her finger.
He finished the last of his beer, warm now, and went inside. Tomorrow, he would take her on a tour of K2.

Unable to sleep, Logan got out his copy of
The Countess Takes a Lover
and turned to the page he’d marked. A few chapters later, he stopped reading and stared out the French doors, for once not noticing the view. In the book, the heroine, Elena, wanted to be courted.

Did Dani? Was that a clue to winning her heart? Didn’t a writer, especially one who wrote romance, put their own desires into their stories, consciously or even unconsciously? Wouldn’t her hero act in a way Dani would want a man in her life to?

Believing he had stumbled on a way to learn her fantasies, he went back to reading, mentally noting all the things Jonathan did to make Elena fall in love with him. Because of his lack of experience with women, he could use all the help he could get. He stayed up half the night, and when he finished the book, fell asleep to ideas forming in his mind.

The next morning, he made a quick trip to the grocery store and then settled down at his desk, a cup of coffee in hand. At his best when he had a well-thought-out plan, Logan outlined a schedule for their time in Pensacola, along with notes on how to act and the things he needed to do. One thing that had caught his attention in Dani’s book was how much Elena loved Jonathan’s scent. Logan gave that a lot of thought.

For years, because of what he did, he had strived to have no scent at all. No one on his team was allowed to smoke, as the smell or the glow of a cigarette could result in being dead. They had also never used cologne, aftershave, or scented deodorant. But Elena loved Jonathan’s scent, so Logan made a list of some things to buy. Maria had given him a bottle of cologne one Christmas, and he could give that a try.

When he finished, he read over his notes and grunted his satisfaction. If his team knew he was planning a courtship with the precision and detail of a SEAL mission, he would be the butt of their jokes for years to come. He didn’t give a damn. Already he was having the time of his life and couldn’t wait to start.

Inclining his head, he listened to Regan cry. He smiled and shoved his courtship plan into a desk drawer. “Let the games begin.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

D
ani pulled a chair to the picture window and settled in to nurse Regan. “Enjoy, my little stinker, because starting tomorrow your breakfast is coming in a bottle.”

Regan gurgled her answer. Dani looked down and experienced a bittersweet moment. This was the last time she would nurse her daughter. “You’re growing up, sweetheart, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Regan grinned back at her without letting go of the nipple.

“You’re rotten, you know that, right?”

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” she said, expecting Mrs. Jankowski. Logan walked in with a cup of coffee in one hand and a yellow rose in the other.

Regan’s gaze shifted to Logan, and she let go of Dani and gave him a flirty grin. Dani lifted Regan and whispered in her ear. “You’re a little tease, but I really don’t blame you.”

“Gan,” Regan said, and reached for him.

Logan handed Dani the flower, and accompanied it with a gentle kiss on her lips. “Good morning.”

Oh, my
. She smiled at him. “Good morning to you.”

“Trade you.” He pulled a table next to her, put the cup on it, and took Regan from her.

Dani swirled the rose, pleased by the gesture. For sure, the man wa
s worming his way into her heart, and the silly thing was letting him in despite her mind arguing against it. She sipped her coffee. “Hazelnut,” she sighed, savoring the rich flavor of the coffee. “I was going to ask you to stop by the store today to pick some up.”

His gaze settled on her, his look curling her toes. “I know it’s your favorite, so I went out this morning and got some.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.” How sweet was that? Coffee and a flower delivered by a hot man. Great way to start the day.

“How’s my favorite girl?” He lifted Regan in the air and blew on her stomach, making her giggle.

“Are you asking me or her?”

He set Regan on the floor and came to Dani’s chair. Putting his hands on the back, enclosing her in, he stared at her lips. They tingled in anticipation. Slowly, so achingly slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. She wrapped her fingers on the arm of the chair to keep from putting her hands behind his neck and yanking him to her. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but soft and tender, one promising there was more to come.

Lifting away, he brushed his finger over her bottom lip. “I was asking the baby. I’ll get to you later.”

The air swished out of her lungs. God, she wanted to jump his bones. She’d always liked sex in the mornings, and if Regan hadn’t been playing at their feet, she would have probably dragged him to the bed.

Then she noticed something else. Other than when he’d showered using her bay soap, she’d never smelled a scent on him. “You smell nice.”

His smile was secretive, as if he knew something she didn’t. He picked up Regan. “I’ll entertain this one while you get dressed. If you like, I’ll show you around K2 this morning.”

“I would like that.”

“Good. Mrs. Jankowski will have breakfast ready in about thirty minutes.”

Dani finished her coffee and worked to get her breathing back to normal. When she thought her legs could support her again, she stood and glanced around the room. Spying a small vase on the dresser, she filled it with water in the bathroom and put the rose in it, setting it on the night table.

She dressed and headed downstairs. Logan’s house was amazing, and when she’d toured it the night before with Maria, she hadn’t been able to appreciate the incredible views from each room. It must be totally awesome to live right on the beach.

The first floor was open, with no walls between the great room, dining room, and kitchen. The furniture was classically simple; the off-white walls and accent colors of teal and peach were perfect for a beach house. Her favorite feature was the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The house and furnishings were obviously very expensive and not what she’d expected. Logan was full of surprises. She turned to the kitchen to see him watching her from a bar stool at the granite-topped island. Regan sat in front of him on the counter, banging a wooden spoon on it.

Lord help her. He was stealing his way into her heart, and she still didn’t know if she was ready for more than a romp between the sheets. Before she could allow their relationship to go past a hot affair, she needed to know if he involved himself in dangerous missions. She hoped to learn the answer when they toured his company. Taking a deep breath, she joined him at the counter.

Dani studied the nondescript brick building devoid of any signage. “I’m guessing the company name’s not on the building because you prefer to keep a low profile.”

“Correct. It’s not that someone can’t find us if they want to, but no need for the locals to wonder what K2 does.”

It was the same for the black Chevy Malibu with tinted windows they were in—not a car anyone would pay attention to. But she’d seen the classic Mustang and another Harley-Davidson in his garage.

How many women had he taken for rides in the convertible sports car or on the bike? For sure, she’d been way off base in her assumption of his financial status. Although she didn’t care if he had money, it eased her mind to know that they were on more equal footing than she’d thought.

When she reached for the door handle, he touched her arm.

“Wait.” Exiting, he came around the car, opened her door, and offered his hand. When she was standing in front of him, he twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and brought it to his nose. “You smell like flowers today.”

“Gardenias again.” He was behaving so courtly all of a sudden.

“It’s very nice, but I still like the apple pie one best. When you wear it, all I can think about is tasting you.”

Well then. Certain her leg bones had melted, she put her hand on his waist to steady herself. If he kept doing things like this, she just might decide to keep him.

Clasping her hand, he laced their fingers and led her to the entrance of K2. At the door, he stopped, and with his free hand he took his cell from his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. “Mrs. Jankowski,” he said. He answered and listened, then looked at Dani. “She wants to know if you would mind if she takes Regan with her to the grocery store.”

“That’s fine.”

After hanging up, he grinned. “Mrs. Jankowski doesn’t need a damn thing from the store. She just wants to show Regan off to her friend who works there.”

“Regan will love the attention.”

They entered the building, and it struck her that no one driving by would ever guess at the interior. Groupings of black leather couches and chairs and glass-and-chrome coffee tables sat on white, thick shag area rugs in the lobby. A receptionist sat behind a tall, red-tiled counter. The artwork on the walls was ultra modern, slashes of black, red, and yellow paint. Yellow and white orchids in chrome pots were scattered about the room.

“Wow, you have a great decorator.” The pleasure in his eyes at her comment caught her attention. “You?”

He nodded.

Another thought occurred to her. “And your house was also you?”

His cheeks turned beautifully pink. “Yes, but if you tell a soul, I’ll have to kill you.”

Oh, how marvelous, he was embarrassed. She let go of his hand and turned to face him. “My God, Logan, why not take the credit? Do you have any idea what it would have cost to pay a decorator to do this and your house?” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the receptionist watching them with rapt fascination.

“Because . . .” He glanced at the woman before pulling Dani to a far corner. “Because the guys would never let me live it down. And I didn’t just come up with the ideas on my own. I pored over every decorating magazine in the fucking world and tore out the pages of the rooms I liked. Everything you see is an idea stolen from someone else. What the hell would I know of good taste considering where I came from?”

Dani’s heart turned to liquid, and though she longed to cup his face with her palm, she was aware of their audience. This dangerous, intelligent, self-taught man still carried deep inside him the little boy unsure of his place in the world.

She leaned forward and whispered, “Even under threat of having my fingernails pulled off by a pair of pliers, your secret’s safe with me.”

The tightness at the corners of his eyes eased and his gaze lowered to her toes, which today were a bright red. “Toenails, too?”

She gave a slow, sad shake of her head. “Sorry, but those get threatened and I’m a blabbermouth.”

When he laughed, the receptionist stared at him as if she’d never seen him before. Good Lord, had the woman never seen the boss laugh? Come to think of it, Dani hadn’t seen him laugh much—even before Evan died. Sometimes he broke her heart. She could easily sink to the floor and cry a thousand tears for him and that little boy.

He took her hand. “Come on.”

At the counter, he took the pink message slips the receptionist handed him and put them in his pocket. “Barbie, this is Dani Prescott. If she ever stops by asking for me, notify me immediately.”

“Absolutely, boss,” the girl replied.

He leaned close to Dani, and in a stage whisper said, “You want to be nice to Barbie. She’s always got a gun on her and can shoot an acorn out of an oak tree from a hundred paces.”

Seriously, a gun-packing, blond bombshell named Barbie? There was definitely no gun hidden inside the silk blouse, and Dani didn’t see any bulge in the pencil skirt. Barbie must have seen her doubtful look because she grinned and lifted the skirt to show a gun strapped to the inside of her thigh.

Dani leaned over the counter to get a better look. “Wow, I want to be you.”

“Honey, there can only be one me in this world.”

Dani could believe that. She considered whether she should be jealous. The woman was drop-dead gorgeous with curves that would drive a man wild, but she sensed no sexual chemistry between Barbie and Logan. She was also pleased to see a wedding ring on the woman’s finger.

Logan’s cell phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Kincaid.”

While he talked, Barbie scrutinized Dani. “You’re the first woman he’s brought here, and from the way he looks at you, you must be special. You even got him to laugh, and for that, I like you. But if you hurt him, honey, I’m gonna kill you.”

Holy moly. “You know what, Barbie?”

The Barbie-doll assassin raised a finely arched brow. “What?”

“You scare the hell out of me.”

That was apparently the right thing to say because the woman gave a hearty laugh. “Then we understand each other?”

“Oh yeah. Under no circumstance hurt the boss.”

Logan finished his call, walked to the door, and put his index finger on a pad. A green light flickered on, and he punched in some numbers. “Welcome to K2,” he said.

As she took in the inner room, she saw it was totally different from the lobby. It was what she imagined a government situation room would look like. Maps covered one whole wall—some with different-colored stickpins in them. Were those places he had operations going on? Opposite the map wall were offices, all with glass windows, though some had the blinds closed.

Several men wearing headsets sat in the back, watching what looked like a team of soldiers in some kind of jungle on a huge screen. One of the men looked behind him and did a double take at seeing her. He leaned over and said something to the man next to him. The screen went blank, and they got up and went into one of the offices, closing the door and blinds.

“I didn’t mean to disrupt whatever it is they’re doing,” she said.

Logan put his hand on her lower back. “No problem, they have a smaller screen in the office.”

She liked the feel of his hand there. “What were they watching?”

He hesitated as if deciding what to tell her. “Here, I’ll show you.”

He led her to a large table in the middle of the room, to a digital map of South America, and pointed to an area near Ecuador. “Some missionaries were kidnapped and are being held for ransom. The team you just saw on the screen is going to try and rescue them.”

“I didn’t know you did things like that. Who kidnapped them?” She wished they hadn’t turned off the feed in the main room, as she would’ve liked to watch the rescue.