Best Man With Benefits (McCade Brothers 3)

“Says the successful headhunter,” he replied, hoping to turn the conversation back to her. “You looking to poach one of my executives?” Then, because he caught a glimpse of Sophie looking up at Brock with her big, bottomless brown eyes before they moved out of his line of sight, he spun Regan around.

Regan’s moves were as smooth as the rest of her. She smiled and commented that she didn’t know enough about his business. He recognized it as an invitation to dive into a topic she assumed he’d be interested in discussing, but he couldn’t make himself play along, so he volleyed the conversational ball back at her. “Professional curiosity, of course?”

She really was smooth, or his rough edges were showing, because she picked up on his reluctance and changed course completely. “Maybe I’m considering taking up mountain climbing?”

He nearly burst out laughing at the image of Regan trading in her sky-high heels for a pair of flat, utilitarian climbing shoes and ruining her manicure scrambling up a slab of granite. She couldn’t care less about climbing. Obviously, she just wanted him to talk, and God help her, she’d hit upon a subject he could discuss until she snored. “In that case, let’s skip the business talk and get right to the good stuff.”

She smiled eagerly. He glanced over at Sophie and found himself the recipient of a brooding look. He took a small, perhaps petty measure of satisfaction from her reaction.

He returned his focus to Regan and launched into his standard spiel about the different types of rock climbing, the equipment, and the best places to climb. From the corner of his eye he watched as Sophie said something that made Brock laugh. She glanced his way again. He didn’t know what her game was, but he figured two could play.

He leaned closer to Regan and said, “But this is all theory until you get up on the wall,” which would happen sometime between “hell” and “never” if her expression served as any indication. “I don’t know much about what gyms are the best in New York, but if you ever end up on my side of the States, I’ll take you up.”

Regan stretched her pretty mouth into a smile that didn’t quite hide the no-freaking-way look in her eyes, said, “Oh, that’s so sweet of you,” and then went up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Chapter Ten

Sophie hissed in a breath as Regan put her lips on Logan. Apparently she also dug her fingers into Brock’s arm because he made a noise that sounded almost like a growl. She let go, and stepped back, all too aware she felt like growling, too. The apology that sprang to her lips died away when a quick look at Brock told her his growl had nothing to do with her clutching his arm and everything to do with the kiss between Regan and Loga

n.

How could Logan spend all morning taking her on his own special version of an Outward Bound adventure, telling her how much he enjoyed spending time with her, and then stand there in the middle of a ballroom, smiling that Mr. Perfect smile while Regan put the moves on him? How could she have ignored her own inner voice—the one that had been insisting all along something about his attention didn’t add up, and that it was only a matter of time before somebody more confident and outgoing caught his eye? How could you have let yourself fall for him?

Before any part of her could bother to deny she’d fallen for him, commotion erupted on the other side of the ballroom. Christine yelled at Tyler, poked him in the shoulder, and yelled some more while Kady stood between them like a referee between two battling coaches. Finally Tyler stalked off in one direction, and Christine hobbled away in the other. Kady lost it and burst into tears.

Apparently even smart, tough, slightly intimidating soon-to-be-sister-in-laws had their limits, and Kady’s ended somewhere around watching her brother and her best friend tear into each other mere days before her wedding. Sophie couldn’t really say why she rushed over to comfort Kady. She had Colt to lean on, and he was already running over, but maybe because her own frustration and disappointment were so close to the surface, she empathized. Kady had signed on for a fun-filled week with friends and family, leading up to what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead she’d gotten a bunch of drama and conflict. Sophie slapped a lock on her own conflict and drama and headed over to do whatever she could.

In the end, “whatever she could” didn’t turn out to be all that much. Kady was understandably upset by the scene in the ballroom, and Sophie didn’t have the first clue what had gone down between Christine and Tyler, let alone any idea how to fix things. She left Colt and Kady at their door with an utterly useless, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out.”

Right. Why would either of them take comfort from the platitudes of a woman whose idea of conflict resolution generally involved running away? That had to change. She stiffened her spine and marched to the elevator. New Sophie was extremely capable of speaking her mind, and someone was overdue for an earful.

When the elevator opened on six she steamed out and strode past her room and straight on to Logan’s. She raised her fist to pound on the door, then hesitated when a little voice in the back of her head whispered, What if he’s in there with Regan and they’re…

They’re in for a rude interruption… She banged on the door, and had her fist poised to do it again when the door swung open. Logan grabbed her by the arms and hauled her into the room. Before she knew quite what had happened he’d slammed the door behind her and had her backed up against the hard surface. Her breath rushed out in a startled gust.

“Let go of me,” she said and tried to shove him away. He didn’t budge an inch, but the press of his body against hers set five-alarm fires in all her vulnerable zones. She had a quick mental flash of her wispy new panties disintegrating from the heat.

“Whose attention were you after in that dress, Sophie?” His voice held a note of something primitive she’d never heard before, and certain overstimulated intimate muscles fluttered in reaction.

“Why do you care?” She couldn’t help scanning for signs of Regan, but she saw no evidence of the statuesque brunette. “Seems like you were too busy with Regan to notice anyone else. Where is she? Don’t tell me she’s come and gone already. How disappointing.”

“Regan?” He looked confused for a moment, and then…he burst out laughing. The jerk. Mild-mannered, introverted Sophie officially left the building and stands-up-for-herself Sophie slugged him in the stomach.

She might as well have punched a wall. He barely flinched, but her hand wept from the impact with his unyielding abs. Following instinct, she brought her throbbing knuckles to her mouth.

He drew her fist away from her lips and kissed it. “Feel better?”

“No.” She yanked her hand back. The bastard had the nerve to grin at her. The little groove appeared beside his mouth and she had an uncharacteristic urge to slap it off his face.

“How about now?” He snuck his hand under her skirt and stroked her sex through the microscopic panties that offered no defense whatsoever.

Her whole body tensed at the contact. The power of speech fled. All she could do was cling to his shoulders and stare up at him helplessly while the wet sounds of his long fingers sliding in, out, and around her private parts like he owned them filled the otherwise silent room.

A low, appreciative groan rumbled from Logan’s throat. He dropped his head until his lips were next to her ear. “Now I know why you’re so cranky. This little scrap of underwear you’ve got on is soaked. Must be very…uncomfortable.”

She’d bite her tongue before confirming, although obviously, her body was giving him all the confirmation he needed. That scared her, realizing what little control she had over her reactions to him. She was mad, damn it. She shouldn’t be holding her legs open and grinding against his hand like a desperate woman unable to resist his touch.

“This sweet little spot needs some TLC. Here’s the deal, Soph. You admit it was me you thought about when you got dressed this evening, and I’ll kiss it better.”