Logan Read online

  Except…she clearly had a problem with it and it bothered the hell out of him that she wouldn’t stay and talk about it. Was he supposed to just pretend tonight didn’t happen? Was he supposed to see her tomorrow and act as if nothing had changed? Like she hadn’t blown his mind with one kiss?

  One hot, steamy, and incredibly sexy kiss?

  There was no way he could. He knew it already. The problem was, he had no idea how he was supposed to act when they saw each other at the Vault. It was possible things would be busy and they wouldn’t have to interact with each other at all, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t allow that to happen. He was the kind of man who needed answers and didn’t like to just leave things unsettled.

  And he was definitely unsettled.

  It was a hell of a thing.

  Pushing away from the door, he stalked over to the living room and began cleaning everything up. It was just a kiss, Logan. Get a damn grip. Yeah, he knew he was possibly overreacting to the whole thing. Maybe he was just upset because she wasn’t as into him as he was into her.

  “Hell no,” he murmured, tossing all the paper goods in the trash. It wasn’t about ego; it was about being honest.

  And if Piper were being honest, she’d admit the kiss affected her just as much as it did him. And one way or another, he’d get her to say it.

  5

  “I kissed Piper.”

  “Stewart?”

  He nodded. “You know any other Pipers around here?”

  His brother Devlin gave him a bland look from his spot behind his desk. He was older than Logan by five years and lived here in King Harbor running Blackthorne Boatworks–the boat division of the family empire. He was probably the most levelheaded of the Blackthornes...or maybe it just felt that way right now because Logan knew his brother always gave him good advice.

  “Okay, fine. You kissed Piper. And…?”

  “And? Isn’t that enough? She’s back in town temporarily and she’s working at the Vault and...I don’t know...it’s a big deal, right?”

  “Do you think it’s a big deal?”

  Rolling his eyes, he snapped, “Can you stop answering my questions with questions?” He paced the large office which was on the second floor of the massive building, both hands raking through his hair. At this rate he was going to pull it all out. When he turned back toward Devlin, he dropped his arms to his side. “We hung out last night and I kissed her. Or...we kissed each other.”

  “O-kay…”

  “And then she said it never should have happened and I’m supposed to see her tonight and I’m a little freaked out.”

  A smirk was his brother’s only response.

  “What? Don’t look at me like that! Say something!”

  With a low sigh, Devlin leaned forward, resting his arms on his desktop. “What is it you want me to say here, Logan? Are you freaked out because you think it was a mistake too and you don’t know how to act with her now?”

  “No, that’s not it. It’s just…”

  “Or are you freaked out because you crossed a line with someone you shouldn’t have? I mean, we’ve known Piper her whole life, for crying out loud. And Connor’s been nothing but nice to all of us, so do you think it’s right to go messing around with his daughter?”

  “That’s not how it is… And, hey, Hannah being Frank's daughter didn't stop you.”

  “Good point. Now let's get back to you. I have a feeling this one may be it...are you freaked out because you have some real feelings for Piper and you’re offended because she’s not tripping all over herself about you?”

  “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means things come easily for you,” he said evenly. “You were a good student, a great athlete, you’re a smart businessman who is adaptable in any situation you go into, and–let’s face it–women have been throwing themselves at you since you were fifteen.”

  “Fourteen, but…”

  “Not the point,” Devlin interrupted. “The fact is there’s never been a lack of female companionship and Piper saying it was a mistake has thrown you. Has anyone ever said that to you before?”

  “Never.”

  With a low laugh, Devlin said, “That’s what I thought.”

  “Okay, thanks for the analysis, but what do I do?”

  Standing, his brother stretched, then walked around the desk and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest. “Honestly? I think you have to wait and see what happens when you see her tonight and take your cues from her.”

  Muttering a curse, Logan walked across the room and stared out the window at the water. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Looking over his shoulder, he added, “But I was really hoping you’d have some insight into what I should do since things didn’t start out so smoothly between you and Hannah.”

  “Apples and oranges. I didn’t know Hannah the way we know Piper so you really can’t compare.”

  He groaned and walked back toward his brother. “Okay, then pretend. What would you have done?”

  Laughing, Devlin pushed away from his desk and stood in front of him. “Why can’t you simply wait and see what happens tonight and then come talk to me? You know, if you still need advice. Because I’m telling you, until you know how she’s going to react to you, this conversation is a little pointless.”

  This was one of the reasons he knew talking to Devlin was the right thing to do. He cut through all the crap and put things in the simplest terms.

  And right now it pissed him off.

  Not his brother–not exactly. Right now he wanted someone to tell him it was all going to be okay and that Piper had merely overreacted.

  But it didn’t look like that was going to happen, so…

  Sitting down in one of the chairs facing the desk, Logan let out a long breath. “It’s crazy, right? I mean…it’s Piper. And not only that, it’s too fast for me to be able to say that what I’m feeling is real or serious or…whatever, right?” He let out a low laugh. “Besides, I think you hit the nail on the head, I’m freaking out because of what she said and I’ve never had a woman say that to me, so…it’s all good. It’s going to be fine. Nothing awkward is going to happen at the Vault tonight. It’s going to be just like the last two nights. No big deal.” He paused. “It’s good.”

  Devlin stepped in front of him, a look of utter amusement on his face. “Looks like you didn’t need me at all. You just gave yourself a pep talk. Good for you.”

  “Fine, make fun,” Logan grumbled, slouching down and letting his head fall back against the chair. “I have a feeling I’m totally screwed here.”

  “Did you have a crush on Piper before? Like when you were younger?”

  “No. I always considered her to be a kid. I never thought of her as a girl, and I certainly wasn’t thinking of her as a woman. Hell, I didn’t even recognize her when I saw her the other night.”

  “That must have gone over well.”

  “She thought it was funny, but…it was a bit of a shock. Piper Stewart all grown up was not something I was prepared for.”

  “You didn’t think she was going to stay a kid forever, did you?”

  Then he grimaced. “Okay, this is going to sound so bad, but…I honestly didn’t think about it at all. She was always just…you know…Piper. Connor’s daughter.”

  Groaning, Devlin walked back to his seat and sat down. “I don’t think that’s bad, per se, Logan. She wasn’t on your radar. There’s no crime in that.”

  “Yeah, but…I should have recognized her,” he said miserably. “I talked to her all damn night while I worked the bar and it wasn’t until Charles said her name that I realized who she was.”

  “Okay, so it’s not like you were attracted to her because of who she is, you were just attracted to her.” Leaning back in his chair, he said, “Sometimes you can’t help who you’re attracted to. Now that I can say from experience. Believe me, Hannah didn’t want anything to do with me. I was the enemy.” He paused and shifted sligh
tly in his seat. “And on top of that, I wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone. I didn’t want to go there again.”

  Logan nodded with understanding. Devlin had lost the love of his life back in college and it had taken years for him to open up to another relationship. Hannah was amazing and so perfect for him, but he understood the struggle the two of them had. The circumstances were different, but he could understand what his brother was getting at.

  “To me, it doesn’t matter that she’s Connor’s daughter or someone we’ve known for years. I really just want the opportunity to get to know her.”

  The look Devlin gave him said he didn’t believe him.

  “What? What’s that look for?”

  “You know I’d never lie to you, right?”

  Logan nodded.

  “You tend to have a short attention span,” he said carefully. “Trust me, I have no idea about what goes on in most of your relationships–maybe it’s a mutual thing, I don’t know. However, if you’re just looking to kill some time while you’re here for the next few weeks, make sure she knows that. Or better yet, maybe find someone else to kill that time with.”

  Well…shit.

  Devlin’s phone rang and he said, “Give me a minute,” just before he answered it.

  Standing, Logan walked back over to the windows to give his brother some privacy. His mind was racing and he knew a large part of the problem was that he was impatient. Before driving over here, he had considered going over to Piper’s and confronting her. He hadn’t even made it out of his parking lot when he realized what a bad idea it was.

  Behind him, he heard Devlin say, “Hang on a minute,” and turned toward him.

  “Sorry, Logan, I’ve got to take this. I was expecting a delivery on a couple of motors today and they’re telling me they never shipped, so I need to handle this.”

  “Yeah, sure. No problem.” Walking across the room, he shook his brother’s hand. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

  And the thing was, Logan knew he was genuinely concerned about him. With a smile, he said, “Sure. You helped me see that I overreacted and I’m just bothered because she turned me down. No big deal.”

  Once more Devlin gave him a look that said he didn’t believe him, but he refused to focus on it as he waved and walked out the door.

  As he walked down the stairs, he couldn’t help but admire the boats currently being built. He enjoyed sailing and appreciated all the hard work that went into creating quality boats, but he never saw himself being part of the creating process. Sure, he was known to help out in a pinch, but never with anything more than sanding or staining. He waved at a couple of the workers on his way out the door and slid his sunglasses on as he stepped outside.

  The smell of the water combined with the warmth of the sun was the perfect combination to make Logan simply stop and take a couple of deep breaths. He loved this–the simplicity of being outside. It helped him relax a bit and he cursed the fact that he hadn’t gotten up and gone for a run. That was three days in a row and totally unlike him.

  “Tomorrow,” he murmured. “No matter what, I am getting up and running.” Feeling good about his decision, he walked over to his car and wished he felt good about going to the Vault and seeing Piper.

  It wasn’t like her to run away from her problems, but right now, that’s exactly what Piper wanted to do. She stood in the employee parking lot of the Vault and stared at the door and wished she had called in sick.

  Unfortunately, Logan would have seen right through that.

  She let out a long breath and forced herself to go through the damn door and start her shift. In the break room, Piper took a moment to be thankful that no one was in there because she wasn’t feeling as confident as she had hoped. The truth was, she was a mess.

  Last night, in the moment, yes, the kiss had been everything she had ever dreamed it would be.

  And she had dreamed of kissing Logan Blackthorne a lot when she was growing up.

  The reality had not disappointed.

  The problem was that Piper was a very practical woman. She knew men like Logan and knew what she was signing on for if she let things go any further. There was no future with someone like him–he wasn’t looking to settle down, wasn’t looking for forever–and she was. It wasn’t something she blurted out to people, but yeah, she was done with casual dating and had certainly never been into casual hookups, which she had a feeling was more of what Logan wanted. He was killing time while he was here in King Harbor and…

  Okay, she was making a lot of assumptions where he was concerned, but there was no way she was going to ask him what his intentions were.

  She groaned. How awkward would that be?

  And besides, she was ready for this next phase of life–she was done with school and ready to start her career and that meant possibly moving to the other side of the country so…

  Wait a minute…

  For a minute, Piper seriously thought she was having a panic attack but then suddenly everything became clear.

  Why couldn’t she just let herself have a fling with Logan? The timing was kind of convenient. He was going to be leaving in a few weeks and she could potentially be doing the same so…why not enjoy this time before she moved on? Once she was settled in with a new job, that’s when she could think about seriously dating and finding someone she wanted to be with and saw a future with.

  Could it really be this easy?

  Ugh…why didn’t I think of this last night before freaking out the way I did?

  Hindsight and all…

  She felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off of her and she was confident she’d be just fine seeing Logan tonight.

  Sliding her apron around her waist, she checked her reflection and gave herself a smile before heading out toward the bar. She smiled and waved to Morgan who was working the dining room tonight as she made her way across the room. Logan was behind the bar and when he looked up at her, Piper saw the uncertainty and instantly missed the easy smile he usually greeted her with.

  Resting her hands on the polished wood between them, she gave a hesitant greeting. When he merely nodded and went back to entering something down on the tablet in front of him, she didn’t take it as a good sign. Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to get into it because a party of five walked through the door and she decided to greet them and get things going.

  For the next several hours, she did her job and Logan did his–although, she noticed he spent a lot less time behind the bar and more in the office and kitchen.

  It was hard not to take it personally.

  Still, she remained hopeful that at some point, they’d be able to sit and talk. It wasn’t until close to closing time that he was back behind the bar. There were a couple of guys sitting and drinking there and talking to him, but she noticed his smile was forced and he didn’t look quite like his usual, friendly self. Whatever was going on, she knew he could handle it and focused on cleaning her section so she could call it a night.

  She was wiping down a table when she first heard raised voices. Turning, she realized it was whoever was talking to Logan. Straightening, Piper looked around and wondered if she should go over and see what was going on. From across the room, she caught Morgan’s eye and they both shrugged like they didn’t know what to do. Doing her best to just keep working, she moved a little closer to the bar to try to hear what was being said.

  As she looked closer, she recognized both men–Tyler Hayes and Brian Grainger. She went to school with them and she never really liked them. They were the annoying jocks who thought they were God’s gift to everyone. They were always way too full of themselves and, apparently, they were even more obnoxious when they were drunk.

  Like now.

  “All I’m saying, Logan, is there are a lot of theories out there,” Tyler said. Loudly. “I mean, how do you know they’re all wrong?”

  “Yeah!” Brian chimed in. “Your mom was always
a good-looking woman. How do you know she wasn’t messing around on the old man? Plenty of guys around here would have loved to hit that back in the day.”

  Say what now? Piper stopped pretending like she was working and put all her attention on the bar.

  Specifically, Logan and his reaction to these two drunk idiots.

  “That would be a big secret, right?” Tyler asked. “Or…or maybe it was your old man who was screwing around! Affairs are definitely considered big secrets.”

  Brian leaned over sloppily. “Nah, that shit’s too obvious. I think this has to do with the old Blackthorne money. I’ll bet that the whisky business isn’t even theirs! Rumor has it your great-grandfather or some shit like that stole the recipe and that’s how you made your money!”

  “Guys,” Logan began, and Piper could hear the frustration in his voice, “there’s really nothing to talk about here, and…it’s none of your business. So why don’t you pay your tab and call it a night. I’ll call you an Uber if you need it.”

  “Oh, come on, bro,” Brian said. “Don’t be like that! You know, you should totally offer a reward if someone figures out what the big secret is before anyone in your family does!”

  Tyler raised his hand and nearly fell out of his seat. “That would be awesome! My vote is there’s a secret Blackthorne somewhere! The product of someone messing around with someone they shouldn’t have!” He laughed so hard that this time he did fall.

  Piper was immediately on the move, helping him up. He looked at her–his eyes a little glassy and his expression a little goofy–but he recognized her. “Piper! Hey, Piper! How are you?” She got him on his feet and gently guided him back onto his stool.

  “Hey, Ty,” she said sweetly. “You know it’s getting pretty late and we’re getting ready to close. Why don’t I grab you both some coffee and you can drink it while you wait for your ride?”

  He looked at her in confusion. “But…I drove here. I don’t need a ride.”

  She cupped his cheek and spoke to him like she was talking to a child. “Oh, sweetie, it’s too dangerous for you to drive like this. I know I’d feel a lot better if you let us call you a ride, okay?”