Page 4

CHAPTER FOUR

logan

I repeat: fuckity, fuck, fuck.

If a tiny little spark landed, we would both go up in flames, and hell, maybe we were both already burning. Emma Carter had pulled out her box of matches. This was going to get out of hand…

Shit. If most of my employees were present, there was no way I’d be able to “devour an animal doctor.” Were they still here? I checked. A handful remained. Maybe they’d clear out before anything happened with Emma.

I scrambled for something non-sexual to say. “Sheila called the drink ‘the Emma.’ That’s after you, isn’t it?” Inane small talk, but it was the best I could come up with.

Her cheeks pinked slightly. “I’ve saved her daughter’s cat a time or two.”

“More than a time or two,” I murmured as Sheila reappeared with two menus and placed one in front of each of us. “Have you eaten here before? ”

“No. What would you recommend?” She placed her hand on my knee and leaned close to look at my menu.

Fire burned straight up my thigh, curling around my dick and pulling tight. Had seduction classes been a part of her vet training?

“They have a good Philly Cheesesteak.” For the life of me, I couldn’t remember anything else on the damned menu, but I could practically make out every line of her fingerprints on each of her fingertips on my knee.

Emma didn’t move away. “Then that’s what I’ll get.”

“Listen,” I said, lowering my voice as much as I could. “Emma.”

She leaned even closer, and her scent flooded my nose, enticing me with blueberries and sage. I took a deep breath, reveling in the wildness of it.

She turned her face toward me slightly. “You’re a contractor, right?”

Everything I’d wanted to say disappeared. The word “Yes,” hissed out of me.

Her tongue smoothed over her lips as she stirred her drink, and her gaze slid to mine. “Would you show me your tool belt?”

Her mossy green eyes sparkled, and a midnight-blue strand of hair fell over her forehead and her cheek.

Fire-engine red curled around her ear, other colors trailed in waves down her neck.

Her raw intensity forced any rational thought from my head, and I stared at her, slack-jawed and shrinking the space between us.

Had the rainbow-haired veterinary made a blatant pass at me? Even if her hand on my knee hadn’t been there, all pheromones pointed to yes. She’d been turned on even while she had thought about chewing me out.

“Are you sure about that?” I had to be certain she understood I didn’t have time for a relationship, and I had to confirm I was hearing what I thought I was. “I’m not looking for anything longterm.”

“Who said anything about anything longterm? I run my own business, same as you.” Her fingers drew circles on my thigh. “Do you think I have time for a relationship?”

“What about your lecture on responsibility?”

“It was about responsible pet ownership, and I didn’t ask you to adopt a pet, Logan.” She batted her eyes at me. “I’m not pet material. Besides, you going to let a little lecture stop what could be the best night of your life?”

“Best night of my life?”

I was willing to bet sex with Emma would be the best night of the decade. I considered her. Yeah, maybe my life.

She tilted closer, made a little mewling noise, and turned her face toward mine as she inclined forward, inviting me to look down her top. Self-control was not an option anymore.

“Do you want to get out of here?” I rasped. Not anything about not having time for relationships or romance. Nope. Just a proposition.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Wanna be my Mr. Fuck Me Right Now ? Is that bad? It’s been a long time since I asked anyone to a good fuck.”

To a good fuck ? That was as blatant as it got and right up my alley. The terms were clear, and we both understood what this was going to be.

“No, definitely not bad. Come on.” I tossed five one-hundred-dollar bills on the bar. If it wasn’t enough, Sheila would come after me later, or she’d credit the extra toward next time.

Emma’s eyes widened at the amount of cash on the counter, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she asked, “Do you live around here?”

“Not really. Takes ninety minutes to get home.”

But I wasn’t sure my bedroom in Six-Mile Manor was really an option. How would I explain bringing a woman home to the pack? It wouldn’t just open a whole can of worms. It’d be more like a million octopus tentacles that I could never put back.

“That’s too far,” she said.

“Where should we go?”

The local motel wouldn’t be my first choice for our first night, and booking a luxury cabin on Airbnb wasn’t going to happen this late. Inviting myself to her house seemed douchey.

Silently, she took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine as she led me out of Vixen’s and into the parking lot. She hesitated as she considered the vehicles. Her grip tightened, and I pulled her close, pressing her against the exterior wall.

“Kiss me.” She tipped her chin upward, and we crashed together, her mouth already open and mine already seeking as our lips met. Her drink lingered on her tongue, fanning the blazing lust between us. Blood surged through me, collecting in my dick, and I adjusted my pants.

Far away, someone whistled, and it registered that we were still in the parking lot of the busy Willow Creek bar. While we wouldn’t be front page news, we’d be all the gossip of the town. Maybe we were already, depending on how many of my employees saw me making out with the vet.

“Mmm,” I groaned as she hooked her fingers in my belt loops and jerked my hips against her. “We should go somewhere other than here.”

She dragged her fingernails down my back, the sensation dulled by the shirt I wore. “Are you parked around here?”

I led her to my double-cab diesel work truck, not wanting to have truck sex with my first woman in months, but I wasn’t about to break the spell or put out the fire. If Emma wanted a fuck in my truck, she would have it.

After shoving my hand into my pocket, I dragged the key out and remote-started the contractor’s rig. Without letting her move an inch from me, I opened her door, and she hopped up backwards into the passenger seat, dragging me closer until I stood between her spread knees.

She hooked her legs around my back and yanked me closer, working the zipper down and stroking my dick through my boxers. “Dammit. You have underwear on.”

“Not for long.” I reached around her, pulling her close enough her breasts pressed into my chest, soft mounds. The fastener on the back of her bra didn’t take long.

She moaned, grinding against me, her wet heat centered over the unzipped part of my jeans, and I reached down, releasing my dick from my boxers. Her thin work slacks couldn’t hide how aroused she was.

I pressed my lips to her neck, over and over, drawing my tongue down the side.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang beneath her thigh, and she must have bumped the correct button to answer because a voice routed through the idling truck’s speaker system.

“Logan, where did you and Emma go? I knew you two would hit it off if you played your cards right. You better be honest with her about what you have time for. There’s no way I want to be involved in hurting her.”

In my arms, Emma froze and pulled back from me. “Was this a setup? Did you two plan this?”

“No, not exactly,” I whispered. Then I placed my finger on her lips, made red from our kissing. “She’ll hear you.”

“Logan? Logan? Did you say something? Are you there?” Sheila’s voice filled the cab, but I couldn’t reach the button on the steering wheel to hang it up. Not from my spot, wrapped in Emma’s legs, and I wasn’t about to climb over her. “You’re breaking up.”

“Hang on,” I whispered. “Get in. I know a place we can park and maybe figure out somewhere to go that’s more romantic than the back seat.” To Sheila, I said, “I’ll call you back. ”

Then I moved out of Emma’s warmth, carefully tucked myself back into my pants, jogged around to the driver’s side, opened the door, climbed in, and pressed the red hang-up button, fully expecting Emma to climb into the passenger seat and close the door behind her.

But when I glanced over, the passenger seat had emptied, and the door stood open. All the air whooshed out of me. Emma Carter had disappeared like a mirage. Where had the rainbow vet gone? Should I wait for her to come back?

Maybe she had to visit the bathroom before we drove anywhere? Even as I thought it, I knew she wasn’t coming back. Her buzz had faded, and her brain had taken over the minute Sheila’s call had routed through the truck speakers.

Shit. She believed it had all been a manipulative trick, and she probably thought Sheila was my co-conspirator. The woman had it all wrong.

My phone trilled with another incoming call. Sheila’s name displayed on the dashboard screen, and I tapped ignore as I scanned the parking lot from the driver’s seat of my truck. Patrons, many of them my employees, filtered through the parking lot after their two-drink cap kicked in.

My truck lurched as I shifted it into reverse and creeped out of the parking lot.

Slowly, my brain cleared of the lusty fog, and that was when it hit me.

Why the hell hadn’t I just pressed the hangup button on the phone on my belt?

I could have done that instead of running around the truck and giving Emma a minute to rationally process what was about to go down in the parking lot of Vixen’s.

More than that, though, had I ruined any chance I had with Emma at all? I hadn’t just played all my cards wrong, I’d ripped up the whole damned collector’s deck.

Fuck. Sheila was going to kill me.