Logan's Woman (15 page)

“Marly and him still get into it?”

“All of the time,” Blake laughed, taking
another chunk out of the apple. “Even when the world is about to
end, them two just scream and bitch at each other like they have
nothing else better to do.”

Nathan cut in. “So tell us about what’s
happening.” He was normally the mini- leader of the group, more
serious and tightly strung than the other men. Logan normally chose
him to get things taken care of - the other men would do it, but it
would take them twice as long because of all the arguing. Still, no
matter what, when it came down to it -- the men in front of him
were the best when it came to protection and intel.

“I know you’ve all heard about Senator
Campbell’s daughter dying in a car accident. It’s all over the news
right now -- especially since he is still planning to go on with
the campaign. Claire is set on leaving if anyone other than us
finds out who she really is -- and I won’t have it. I need you guys
here for backup until Wednesday.”

“What’s happening on Wednesday?” Nathan
asked.

Logan grinned, pushing a hand through his hair.
“I’m getting married.”

There was a dead silence.

And then the whole room erupted with roaring,
ear-deafening laughter.

Chapter 14

Claire heard the booming laughter, even from
her closed-off room upstairs. Logan hadn’t come up to get her --
were they eating him alive, like they were going to do to her? Her
eyes widened and she crept down the hall slowly, trying to cease
the creaking that emitted from the floors with a quick hush in its
direction.

The stairs were the most dangerous. The first
step she took had the stairs screeching at her, as if trying to
warn her to stay away from the kitchen. Feeling ridiculous, she
straightened her shoulders and mentally flipped the stairs
off.

Sitting in the kitchen were those
four big men...and Logan. Her breath rushed from her chest. So
he
hadn’t
been
eaten alive. In fact, he liked quite angry. His face was hard, his
lips pressed, his arms crossed over his chest. Only one of the four
men around the table wasn’t laughing, but even then you could tell
he was amused by what was happening.

Monsters didn’t laugh.

So they obviously weren’t monsters.

Feeling somewhat reassured, she gathered her
wits and stood straight, making sure she didn’t look too scared,
yet not too excited either. If she just acted naturally, they
wouldn’t think she was anything special and wouldn’t eat
her.

Resolved, she walked into the kitchen and went
to Logan’s side.

When he looked at her, all of his anger seemed
to disappear and a smile was growing on his face. Despite herself,
she smiled back and stood closer to him. He wrapped an arm around
her waist -- in front of them! -- and glowered at the men, who had
again started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” she whispered to
Logan, trying to make the fact that she was
hiding
from them
unnoticeable.

“I think the trip made them
tired...”

“Bullshit,” one said, snorting. “You know why
we’re laughing! I mean...c’mon, you? Getting married?”

Claire was about to feel vastly offended when
he continued, saying, “After the last time?”

She froze, but they continued
talking.

“And so soon?” another asked -- well, more like
roared. He was still laughing, along with the one who had first
spoken out.

“Logan,” she said slowly, pulling away from his
arm. “What does he mean, ‘after the last time’?”

Everyone went silent.

Even the two loudest men.

She turned snapping eyes at him.
“Well?”

He looked between her and his men, obviously
not knowing what to do. Then, with a sigh, he leaned down and
whispered in her ear, “I told you I was going to tell you
everything tonight. Before you start assuming things, just let me
explain...tonight.”

“Yeah, how about not?” she snapped, yanking
away from him. Wow. Of course. That’s why he was so quick to jump
the gun. “What number am I? And wouldn’t it be easier to take a
piece of the cake instead of the whole thing? Are you one of those
weird stalker-men that decides he has to marry the girl before he
sleeps with her? Then ditches her? What happened to the last one,
huh? Did you run her off with Madison or something?”

She’d forgotten that they had an
audience. All she could think about was the anger and betrayal she
felt. “What number
am I,
Logan?” Her cheeks were flaming with
shame.

“Claire. Calm down. I’ll --”

“Calm down?”
she gasped/shouted.

Just then, the intruding men stepped
in.

“Logan, man, you shouldn’t have said that
--”

“You really have a way with words. Listen
--”

“That bitch didn’t mean anything to him
--”

“Tried to take all of his money and leave
--”

“--he never really liked her--”

“--did it so his brother’s would get off his
back--”

“--they didn’t want to be the ones to get
hitched --”

“--so Logan and Christina got hitched
--”

“--and it wasn’t a really happy marriage
--”

“--she was always gone--”

“--out with some other man--”

“--and he didn’t care because he had
his--”

“cattle. And then --”

“the divorce--”

“--and as I hear it, you’re the first
one--”

“--to be welcome on his ranch since
then.”

When they finished cutting each other off, they
looked at her with pleased expressions -- at least, two of them
did. One of the two remaining men had a bored expression on, and
the other one had a stony, expressionless face.

“That’s Blake.” They gestured to who he was. He
had considerably lighter hair than the rest of them, and he had a
leaner build. Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t packing.

“Luke,” Blake said, and the said man nodded his
head at her, glaring at Blake. She noticed that he did that --
except for when they’d been arguing yet agreeing with each other,
he’d been glaring at Blake every other time. He was muscular, with
dark green eyes and a flop of hair hanging over his face. It was
thick and caught every single glare of the light, and his skin was
the darkest out of all of them. They looked like they had Indian
heritage -- or they just tanned a lot.

“Eric,” introduced Luke. Eric looked at her
indifferently, nodded, and then went back to sitting
there.

“And Nathan,” Blake gestured. She looked at the
remaining man, the one that had no emotional expression at all. His
eyes were unwelcoming, his face set in hard lines, and he had black
eyes. There was a story there, she thought, unconsciously scooting
towards Logan. She didn’t notice she had until she felt his arm on
her shoulders.

Claire didn’t pull away, even though she should
have.

“Or they can just do it right now...” he
growled.

“Well it’s true,” Blake pointed out,
bounding to his feet and going to the fridge. Claire watched him,
not knowing what to think besides that she felt
really
stupid -- and sad for Logan.
His first marriage hadn’t been with someone he’d loved--and neither
would his second. That is, if he found the right ring...and if he
even wanted her after she’d freaked out on him.

“And Luke and I are great with the ladies,” he
said, grabbing out a pig slice of pie and coming back to the table,
waving his brows at her. She felt Logan growl -- actually felt it.
His chest rumbled right beside her head, and she looked up at him,
suddenly sad.

Logan noticed and grimaced. “You guys come get
me when Glenda comes in. Should be in an hour or so. Do whatever
you want, but don’t bother me.”

“Or me!” Claire commanded. She didn’t need to
be eaten before she could apologize to Logan.

“Yes ma’am.” Blake saluted her then went back
to eating his pie. Already it was more than half gone.

The other four men didn’t so much as look at
her. And she was definitely fine with that.

Logan escorted her out of the room, and she
prepared herself.

For what, she didn’t know.

“So, Claire. Are you happy that you got that
all out?” Logan asked, closing the dor behind him as they entered
the study. She sat in the chair and he walked around
her.

Déjà vu, much? Feeling sick to her stomach, she
shook her head and looked down.

“Now, if you had waited for me
to
explain
everything to you before you made both me
and
you ridiculous, this could have
been avoided.” His voice was dark and quiet, dangerous. She
understood why he was in the marines now. She folded her hands in
her lap, not looking at him.

Guilt was heavy on her shoulders.

“Look at me,” he commanded, now sitting on the
edge of the desk that was in front of her. Feeling her cheeks heat
with shame, she lifted her eyes and bit her lip. He slipped his
hand into his back pocket, and pulled out the black velvet
box.

Her eyes locked on it. He
couldn’t
have found the
right one…

He held it in front her, his features dark in
the low lighting of the study. “You want this.”

“I just want to see if you guessed the right
one,” she said hesitantly.

He set it down on the desk, behind him. “Come
here, then.”

She stayed right where she was.
“Why?”

“Don’t you want to see if we’re getting married
or not?”

“We aren’t, Logan. It doesn’t…”

“Get off your cute little butt and come over
here.” This time, his voice was nothing but a growl. Shivers ran
down her back and she slowly got to her feet, the only reason being
because the heat and desire in his eyes bid her to. With her heart
in her throat, her mouth going dry, she took that step close to him
and his arms came around her waist, drawing her against
him.

“I think it’s time for some punishment. Teasing
me with the ring, that episode out there... Definitely needs to be
reprimanded,” he whispered, brushing his nose against her hair, his
hand sliding up her back and pressing her even closer against
him.

She felt one of his hands leave, and
then a sharp clap rang in the rough. Claire gasped, grabbing his
shoulders. “You did
not
just spank me!”

He nipped her ear, chuckling. “Naughty girls
need to be punished. And teasing me is definitely being
naughty.”

“I wasn’t...teasing you...”

“With the ring? Yes you were.”

“I...really wasn’t,” she gasped as he kissed
down her neck, bending her over his arms until he had to twist them
around. In one second, her butt was on the desk, her legs around
his waist, and his mouth was ravishing hers. With a lusty,
surrendering sigh, she kissed him back.

Chapter 15

Claire pulled back from him sharply,
eyes going wide. “Logan, I’m not into spanking…”
Liar
. She’d never expected
to like it, but she definitely had. Even still, her ass stung – but
with pleasure. She took a shuddering breath, even as Logan pressed
her into the table, his hands moving to cup her neck.

He made her stare him in the eyes. “Do you want
to see the ring?”

“Yes,” she whispered, waiting for him to lean
down and kiss her.

He didn’t. Instead, Logan reached behind her
and picked up the small, velvet box. Her heart hammered.

God I hoped he picked the right
one
.

She didn’t have time to ask
herself
why
she
hoped he had picked the right one, because the next thing she knew,
Logan was kissing her deeply, smoothly. His tongue opened her
mouth, meeting hers. She gave a sigh and tried to wrap her arms
around his neck. He wouldn’t let her. Instead, he held tightly onto
her hand.

His mouth moved over hers like silk, causing
tendrils of heat to slide over her skin, through her body. She
whimpered softly when he pulled away.

And then held up her hand to her
face.

Her breath rushed from her chest.

She could feel Logan staring at her,
but she didn’t know what to say. What could she?
I do
? Before she could
react or even give him something close to a full sentence, he
pecked her lips and murmured, “Glenda and you will go dress
shopping tomorrow.”

She nodded numbly. “How did
you…know?”

“My powers of deduction are what got me into
the military so quick,” he explained, tacking on, “That, and my
amazing body. Too bad we have to wait…”