by Sabrina York
Oh dear. She hadn’t meant to put it that way. Hanna’s pulse thrummed. “Nothing. Eat your toast.”
Sidney’s glare darkened. “I don’t want my toast. Tell me what you meant.”
“I’ll eat it then.” She snatched the cold toast from her sister’s plate and made a great show of buttering it and slathering it with jam and taking a big bite. “Mmm.”
“Hanna . . .”
“Good toast.” A lie. It was cold and the butter was hard and it tasted like dust in her mouth.
“Hanna. Tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Liar.”
“It’s . . . private.”
Sidney’s eyes narrowed even more. “What?”
A shiver skittered up Hanna’s spine. She knew that tone. When Sidney used that tone, when her chin tipped at just that angle, there was no escaping her attention, no diverting the topic to the delights of cold bread products that were as hard as an anvil.
Hanna set down the toast and wiped her fingers on a napkin, blowing out a sigh. “Dad is losing the ranch.”
Sidney blanched. Her hand shook. “Wh-what?”
Hanna shrugged. “A couple bad investments, combined with Mom’s doctor bills . . . he missed a couple mortgage payments. Bottom line is the bank is going to foreclose. They would have done so a month ago, except . . .”
“Except you agreed to marry the president.”
“And chairman of the board. He’s . . . he’s been making the payments.”
“Oh. My. God.” Sidney stared at her, mouth agape. “I had no idea. No clue.” She raked her fingers through her hair. And then she stilled. “So why did Dad tell you and not me?”
Surely Hanna didn’t imagine the pain in her sister’s voice.
“Dad didn’t tell me. Zack did.” She set her hand on Sidney’s. “In strictest confidence. No doubt he’d get in terrible trouble for sharing privileged financial information. So don’t tell anyone. And for God’s sake, don’t let on to Dad that you know. He would be horrified.”
“So wait. You’re marrying Zack . . . to save the ranch?”
“Yes.”
Surely, there was no need for such maniacal laughter. “What’s so funny?” Hanna tried not to snap, but it was difficult.
Sidney dashed a tear from her eye. Hanna doubted it came from her hilarity. “It’s just so . . . cliché. You know. Rancher’s daughter forced into marriage with Snidely Whiplash . . .”
“He’s hardly Snidely Whiplash.”
“He’s only missing the moustache.”
“Sidney, stop it. Zack is doing us a favor. Without him, we would have been out on our keisters a long time ago. I know that hardly matters to you since you’ve moved out—”
“Which by the way, you should have done years ago—”
Hanna frowned at her. “They need me. Dad needs me.”
“Dad is a grown-up. And so are you. It’s time you took the reins of your own life and quit living for someone else.”
“I do not!”
“You do. And the house is just a house. It’s not worth you marrying a man you don’t love—”
“I like him—”
“Mortgaging your future to save the ranch. You know Dad would say the same thing.”
“Dad must never know.”
“Would it be so terrible if Dad lost the stupid ranch?”
“You always hated that ranch.”
“I did.”
“But Mom loved it.”
Sidney fell into silence and sawed at her sausage. After a long while, she murmured, “Mom doesn’t even know where she is anymore.” She put out a lip. “Hell, she doesn’t even know I’m her daughter anymore.”
“I know, Sidney. But the doctors say continuity is important.”
“The doctors are idiots.”
There was no response to that, so Hanna pressed her lips together.
After a moment Sidney added, “Dad would hate you doing this for him.”
“I’m not doing it for him. I’m doing it for Mom.”
“She would hate it. Deny it if you will. But the Mom we used to know? She would have torn into you like nobody’s business, making a decision like this.” Sidney leaned in. “She never liked Zack either. Ever since that night you came home from a date with him in tears and your blouse ripped.” Hanna opened her mouth to reply, to say what she always said—that was a long time ago—but Sidney was on a roll. “She would hate that you are giving up your freedom, marrying a jerk, sacrificing everything for her. It’s stupid. Just stupid. But it had to be something like that, didn’t it? For you to agree to marry him. I knew something was hinky—”
“‘Hinky’?”
“And honestly. I thought for sure, once you experienced life, you’d see what a disaster it would be to marry Zack, to tie yourself to that cold, heartless, arrogant—”
“You forgot to add hinky.”
“—stick of a man for the rest of your life.”
Hanna stilled. “Wait. What did you mean, once I experienced life? I’ve experienced life—”
“Pfft.”
“I’ve experienced plenty.”
Sidney quirked a brow. “Well, now you have. But apparently a night with Logan wasn’t enough to do the trick.”
Hanna winced. “Please don’t phrase it that way.” Regardless of how fabulous last night had been, she couldn’t escape the bald fact that she’d given herself to a stripper.
Sidney balled up her napkin. “So you’re still determined to marry the cretin.”
“I am.” Bile tickled her throat as the words rose. “I need to fix this.”
“It’s not your responsibility to fix everything.”
“It’s my responsibility to try.”
There was no need for her sister to glower so. Hanna attempted to ignore it.
“So this whole weekend was for nothing?” Sidney threw up her hands. “Cody and I thought for sure once you . . .”
She trailed off. Silence loomed between them. Sidney peeped up at Hanna, a blush rising on her cheeks.
Hanna’s heart hammered. Her mouth went dry. “Cody and you? You planned this with him? This wasn’t just some crazy, rebellious whim?”
Sidney set her chin. “It was a crazy, rebellious whim. But not the way you’re implying. I just wanted you to see . . .”
“See what?”
“How good it could be.”
Something nasty slithered in her belly. “Did you tell Cody to have that man seduce me?” God. She knew what she and Logan had shared hadn’t been real, that it was only a job to him. That was bad enough. But to think she’d been set up, that he’d been ordered to pretend he wanted her . . . She shuddered. “Did you?”
Sidney batted her lashes. “Not exactly.”
“What, exactly?”
“You aren’t going to like it.”
Good gracious. Did she like any of this?
“Tell me.”
“His name is Logan Landry. He’s a friend of Cody’s. They’ve been friends since grade school.”
Hanna frowned. “But . . . Cody went to school in Snake Gully.”
Sidney nodded. “So did Logan. In fact, you all went to high school together. I was a couple years behind. Lucky me. I got Tibby.”
Hanna gaped at her sister. Her heart thrummed. Her mind spun. “I don’t remember him from high school.” But then, she didn’t remember a lot about high school. Whitewash and all.
“You might remember him if you saw his yearbook picture. According to Cody he was kind of a dork back then. He’s . . . developed.”
“I’ll say.”
Sidney missed her murmur. She continued unabated. “Anyway, apparently Logan had a crush on you back then.”
“Wait. He had a crush on me?” Why
her heart trilled at that was a mystery.
“Cody and I, well, we both hate that you’re marrying Zack. Me because I love you and him because he really hates Zack. Anyway . . . We thought, if we got you and Logan together . . .” She shrugged.
“And Logan? Was he part of your planning?” Something cold fisted Hanna’s heart at the thought that he’d used her to work off some decades-old lust.
“He didn’t know you’d be here.” Sidney grinned wickedly. “In fact, he thought he was coming here to work as a ranch hand.”
Hanna’s pulse missed a beat. “He’s a ranch hand?” Not a stripper? She wasn’t sure why that knowledge made her go hot, then cold again. Surely that was relief scudding through her to know that he didn’t regularly make love to women for money. Or it could have been a hint of anger; he’d known who she was and kept it a secret. All night. Or it could have been chagrin over both.
She wanted to replay their time together in her head and sift through it all, but couldn’t. Not now. Not with her sister babbling away.
Sidney shrugged. “I don’t know what he does. All I know is he left Snake Gully after some big brouhaha. He and his mom moved to Dallas, but he and Cody stayed friends. Apparently he lost a bet. That’s why he’s here.”
“A bet?” Hanna said through stiff lips.
This just got better and better.
“Anyway . . .” Sidney peeped up through thick lashes. “He’s hot and gorgeous and a really great kisser. Are you interested in him?”
Hanna stared at her sister. Try as she might, she couldn’t answer. Her mind was awhirl. Her heart was heavy and the scorch of embarrassment singed her soul.
She couldn’t see Logan again. Hell, she couldn’t bear to face him again. It was humiliating enough that she’d told him her deepest, darkest secrets, thinking he was a lover-for-hire. But to find out he actually knew who she was? That he’d had a crush on her in high school and still played along with her games?
Oh God. Memory swamped her. His hand on her ass. The feel of his cock working inside her. His moans. Her groans. A different kind of heat rose.
Heat scorched her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands.
Yes, this was her last desperate gasp of freedom. But she couldn’t see him again. Not now that she knew the truth about him. She’d hole up in her room for the rest of the weekend. Hole up here and hide. And maybe finish that bottle of tequila. Surely that would help her forget this ignominy.
“Well, are you?” Sidney asked, picking up the toast and taking a big bite. “Are you interested in him?”
“Hmm?”
“Because if you’re not . . .” She grinned. “I may make a play for him myself . . .”
***
“What the hell was that all about?” Cody snarled, following Logan from the bunkhouse out to the barn.
“What was what about?”
“You. Kissing my . . . kissing Sidney. For God’s sake, Logan. That was not why I brought you here.”
“Right.” Logan stopped and Cody, who wasn’t paying attention, plowed into him. “You brought me here to work on your ranch for the weekend. Your stripper ranch.”
“It’s not a stripper ranch—”
“It kind of is.”
“That’s only to bring in extra revenue.” Cody slashed his hand through the air. “Besides, that is all beside the point. Why did you kiss Sidney?”
“She’s cute?” She was cute. Not Logan’s type by far. He preferred steamy redheads with emerald eyes and a warble in her voice when she came.
He’d kissed Sidney simply to throw Tibby off the scent. That it had annoyed Cody was an added bonus. And it was too tempting to needle Cody. After what he’d pulled on Logan this weekend, he deserved it.
And, indeed, it was amusing watching him sputter. “B-but she’s . . . not why I brought you here.”
“Why exactly did you bring me here, Cody?”
Cody wrinkled his brow and glared at him. “You know why.”
Right. Hanna. “You knew she was the bride-to-be. You knew she was getting married.” A cold, angry wind blew through him. His muscles bunched.
“Of course I knew.”
“And why the fuck didn’t you didn’t tell me?”
Cody flushed. “Sidney thought—”
“Sidney? What’s she got to do with this?”
“Can’t you figure that out?” Cody crossed his arms. “She’s scared to death.”
“Why?”
“Her sister is planning to marry Zack Pucey. Can you think of a better reason to panic? She hoped that, well, she hoped if Hanna met some other man—”
“Me?”
“She didn’t care who it was. Sidney just hoped Hanna might meet someone and change her mind about marrying Zack.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I was the one who thought of you.”
“Yeah. Thanks for that.”
“It worked . . . didn’t it? The two of you were out all night. Did you—”
“That is none of your fucking business.”
“Are you going to see her again tonight?”
Was he. And then some. Tonight. All night, if he had anything to say about it. He’d had a taste of her, and it wasn’t enough. By far. “Again, none of your business.”
“Well, if you can convince her to dump Pucey, I’d consider our bet paid in full.”
“Our bet is already paid in full. I came to your stupid party.” Although, he had to admit, the prospect of convincing Hanna to dump Zack had its merits. He understood her reasons for agreeing to marry the prick, but he didn’t agree with them. No woman in this day and age should have to marry a man because of money.
Hanna deserved to make a momentous decision like marriage by following her heart, not because she was railroaded into it.
He wished he could just offer her the money she needed, but he couldn’t. What they had was so new and so untried, he didn’t dare make such an offer out of the blue. Besides, she had no idea who he really was. She thought he was a stripper, a man who pleased women for a living. He itched to tell her the truth about him—all of it.
If she got to know him a little better, she might be open to a suggestion . . .
An idea bubbled in his brain.
Maybe there was a way.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
Logan forced a glower and pinned it on Cody.
“I know that look, Logan. What are you thinking?”
Logan snorted. “None of your beeswax,” he muttered.
Cody stared at him for a long moment, with his arms crossed over his chest. “Well, whatever you do,” he grumbled, “stay away from Sidney.”
Chapter Ten
Deep in the night, a noise roused her. Hanna cracked open a lid and froze. A shadow loomed. Someone was in her room. She jerked up.
The clouds parted and moonlight splashed through the window, illuminating a broad, familiar face. Her heart hiccupped as she recognized him. “Logan,” she hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m kidnapping you.”
“What?”
“Hush now. You don’t want to wake the others.”
“Did you say you’re kidnapping me?” Her pulse kicked up. Excitement, tinged with trepidation, scudded through her.
“Yes.”
“Oh no you’re not.”
“I am. You hid in your room all day and I need to see you. This house is too crowded for what I have in mind.” He began to bundle her up in the blankets.
“Logan! Stop.”
He froze. Met her eye. Intent glimmered in his azure depths. “If you want to me stop, really want me to stop, you know what to say. Do you remember?”
She did. Whoa.
An easy word to say. She opened her mouth to say it, but it wouldn’t come
out. His gaze bore into hers for a long moment and then he grunted with satisfaction, hefted her into his arms, and carried her from the room.
The house was quiet, but for the thrumming of her pulse in her ears. “Where are you taking me?” she whispered. It seemed to resonate off the walls.
“Hush. Wait till we get outside.”
He carried her down the stairs and through the foyer, shifted her weight, and opened the door. But he didn’t head for the barn as she expected. Instead, he bundled her into an old truck parked on the long gravel drive.
He settled her gently but as he backed out of the cab, she grabbed his shirt and tugged him back. “Where are we going?” she hissed, although there was no reason to keep her voice down. Not out here. No one would hear them.
Crickets sang to the night and the wind whistled in the leaves of the trees, but the house, the bunkhouse, and the barn were dark.
His eyes glittered in the moonlight. “I told you. I’m kidnapping you.” He tucked up her nightgown and closed the door quietly and then came around to the driver’s side. She could run now. Just leave. He probably wouldn’t stop her.
Oh, he might, but she could kick up a fuss.
Trouble was, she didn’t want to leave.
She’d spent the entire day locked in her room, pretending to read, but really thinking over everything in her head, running through their conversations, their interactions. Remembering every stroke and every kiss.
She’d come to one glaring conclusion.
Sure, he wasn’t what he pretended to be—she couldn’t help but admit relief that he wasn’t a stripper. And he had kept things from her, such as the fact he’d known her in high school.
But he intrigued her.
He’d shown her more passion in one night than she’d known in her entire life.
She wanted him.
Her weekend was almost over, and as it ended, so did her freedom. Any chance for an adventure like this. She owed it to herself to take whatever she could get.
And even though he hadn’t been totally forthcoming, for some reason she still trusted him. It was something in his eyes, a sincerity, a depth she couldn’t deny.
He opened the driver’s door and slid in. His scent enrobed her, filling her consciousness with a humming awareness of his body, big and warm, next to her on the bench seat.
