Eclipse of the Heart (23 page)

There was no post-coital glow with Logan.

With a sudden blur of motion, she swung her legs over the
side of the bed and stood up. Better to be the one who left. Too late, she
realized she was naked, and he was watching. He might not want to touch her
after sex, but he didn't mind having his gaze all over her.

She scurried over to the closet to look for something to
throw on. The drawer where she'd placed her nightwear was ajar, but she knew
what she'd find there. Rosie, in some kind of freakish attempt to play
matchmaker, had packed only the nightgowns they'd purchased at
L'Agent
Provocateur. Amanda wasn't in the mood to issue
that kind of invitation.

But she didn't have anything else to wear. With a sigh, she
pulled out the least objectionable piece – a peach negligee that at least fell
to her mid-thigh and didn't have provocative cutouts. It was semi-transparent,
but the room was dark, and she'd be sure to stay on her side of the bed.

She pulled it over her head and sauntered casually back to
bed. Unfortunately, she could feel his gaze on her for the entire trip.

"I like your lingerie." His deep voice caressed
her.

"Good thing," she said airily.  "You
paid for it."

Even in the dim room, his white teeth flashed when he
grinned. "I'm happy to see my money spent so wisely," he said.

"Rosie packed my suitcase. I guess this was her attempt
to be funny." Amanda was determined to be light and cool, to match his
distance with her own reserve.

"I'll have to give her a raise." Logan turned and
propped himself on one elbow as Amanda climbed into bed, being careful to stick
to the edge of the mattress.

"You should give her one anyway," she said. But
she was thinking of Rosie's words about the lingerie making her feel sexy.
There
was
something very sensuous about fine silk
brushing over her naked skin. Or maybe it was the heated look in Logan's eyes
that was making her body soften, and yearn, and demand that she move close
enough to rub up against his hard frame.

She resisted.

His gaze fastened onto her breasts, and she was helpless to
stop her response. Her nipples poked through the thin peach silk.

Logan patted the bed. "What are you doing way over
there?"

"You don't have another bed." She deliberately
pretended to misunderstand him. "Mrs. MacDonald said it was okay for me to
sleep here."

"Don't play games, Mandy."

"Do you mean to tell me that since I've succumbed to
you once—?"

"Or twice," he interrupted, smiling. "Not
that I'm counting."

"Excuse me!" She tried to be icy, but she could
feel her nipples were still betraying her. "If I may finish a sentence, I
hope you don't mean to say that I can never refuse you again."

He shook his head. "I'm just asking that you be honest
about your—ah, interest." He reached across the cold bed and drew his
forefinger along the top of the nightgown. Her body erupted in goose bumps. She
wanted his rough, warm touch to move inside the top of the nightgown and play
with her breasts like he had earlier.

He ventured under the silk, and she had to catch her breath.

"Sorry." She faked a quick yawn, hoping it might
hide her pounding heart.
"Time for Cinderella to turn
back into a pumpkin."

"Wasn't it the coach that turned back into a
pumpkin?"

"You know girly fairy tales?"

"I used to read them to my—" He halted, abruptly,
his eyes darkening.

Amanda held her breath. "
Your
what, Logan?"

"Never mind."
He reached
behind himself, pressed something, and a soft light was diffused from beneath
the top of the brushed nickel headboard. When he turned back to Amanda, he was
much closer than he had been. His shoulders gleamed with sculpted muscle, and
she felt small lying flat on her back while all that hard masculinity loomed
over her.

"We have much better things to do than revisit the
past," he said. He hooked a finger in the center of her heart-shaped gown.
Before she could imagine what he might do, he tore the gown right down the
middle. By the time Amanda gasped, the sides had been laid open and she was
naked before him once more, framed in silk, feeling like a pagan offering.

"This was brand new!" she protested. But her real
protest was against the tension she saw in him, the subdued anger over
something in his past that he'd just displaced onto her gown. Why wouldn't he
tell her what tormented him so?

"You just told me I paid for it," he said
absently. His eyes were busy devouring her. "Get up on your hands and
knees."

She suddenly noticed a fresh condom in his hands. "I
don't want to have sex again!"

"You will." He wrapped an arm around her waist,
flipped her onto her stomach and the next thing she knew, she was on her hands
and knees. The bastard! She tried to fall flat on the bed, not for any good
reason except to thwart him. But his arm held her securely.

"Calm down," he said.
"Unless
you like it rough."

"I don't like it any way at all when I'm being
manhandled by an oaf." Her hair hung down around her face, until he
scooped it up and held it like a ponytail.

"I'll calm you then." He leaned over and pressed
his mouth to the back of her neck. She had to bite back a moan.

"Feels good, does it?" His deep voice was rich
with satisfaction.

"No!"

He kept kissing her, using his teeth, and her body betrayed
her. Her hips pushed back against him where he was pressed against her.

"Not yet, sweetheart."
He
laughed.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I want to," he murmured. His words hummed against
her ear just before he licked her there. "And you shouldn't lie about
sex."

"I'm not lying." Was she? "I don't like sex
when it's just—"

"Just what?"
His panting
breath caressed her ear. "Just hot enough to scorch the sheets?"

'Cold' was the word.
As cold as lies, or
colder.
Because his refusal to communicate in any meaningful way left
her feeling exactly as she imagined a paid escort felt. Physically satisfied,
but emotionally devastated.

Her mind was losing control of her thoughts as he nipped her
ear, and pinched her nipple.

"Are you ready," he asked.

She couldn't answer. She refused to admit the need she had
for him.

He gave a low chuckle. "I can do this all night."
His fingers moved down her body, slowly, and she knew where he was going.

She managed to grab his hand, halting its descent.

"Mandy," he said, his voice gruff. "The
sexual chemistry we have is special. But it's just sex. Don't make more of it
because I can't give you more."

She needed to say something, to grab the thought hovering
just out of her reach.

He flipped her onto her back and adjusted his position so he
was poised right at the entrance to her body. The broad tip of his penis teased
her, sliding in just enough to make her catch her breath.

"Yes?" he asked. He pulled out the fraction of an
inch.
"Or no?"
He waited.

"Damn you." She grabbed his buttocks and pulled
him into her.

When she woke up in the morning, he was gone. 

But the thought which had been teasing her was in the
forefront of her mind, screaming in neon-bright words. She'd started this
interlude to provide him comfort from whatever pain had afflicted him
yesterday. But he'd ended it by insisting there was nothing but sex between
them. The emotional comfort she'd offered had been thoroughly rejected.

Later that day, when she'd reached her own apartment, Amanda
got a text from Logan saying he'd flown to Hong Kong. He didn't mention the
previous night and she figured he'd already forgotten it. He'd gotten some hot
sex and was moving on with his life. She'd be smart to do the same.

The next three weeks passed in a blur of late nights and
constant work. She spent a week in Texas working on the Dallas Robotics deal.
Under the circumstances, she was unable to shake off the effects of her
illness. Although her throat was better, and she knew the antibiotics had to
have knocked out the infection, she was tired and lacking in energy.

When Logan called her into his office for a meeting on
Monday morning, she approached him with a mix of dread and anticipation.
Between his trip and hers, she hadn't seen him since she'd stayed in his home.

She couldn't be sure if his silence was due to disinterest,
the press of business, or manipulation. Mostly, she feared it was disinterest,
but she knew she had to be grateful for that. If he stopped pursuing her
sexually, but maintained the business relationship, she still had a good chance
of winning the Daily Eats job.

"Good morning," she said.

He raised his cool eyes. "Come in, Amanda."

"How's the deal going for the public offering?"
She slid into a chair in front of his desk. "I was surprised to hear you
were taking your company public."
Best
to keep the conversation business-related.

"You remember Billy Kane?" he asked, leaning back
in his big office chair, and subtly stretching his back and shoulders.

Amanda nodded, while trying not to stare at his crisp blue
shirt tightening over his chest. Billy was the groom at the wedding she'd
attended back before Christmas. Although she'd only had a chance to speak
briefly with him, she knew he was one of Logan's childhood friends.

"Billy's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet,"
Logan said, settling back in his chair. "But he's not the best at managing
money. He's gotten himself in some serious financial difficulties, and he needs
to cash out his limited partnership share in my company. The only way I can pay
him that kind of money is through a sale of shares to the public." He
shrugged. "I wouldn't have chosen to do it right now, but I'll still
retain a majority stake so it won't kill me."

"You're very loyal to your friends."

"I owe him. He invested in my business when I needed
the funds.
Most of his inheritance, in fact.
Now it's
my turn to help him."

Amanda turned over his words in her mind. Logan spoke almost
as if he thought of their friendship in terms of
a barter
.
Billy had provided funds when Logan needed them. Now it was Logan's turn to
return the favor.

Was that a male thing? Or was it a Logan thing to put all
interpersonal transactions on a financial footing?

Logan interrupted her thoughts. "I wanted to ask you
about the Daily Eats deal. How's it going?"

Wouldn't you know he'd ask about the one deal that was not
going well? "I really need to go to Philadelphia," she said.
"The due diligence people are making progress, but the Molloys have gone
dark on us."

"They aren't happy with the price. We know that. If the
numbers look good, I may offer a little more. But, for now, I want you to focus
on Dallas Robotics until that deal is completed. That's a big acquisition that
can provide a bounce to the stock price once it's finalized. "

"Fine.
I may have to return to
Dallas."

"No problem. In the meantime, are you free this
weekend? I thought we might go out to dinner and the theater."

"Expensive booty call."

His lips tightened with annoyance. "I don't enjoy
verbal darts," he said. "I've tried to be honest with you. That's the
best I can do."

She replayed his words from their last night together in her
mind.
It's just sex. Don't make more of it because I
can't give you more.
She had to accept that he meant the words. Whatever
crisis had caused him to retreat behind a cold shell long before she met him
was a crisis she couldn't fix or undo. She could only protect herself.

"Here's some honesty for you," she said. "I
can't eliminate emotions from my interactions with people. So, you and I are an
unworkable combination."

His cool gaze frosted her. "Holding out for marriage,
are you?"

A surprised laugh burst out of her. For which she was
eternally grateful. Just as quickly, fury blazed through her. How dare he?

But she had to keep her eye on the prize. She still wanted
that Daily Eats position.

She paused to collect her thoughts before speaking.
"Let's leave that silly comment unanswered. I don't want to call you
either paranoid or arrogant." She stood. "I'm quite happy with our
professional relationship. I hope we can maintain that."

"As you wish."
She could
feel his eyes on her as she headed out of the room.

"Oh, and Amanda?"
Logan
called to her just before she was out of earshot. She turned back, stopping in
the doorway.

"I've been using Josh to handle the public offering.
He's doing an excellent job. The markets are unsettled right now, and I need to
get a good price for the shares."

She nodded. "Josh is smart, and a hard worker."

Logan leaned over his desk, spearing her with his gaze.
"Are you still seeing him?"

She stiffened. It was none of Logan's business how she spent
her private time. With an effort, she managed to bite back the retort that
sprang to her lips. It would be stupid of her to jeopardize Josh's prospects at
the company merely to discomfit Logan.

"No," she said. "We're friends, but nothing
more."

"Good." Logan smiled. "The public offering is
scheduled for next Friday. I'd like you to attend the dinner I'm having Friday
night to celebrate." He paused, gave her his half-smile, and then said,
"Strictly business."

"Sure," she said. "I'd like that." Why
didn't she feel happier that he'd accepted her terms?

Her worries were misplaced.