Chapter Thirty-Seven

Logan finished a set of squats and replaced the weight bar on the rack. Grabbing a towel, he mopped his face and chugged water out of a bottle. He wiped his mouth with the towel and tossed it aside. His muscles were screaming but he had no intention of stopping. He needed to work out all his sexual frustration. Having Jade in the room next to him was about to kill him.

It was bad enough when he had just his imagination to conjure images of Jade naked and writhing beneath him. Now that he knew exactly what she looked like when he covered her body, how she felt, the little screams she emitted…Logan groaned. He was going to die of unquenched lust.

He was just about to pick up the weight bar for another set when his cell rang. He turned down the volume on the CD player and answered.

“Logan, it’s me.”

He stuck a finger in his opposite ear. “Aunt Trudy, I can barely hear you.”

“Someone is in the house,” she whispered fiercely. “I’ve called the police, got my .38 cocked and ready.”

Logan’s heart thumped erratically as he tore up the stairs. “Aunt Trudy, get in a closet. Don’t try anything foolish. Joel Fleming is watching the house. I’ll get ahold of him and have him search for the guy. I’m on my way.”

Logan disconnected and dialed Luke. Although it was late, he knew his partner would still be awake. When he answered, Logan quickly explained what happened and asked him to drive over and stay with Bella and Jade. He hung up and dialed Joel Fleming’s number listening to it ring and ring.

With a harsh curse, he disconnected and knocked on Jade’s door. “I’ve got to go out, it’s an emergency,” he said through the closed door. He rushed into his room and threw on a T-shirt. He unlocked the box with his gun and Jade inhaled sharply. He swung around and found her standing inside his doorway, her eyes trained on his SIG Sauer.

“Luke is on the way over,” he informed her. “Open the door for no one. He knows the code.”

“What’s happening, Logan?”

He struggled with telling her and finally decided she deserved to know. “Someone broke in to Aunt Trudy’s house.”

Jade gasped.

“He’s still there.”

She swayed and gripped the doorframe. He wanted to reach out and pull her close, assure her everything would be okay. But he didn’t have time. He had to get to his aunt.

“Remember, open for no one,” he said over his shoulder as he hurtled down the stairs and out to his SUV. He backed out and accelerated down the street, trying Fleming’s number again. Still no answer.

It occurred to him that this could be a diversion. Maybe the perp was smarter than they thought. He brushed the thought aside. There was no way he could know where Jade was at the moment. They'd been careful.

He passed Luke and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one he trusted more than his partner. He made it to Trudy’s house in minutes. He parked behind Joel Fleming’s car, noting the flat rear tire. He slid out of the car and eased to the driver’s side. Joel was slumped over in the seat, blood seeping from a wound in the back of his head. His hands and legs were bound together and a gag covered his mouth. Logan whipped open the door and checked for a pulse. He was alive, his heartbeat steady. He would live. Logan removed the gag so he could breathe and quickly scanned the area. Seeing nothing suspicious, he ran at a crouch to the back door. He headed straight for his aunt’s room.

Trudy’s door stood open and he started to enter when movement down the hall caught his attention. He whipped around and spotted a dark shape bolting for the stairs. He took one step when a low moan changed his course. He flipped on the light and found his aunt face down on the floor.

#

“Aunt Trudy, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

Trudy blinked her eyes open and sighed with annoyance. So much for her imitation of Murder, She Wrote's feisty heroine, Jessica Fletcher. Jess never tripped on her peignoir and knocked herself out before she could confront the bad guy.

Sirens clamored in the distance. She tried to sit up but two strong hands stopped her.

“Don’t try to move, Aunt Trudy.”

“I’m fine Logan,” she said to her overprotective nephew and tried again to sit.

“Are you injured? Did he hit you? Tell me where it hurts.”

“My pride,” she mumbled. “Help me up, dear, I’m fine.”

Logan guided her to a sitting position and she rubbed her head. He was kneeling in front of her, his hand knocking hers away to gently trace the bump.

“What happened?” he asked gruffly.

How embarrassing to face her strong, competent nephew and tell him what a klutz he had for an aunt. “I thought I heard him in the hall and I wanted to shoot the bastard. I tripped and banged my head on the floor.”

Logan let out a breath. “Thank goodness for that,” he said as he pulled her close for a hug. “No telling what would have happened if you confronted him.”

“I’d have blown off his favorite body part,” Trudy said with all the righteous indignation she could manage.

“I have no doubt about that,” Logan chuckled.

The police arrived and searched the area but the stalker had fled. Joel regained consciousness but couldn’t describe his assailant. When he heard his tire blow, he went to check it out. As he rounded the car, he was hit on the back of the head. The next thing he remembered was waking up as paramedics loaded him onto a gurney. He had a killer headache but would be fine.

While the police dusted for prints, Trudy made arrangements to stay with her friend, Madge. “She needs someone around to help her anyway,” Trudy explained when she declined Logan’s offer of staying with him. He helped her pack, loaded her suitcase in his car and drove her to her friend’s house.

As he parked the car, he turned to face her. “Maybe now you'll let me install that upgraded security system I’ve wanted to for years.”

Trudy sighed. “Maybe I will.” She kissed him on the cheek and then patted the other one. “You take care of Bella and Jade.”

“I will, Aunt Trudy.”

He walked her inside and then headed home to check on his women.

#

Logan parked in the garage and entered his house. Jade and Luke were sitting in the living room—way too close if you asked him—drinking wine. How cozy.

Okay, so she was perched on the couch and Luke sat in a chair. Still, the whole picture looked way too intimate for his well being.

He wanted to say something snide like “sorry to interrupt” but decided it was just too petty. Luke had done him a huge favor coming over this late and he knew his partner. He would never do anything to hurt him. Besides, he had no claim on Jade.

He cleared his throat and she popped off the couch.

“Is Trudy okay? What happened?”

Luke rose to his feet behind her. Logan focused on his partner so he wouldn’t have to look into Jade’s sea green eyes. “Someone broke in and was still in the house when I arrived.”

Jade inhaled and both hands covered her mouth.

“Was she hurt?” Luke asked.

“A bump on her head.”

“Oh no, he hit her?”

One side of Logan’s mouth kicked up in an amused grin. “She, uh, tried to play heroine and tripped over her robe. She knocked herself out.”

Looking too relieved to smile, Jade breathed, “Thank goodness,” and then threw her arms around his waist. He fought every instinct to not wrap his arms around her. He stood still, arms hanging limply at his sides so he wouldn’t touch her. His gaze met Luke’s, who raised one eyebrow in interest.

Logan removed Jade and stepped back before his body betrayed him and she discovered that he wasn’t so immune to her after all. She quickly regrouped and attempted a smile, but not before he caught the flash of hurt.

“How did he get in?” Luke asked to diffuse the tension.

“Glass cutter. He cut a chunk out of a downstairs window and suctioned it off.”

“No prints?”

Logan shook his head.

She shuddered violently. Again he almost reached for her. Instead, he turned to Luke. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“You don’t have to thank me, partner.”

He walked Luke out and when he returned, Jade was staring at him, a look of expectation and hope on her beautiful face.

Ah, hell.

Just a couple of steps and she was blessedly in his arms again, a perfect fit. His head descended and he feasted on her soft lips like a starving man. She tasted so sweet, so familiar. He could feel the—

“Logan.”

“What?”

“Are you okay? You zoned out there for a minute.”

Logan shook his head, stunned to realize that he'd been daydreaming. He was still standing in the entryway and Jade stood rooted in the same spot. She took a tentative step in his direction, all her wants and needs clearly written on her face. Doing what any red-blooded male would do when faced with a gorgeous woman who clearly wanted him, he bolted for his room.

“It’s late. You should get some sleep,” he called out over his shoulder.

“I’ll be up for a little while.”

Her voice sounded husky and he cursed himself each step he took away from her. Why couldn’t things be different? Why couldn’t she be the woman he thought she was—a Midwestern sweet schoolteacher—instead of an internationally famous movie star?

Because, a voice in his head happily chirped, if she was, you never would've met her.