Playing with Temptation (8 page)

“Anything going on between you and Aaron?” he asked, a clipped note to his voice.

She deliberately rolled her eyes, making sure he saw her act of insolence. “He’s my employee and a friend, nothing more.”

“Good.” He gave her a hot, lingering, possessive stare that made her stomach muscles flutter and accelerated her pulse. “Do whatever you need to do work-wise. I don’t want to be a distraction or get in the way, so pretend like I’m not even here.”

Was he serious? As if ignoring the fact that he was in her store was even a remote possibility. He sauntered off to check out the placement of the security cameras and to familiarize himself with the layout of the store.

As she surreptitiously watched him, she saw the boutique through his eyes—the clean, modern design, the elegant, upscale décor, the luxurious, high-end items she carried and sold. She’d worked hard to make the place warm and welcoming and a comfortable environment for her customers. And despite those people who looked down on her for what she did for a living or judged her without even
knowing
her, she was proud of what she’d accomplished with Sugar and Spice. Seeing that Logan was impressed with the store, too, made her feel ridiculously pleased.

But Raina was a realist, and experience had taught her that while he might be initially fascinated with her and her shop filled with bondage toys and erotic lingerie, chances were that his intrigue would shift to embarrassment if he ever had to introduce her to his family or friends and had to openly explain that she owned an
adult
boutique that sold vibrators, anal beads, and sex swings. It was all well and good enjoying a bit of kink in private and on the sly, but she was a secret most men liked to keep well hidden.

She shook her head of those depressing thoughts and went behind the front counter to check the computer there, to see what kind of online orders had come in overnight. While her store held its own and turned over a nice profit, her website sales were nearly double the boutique’s, and it was almost time to hire another employee to help Callie with packaging and mailing orders.

Raina spent the rest of the day working on the floor, which she enjoyed the most since it allowed her to interact with her customers. Logan mostly kept to himself, but when the store was empty, he didn’t hesitate to peruse her inventory and seemed intrigued by the items located down the aisle displaying all things
bondage
.

Over the course of the afternoon, each one of her “Cocks and Cocktails” girlfriends stopped by the store…in the pretense of either needing something from the shop or just wanting to say hello, since their places of business were close to Sugar and Spice. But it became obvious that they were really there to check out and meet Logan, which told Raina that Paige had called each one to spread the news about her new bodyguard—who was also the guy she’d hooked up with at The Players Club. Much to Logan’s credit, he handled the ogling and each introduction with amusement and charm.

By the time the clock struck six in the evening, Raina was truly exhausted after the day’s events. She made her way to Aaron, who was stocking a shelf with some new leather riding crops that were becoming a hot selling item thanks to the popularity of
Fifty Shades of Grey
.

“Hey, Aaron, I think I’m going to take off for the night, if that’s okay with you?”

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a nod. “Absolutely, boss. I’ve got Callie and Desiree here until closing time,” he said of the other part-time girl who worked the evening shift. “So, we should be fine.”

“Thanks. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be home all night long.”

“On a Friday night?” he drawled teasingly. “Now that’s a shame.”

As if she had anywhere to go or anything to do. “You forget that I’m on lock-down until we figure out who put those handcuffs on my door.”

The corner of Aaron’s mouth tipped up in a devilish smile. “You can always have your
bodyguard
take you out. You can go let loose and have some fun, knowing you’re safe and protected.”

Aaron also knew about her night with Logan—Jesus, who didn’t?—and clearly had no qualms about pushing her and Logan together. “I’m sure Logan has better things to do with his evenings than to entertain me.”

Her manager arched a dark brow, his gaze gleaming with too much knowledge and a whole lot of humor. “From the looks he’s been giving you when you’re not paying attention, that man wants to
entertain
you, big-time.”

There was no mistaking the insinuation in his words or tone, but Raina chose not to reply to his comment. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Aaron.”

He grinned and winked at her. “Night, boss.”

R
aina drove to
her apartment building, with Logan following. She parked her car in her assigned slot, and per Logan’s instructions when they’d left the shop, she waited for him to walk to her car after he parked his own vehicle in the guest area. He knocked lightly on her window when he arrived, and she unlocked and opened her door to get out.

Now that it was dark outside, with only the building lights on and shadows in every corner, she was extremely grateful that Logan was there to walk her safely to her apartment and that Dean had insisted he also do a sweep inside her place just as an added precaution. His hand was pressed to the small of her back, keeping her close to his side, and while she’d always professed to be an independent woman, she had to admit that he made her feel safe and protected—and that was something she’d never felt throughout her life.

Having grown up with a father who was seriously bipolar and never stayed on his meds for long, she’d constantly been on the receiving end of his manic phases, which tended to lean toward the more aggressive, irritable, and angry types of mood swings. As a child, and even as a teenager, she’d been terrified by his rages, and during those episodes she’d always seemed to be the center of his blowups. His attacks had been more verbal than physical, but the fear he’d instilled had been just as intense and painful.

And with a mother who’d been weak and passive when it came to her husband, Raina learned very early on to do whatever it took to protect herself—and survive on her own when her father had thrown her out of the house with nothing but the clothes on her back.

She’d come a long way since that frightened teenage girl, when she’d sworn she’d never allow any man to control her life or decisions or strip away her dreams, as her father had done to her mother. Which was why she’d walked away from the only man she’d ever fallen in love with when he’d issued her an ultimatum that meant giving him all the power and control in their relationship.

It had been an excruciating decision, but she had no regrets. She’d never marry a man who couldn’t accept every aspect of who and what she was, and unfortunately she’d found it extremely difficult to find someone who was able to see past the Sugar and Spice businessperson to the heart of the woman who just wanted to be loved unconditionally.

“Did you tell Dean about the security cameras in the parking lot so he can check last night’s feed for anyone suspicious heading toward your apartment?” Logan asked, his deep voice bringing her back to the present.

“No.” She shook her head as they followed the walkway past the main entrance into the complex, then started up the stairs to the second level. “I was so unsettled this morning that I forgot all about the cameras around the outside of the building.”

“Once we get inside your place, I’ll call Dean and let him know. He’ll contact the apartment manager in the morning, explain what happened, and I’m sure they’ll cooperate. With luck, we’ll be able to get a glimpse of someone heading in this direction between the time you arrived home last night and this morning.”

Yes, she hoped so, too.

They reached her apartment, and she watched Logan’s brows snap into a dark frown as his gaze lit on the handcuffs still dangling from her doorknob. “After I know everything’s okay inside, I’ll go and see if the maintenance guy has some bolt cutters to remove the cuffs.”

“No need.” She dug into the side pocket of her purse and withdrew a small, flat silver key. “They look like the novelty handcuffs I sell at the store, so I took one of the keys from a set out of my stock. The keys for these things are fairly common and universal, so it should work.”

“Smart girl.” Taking the key from her, he inserted it into the lock. With a quick twist, the one side of the handcuffs unhinged, enabling him to remove them from the knob. Dangling the cuffs by his index finger, he gave her a slow, sexy smile. “I’ll just hold on to these. You never know when a pair of handcuffs will come in handy.”

The heat in his eyes told her that he wasn’t referring to capturing a perpetrator. She already knew he had a penchant for being in control and for restraining her, and the image of her being cuffed to her own bed while he pleasured her was enough to make her shift restlessly on her feet.

God, she’d never been submissive to a man, so why did the thought of being at Logan’s complete and total mercy cause her entire body to clench with need?

Trying to maintain her composure, she unlocked her door, opened it, then stepped inside and punched the code to disengage the security system. Logan followed her into the kitchen off to the right of the entryway, and she waited there, per his instructions, while he checked the rest of the apartment.

He came back a few moments later. “Everything looks fine.”

Which she’d figured since her alarm had still been set, but it was still nice to know that once he left, she’d be safe. “Would you like a glass of wine?” She needed one, if not two, after the day she’d had.

He shook his head and grinned. “I don’t drink on the job. But I’ll take a water if you have one.”

“Sure.” She opened the refrigerator and passed him a chilled bottle of water, then retrieved the unopened Moscato she’d bought a few weeks ago and a crystal wineglass from the cupboard.

As she extracted the cork and poured herself a generous portion of the sweet white wine, he made a call on his cell phone. Glass in hand, she walked over to the sliding glass door in her small dining area and pulled it open, allowing a cool evening breeze to sweep through the place and flutter gently against the skirt of her dress. Being on the second level of the complex, she had a lovely balcony and was able to see the ocean in the distance, even though she lived a few blocks away from the beach. The beautiful, peaceful view was one of the things she loved the most about her apartment.

She drank her wine while she listened to Logan’s deep voice as he talked. Judging by the conversation, Raina assumed it was Dean or Mac on the other end of the line as he gave them a brief rundown of the day, then told them to call the apartment manager to review the building’s security feed.

He answered with a few yeses and okays and finally disconnected the call. Slipping the phone into his jeans’ front pocket, he joined her by the open slider. He cracked open his bottle of water, guzzled down half of it, then glanced at her to share the details.

“Mac spoke with the manager at The Players Club, and the last complaint they received about a member was three months ago,” Logan told her. “Apparently, the guy had a problem stopping when his partner used the club’s safe word, and after two written warnings, the third time he was banned from the club and hasn’t been back inside since. So, whoever approached you last night, it was someone different.”

She exhaled a deep breath. “Okay,” she said, even though that didn’t give them much to go on, when she’d been hoping for some kind of lead.

He must have heard the disappointment in her voice, because he was quick to reassure her. “Mac wants to review the security feed around this building for last night and this morning to see if he can get a glimpse of the person who put the cuffs on your door. That might take a few days, so in the meantime, it looks like you’re stuck with me for a while.”

He winked at her, his light and playful demeanor chasing away some of the tension inside of her. Logan and the wine made for a great, relaxing combination. “My girlfriends will be thrilled,” she teased him right back. “You’re nice eye candy to have around.”

He chuckled, then moved so that he was standing right in front of her, tall, imposing, and sexy as hell. She wasn’t a petite woman by any stretch of the imagination, yet his height, the width of his broad shoulders, and his presence in general dwarfed even her. He tipped his head to the side, his eyes suddenly serious and very hot. The blast of heat—in his gaze and radiating off his body—was seductive and mesmerizing, as were his words when he murmured, “How do
you
feel about having me around?”

There was no denying the sudden shift between them, from discussing business one minute to him turning her comment into something far more personal and intimate the next. A wild, heated thrill flared through her, and she could feel her own traitorous body sway toward his, felt her nipples harden and her sex pulse in answer to his question.

“We’re not talking about you just being my bodyguard, are we?” she asked, unable to disguise the breathless quality of her voice.