“I’m beyond embarrassment.”
Indeed. Well it was okay for him. He was a man. He didn’t get slut status assigned because he’d been filmed having sex.
“Don’t you want to know if it’s true?” he asked, his fingers still gently stroking down the side of her neck. “What I’m thinking when I look at you?”
Wordlessly she shook her head. He was playing games with her. But she was responding like it was real. And she wasn’t beyond embarrassment. “D-d-do you honestly think we can get away with this?”
Could she get away with staying here and survive this kind of tease?
“Sure.” He nodded. “I don’t think there are going to be any problems at all.”
Chapter Seven
#NeedAColdShower
Cold shower. Now.
Logan locked himself in his bathroom and turned the faucet on full. As he stripped, his skin tingled at the thought of her undressing in the room down the hall. He stepped under the stream of water, soaped his straining cock with a grimace. So turned on.
Min Jones was sexy as—the way she’d eaten him with her eyes when he’d touched only her neck? He hadn’t felt sexual attraction—or amusement—like this in longer than he cared to admit.
But if he acted on impulse now he’d only prove her poisonous judgment.
Sex addict? No Ma’am. He’d gone days, weeks even, without sex. Much of the scandal surrounding him was exaggerated. Well, some of it. But damned if he was going to try to convince the uptight Victorian Miss of that. Why should he have to?
Because she’d also looked like she expected him to pounce on her like a lascivious villain in an off-Broadway musical. She’d been waiting for him to.
Well she’d be waiting a while. He might be attracted to her but he wasn’t an animal. He had control, didn’t he? Clearly she didn’t think so. For that, he was going to have to tease her—teach her not to judge.
In those first few hideous days after the sex tape went viral he’d lain low. He’d not shaved, had super-glued a cap to his head and worn it tugged low over his brow the few times he’d ventured out. It hadn’t been fun. But the prospect of staying indoors now?
Lots of fun.
Stepping out of the shower he hooked a towel round his hips and went through to his office. He picked up the phone he’d been ignoring for hours. Hundreds of messages waited but he didn’t stop to read any. As he walked back to his bedroom, he touched a name.
“It’s me,” he said.
“Finally.” Connor spoke abruptly. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Nothing. I’m fixing things.”
“Fixing things how?”
“My way. It’s okay.” He didn’t need his kid brother riding in to take care of the situation. Not this time. Connor had enough to do. “How are the plans for the weekend coming?”
Logan was dreading that freaking anniversary party. Dreading seeing his father for the first time in years. His mom. How hideous they were together.
“Okay I guess. With this old trouble rearing up with dad... it’s a sensitive time Logan, we don’t need any distractions.”
“I know that.” Logan’s hackles lifted at the mention of his father. At the implication that Logan would only exacerbate those problems. “This won’t be a distraction.”
He’d be super good. Stay in the background, quietly show his lovely fiancée around the family estate. All lovely and proper and scandal free.
There was silence. A sigh. “So, a fiancée?”
“You’ll like her.” Logan figured that’d be true. Min appeared to work hard and Connor was all about work ethic.
“Will I?”
Logan went to the door, opened it to look down the hallway. Dark. Silent. Min Jones was probably already in bed and asleep. He closed the door quietly again and headed to his bed. “Yeah. Hold tight with me on this Con, it’s gonna be fine.”
He’d keep his head down over the engagement nonsense until the interest died down. Then he was moving on. No more ‘public persona’ crap. He’d oversee the clothing company, invest in other projects he liked to find, hang with the guys. Be normal. And that was it.
“You’re really engaged? Like, for real?”
It only just seemed to dawn on Connor now.
“You’re really surprised?” Logan mimicked his brother. He lay on his bed, flicked off his light and grinned bitterly in the darkness. Yeah, Connor would never believe it. No one would.
“It’s very… unexpected.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.”
“I’m not worried about you letting me down. I’m worried about whether you’re happy.”
No Connor wasn’t. What he cared most about was keeping Summerhill going from strength to strength. Logan understood that drive—it was what Connor had poured himself into to avoid the hell at home. Logan had simply run away. But Logan owed Connor.
“I am happy,” he aimed to reassure. “Be happier once your deal is done and the weekend’s over.”
“I think we’re going to pull it off. As long as there are no unforeseen dramas.”
Logan didn’t need Connor to spell it out yet again. “No dramas this end, I already told you. Think about it Con, what better what to keep everyone distracted than with my happy news?” This way no one would notice the underlying tensions. “The rest of the photoshoot went well by the way.”
“Okay,” Connor sighed. “I appreciate that.”
“Yeah well, we have to make the most of our assets, right?” He flexed his tense shoulders. To be the pretty face? So not fun.
“You know they’ll want a glamour couple.” Connor said. “Your girl up to that?”
Yeah, everything in the Hughes empire was about appearances. Even for Connor.
Logan thought about Min’s ancient tee-shirt and stained fingertips and bit back a smile. But every woman wanted a makeover, right? To be a princess for a night. She’d love it. And if there was one thing Logan could do, he could manufacture an appearance. “Sure. Leave it to me.”
“Okay then. See you Thursday night.”
“You really need me a whole day and a bit early?”
“Logan—”
“Alright fine, I’ll be there,” he interrupted, guilty already just from the tiredness in his brother’s tone.
“Thanks.”
Logan ended the call. He was the one who ought to be offering the thanks.
An h
our later he shifted position for the fortieth time, trying to find a comfortable way to get to sleep. Impossible given the hard-on he had—and the inappropriate thoughts. Min Jones occupied his mind. Min with her expressive eyes and amazing hair and unrepentant distain.
In the end he gave up trying to restrain his mind and just fantasized about everything he’d do to her if she ever said yes. If he ever decided to forgive her judgment.
Four hours later, when dawn was still a good hour away, he texted Rocco. He needed to burn energy. Badly.
Running now. 15 miles. Usual circuit.
Fifteen minutes after that, three of his best friends caught up with him.
Rocco, Xander. Hunter.
Loyal. Reliable. Competitive.
A pre-dawn race? No stopping them.
“No turning up unannounced for the next few days.” Logan instructed them and pushed his legs harder. He felt like crap. Hadn’t had anywhere near enough sleep. Hadn’t had any.
“You can’t announce your engagement to the world and not expect us to be curious,” Rocco answered running way too easily and fast for Logan’s inner wanna-be-the-winner.
Logan glanced at Hunter who was running on the other side of him. Hunter had prepared the background security check on Min. Or at least one of his minions had. But Logan knew Hunter would’ve read the report at least three times in the twelve hours since the news of Logan’s ‘engagement’ broke. Their eyes met. But the security specialist said nothing.
Good man.
Hunter would take other people’s secrets to the grave. That’s why he was so good at what he did. Because no one knew for sure just what he did. Not all the time.
“I need some space,” Logan puffed.
“We need answers first.” Xander, Logan’s cousin, piped up.
“We met and that was it. Love at first sight.” Well the other ‘L’ word was true.
“You really expect us to believe this. Twenty-four hours ago you were looking like some vagrant who was trying to evade the authorities. I had to bribe you to agree to go to that party last night. You’ve hardly been out wowing the ladies. Where’d you meet her?” Rocco demanded answers.
“Through Tyler.”