Page 16 of Perfect Persuasion (Love’s Second Chance #2)

Raking a hand through his already bedraggled hair, he made his way down to the kitchen.

Derek, ever the night owl, looked up at him from one of the barstools at the kitchen island.

In his hands was a tattered copy of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost .

The irony was not wasted on Logan. A bottle of water sat on the island before Derek. He sent Logan a semi-grin.

“He lives.”

Logan scowled at his friend. “What the hell are you doing, sitting in my kitchen, reading an ancient play at this time of night?”

Derek shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. What the hell are you doing in your kitchen?”

Logan pulled open the fridge and peered inside, evaluating its meager contents. “I’m hungry. Is there anything in here not sprouting mold?”

“If there was, I ate it,” Derek told him with relish.

Logan grunted and retrieved a carton of orange juice that had expired four days ago. He sniffed it, deemed it safe, and went for a glass. As he poured, he looked over his shoulder at Derek. “What did you think of her?”

Derek feigned ignorance, the jackass. “Who?”

“Claire, damn it.” The sound of liquid swishing onto the countertop had Logan turning belatedly back to his orange juice. It was everywhere.

A snicker reached his ears.

“Looks like you spilled, Loge.”

Issuing a growl of annoyance, Logan fumbled for some paper towels and began sopping up the mess. A silence descended, interrupted only by intermittent, squishy plops of juice-laden paper towels.

“Well?” he finally demanded, looking back at Derek. “You never answered me.”

Derek offered another shrug. “She’s gorgeous.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed. “And mine.” The proprietary words surprised him. Of course, they weren’t technically true, but she was going to have his baby. That had to count for something. So Derek and his golden boy, Hollywood looks could just forget about it.

“Settle down, Monroe,” Derek halted his admittedly jealous thought process. “I have eyes, that’s all I’m saying. But I’m not interested in her, you dipshit. Besides, anyone can see she’s got it bad for you.”

Really? The thought perked Logan up as he threw his soggy paper towels into the trash. Then again, he’d already known she was attracted to him. But she thought little enough of him otherwise to want to keep him out of their child’s life. That said a hell of a lot.

“She said she’d pick you up for work tomorrow at seven,” Derek continued. “You’ve got a two-minute window before she leaves without your ass.”

Logan walked back to the counter, picked up his full-to-the-brim glass of orange juice, and settled on the stool next to his friend. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with her,” he confessed, taking a hearty gulp of his drink. “She’s all wrong for me.”

“Or maybe all right for you,” Derek pointed out.

Secretly, Logan was beginning to think so too, which was all part of the problem.

It had ceased to be about mere lust a long time ago.

Maybe it had never been about lust and lust alone.

He found himself wanting more and more to talk with her just to hear her voice, to see her, to be in her presence.

He wanted to ask her advice, to have the freedom to kiss her gorgeous mouth whenever he damn well pleased.

To wake up with her, go to sleep with her, rub her belly and feel their baby moving inside her.

He wanted what couples had, that sort of warm intimacy that he’d never experienced in his life.

The list never ended.

“I don’t know,” he said at last, staring morosely at his half-empty glass. “She’s a business associate, and she’s at the tail end of a divorce, and she doesn’t seem to think highly of me at the moment.”

“She was worried about you tonight.” Derek laid his book down on the island, spine up to keep his page, and considered Logan gravely. “I was too. Migraines, Loge?”

“It’s nothing.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I get them mostly when things are hectic at work. They go away and I’m fine.”

Derek studied him for a moment, so closely Logan barely suppressed the urge to squirm. “I think you need to get away from your damn company. Go on an extended vacation. Take Claire with you. It’d be good for the both of you.”

Logan considered it. He had to admit, Derek’s suggestion sounded tempting. Very tempting. But he had duties and responsibilities, not to mention a shitload of work to do.

He shook his head. “I can’t. We’re in the middle of a huge ad campaign for Pierpont Hotels, we’re down to the wire on the sugar substitute ads, Scrubby Soap has us reworking our pitch, HRC Insurance just took us on board.”

“So delegate. Give everyone specific jobs, leave the next in line in charge, and go for a week. Just a week. You can swing that, Loge.”

He had Logan there, and the grin on Derek’s face said he knew it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Maybe the idea wasn’t so bad, supposing he could actually convince Claire to accompany him anywhere. The idea of having Claire alone and all to himself for a week sent a thrill coursing through his veins.

Still, he hesitated. Walking out for a week, leaving matters in the hands of his staff, would be a risky venture. He always scheduled his vacations around lulls in campaigns.

“I don’t know. Who will take care of Caesar?” Logan was stalling and he knew it.

As if on cue, Caesar strutted into the kitchen with a loud meow. He made a beeline for Derek, purring loudly along the way.

Derek chuckled and leaned down to scratch the cat’s head affectionately.

“I will. He likes me better than you anyway. Can’t say I blame him.

” He looked up at Logan. “Just stop being yourself for a change and do it. Christ, you don’t know how lucky you are to be in your position.

You’re going to be a father, Loge. That has to come first. Even I know that, worthless fuck-up that I am. ”

Logan drained his glass. “You’re right. Not the part about being a worthless fuck-up, but the rest of it.”

Derek looked startled at Logan’s capitulation.

He’d obviously expected more rigorous objections before a concession.

But Logan was beginning to realize success in business didn’t fill in the hollow void he’d felt all his life and continued to seek so desperately to fill.

And neither did money, a mansion, or expensive cars, regardless of how fast they were or how badass they looked parked in his garage.

Maybe it was time to reconsider his life.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” Logan said suddenly, an idea striking him with full force. “I’ll go on a vacation for a week, try to slow things down a bit, if you promise to stay here for a month.”

Derek made a face at that. It had become the proverbial vicious cycle with him to fly in for rehab, stay with Logan for a week or two, and fly back out to LA and all his addictions.

Logan had always been loath to interfere in his friend’s life, but Derek was more depressed now than he’d ever seen him.

It scared the hell out of Logan to think his friend couldn’t continue to live like this without killing himself.

“No offense, Loge, but I wanted to get back before the end of the month for a part in a movie.”

“I think you need to stay the hell out of Dodge for a while.”

Derek turned that over in his mind before nodding. “All right. It’s a deal. You go on vacation with Claire for a week. I stay here for another month. But you’ll be tired of me, I’m warning you.”

“Won’t happen,” Logan assured him.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Logan decided to wait until Claire stopped inside the parking garage before springing the question on her. She had unhooked her seatbelt and was reaching for the door when he caught her hand in his.

She looked over at him, clearly startled by his gesture. Rattled, he thought. He’d rattled her calm facade with just one touch. Her lips, a glossy pink this morning, parted, her eyes vivid blue. And just like that, Logan’s carefully practiced speech went straight to hell.

He leaned over and kissed her, as deeply and as hotly as he’d been wanting to ever since he’d gotten in her car that morning.

He cupped her cheeks, caressing her delicately smooth skin.

Her mouth opened to allow his tongue and he tasted the sweet vanilla flavor of her lip gloss.

It was heady stuff. The feel of her, the taste of her, the scent of her, the tiny, breathy noise she made when he kissed her, all combined to make his senses reel.

He was rock hard from one kiss, already envisioning taking her right here on level three of the parking garage where anyone could see.

Maybe he was going a little insane. Maybe it was just the effect Claire had on him. He pulled away, staring down into her sparkling eyes. “I have a vacation scheduled next week,” he told her, the words sounding abrupt even to his own ears.

A frown wrinkled her brow. “What?”

“I wasn’t sure if I could get away, but I think it would be good for me.” He paused, allowing his words to register in her mind. “I want you to come with me.”

Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. She was clearly taken aback. Logan had never seen Claire speechless before. The urge to chuckle rose within him at the charming look on her face. God, she really was adorable.

“What? Where?” She shook her head vigorously, as though trying to break a spell. “What am I saying? Of course I can’t go away with you next week. It’s my last week of working at LM and I have tons of loose ends to tie up before—”

“I was hoping you might want to rethink that,” he broke in. “You know I’d love to keep you on as creative director. Now that I know about the baby, there’s no reason for you to hide from me.”

That got her back up. Her eyes snapped at him and her face flushed. She looked exceptionally gorgeous when she was pissed, he decided, unable to tear his eyes from her.

“I wasn’t hiding.”