by Kadie Scott
“Do you hear yourself? I was going to take this time off.” Carter stepped in and jabbed a finger in the middle of his chest to make her point. And then kept on jabbing with each subsequent point. “You were the one who insisted this had to be done by me. According to you, there’s no one else. And I’m. Getting. It. Done.”
Logan snagged her by the wrist to keep her offending finger from poking him one more time. He opened his mouth, fully intending to blast back with an argument that shut hers down, but then he got tangled up in her eyes. Eyes that sparked at him with anger, but beneath that shadowed with disappointment directed at him alone.
He blew out a harsh breath. “Why didn’t you call me?” The question came out softer, less accusatory.
Carter’s eyebrows scrunched up as she regarded him with a suspicion that had him biting back a smile. She tugged at her hand, the one he still held, but he didn’t let her go. Didn’t want to.
“I knew I could handle it.” She scowled. “You should have known I could handle it, too.”
The thing was, he did know. “I know you can. But isn’t it better with help? Didn’t you know I would come if you called?”
She scoffed. “You would’ve probably thought I was trying to trick you into sleeping with me again.”
Logan gave a mental wince. He deserved that.
The breeze stirred the trees, lifting her ponytail over her shoulder, and, looking down at her face, with her stubborn chin angled high, he was sure he’d rather take a chance with her than walk away like a coward.
What a time to realize that.
She tugged on her hand again, and instead of giving it back, he pressed her palm against his heart and held it there with his hands. She lifted wide eyes to his, searching his expression.
“I’ve been pretty stupid where you’re concerned, Carter Hill,” he said.
“Duh.”
Logan smiled as he leaned closer, inhaling the fresh, outdoorsy scent of her. This close there were small specks of navy in her eyes. Amazing eyes. Eyes he could spend a lifetime drowning in.
Only Carter clearly wasn’t in a receiving mood right now. His fault for starting off with accusations.
“Your family is important,” he said. “As much as I want you for this case, tell me now if you would rather take the time to be with them. I’ll find someone else.”
After a long beat, Carter shook her head slowly, her long ponytail sliding off her shoulder. “With Will and Rusty home to help now, I know I can do this.”
Logan released her hand and stepped back with a brisk nod. “Would you like some help with this, now that I’m here?”
Carter pursed her lips, and he couldn’t quite get a bead on what she was thinking. “It does make for a long night,” she warned.
Not like he would be getting sleep anyway. “I can handle anything you throw at me.”
Carter snorted a laugh at that. “You may come to regret those words, Counselor.” On that pronouncement, she spun on her booted heel. “Come on. I’d better show you the ropes.”
The rest of the evening was spent checking readings on the pump, making sure it was working properly, and eating dinner. Freeze-dried camping food cooked with a camp stove. Luckily, Carter had brought plenty for her and her previous partner before he bailed. Then they settled in to take turns during the night—one keeping watch from the camp chair and one in the tent with the only sleeping bag.
At least she’d stop looking at him with disappointment, anger, or suspicion, accepting his place as a helper without further question.
Logan took the first round in the tent, but he left the flaps open so he could watch the woman who was driving him so far out of his comfort zone. The crackle of the fire joined with the hum of the pump nearby, sort of a country lullaby that did nothing to sooth his thoughts. He needed to find a way to backtrack all those idiotic things he’d said and done to push her away.
He thought he’d been staying quiet and still, until Carter, seated in the chair with her back to him, gave a gusty sigh. “Go to sleep, Counselor.”
“Can’t.”
She still didn’t bother to turn around. “Why not?”
Forget fancy maneuvering. She’d hit him broadside with blatant honesty once before. Maybe she’d appreciate the same. “I want to make love to you.”
Everything about Carter stilled, even her hair which the wind had been playing with softly. And still she didn’t turn to face him. “What about Angela?”
“You keep bringing her up.”
“She keeps texting you.”
He breathed through his nose. “She wants to be friends. She’s lonely after a breakup, and I’m sure would drop me the second a better prospect came along. I’m not encouraging her. I’m ignoring her.”
“So you’ve said.”
Logan couldn’t keep the grin from his voice. “You’re jealous—”
“What about you needing to get back to normal first?”
He let her change the subject. “Maybe I was wrong.”
That got her to turn around, spinning slowly in the chair to goggle at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. “What made you come to that conclusion?”
“You.”
“Bullshit.”
He should’ve known she wouldn’t make it easy on him. After all, he had been adamant. “I convinced myself it was the right thing to do to put some distance between us. But every mile I drove away from you felt like a hundred. And the thought of you out here on your own, even doing something I know you can handle… I was back in the car before I even thought about it.”
“Then why were you so angry when you showed up.”
“I was angry at myself. Then maybe with you for making me question things that have been set in my life for a long time.”
Carter stared at him in silence for a long while. It wasn’t the staring that had him worried, it was the silence. His girl was a talker.
“So, what are you telling me?” she asked.
“I’m telling you that you win. Let’s give this thing a shot.”
Again she sat in contemplative silence. He waited.
“What does giving it a shot mean to you?” she finally asked.
The breath punched from his lungs. She wasn’t shutting him down outright. The lawyer in him sat back smugly, knowing he could move forward from not-a-no. The man who hadn’t done relationships in a long time was less confident.
“I don’t know. I just know I want you in my life as more than a friend. We’ve kind of gone in a haphazard progression here. I admit, stepping us back to just holding hands would be hard, but if you need that, I’ll do it.”
Her expression wasn’t giving him much to work with. Did she want to keep up with the blow-his-mind sex? Or just take it slow? Not his preference. They knew each other too well, had gone too far, to make slow feel right. But… “We could go… slow. Would it be too much to ask you on a date—”
He hardly got the words out before she leapt across the space separating them and landed on top of the sleeping back with him inside.
“Forget slow,” she murmured. “Tell Angela you’re taken.” Before he could respond, she laid a kiss on him that stole every other word and thought.
Chapter Thirteen
Logan tensed as she kissed him and immediately Carter went to draw back, dismay already dragging at her. She’d got this wrong. He didn’t want her like—
With a low growl, he pulled her sharply against him and took over the kiss she’d started, and every doubt melted under the heat of his lips against hers, his hands holding her so tightly, the tension in his body against hers.
“How long do we have?” He barely pulled his mouth away long enough to ask the question.
They needed to check the test progress and readings regularly.
“Long enough,” she managed to whisper back.
Mouth fused to hers, pulling a response from her body, which some small disconnected part of her brain marveled at, he managed to get out of the sleeping b
ag. All without stopping the incredible, sensual assault on her mouth, which was about the sexiest thing ever.
Eager—hell, more than eager. More like panting for it after all the back-and-forth and will he won’t he—Carter went to get her top off.
Warm hands stopped her. “That’s my job.”
“Okay.” She grinned and reached for his shirt instead.
Again, his hands on hers put a halt to what she had in mind.
“What?” She was practically vibrating with need at this point and he’d hardly done more than kiss her.
“I want to take my time and enjoy this.” The gruff desire threading through his voice the way he watched her, with an intensity that had her insides doing somersaults, had Carter drop her hands to her sides happy to let him do whatever he wished.
“I’m all yours, Counselor.” She grinned at the carnal, naked desire that tightened his features, sending a splash of red across his cheekbones.
He stood them up, then slowly reached for her and inched the bottom of her shirt up exposing her soft belly a little at a time. With more revealed, he’d skate the tips of his fingers across her quivering flesh, barely touching but pulling her deeper and deeper into a vortex of desire with each stroke. Her breath was coming in little panting huffs, hitching with each touch. And at every hitch, his lips would quirk in a smile of such satisfaction, if she wasn’t feeling so wonderful, Carter would’ve called him on it.
“Arms up.” Both command and a groan.
Carter raised her arms and he slowly tugged her top over her head. She expected him to go for the bra next, but his hands fell to the button of her jeans, and again she was subjected to the tortuously slow torment of his exposing more skin a little at a time. With a grunt that almost sounded as if though he were in pain, Logan fell to his knees in front of her, whispering his lips over her bare skin, but always avoiding the one spot where she wanted the heat of his mouth.
Once he had her just in a bra and panties, he stood back up.
Then cocked his head at her. “Your turn.”
“I’m going to orgasm just from a little light touching at this rate.” She wasn’t complaining, though. She was reveling in this chance to get to explore each other, taking their time.
As he had done with her, she started by slowly lifting his shirt, only she bent to nibble and lick at his abs. What kind of man with an office job had abs like these? The question drifted away as his flesh jumped beneath her touch, and he sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
He likes that, huh? She did it again and was rewarded as he speared his fingers through her hair in an obvious attempt to keep from speeding her up.
Carter lingered over his abs, spent some time on his pecs, removed his shirt and enjoyed the feel of his biceps flexing beneath her fingertips. She loved how he held as still as he could, letting her play as much as she liked.
Then she started on his pants the way he had done to her. Like the rest of him, his legs were powerful and lean. Deliberately, she spent a lot of time going back and forth to explore them making sure to blow warm breath across the rigid line of his cock tenting his boxer briefs. She never touched.
After a particularly tortured groan, he reached for her. “My turn again.”
Taking her by the arms, he pulled her back up to standing, only now they were both too far gone to wait and take turns. They didn’t rush. They still explored and enjoyed. But, quicker than before, the rest of their clothing was discarded.
He spent ages exploring her breasts, playing with the nipples and seeing what made her gasp and writhe beneath him. She grasped his hard length in her hand, testing the girth of him, the weight of him. Warm soft skin over steel. He drew her down on top of the sleeping bag, laying on his back and positioning her sitting astride him.
“I’ve wanted you to ride me since that day on horseback.”
With shaking hands, she guided him to her core, then slowly, so slowly his fingertips dug into the skin at her hips, she lowered herself down his length.
She gave herself a moment to focus only on the feel of him inside of her, adjusting to the penetration, then she started to move her hips.
Her hair, which had come undone at some point, spilled over her breasts. He brushed the tresses aside to test the weight in his hands, then proceeded to torment her nipples with just his fingertips.
With each brush, each tag, each tweak, she lost more control. She moved faster, and harder, the bubble of pressure building inside her, her nerves alive.
“Carter.”
Her name on his lips barely penetrated the sensual haze she found herself in behind closed eyes.
“Carter. Look at me.”
She managed to drag her eyes open even as she rode his body. She found him watching her with an intensity that shot an arrow straight through her heart.
“I want to see your face. And I want you to see that it’s me inside you. Me giving and taking pleasure with you. And not just for one night.”
It was the last assurance that tipped her over the edge. Pleasure ballooned, and expanded, until it burst, showering her nerves with pure sensation. She clamped down on him and Logan followed her over the edge of the ravine.
Their shouts mingled together, as she bucked and he used a viselike grip on her hips to slam up into her, triggering more waves, until they both slowed.
Carter slumped over his body, burrowing her face into his neck. Logan brought his hands up to tangle with her hair holding her there as they both caught their breath.
*
Making his move in the middle of nowhere had seemed romantic, until reality had intruded. They were there with a job to do. Long stretches of boredom followed by short bursts of checking, testing, and measuring, and not a ton of sleep, even taking turns. But, by the next evening as they took everything down, with her face pinched and drawn from the all-nighter, Logan was glad he’d come.
That, plus now he was allowed to touch her, kiss her, even hold her hand when he wanted. Damn. When had he gotten to be so touchy feely? Not like his usual self and he didn’t give a damn. He wanted to look at Carter and touch her.
“The crew will come get all the temporary piping and equipment,” she said as they moved the last pack from the small trailer hitched to a four-wheeler to the bed of her truck.
“Okay.”
They paused beside her door, and she glanced over at his car, parked beside hers, then back at him.
He tucked a flyway strand of hair back behind her ear. “What next?”
Carter scrunched up her face in the way that told him she was debating something in her head. “I have to go back home,” she said after a second.
Damn. “How much longer do you think you have there?” he asked.
She grimaced. “Maybe another week.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?”
Carter Hill was one of those people who never worried, never showed any doubt. Not that he’d ever seen at least. But the way her brows beetled over her eyes and the way her shoulders were creeping up around her ears told him a lot. She was tense about something.
“Yes. Okay. Call me when you get home, so I know you’re safe.”
She frowned, then the spark he loved about her returned in full force and she hit him with a sassy grim. “Maybe we can try phone sex.”
Logan groaned. “You’re going to put my poor body into overdrive.”
“Too late.” She laughed, a genuinely happy sound. “We’re both already there.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. His dick seemed to be in a permanent state of attention where she was concerned. At least now he didn’t have to ignore it. No more cold showers. Or, hopefully not after the next week.
“When can you have your findings to me?” He nodded to the truck.
“Give me a week to analyze everything and write up an official report. With charts and graphs and everything.” She winked.
“Looking forward to it.”
There didn’t seem to b
e more that needed saying, though every atom in his body was resisting leaving her. As though he was locked in a weird state of inertia. Leaning down he pressed his lips against hers.
It was supposed to be a chaste kiss goodbye.
But when he touched her, Carter gasped against him, then plastered herself to his body, her tongue asking entrance.
That raging need took right back over, and he pinned her against the truck, delving into her, loving the way she dueled with him, both vying for control of the kiss.
A low, unmistakable whistle sounded behind them, and Logan jerked his head up, both of them breathless.
“Hoo-whee. A kiss like that is bound to start a fire, and we’re mighty short on water round here,” Jed Owens called from behind him.
“Damn,” Logan muttered. He backed up from the woman in his arms, cursing himself for being discovered in a clinch like that by a client. The height of unprofessionalism.
A muffled giggle drew his gaze down to Carter, where he found himself snagged by bright blue eyes overflowing in laughter and fun. She tried to school her features into seriousness.
“How unprofessional,” she said in a low voice clearly meant to be an imitation of him.
Logan scowled. “It is.”
She shrugged and opened her driver’s side door. “I’m not disagreeing with you.”
“Then why don’t you look more concerned?” he grumbled.
She slid onto the seat and buckled her seat belt.
Then sent Logan a sunny smile. “Because he doesn’t.” She nodded her head at a point over his shoulder. “In fact, that’s the first smile with teeth I’ve seen from the man.”
She lifted a hand and waved. “Bye, Jed,” she called out. She lowered her sparkling gaze to Logan. “Don’t forget that phone sex.”
She shut the door, started the engine, and drove off, tires spinning a bit in the gravel drive. Logan stared after her shaking his head a bit. At least she’d had the common sense to whisper that last dig.
“When you find a woman like that, son, hold onto her with both hands and enjoy the ride,” Jed said from beside him.
