by Kadie Scott
A little devil prompted her to slide her hands up her body, palming the cool weight before plucking at her already tight nipples, sending sensation to her core, making her thighs tremble.
Logan took a jerking step forward, but she shook her head and he stopped. “Your turn,” she insisted.
And then laughed as his boxers came off faster than any piece of clothing so far, his hard length springing out, thick and ready, and… oh my.
His urgency reached across the space between them, wrapping around her, and Carter hooked her thumbs in her panties.
“No.”
She paused at the harsh command.
“I want to,” Logan said. Then closed the distance between them and kissed her.
Finally.
Carter sank into him, opening her mouth under the demand of his lips, tangling her tongue with his—tasting him, breathing him in, and letting herself float away on a sea of wanting.
Good Lord, could Logan kiss.
His firm lips both demanding and compelling at the same time, seducing her with every touch.
Teasing fingers moved over her ribs to whisper along the underside of her breasts, toying with her. Carter made a little noise of frustration, moving against him restively, wanting his hands higher. Or lower.
He grinned against her mouth, then slid his hands around to her ass, pausing to mold her, the same teasing fingertips just short of where she wanted them, tantalizing and damn frustrating. Before she could make another noise, he lifted her up like she weighed nothing. Not even a grunt of effort from the man.
Instinctively, Carter wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his broad shoulders. Logan’s erection was pinned between them, pressed against her where she needed most, the heat and fiction right there. She undulated her hips, rubbing against him, wanting her panties, still on, to be gone. Logan groaned against her lips.
Good. She wasn’t the only one needing more here.
Only he didn’t move, just held her there, driving her crazy with kisses that seemed to sear her insides, and slow sultry touches guaranteed to set her to throbbing with need.
“Please,” she murmured. Not quite to begging, but damn close.
“Why the hurry?”
She could hear the smile in his voice.
“I need you.” Inside her. Making this building pressure pop like a balloon blown up beyond its limits.
“We have all night.”
“Uh-uh.” Carter shook her head, then trailed her lips over his stubble-covered jaw to his ear. “Fish. Or cut bait.”
A surprised laugh punched from him, and she couldn’t resist leaning back to grin down at him, and the air silently whooshed from her at the sight of a very real, very sexy grin. Logan never gave a full smile, let alone a grin, and she loved the way his smile made his eyes crinkle at the corners, lightening the gold flecks in his eyes.
“Bedroom?” she asked.
Logan shook his head. “We won’t make it.”
Carter squealed as he suddenly turned and tumbled her to her back on the couch. He took about two seconds to divest her of her panties, leaving her thigh-highs and heels on.
“I really wanted to take my time with these,” he said, in a voice laden with such disappointment that Carter giggled.
“I’ll put them back on before the next round, and you can take your time then.”
“I like that idea.” He dropped them, then picked up his own pants, fishing out his wallet and a condom. He might’ve broken speed records rolling it down his straining length. In seconds, he joined her on the couch, and Carter loved the weight of him, the heat of him. The subtle scent of his cologne and the tequila still on his tongue.
Possessing her lips in the totally focused way of his she could easily become addicted to, Logan slipped his hand between them, slipping a finger through her folds, testing her readiness, and groaning as he found her more than prepared.
Then, still kissing her, he managed to align himself at her entrance. Logan paused, lifting his head to stare at her, so serious, despite the way his chest was heaving. “You’re sure?” he asked one last time.
“Yes.”
She’d hardly got the word out and he was sliding into her, pulling a moan from both of them.
Full seated, filling her up in the most exquisite way, Logan flashed the breath-stealing grin at her again. “Carter Hill.” He shook his head. “I knew the first time I saw you that you were going to be trouble.”
Before she could respond, he moved his hips, and she lost her words as with careful strokes, and with every kiss and every touch, he built a beautiful pressure inside her layer by layer. Logan drew whimpers and sighs from her lips as he brought her body to the edge of the precipice and then held her there until his own body started to shake. Kisses grew more urgent, his strokes faster and less controlled.
A tingling built inside her that coalesced and then exploded out from her core in glorious waves of sensation. At the same time, Logan shouted his own completion, driving into her relentlessly, drawing out her orgasm as he rode his own.
Then slowing, a gorgeous lethargy making her boneless and limpid as he eased their bodies, then stilled, buried inside her.
Carter opened her eyes to find him watching her with an expression that stole her breath all over again.
An expression shuttered so swiftly, she blinked and wondered if she’d been imagining it. Logan kissed the tip of her nose, then got up to dispose of the condom.
Before she had time to get into her head or get awkward, he returned, grabbed her panties from the floor, and scooped her up, carrying her down a hall and into what had to be his bedroom. Still holding her, he threw back the covers and laid her down, then held out his hand, the black satin and lace undies dangling from a fingertip. “I believe you said something about getting to take my time with these?”
*
Logan stared at the lightly tanned expanse of Carter’s back as the early morning sun poured into his room from windows he’d forgotten to draw the blinds on last night. She had tan lines already, probably did all year, thanks to her work often keeping her outside. Her silky dark hair spilled over his white pillows, and memories of tangling his hands in her tresses as he’d kissed her and possessed her body assailed him.
I’m well and truly fucked.
A coworker. Of sorts. Which fell in the category of totally unprofessional. A friend, too. A no-go area any person with an ounce of self-control knew. In addition, Carter was not like most of the women he slept with. Women who knew the drill. A relationship wasn’t in him. He’d learned that lesson too well.
It wasn’t like he could blame the tequila, either. The drink had been in his system barely ten minutes when he’d dragged her out of that restaurant. No. Good old-fashioned, possessive as hell jealousy had been the driving factor in where he’d ended up this morning.
Just the thought of her inviting that Scott guy into her bed, and Logan had discarded all his careful control faster than a Texas tornado could appear.
But that wasn’t why he was in trouble. What had panic sprinting through his veins on a wave of adrenaline was the fact that he wanted to wake her up and keep her there all damn day.
Wrong on so many levels, he didn’t know where to start. With work for one. He needed to practice his closing statement. He should be focused. Nothing ever distracted him from his work. Ever.
Which made Carter Hill dangerous.
With a little wiggle she flipped over. Her dark lashes fluttered, and Logan steeled himself for the conversation they should have. Carter took a while to finally open her eyes, then yawned and rubbed at her eyes like a child in a way he found inexplicably sweet and sexy at the same time.
Sweet. Shit. Get a grip man.
After a second, she seemed to realize she wasn’t in her own bed because she frowned at the ceiling for a beat before turning her head to spear him with her blue-eyed gaze. Carter blinked at him owlishly for a moment, then grinned.
“You sho
uld see your face right now, Counselor.”
What about his face?
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Logan. I’m not expecting you to go down on one knee or anything. Although I am a spectacular catch.” With that bald statement, she threw back the covers and got out of bed. Seemingly unaware or uncaring of her naked state, she went about finding her clothes, wandering out to his living area where most of them still lay and pulling them on.
Logan pulled on his boxers to follow and did his damndest to keep his eyes above shoulder height, otherwise his dick was going to give him away. Meanwhile, he had no clue what to say to that opening statement. Did this woman do nothing the way he expected her to?
After a second, she shot him a raised eyebrow look of askance. “Don’t we need to get into the office before you’re due in court? You’ll have to take me by my place so I can at least change first.”
Right. Shit. She’d scrambled his brain again.
They dressed in silence and were downstairs and in his car before he finally spoke. “Should we talk about this?”
He felt more than saw her turn her head to stare at him. “I don’t see why,” she said. “You’ve obviously hit the regret phase of things. We both got to scratch an itch. Let’s just leave it at that. Back to friends?”
Her voice was light, breezy even. As if she was discussing recipes for Sunday dinner. And Logan should be damn grateful for the words, because she’d basically let him completely off the hook. Except unease hung over him like the calm before a Texas thunderstorm—hot, humid, and too still to be comfortable.
“I wouldn’t say regret,” he muttered.
Carter gave an inelegant snort. “You didn’t see your face. That painting The Scream has less horror.”
He flicked a sideways glance her way. Again, she sounded uncaring, like this was no big deal to her. Except he knew Carter. She wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. She was hugs, and smiles, and white picket fences.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. She wants to be casual and go back to before without issues… Mount that nag and ride it into the sunset.
That voice of logic made sense. So why did he want to ignore it? “You distracted me. That’s what I was thinking when you woke up.”
That got her to face him at least. “Distracted you from what?”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter. Why had he bothered to explain? She was over it. He should do the same. “The case. I have closing arguments this morning.”
“Which I’m sure you know cold already.”
Logan remained silent. She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make it okay, either.
After a second, Carter sighed and turned her head to look out the window. He swung into her parking garage which took up the first few levels of the tall apartment building and parked in one of the spots marked for visitors. Just as he had on numerous other occasions when he’d come here.
He’d gone and slept with his only female friend. What the hell had he been thinking?
In the elevator up to her floor, Carter stared at him for a moment. Based on her expression, their conversation wasn’t over.
Sure enough, a second later she smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t regret it. I don’t want to lose your friendship. Regret would’ve made that… awkward.”
Logan had to keep from rolling his eyes. How did she make him want to laugh, even in these circumstances? “The regret would’ve made things awkward? Not the sex?”
“Not sex that good.” She shrugged.
The elevator door dinged and then whooshed open and she stepped out.
It took him a longer second to follow. Would he ever be able to predict this woman?
He leaned against the wall as she unlocked her door. “I’m sure you wouldn’t miss me.”
Carter huffed a laugh. “No?” The lock seemed to be giving her trouble and she jiggled it. “I don’t have that many around here,” she murmured. More to herself than him.
The loneliness in her voice tugged at an answering emotion inside him. Before Logan could do something stupid, like kiss her into her foyer and beyond, she managed to get the lock to function. Carter stepped into her apartment, holding the door for him.
It’d been a couple months since he’d been here last. They usually met up somewhere else or did stuff at his place. It still looked unlived in.
The basic furniture—couch, end tables, entertainment console with a TV—were all in a comfy rustic style that fit Carter’s personality. But that was it. No colorful throws or pillows. No little decorations that women seemed to love so much. His decorator had certainly tried to go overboard. Blank walls.
“Are you ever going to do more with this place?” he asked.
“What?” a muffled voice called from somewhere else.
He turned to find she’d disappeared into her room. “Are you going to put anything on your walls?” he called loudly through what he thought was the closed door to her bedroom.
“I haven’t decided.”
A second later, the door clicked, and she swung it open, having already changed into a different suit. This one black but paired with a lavender blouse that seemed to give her blue eyes a purple hue.
“I’ve been here a while, as you know,” she said as she moved to the bathroom next door. She left that door open, obviously to talk to him while she brushed her teeth and did her hair and makeup. “I thought I was getting married and didn’t want to have to move a lot of stuff. I’m used to it like this now.”
Right.
“If you don’t mind my asking, who ended it?” He’d wondered, even if he hadn’t acknowledged his own curiosity. He’d never asked. She hadn’t seemed to want to talk about it at the time.
“I did, I guess, but it was fairly mutual.”
Logan leaned against the back of her couch. “Why?”
“My career. I’d put years and money and passion into what I do. But Brian helps his family run their large ranch. He’ll inherit the whole thing one day. So, of the two of us, I was the one who would’ve had to walk away from my job. I thought I could…” She trailed off, gaze going a bit distant. “Then, one day, I knew I couldn’t.”
She’d lost out on a relationship because of her career, just like he had. With one glaring exception, she figured it out before both parties hit the devastated phase. Though Angela’s devastation had been channeled elsewhere before things ended.
Though… maybe not, for Carter.
Logan could hear in her voice that the decision had been a hard one, taken a toll on her. Something he hadn’t realized before this moment. When Carter had told him about her broken engagement at the time it happened, it had been in the context of letting him know she’d continue to be available for consulting for his firm. Then, and since, she hadn’t acted any differently. Not a hint of a broken heart.
Had he been wrong? “Broken engagements aren’t something I have experience with.” If he didn’t count losing his family farm and what that had done to his parents. “But I’m sure it was difficult. I’m sorry.”
In the mirror reflection, Carter blinked her big blue eyes at him, then chuckled.
“What?” he asked.
“I just never expected sympathy from you, I guess.”
Logan paused, tempted to play at being offended, but chuckled instead. “I guess not. Sympathy isn’t my usual mode.”
“No, it’s not.” She winked, taking the sting out of her words.
Just like that, he wanted to scoop her up and carry her to the king-sized bed he could see just inside her opened bedroom door.
Carter’s cell phone chose that moment to ring from deep inside her purse. She crossed to where she’d dropped it on the kitchen counter and fished out the device.
She gave a little frown at the screen before answering. “Dad?” She paused. “What’s wrong?”
Chapter Four
Carter ignored Logan’s scowling presence as she packed a suitcase. Already, she’d changed into jeans, boots, and a tank
top with a light sweater over it, as spring still had a bit of a nip in the air. She’d prefer a chance to shower, but there wasn’t time, so she freshened up as best she could.
Logan’s deep voice washed over her as she thought through all the things she needed to do before she left. Her mother had suffered a bad concussion and a broken arm, thanks to a serious disagreement between her car and a tree on the way home. Staying home to help take care of her was going to require some fancy footwork with rescheduling her work.
“Damn,” Logan snapped behind her as he cut off his call.
Carter lifted her head and tsked. “Language, Mr. Cartez. My delicate ears.”
Even through her worry, she managed to tease. But she couldn’t pass it up. The man never swore.
“None of our other water rights experts are available.” He stepped in closer to her, and Carter had the sudden ridiculous urge to run her hands through his hair and muss him up a bit, like he had been last night as he’d taken her body to heights previously unexplored. Except the look in his eyes was all business, so she restrained herself.
“Are you sure we can’t figure something else out?” he asked. About as close as Logan had ever come to begging that she’d seen.
“I can’t.” Carter shook her head, guilt stabbing her in the solar plexus.
People with her background and experience were few and far between, which would make it hard for him if the few others in her field weren’t readily available. When Logan took on a case, he dedicated himself to it. To the point of shutting out most of the rest of the world, a trait she understood, because she did the same thing. She respected his integrity and his drive.
“Don’t you have a large family?” he asked next.
A spark of irritation took away some of the sting of her guilt. “I do.”
He didn’t catch the warning note in her voice or the glint in the look she bent on him. “Why can’t one of them help your mother?”
Carter plonked her hands down on her hips. “Because they can’t. Don’t you think I would’ve asked that already?”
“They’re all close by though, right?”
