The Billionaire's Kiss(46)

"Let me get my stuff," Luke said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Callie bolted back to the front door and slammed it behind her as she pretended to return from her call. She gave Luke a smile as she passed him in the hallway. "No luck with the call," she said, shaking her head, "but I'm sure we can work something out."

"You should talk to your boyfriend," Luke said.

"He's not my boyfriend," Callie interjected.

"Sure," Luke said, "I spent months trying to hide my feelings for Erin. Do you really think I can't tell when two people are stupid for each other?”

Stupid for each other, that’s one way of putting it. Callie paused for a moment wondering what she should do. If she admitted to having something with Logan, it might help her win some points with the kid and make it easier for her to end this scandal as soon as possible. On the other hand, she didn't want anyone to know what was going on. She didn't even want Logan to know how she felt. "Go,” she said. “You have two minutes or we're coming up after you."

"Suit yourself." Luke headed off to his room.

Callie turned to find Logan smiling back at her. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"How much of that did you listen to?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. I heard you in the hall. You're a mouth breather."

"I am not!" Callie snapped back. "You didn't hear a thing."

Logan walked over to her and stepped right on the creaking floorboard. "I didn't hear you breathing the same way I didn't hear you step on this while you were eavesdropping."

"So what if I was? Maybe I needed to make sure you didn't screw anything up."

"If I remember correctly, I was the one who convinced him to play ball."

"Yeah, and in doing so, you might have just cost me the business of his very powerful and very connected father."

"Do you really think I did that to help you with your business?" Logan asked.

Callie was eager to shift the conversation away from her eavesdropping. "Why else would you have done that?"

"You heard what I said. I did it because it was the right thing to do."

"Because the kid reminded you of yourself?"

"I'm sure that's part of it, but his girlfriend is probably scared out of her mind right now, and if someone doesn't do something to help her, she'll never get over this."

"That's what the money is for,” Callie said.

"Screw the money," Logan muttered under his breath. He looked Callie in the eye and said, "Screw business and reputations. Some things are more important."

Callie couldn't help but stare right back into his eyes. He was right. She knew that he was talking about more than just this case. As she looked at him, she became aware of the distance between their bodies. He was close enough that she could almost feel his heat. She could smell the deep musk of his cologne, and the longer he just looked at her, with those deep blue eyes, the more she felt every inch of her body call out for him. You know what he means, she thought. He means you.

Logan broke eye contact for a moment and looked over to the staircase. Then he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Callie, pulling her against himself as he pressed his lips to hers. The slow, soft motions of his lips against hers made Callie forget about everything for a moment, and she let herself lean into the warmth of his embrace, lost herself in the smooth bliss of his kiss. A flame of desire rose up deep inside her core.

"No," she said, pushing herself back. "Not here."

Logan smiled at her. "We could always go out behind the bleachers,” he said with a wink.

"Not funny," Callie said. "I know you're not working right now, but I am, and we can't do this." Callie looked back to the staircase, where Luke was sitting on the second to last step.

"You guys are weird," Luke said. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and headed down, walking past them to the door.

"Yeah," Logan said, "I guess we are. Let's go. We have a damsel in distress to go save."

Callie wanted to believe that Erin Anderson really was everything Luke thought she was. She wanted to believe that Logan's rather inconvenient plan would work, but she couldn't rely on it. It was her job to protect her client, and she couldn't do that unless she sat down with Erin one on one and figured out her real motivation. There was still a very real chance that all of this could fall apart.





Twelve

Erin Anderson hovered over the gas range, waiting for the kettle to boil. “From the day I told Luke I was pregnant,” she said, “I’ve been waiting for the cavalry to arrive. If you think you can scare me off, you’ve picked the wrong woman.”