“I’m sorry, how can I help you?”
With a gradual removal of her sunglasses, revealing a set of violet eyes, she took in her surroundings as if she had landed in Harlem, instead of downtown Chesapeake.
“Is this the establishment associated with Reece International?” Blondie didn’t look like a reporter, though we’d had several of those lurking around after Meredith went back to New York.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
Crossing the room, my outstretched hand in her direction. The light from the sun bouncing off a windshield, blinds me and causes me to retreat slightly. The door opens again, shifting the light and allowing me to open my eyes once again.
“Oh, good, Harper, you’re here. Where’s Logan?”
Lisa stands beside the glamazon, their attire complimenting each other. Clearly they are friends, shopping at the same expensive boutiques and hovering in the same circles.
“Hi, Lisa. How are you?”
Lacing my tone with a little bite, making sure she didn’t think anything changed with the addition of her new friend here.
“I’m sorry, Harper. I’m dead on my feet as I’ve just finished back to back shoots.”
Stepping away from her friend, she wraps her arms around me, hugging me close and then placing a side kiss to my cheek.
“Penelope called as I was getting off my plane in New York and told me she heard Logan was here.”
So the glamazon was Penelope, Jillian’s top contender for Logan’s bed. “Neither one of us has seen him in a long time, so here we are.” Raising her hands like Vanna White showing a new puzzle, Penelope waving as if on a Macy's parade float.
“I’m sorry, Lisa. Logan isn’t here, he’s either at his new gym or his house.”
“Gym?”
“House?” The pair spoke over each other.
“Logan is using a public gym and has a house—here?” Penelope looked as if she was about to become ill, her nose turned up in disgust as she looked to Lisa.
“No,” shaking my head, feeling the burn of disappointment settle in. “He co-owns a gym with my brother, and yes, he recently purchased a new home. Not far from here, actually.”
“Logan Forbes owns a gym, you’re sure?”
“Why are you so surprised, Lisa?”
Penelope stepped around Lisa the sound of her shoes clacking on the tile floor, rattling my nerves and making me clench my fists.
“Harper, correct?” She questioned, a seed of curiosity floating in her smile.
“Penelope—”
“I know who you are. I had the pleasure of meeting your mother in New York recently.” I interrupted, hoping to save her the need to use any of her treacheries on me, keeping it for the next unsuspecting girl who stood in her way.
“Then you’ll understand why we are so surprised. Logan is a trained physician, with a name notorious enough to open any door he knocked on. Why would he willingly leave all that behind to open a gym and buy a house so far from the life he has always known?”
Penelope posed an interesting question, one I considered several times as I tried to rationalize all of this inside my head.
“Tell you what, as soon as my assistant returns, I’ll take you to the gym myself.”
Twenty minutes and an uncomfortable car ride later, we pulled up to the front of Fitness Factory, the block letters against a camouflage background, the two T’s exchange for trident spears. The glass front door was propped open, and three muscle-bound men carted large boxes inside. Lisa sprang from her seat, the rusted and aging door moaning in protest. Ross had begged me to replace this truck, pointing out its numerous mechanical issues and various safety concerns. But I couldn’t let it go, not willing to let the last gift Alex had given me.
Penelope didn’t wait for an invitation, as she too scooted across the passenger seat and out the door, not bothering to close it behind her. The men carrying boxes stopped dead in their tracks as the two beautiful women approached. Who could blame them? It wasn’t every day a pair of runway models showed up in this town.
In a much more casual, and relaxed fashion, I found my way to the front door. Passing the same men, whose smiles and tips of their hats had been used up on the two ladies before me. The sound of blowing fans and angry rock music greeted me as I stepped over the threshold.
In the time since I’d last been here, Logan had managed to transform the space from looking like a tampon commercial, all soft and in different shades of beige. To one hosting cage fights and products related to hard-core men, with black ceiling tiles and gray walls, the carpet ripped up, and the underlying concrete polished to a bright shine.
Scanning the room, over the rows of treadmills and past the army of elliptical machines, some wood like structures sat against the far wall. Logan was balanced on what appeared to be a straight bar suspended on a pair of wooden pegs. His back was glistening with sweat as he heaved the bar up the wooden structure, using his upper body to move the bar to the next peg, climbing the structure. With each heave of his arms, his lower body would swing slightly and his tucked in heels almost reaching the edge of his shorts covered ass, building momentum to move the bar higher.
The muscles in his back corded in response to the weight of his body, flexing and relaxing in time with his movements. When he reached the highest peg, he lifted his feet and draped them over the bar, allowing his body to relax as he hung upside down. His chest heaved with each intake of breath, but his eyes remained closed, stretching his arms several times over his dangling head and then returning them to his side. I wasn’t certain who was breathing harder from his workout, him or the three of us? Lisa and Penelope stood slack jawed just a few steps ahead of me as we all watched Logan open his eyes.
“Hey!”
He shouted over the thumping base of the music coming from the speakers above our heads. Removing a black object from his pocket, he presses a button, and the music abruptly stops, leaving my ears ringing and my body still panting with unbridled desire.
“Now this is what a guy wants to see. Three incredibly beautiful women watching him sweat out his frustrations.”
If watching him climb the ladder made me want to do dirty things with him, it was nothing compared to what I felt when he came back down.
“Lisa, how the fuck are you, sis?”
She squealed as he lifted her off the ground, his laughter bringing me out of the sex driven haze his pecks had lead me to.
“Pep, always happy to see you. Does your mother know you left Manhattan?”
“Who do you think told me you were slumming it down South?”
Where Jillian seemed to be deceptive and calculating, hiding behind her clever choice of words and social standing. Her daughter appeared to be the polar opposite, brutally honest with no hidden agenda. Still, there was something there, some deep-lying secret, poisonous enough to do real damage.
“It appears some things never change do they, Pep?” A moment of silent slips between the pair, Logan’s eyes drift between the two, waiting for something, but I’m not sure what it is.
“And some things, thank God, do change.” Penelope fires back. A sliver of disbelief flashes across Logan’s face and then it’s gone. I would ask them about it later, but I fear it’s like Ross and his missions, unable to tell the real story of what happened.
“Well, at least Jillian pointed you in the direction of my Harper.”
Logan stepped around the two, his bare chest disorienting me and confusing me further. His warm arms and musky man smell solidified the spell he was placing me under, making me forget temporarily what I’d heard.
“Hey, baby, I missed you.”
Without care of who stood in the room, he lowered his mouth to mine, his tongue crossing the boundary of my lips, meshing the two of us together. His exploration of my mouth as if we were in a dark room and the promise of much more to come, bloomed in the distance. A loud crash from behind us pulls Logan’s attention to the men carrying in the boxe
s.
“Hold that thought, I'll be right back. Pep and Lisa showing up reminded me of something.” The huskiness of his voice rekindling the fire in my belly, pushing me closer to the edge of giving into him.
Logan walked over to the men, his chest still bare and his calf muscles having their own audition for my needy eyes. He helped right the tipped over box, assuring them nothing inside was breakable. Winding around the large desk in the front, he reached behind it and grabbed what looked to be his shirt, sliding it over his head and covering those delicious muscles I wanted to run my hands all over.
“Ladies, I’m glad you’re here.” Logan stood before us, hands on his hips and his feet apart, the gym logo splash across his massive chest. “I have an event I have to attend next weekend, and I need you to go with me. It’s formal—”
“Khaki ball.” I interrupted, knowing full well where this conversation was leading.
“Yes, I found out today. My new Captain has selected and directed everyone who is eligible to attend.”
“I’m sorry, Logan, it’s the same day as Avery and Cole’s wedding. I’ve already RSVP’d I would be there.” My heart sunk a little as I watch his face fall, but the loyalty I have to my friend overrode my need to comfort him and give him a false hope I would go.
“Damn it, I’d rather go to the wedding with you.” Rubbing his chin, the scruff filling in nicely, giving him that bad boy persona I loved so much.
“I’m sure one of these lovely ladies would be happy to be your arm candy for the night.”
Penelope’s phone rang from her purse, “Care to guess who this is?” Logan and Lisa snickered as Penelope examined the phone in her hand. I hated being on the outside, not familiar with inner workings of this relationship to understand the offhanded jokes. I considered leaving the two of them with Logan and heading back to my store where I knew I was wanted.
“Hello, Mother.” Penelope rolled her eyes, the condescending tone in her voice almost at a disrespectful level. “Of course I’ve located Logan. Who do you think you’re talking to?”
I turned away from the trio, not interested in conversations I couldn’t understand. Penelope made it seem like a joke, how her mother encouraged her to pursue Logan. Was there perhaps someone who Penelope favored, a forbidden love out of her social status or economic reach? Or maybe it was all a show for Logan, giving her an inlet to make him laugh, sharing stories of her mother's desperation over a bottle of wine and ending with breakfast in bed and a baby on the way. Whatever the reason, or whomever he chose, one thing was certain; Lieutenant Logan Forbes was going to be the envy of every man in attendance.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Logan
“Ross, I need you to calm down and trust me, okay?”
Harper’s brother had called me the day I bought the house when he received news his time and service had been miscalculated, and his contract was up. He was given the option of signing a new contract, receiving a sizable bonus, or parting ways with United States military. He chose option B.
“But dude, I don’t want this to be as fucked up as when you went home. Pissing off all the girls in your world and making my father doubt you.”
Sitting down to breakfast with Bruce has been one of the easier things I’ve had to endure. In the end, we both agreed we had a common thread, both of us love Harper and wanted what’s best for her. We disagreed slightly on whether or not that was me. Not surprisingly, he wanted to see how I treated her. He would make up his mind when, as he called it, I was squeezed. In other words, when I was put in the position where my looks, money and family name would do nothing to help me. “Character is who we are in the dark,” he told me, “let’s see who you are on the inside.”
“Listen, I’ve got it. You make sure your ass is on that plane, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Ross and I devised a plan where we would use the ruse of my house warming party as a way to surprise his wife and sister. I had invited everyone we knew, every member of my team and even some of the guys I would be working with. I wanted to introduce my old life to my new one, meshing the two together into one cohesive unit. Harper was a seasoned military family member, she would understand my need to disappear from time to time to help my brothers and the new missions we accepted. Ross included.
“Dude, I fucking owe you one.”
“Yes, you do, and I know just how you can pay me back.”
“Name it, man.”
“Go to this fucking Khaki Ball for me.”
I half teased, knowing full well we couldn’t pull that bullshit off. It was my fault, I’ve been too wrapped up with all the shit in my world, thinking I was practically bulletproof and wouldn’t have to follow the rules once I got back to the states. But the cocksucker of a new Captain I had, needed to have his rank stroked and put out the official order, all senior active duty would be in attendance. Which meant I had no choice in the matter.
“I thought you jumped at the chance to go with my sister.”
“I would love to go with your sister, but she’s already RSVP’d to a wedding.”
“Still not seeing an issue, go to the fucking wedding.”
“Can’t, ball and wedding are on the same damn day.”
“Logan, for a smart man you are pretty stupid right now.”
“Fuck you, I’m trying to be helpful, and you’re making fun of me.”
I was half tempted to leave his ass at the airport, or let the word slip out he was packing it in and coming home. But I wanted to see Harper’s face and let her thank me personally for the joy of her brother being home.
“Listen, man, I got a plan.”
“Yeah, motherfucker. So did General Custer, and we all know how that shit turned out.”
Early the next morning, using the advice Ross had given me last night, I phoned Harper's shop and asked to speak with Sarah. She nervously gave me the information I needed and made me promise I wasn’t going to hurt anyone. I needed her on my side, so I told her as much of the story as I could and still keep my word to Ross. I reminded her of the party and how much I wanted her and Mitch to attend. She assured me they would both be there, as they wanted to see what was going to happen.
Ross’s plane was due to land in fifteen minutes. I had turned down a home cooked meal from Harper in order to be standing here helping her brother. She was under the impression I was meeting up with an old friend who would only be in town one night. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I knew she would forgive me when she saw her brother’s face.
I had to laugh as I watched Ross walk down the jet way, his sea bag thrown over his shoulder and a day's worth of good scruff on his face. He looks like some hippy on the pilgrimage across the country, instead of the trained killer he was.
“Never thought I would ever say this to you,” extending out his hand to shake mine. “But you’re a fucking sight for sore eyes.”
After assuring him a multitude of times that his wife and sister were clueless to his arrival, and a firm and definite no to his begging of letting him drive my car, we hit the road. Where Harper was not impressed with the sports car I had shipped down, Ross was about to lick my leather seats.
“Dude, come on, it’s your payment for letting you date my sister.”
“Um, that would go to your father and not to you. And the answer would still be no.”
Our first stop was the gym, where he stood like a kid in the candy store, touching and testing out every piece of machinery we had. Finally, he noticed the salmon ladder in the back of the room, and jumped over the ellipticals as if they were sawhorses.
“Come on, man. I’ll race you.”
The look on Harper’s face hadn’t escaped me as she watched me tackle this particular piece of torture the other day. First time I used one of these bastards, I thought I would throw up. But after a few attempts, I found I enjoyed how it made my upper chest look and the amount of strength it gave me. I’m not ashamed to admit, my dick got a little hard what I saw the lust in her
eyes.
“You’re on fucker, but I’ve been making it my bitch since I had it installed.”
Competing with Ross was like having the brother my parents failed to give me. He knew which buttons to push and how hard to push them. But he would be there if I needed him, and I would return the favor. When I stomped his ass at climbing the ladder, I offered to make him feel better by buying him a beer. As we wandered down the twisty road leading to my new house, he mentioned how he dated a girl who lived back here. I told him of his sister’s excitement and her story of a girlfriend with a horse. He and I laughed as he admitted the girl was one in the same, the pair keeping the relationship a secret from Harper.
“Logan, man, if my sister doesn’t want to shack up with you out here, I sure as fuck do.” Ross accepted the beer I handed him, giving him permission to drink as much as he wants.
“Sorry, man, she’s a fuck ton prettier than you.”
Shortly after I moved in, I found the fire pit was remote-controlled. I called around and found a company who came out and made my house Bluetooth compatible. Now instead of keeping up with remotes, I tell a computer to turn things off and on.
“Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s fucking smarter than me too.”
“Trust me, Ross, she already knows.”
“You get everything set up like I told you?”
“Yes I did, I made a phone call and with a little persuasion, managed to get what I needed.”
We talked and drank until the wee hours of the morning, stopping long enough for me to call Harper and tell her good night. She questioned if I was having fun with my friend and I said it was boring as fuck. She giggled and said I must be having a little fun as my words were slurred. She made me promise to be careful and that she would see me tomorrow night at my party.
Operation SEAL: Book Two Trident Brotherhood Series Page 26
