Naughty, Naughty Prince Charming (Charming 1)

Helen looked at Lucy but her expression was curiously indiscernible. “Go pack, dear. Logan and I will be just fine.”

Her gaze moving from one to the other, Lucy wasn’t sure what to make of all of this. She threw her hands in the air and marched toward the bedroom. To make matters worse, she was almost certain she heard them laughing as she did.

Could her life get any more complicated?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Monday morning came way too fast. The weekend had been heaven and Lucy had wanted it to last forever and ever. At the inhumane hour of six o’clock in the morning, already dressed for work, Lucy sat in a coffee shop. Logan stood a few feet away at the register ordering their drinks.

Just an hour before, they’d been making passionate love. She sighed and propped her hand under her chin, supported by her elbow. The weekend had been amazing. Perfect. And now, it was…over. Logan left town this morning for the rest of the week. This should come with relief. It would be a cooling-off period. A chance for them to separate themselves from one another.

But even as she worked to bring herself back to reality, her thoughts drifted to the prior day, and she found herself smiling. They were both so excited about the BG account that they had actually worked through some of the presentation together. They laughed, and joked, but at the same time really made progress. Somehow combining work with their time together made what they were doing worse, yet, she couldn’t help herself. The shared excitement for advertising had taken hold and dominated. She’d wondered if he’d felt as she had. As if work intruding on their weekend somehow made it dirty or wrong. She almost laughed out loud at that. It was wrong.

They had spent Sunday seeing one of the new action flicks. A definite guy film, but she hadn’t minded. A chick flick would have just made her want to jump him in the theatre. As it was, she had struggled to keep Logan in check when the lights went down. Pigging out on candy and popcorn had been fun.

“You’re thinking way too hard. Save whatever it is until I’m out of town.”

Lucy looked as Logan sat down, sliding her coffee in front of her. She hadn’t even seen him approach, she’d been so deep in thought. Eyeing him, she reached for her coffee. “You still haven’t told me what you and my mother talked about.”

He smiled. “I’ll let you try and entice it out of me when I get back in town.”

Lucy frowned. “I’m serious.”

“So you’ve told me the other twelve times you’ve asked.” He winked. “You’ll just have to use your arsenal when I get home.”

She made a face. “I already tried that several times and it didn’t work.”

Logan laughed. “But wasn’t it fun?”

The warm sweet coffee touched her tongue. It tasted good but her stomach was doing funny things. She sat it back down, not so sure drinking it was a good idea. Logan leaving was bothering her more than it should.

Studying her, Logan reached across the table and touched her hand. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She sighed and looked up at him. The way he called her ‘sweetheart’ really tugged at her heartstrings. He did it a lot. That and ‘baby’ were his two endearments. “I don’t really know. I just feel…” How did she explain what she didn’t understand?

“I wish I didn’t have to leave,” he said, as if he’d read her mind. “I promised Bret I’d go to a fashion show they’re holding in Los Angeles.”

Lucy was about to respond when she saw the receptionist from Carlson walk in the door. She stiffened. “Oh God, Lori just walked in. What’s she doing out so early?” Lucy fixed Logan in an accusing stare. “I told you this was too close to work.”

Logan narrowed his gaze on her. “We’re dressed for work. It simply looks like we’re discussing the campaign.”

Lucy nodded, but she felt the truth in the churn of her already-upset stomach. “Right.” And she had some swampland to sell.

Logan pushed to his feet and dropped a couple of bills on the table. “Come on.”

Lucy looked up at him. Wouldn’t leaving make them more obvious? “Where are we going?”

Logan’s expression was indiscernible but she noted the flex of his jaw as if he was grinding his teeth. Then in a low, intense voice, “Somewhere where I don’t have to pretend I am not the man who made love to you all weekend long.”

Meaning delivered with a punch. She felt his words with the poison intended. He was mad. Lucy stood, not making eye contact with him. She felt the burn of reciprocating anger. They walked out of the coffee shop while Lori paid the cashier.

Her heels hit the pavement, accented the silence between them. The car was around the corner, out of view. For that, Lucy was thankful. Yet, with every step she took, her temper pitched a level higher. Logan held her door open for her, but still, they made no eye contact. It was all she could do to bite her tongue.