Best Man with Benefits

So much for playing it cool. A triumphant gleam danced in Regan’s eyes.

“Why wouldn’t I think that? Come on, spill. I can keep a secret.”

Maybe she should spill? This woman wasn’t a sociopath, for God’s sake. She was actually pretty nice. If Sophie confessed her feelings for Logan—whatever they were—Regan would most likely shrug, say, “good luck,” and set her sights somewhere else. But her phone rang before she could get her words in order.

She knew a reprieve when fate sent one, and grabbed the phone from where she’d propped it on the small shelf at the bottom of the treadmill’s display console. Colt’s name showed on the screen. She hit the pause workout button with one hand and engaged the call with the other.

“Yes?”

“Hi Soph. Sorry to call so early, but Tyler and Christine are missing. Nobody’s been able to reach either of them and nobody’s seen them since…”

His voice trailed off and she realized he was listening to something Kady was saying.

Uh-oh. “When?”

“At the scavenger hunt. Apparently they both headed out on one of the trails. Julie and Reed are already out looking for them. We’re going to meet in the lobby and organize a search party, just in case Julie and Reed can’t find them.”

Had they been stuck out on the mountain all night? “Oh crap, that’s not good. I’ll be right up.” She disconnected, told Regan what she’d just learned, and got busy gathering her stuff.

She had her hand wrapped around the door handle before she realized Regan wasn’t right behind her. She glanced back as she pushed the door open, and saw a wounded look on Regan’s face. Shoot. Had she said something wrong? Probably, but she didn’t have time to dissect their conversation right now and figure out where she’d gone awry, so she offered a simple, “It was…nice…talking to you.”

“Yeah, you too,” Regan replied, but as Sophie headed out of the gym, she wasn’t convinced.

…

Logan woke to a dark room, an empty bed, and the annoying sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand.

He ignored the phone and peered into the darkness. “Sophie?” No response, but the unrelenting stillness of the space told him she’d gone.

What the hell? She fucks me blind and then bails? After the marathon night they’d spent together, he honestly hadn’t expected to wake up before noon…or to wake up alone.

The nightstand clock confirmed it was too early to go pounding on her door demanding answers. Too early for phone calls as well, but apparently whoever was trying to reach him hadn’t mastered that particular etiquette lesson because his phone vibrated again. He picked it up, read the display, and tamped down on the geyser of guilt that immediately erupted in his gut at the sight of his best friend’s name. Okay, yes, this could be one reason she’d left before dawn, so her brother didn’t get wind of them spending the night together. He’d have to figure out how to break the news to Colt, because he fully intended to spend more nights with Sophie, and days, for that matter, and sneaking around wasn’t his style.

Neither was letting a call go to voicemail because he wanted to avoid a confrontation. He sat up and hit talk.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Logan. Sorry to disturb you at the ass-crack of dawn, but we’ve got a situation and I need your help.”

He recognized the tone in Colt’s voice, one that said, I’m not going to panic the woman standing beside me by saying this out loud, but get your ass in gear.

“What’s the situation?” He flung the covers off and stood, hissing out a breath as certain muscles balked at the sudden movement. Good God, had he pulled a groin? How long had it been since he’d lost himself in a woman, fucked her forward, backward, and sideways, until they’d fallen into bed, shaking and spent? Self-conscious Sophie had charmed and exasperated him at the same time, but once he’d pushed her beyond the bounds of her self-consciousness, another Sophie had come out—an unguarded, uninhibited Sophie—and he couldn’t get enough of her.

“Tyler and Christine are MIA,” Colt explained, his voice carefully neutral.

“Sure that’s not by design?”

“Doubtful, considering it looks like they’ve been missing since yesterday’s scavenger hunt. Kady remembers seeing them head for the North Trail. Julie and Reed are already out searching that route.”

Yeah, but dozens of trails crisscrossed the mountains behind the resort, ranging from easy, out-and-back loops to three-thousand-foot ascents that would take a skilled hiker the better part of a day. Without the right equipment and provisions, even two young, healthy people wandering around unfamiliar terrain could find themselves in a world of hurt.

“Anybody talking to Beaver Creek management about a coordinated search?”

“Not yet. I’m just stepping into the lobby.”

“I’ll be down in five.” He disconnected, threw on cargo shorts, a T-shirt, a hoodie—which he figured someone who spent a chilly night on the mountain might appreciate—and his cross-trainers. Not exactly mountain rescue, but he could carry a few bottles of water, some basic first aid stuff, and his phone.

He stepped off the elevator in time to see Reed come through the lobby doors, followed by Tyler, carrying Christine, and Julie hovering at their side. The small crowd of onlookers gathered by the reception desk—mostly the rest of the wedding party—immediately swarmed them. He made his way over to assure himself everyone was present and accounted for, and got the gist of the story. Christine had fallen off a trail late yesterday and hurt her ankle. She and Tyler had spent the night on the mountain rather than risk descending the slope in darkness. Reed and Julie ran across them at dawn as they were making their way down.

Tyler was a top-flight ER doctor, which meant Christine’s ankle was in good hands. He lowered himself into a side chair next to Brock, wincing as his muscles reminded him Tyler and Christine weren’t the only ones who’d had a busy night, and automatically glanced around for Sophie. She stood at the edge of the cluster of people surrounding Tyler and Christine, draped in a big T-shirt and leggings, her hair tugged back into a short ponytail and her temples damp with sweat. He figured she’d just come from a workout.

Her gaze darted his way long enough to tell him she’d sensed his attention. Was it his imagination, or did she blush a little? His phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it. The only person he wanted to speak to was standing three feet away. Did she suffer from any sore muscles this morning? He shifted in his chair.

“Buddy,” Brock drawled. “You’ve been spending too much time behind your fancy desk if a scavenger hunt leaves you sore.”

So much for finding a more comfortable position. Not taking his eyes off Sophie, he answered, “Yeah. It’s like somebody kicked my ass and left me for dead.”

Sophie’s cheeks turned as red as the roses in the flower arrangement on the reception desk. She sent him a flustered look before she moved to stand on the other side of the group. When the drama turned to what shoes the bridesmaids should wear now that heels were out of the question, Logan tuned out, but for some inexplicable reason, the shoe crisis sprang Brock into action. The guy was all, “Silver shoes. I’m on it,” and then he was gone.

The rest of the crowd parted to allow Tyler to carry Christine to the elevator. Sophie hurried after them. He rose to follow, but his phone vibrated again. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at a series of panicked emails from people freaking out about his unavailability. With his attention glued to his electronic leash, he sensed Colt approach.

He must have made some kind of long-suffering noise, because Colt said, “I could throw the damn thing down a ravine for you, but it won’t solve your underlying problem.”

Sad but true. Colt’s observation was all the more pointed because his friend spoke from experience. He’d founded a private security firm, and he worked hard to make it successful, but somehow he’d managed to carve out time to find the love of his life. And though Logan couldn’t be happier for Colt and Ka

dy, a small part of him envied them. And not just them. Marriage and fatherhood had turned his oldest brother, Trevor, a hard-assed homicide detective, into a baby-bouncing, lullaby-singing puddle of mush. His other brother, Michael, a stoic Marine Corps major, was happily married now, too, and he and his wife were busy feng shui-ing a nursery for their first child, due in a couple months.

After years of superficial relationships that always took a backseat to Defy Gravity, having someone to come home to—someone with whom to escape all the commitments and obligations of his professional life and just be himself—sounded pretty damn good.

But there was no reason to give Colt the satisfaction of admitting that. “Okay, Dr. Drew, what’s my underlying problem?”