Roses For Sophie (12 page)

The first rays of sunlight had long filtered into the bedroom and Sophie slept safe, secure and settled on Logan's bare chest. Her steady breathing, with the occasional cutest little sigh, assured him there'd be no need for a coroner's ruling this morning, despite the number of orgasms she'd had through their long night of lovemaking.

Logan hadn't awakened with a woman in his arms since Celine. He was used to kissing his lovers goodbye as dawn broke. Daybreak had come and gone and not only was he still in bed, but he was enjoying just lying with Sophie.

Thankfully, he was officially on a three-week vacation — his first ever. He'd taken the leave to establish himself back in Australia and to prepare for the court case. Whilst there were still a few business matters he had to attend to, and his phone had already rung a couple of times for work, the next few weeks were going to be at a far more relaxed pace than his usual frenetic sprint through each long day.

Even though it could be said that he both worked and played hard, somewhere along the way he'd forgotten how to truly unwind. Scott and Kathleen's deaths had made him realise it was time to slow down. It would be necessary to hand over more of his corporate responsibilities once he had custody of Charlotte so he could make time for her. Being with Sophie made the thought of having more leisure time even more attractive.

Although he was used to dating women who were both beautiful and smart, Sophie had qualities he just couldn't define that drew him. Instinct urged him to treat this relationship differently. Sure, she was the woman he was trying to convince to become his wife — for Charlotte's sake — but there was an elusive quality about her that captured his interest in a more intense way than he'd experienced before.

Hell! No other woman had inspired him to search the Internet for the meaning of rose colours. Worse, he'd admitted it to her! What on earth had possessed him to do something that could be misconstrued as a romantic gesture? He was sure he didn't possess a romantic bone in his body. Any that might have existed once had been crushed by Celine's betrayal. God forbid that Sophie should start getting any romantic notions about their relationship because he didn't want to mislead her into thinking he was capable of that type of emotion.

If he thought logically, he decided he'd only done it because she'd erected some thick defensive barriers and something extra was called for to penetrate those walls. The concept of having to work hard to impress any woman was entirely new to him. At least, if her body's reactions and sighs of pleasure had been anything to go by, he'd sure succeeded last night.

But was it enough?

Last night had been unique in many ways. Not only had the lovemaking been extraordinary, but they'd really talked. Sophie had said he got her to open up and speak about personal things she didn't discuss with anyone else. That went both ways. Apart from the official reports he'd had to give to law enforcement following his capture, he'd never spoken to anyone except Melissa about his ordeal as a hostage. Even his sister had needed to wring the details out of him because he hadn't wanted her to know the truth of all he'd endured during his capture. Sophie had a way about her, and he'd found that out as he spoke about being held captive, some of what he was voicing occurring to him for the first time.

As well as the traumatic ordeal he'd faced, he'd told Sophie about his desire to help the African people and relayed his impressions of the people and harsh beauty of the land that had stayed with him long after his travels to the continent.

A close bond was developing between them that he'd never shared with any of his other lovers and it was happening with the speed of a fire spreading through dry bushland.

Waiting for Sophie to awaken and anticipating her slumberous eyes looking up at him through her lush eyelashes made him strangely replete. It came as no surprise to him that she'd shelved their dinner plans in favour of them becoming lovers — the sexual awareness between them was constantly buzzing and arcing. If he had to get married, Sophie would suit him very well.

He knew she wasn't after his money, their sexual compatibility had blown him beyond the stratosphere and he couldn't see himself getting bored with her in bed any time soon. Apart from just the physical, she stimulated him in every way. Sophie was no pushover. She was a smart woman and they'd already proved just how well they could communicate together. She'd also understood Charlotte's plight. No doubt about it, Sophie was the one for the role. Even Melissa had been ecstatic when she'd met him for a coffee and he'd told her about how the evening at Centrepoint had panned out. Melissa had told him firmly that the universe had made his decision for him, and that marrying Sophie Hamilton was his destiny.

Madcap Melissa and all her talk about fate and destiny! Logan believed in making his own destiny. He wanted to marry Sophie, so they'd marry. It was really very simple. He'd make it happen despite her resistance because it was for their mutual benefit, and he was certain she'd come to appreciate that and they could both be happy with the arrangement.

The silky softness of Sophie's hair brushed erotically against his skin as she shifted, raising her head to look up at him. If anything, her eyes looked even greener this morning.

‘Hi.' Her voice was a little deeper as she spoke through sleep-thickened vocal cords. Smiling, she levered herself up to plant a long, slow kiss against his lips.

He could definitely get used to this.

‘Good morning, sweetheart.' He kissed her again. ‘Do you feel as good as I do?'

Her smile widened, and a deep dimple formed in each cheek. ‘My limbs are languid and there's a little aching spot deep inside me that's starting to pulse its own Morse code message.'

God she was sexy, and her eyes sparkled with vivacity.

His own voice was a little hoarse now as he asked, ‘Morse code? Hm. What does it say?'

‘That it wants to feel you there.'

He was more than ready to oblige. ‘I'm so glad there are no morning-after regrets.'

Her eyes widened. ‘Are you kidding me? After so many years of celibacy, my body's applauding my decision to live like a modern woman, and you,' she trailed a finger down his chest, ‘were the perfect choice.'

‘Oh, you feed my ego, baby.' He laughed.

‘Yeah, I can't help it. Here I'm supposed to deflate it and I'm pumping it up.'

‘Are we still talking about my ego?' he asked with a wicked smile.

She laughed. ‘You're bad, Logan Jackson. Handsome as sin and dynamite in bed. How did I get so lucky?'

‘Marry me, Sophie.'

Instead of agreeing, she pulled away from him so she was sitting by his side.

‘I'm going to tell you something because I feel I can trust you enough to talk to you,' she announced grudgingly.

‘You trust me and you like me.'

She raised her hands in a gesture of defeat. ‘Yes. Even though you are very annoying and arrogant at times.'

Logan smiled. ‘Trusting and liking are a pretty good start on such short acquaintance.'

‘Don't think you can distract me with that sexy, enigmatic smile of yours, either.'

She thought his smile was sexy
. That was one more point in his favour. He deliberately gave her another smile, which made her roll her eyes.

‘There you go.' He raised his hand and began ticking off his fingers. ‘You like me, you trust me and you're attracted to me.'

Her expression grew serious. ‘My engagement to my first fiancé, Peter, was based on attraction. It was ill-founded. I had the wool pulled over my eyes because, as I told you, he turned out to be a fortune hunter.'

‘You know I'm not a fortune hunter,' he declared.

‘Obviously. Neither was Jake, but my marriage to him was based on friendship. Jake's offer of marriage was set out in much the same terms as you're offering now. An agreement, rather than a proposal.'

For some inexplicable reason, Logan was very happy to hear that.

‘Jake and I were each other's first lovers in our late teens. We were comfortable with each other.'

Good. Comfortable was like an old pair of shoes. It was a lot less than he and Sophie had already shared.

‘That first youthful affair didn't last but our friendship did,' she continued. ‘Later, both of us were heartbroken over other relationships. Neither of us felt safe with love. We decided to give in to the pressure from our families and to settle for the friendship we had as a basis for marriage.' Her hands rested on his chest. ‘I'm telling you that all the trust and respect we had for each other, and the friendship we'd had for years, wasn't enough. Jake was still deeply in love with Amanda, the wonderful woman who is now his wife.'

Sophie didn't seem to be upset by her ex-husband's marriage, he noted with satisfaction.

‘There's another difference, then,' he pronounced. ‘Jake married you while he was in love with someone else. I'm not some guy on the rebound, and I'm definitely not carrying a torch for anyone.'

‘Jake and I realised we'd made a mistake almost before the ink had dried on the marriage certificate. Even though we'd been lovers, we'd both grown up. There was no passion in the marriage I had with Jake and it was hopelessly like being married to my brother.'

Was that relief that flooded through his system?

He smiled again. ‘As far as I'm concerned, all your arguments support my case. You know there'd be passion in our relationship. You can't deny you feel it. What I shared with you all night was in no way brotherly.'

She laughed.

‘How many times have you done that since we met?' he probed.

A furrow appeared between her eyebrows. ‘What?'

‘How many times have you smiled? How many times have you laughed?' His voice was low and deep as he added, ‘How many times have you come?'

Another delightful red flush stole over her chest and made its way all the way up to her cheeks.

‘I've also wanted to throttle you,' she shot back.

He laughed. ‘You see, you feel passionate when you're with me.'

‘You really are incorrigible.'

Serious again, Logan said, ‘Look at me and tell me you haven't felt more alive since we met than you have in ages. I know I have.'

‘Okay, Logan.' He watched the movement of her throat as she swallowed. ‘You know damned well I desire you like crazy. Last night was…' She shook her head, closed her eyes briefly, then allowed all her pleasure to show in her expression and shine from her eyes. ‘…something I want to repeat over and over again.'

‘Then —'

She raised one of her hands from his chest and gestured for him to stop and listen.

He waited for her as she seemed to try to find the right words.

‘You have to understand that you're also making me feel vulnerable, and all this talk of marriage is impossible. I can't believe the personal details you've drawn out of me in such a short time. I'm normally so guarded, yet I've told you things I haven't told anybody else and that…well…it simply makes me nervous.'

‘I'd say trusting me enough to open up to me is a positive.'

‘But —'

‘You know I'm not after your money. It's you I desire.'

Her face fell, and the finger that had been tracing patterns over his chest now pushed a little against his breastbone. ‘You may desire me but you need a mother for Charlotte and you're hoping this will work to our mutual convenience. My answer is still no to marriage, but I do want to be with you for as long as this lasts between us or until you find a wife.'

An unfamiliar sensation caught and twisted in his chest. He'd found a wife already.

He didn't want anyone else. Sophie was perfect for him. They were perfect for each other. Why the hell couldn't she accept that?

She leant toward him and kissed him before he could argue his case any further.

Slowly, he relaxed into her kiss, and told himself to stop thinking and just enjoy feeling. It wasn't difficult. Her skin was soft as he traced her curves with his hands. A quiver went through her as he trailed his fingers down her spine, swept each hand out to her waist then upward until he was cupping the weight of her pert breasts.

The look in her eyes was pure need and it excited the hell out of him. Shifting her body away so they were not in such intimate contact, she made room for her hand to move down so she took his pulsing shaft in a firm grip. Logan closed his eyes and bit back a groan as his body shuddered. Her touch was an invitation to pure sin.

‘Whoa, sweetheart. Again, so soon?' He borrowed her line.

A tinkle of laughter followed as she increased the pressure of her hand. ‘I think you're up for it.'

‘I wouldn't want you to think I'm a soft touch.'

The tip of her tongue darted out of her mouth and she ran it along her lower lip as she stroked him up and down. ‘Definitely not a soft touch. I'd say you're a hard man. Very hard.'

Reacting quickly, he flipped her onto her back.

‘Hey!' she protested playfully.

‘Didn't I tell you I was a make-things-happen kind of guy?'

Pushing back against his shoulders she reversed their positions again immediately. Grinning at her stubborn determination, he let her have her way.

‘I'd say you've just met your female equivalent, Logan Jackson.'

Logan watched as a smile of utter satisfaction spread across her face. She reached across to the top of the bedside table for a foil packet. ‘Just as well we both had a stash of these,' she said. ‘I had no idea I'd underestimated so much with my purchase. I'm going to have to find a different pharmacy today because I simply can't go back to the other one again so soon or they'll think I'm some kind of nymphomaniac!'

‘I like the sound of that,' he said with a wink.