Club Destiny 1 Conviction (26 page)

“Ok, dinner and a movie then.
What are we having? I was thinking maybe Japanese?”

“Japanese it is.” Logan replied,
extending his hand.

Sam placed her palm in his and
let him pull her from the couch. In a moment of weakness, she threw her arms
around his waist, feeling his heat against her, the strength in his arms, as he
held her. He kissed the top of her head, and the tenderness in that gesture had
her sighing.

She hadn’t known how much she
missed him until that moment. Hanging on for a little longer than she intended,
Sam didn’t say a word. There wasn’t anything that needed to be said. There was
something infinitely right about the two of them together. Something powerful
that connected them.

Sam looked up at him and smiled.
She was content. This was the exact place she wanted to be at that moment. In
his arms.

“Let’s eat.”

Ok maybe not the exact place.

As they were leaving the
restaurant, Logan’s cell phone rang. He helped Sam into the car and shut her
door behind her. He was still on the phone when he came around to get in.

“I totally understand, Xavier.
I’ll be on the next flight out.” Logan replied and then hit the button to end
the call.

“I’m guessing that was work.”

“Yep. I have to go to California.
There seems to be an issue with the vendor we chose for your project. They want
to meet with me to discuss the contract. Xavier didn’t go into much detail, but
I didn’t expect he would. I need to call Deanna.”

Sam sat quietly as Logan talked
to his admin, giving her the information she needed to book his flight and hotel.
Apparently Deanna was online taking care of it as they spoke because Logan sat
quietly with the phone held to his ear as he drove back toward her apartment.

When they pulled into the complex
parking lot, Sam climbed out of the car and walked around to the front, waiting
patiently for him to finish his call. She felt the disappointment bubble up
inside of her, but she understood he needed to go. She wouldn’t expect him to
try to stop her if the tables were turned, so she knew she wouldn’t say a word
to him about how she wished the night wouldn’t end.

“I’m sorry, baby.” Logan said as
he walked toward her.

“Don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t be if
I had to go. It’s just the way things are. I’ll be here when you get back so go
and take care of business. After all, this is apparently important to me, as
well. It is my project.”

Logan watched her, his expression
showing his acceptance of her statement. She was right, it was her project. “Go
with me.”

“
What?
” Sam couldn’t hide
the shock.

“Go with me. You might be able to
convince them there is no room for negotiation on this deal.”

“I don’t think you need me to
convince them. You didn’t make it this far without the ability to diffuse these
types of situations.”

“I’m quite confident in my
ability to change their minds, but I would love to sit back and watch you work
them over. Go with me, baby.”

Sam really wanted to take him up
on his offer, but she didn’t want to put him in a position like that. If she
were anyone else, he wouldn’t be asking her to go along. He didn’t need her
there, and she had a lot of things that would need to be taken care of in the
office on Monday anyway.

“Not this time. It isn’t
something you would normally do, and I don’t want to give Xavier a reason to
question our relationship. Remember, I’m still new here. I’m not ready to make
any waves just yet.”

~*~*~

Logan knew she was right. He
didn’t doubt she could get the vendor to back down from their attempt at
negotiations now that they knew how critical the project actually was, but that
wasn’t the reason he wanted her there. He wanted her there so he would have
more time with her.

“You know I’m right, Logan. You
need to go, take care of business, and we’ll pick up where we left off when you
get back. Maybe if you’re really good I’ll make an exception and have a
sleepover on a school night.” Sam grinned up at him.

Logan had to laugh at that. At
the most, he would probably be gone for three or four days. Then, they would
definitely pick up where they left off.

“Ok. I’m going to hold you to it.
Let me walk you to your door and then I need to run by the house and grab some
clothes. My flight leaves in two hours.”

~*~*~

Sam let him walk her up to her
door, and she kissed him goodnight, sending him on his way before they let the
heat between them turn into an inferno. After she closed the door, she leaned
up against it for a minute. The only thing she couldn’t wrap her mind around
was why he needed to fly out to California to diffuse a situation with a
software vendor that they had already signed a contract with… on a weekend.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Sam didn’t hear from Logan
throughout the entire weekend. She managed to keep herself busy working at
home. She had some things that needed to get done, and she actually enjoyed
being able to sit on her couch, laptop perched on her lap with the television
producing background noise.

It was different from the
constant movement at the office. Although she worked for three solid hours
straight, she found herself thinking about Logan constantly.

Unable to take any more, Sam shut
the computer, tossed it onto the cushion beside her and stood. Out of habit she
picked up her cell phone from the coffee table and checked to make sure she
hadn’t missed any calls. The blasted thing never rang, so it was pure wishful
thinking that had her glancing at it in the first place. With disappointment,
she tossed it on the couch as she made her way into the kitchen.

Dinner or a drink? It was a tough
decision.

The refrigerator offered little
solace, so Sam settled on the drink. She pulled a can of diet 7-Up from the top
shelf along with a glass from the cabinet. Adding some vodka, she attempted to
encourage herself to relax by sipping on the drink as she paced the floor.

She couldn’t figure out why she
hadn’t heard from Logan, but maybe he was busy. After all, he did go to
California on business. It had crossed her mind that she might have made a
mistake in declining to join him. But, it was too late to change the outcome so
she had to do something to pass the time.

After wearing the carpet a little
thinner than it already was, she settled on a relaxing bubble bath to calm her
frazzled nerves. It was apparent she had too much time to think which would
ultimately result in her picking apart her relationship. Again.

The song playing softly in the
background didn’t help. She listened closely while Trapt soothed out one of her
favorite songs on her iPod. “Ready When You Are” was probably not the best
choice in her current mood, but it defined her current state of mind. The
relationship she and Logan shared was complicated at best.

They both seemed to share the
same feelings for one another, but Sam was acutely aware of her trepidations.
Her desire for Logan was a living, breathing thing, but her fear of pain would
ultimately win out if she let it.

What had she done before Logan
walked into her life? Although it had only been a few months since they met,
the time seemed as though it had sped by. Rather than mere months, it felt as
though she had known him for years. Was her heart that vested? Did she dare
admit she might actually love Logan McCoy?

Sam heaved out a sigh and took a
long drink of the vodka sitting on the tubs edge. One day at a time… that’s all
she could manage at this point in her life. If she had, in fact, fallen for
Logan, it was probably best not to tell him. It still amazed her the way her
body hummed when she thought about the event that occurred at his house.

Two men.

Never in her wildest dreams did
she expect she would be pleasured by two men. Never had she even given it any
thought. Sure, it wasn’t a new concept. Late night television and the romance
section of the bookstore were overwhelmed with such fantasies, but it wasn’t
something that Sam had ever imagined she would partake in. It had been the most
erotic night of her life and deep down inside, she secretly hoped it would
happen again.

The water sloshed over the side
of the tub as she forced herself up and out, trying desperately to push the
graphic images from her mind. Now was not the time to think about the events of
that night. She was already sexually frustrated, and with Logan so far away,
she knew satisfaction wouldn’t come anytime soon. It was time for bed, and she
only hoped her dreams would not be overcome with the eroticism that plagued her
mind.

~*~*~

Logan stared intently at the cell
phone laying on the table in front of him as he waited for his dinner
companions. The meeting had fortunately been scheduled for Sunday evening,
although he had almost been forced to wait until Monday.

Being in the business of
negotiations, Logan spent Saturday visiting with another vendor in order to
establish a backup plan. Price negotiations, after the contract was signed,
didn’t normally happen, so he needed to be ready for anything. And the first rule
was to never walk in without a backup plan.

After convincing At Last, Inc.
that he would not wait until Monday to meet, he accepted their dinner offer for
Sunday evening. He had to admit he was only a little surprised by the
insistence of his presence in California over the weekend. Couldn’t business
wait until Monday? Of course it couldn’t.

Those people who genuinely
believed that work only occurred between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday had
some serious blinders on. In his world, when it came to strategically managing
one of the largest corporations in North Texas, business occurred at any time…
day or night.

Unfortunately, this mini crisis
had taken him away from a weekend he could have spent with Sam. Being in a
different time zone as well as having spent the better part of Saturday wining
and dining the other vendor, Logan had missed the opportunity to call her.

He had wanted to hear her voice,
but he had put it off in hopes of catching a last minute flight on Sunday and
arriving to surprise her. That didn’t look like it was going to happen.
Especially since it was already 9pm in Dallas.

So here he was, nursing his
second drink, waiting.

He glanced over at his cell phone
one more time when he heard a familiar voice echoing behind him announcing her
meeting with Logan McCoy.

Shit
.
Damn
.
Fuck
.

When did Heather Knight start
working for their main software vendor? For a brief moment, the first reaction
that came to mind was to get up and walk out. But, that would be childish and
unprofessional. He was above that.

He hoped.

“Logan. I’m so glad you could
make it.” Heather said sweetly as she approached the table, extending her hand
to Logan in greeting.

I bet you are
. Logan slowly stood from his
seat, extending his hand to return her gesture. “I was told this was an
emergency.”

“I’m not sure it can be
classified as an emergency, but it is rather urgent. Please, have a seat.”
Heather replied as she gracefully sat in the chair to his left.

Something did not feel right
about this meeting, and Logan had a hunch that Heather had used a business
matter to engage in a personal meeting. It didn’t make any sense since they
hadn’t spoken in years.

However, he had been wrong before
so he would give her the benefit of the doubt and let her get to the heart of
the matter. Logan knew it wasn’t going to be a quick meeting by any means.

“Is Mr. Campbell going to join
us?” Logan asked although he already knew the answer.

“He had a last minute engagement
that pulled him away. I’m afraid it’s just going to be you and me this time
around.” Logan could tell she was trying to gauge his reaction, so he
purposefully didn’t react.

He couldn’t think of anything he
wanted less than to be having a sham of a dinner meeting with Heather Knight.
Logan couldn’t help but think of what he could be doing. Back home. With
Samantha.

Instead, he was going to have to
endure dinner with his ex, rather than lying in bed with his woman.

“What was it that called him
away?” Logan asked casually as he glanced down at the menu in front of him.

“He didn’t say. But, we figured
since you had come all this way and you were probably eager to get back home, I
would meet with you to go over the issue we discussed with Mr. Thomas
yesterday.”

“Xavier didn’t give me much of
the details so you’ll have to enlighten me some.” Logan was unable to keep the
irritation out of his voice.

As Logan sat back, watching
Heather sit in the prim and proper way she had of doing everything, he was
curious as to why she lured him all the way to California. It had better be good,
that was all he knew.