The Mighty Quinns: Logan (8 page)

Logan drew a deep breath. It was still difficult to talk about. “He died when I was at university. He got mixed up with drugs and he died. He was never really into school, so he stayed with my parents until he was sixteen and then took off on his own. I tried to help him out, but he was pretty mad at me for leaving him.”

She reached out and smoothed her hand over his cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured.

Logan grabbed her fingers and placed a kiss in the middle of her palm. It felt good to tell her, as if a weight had been lifted from him. “Now you have to tell me one of your sad stories. If you have any.”

“Oh, I have plenty,” she said. “But I will tell you one. I think if I had to pick one thing that defined my life, it would be the time that I realized my mother and father didn’t have a marriage.”

“How did that happen?”

“My parents were fighting, but this time it was really big. My mother had shut herself in her room and she wasn’t coming out and I was supposed to go get new riding boots for a competition, so my father took me to his office and we were supposed to be there for just a few minutes so he could make a phone call. But then, this woman showed up and they were arguing and whispering and she was touching him and trying to kiss him and I knew something was up. I was nine years old and I could feel it.”

She sighed. “They sent me out of the office and they stayed in there a long, long time. And when the woman came out, she smiled at me, but it wasn’t a nice smile. I could tell she hated me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“That you had to go through that.”

Sunny shrugged. “I guess, in the end, it was better to know. It explained a lot of what was going on in our house. Why my mother was so angry and why my father paid more attention to my riding career than he did to her.” She forced a smile. “It did kind of screw me up as far as men went. I guess you could say I have trust issues.”

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

A smile broke across her face and she nodded. “I do. That’s the really strange thing. The minute I met you, I just felt it. That’s why I slept with you that night. Because I knew I could trust you. It’s why I didn’t want you to take me back home.”

“We make quite a pair,” he said.

Sunny nodded. “Yes, we do.”

As they got nearer and nearer to the coast, the landscape gradually changed. Barren land gave way to ranches, then farms; the towns came in closer succession, and the endless horizon was broken by the dark outline of Mount Remarkable in the distance.

Ed had given Logan the name of a horse breeder with a farm about forty-five minutes outside of Adelaide, and he was glad to see a tiptop operation as they rolled up the driveway. The stable manager met them outside the barn and was happy to board and exercise Tally for the next two nights.

When Logan offered to pay him, he refused, saying there might come a day when Logan could be of assistance to him. Logan suspected that it was Ed who would be of assistance and not a second-rate horse breeder from the middle of nowhere.

While Logan got Tally settled in a stall and brought out her feed and grooming supplies, Sunny wandered around the stables, looking at the horses. He saw her chatting with one of the grooms and before long, she had a small group gathered around her.

She glanced over at him and he sent her a quizzical look, wondering if she needed to be rescued. A small shrug told him that for the moment, she was fine, so he continued his work.

Logan smiled to himself as he rubbed Tally’s nose. He and Sunny had spent so much time together over the past few days that they were now able to communicate without even talking. But then, that shouldn’t surprise him.

He leaned back against the plank wall and remembered their encounter last night. They hadn’t needed words then, either. A shiver ran through him and he sucked in a sharp breath. Logan knew he ought to just be happy with what he had at the moment—a beautiful, sexy woman in his bed. But it was human nature to want more.

He’d had plenty of time to work it all out in his head, but no matter which way he turned it, he couldn’t see anything more than an occasional weekend together. Once she got back to riding again, she’d be busy. And his ranch was an eight-hour drive from her parents’ place.

A groan rumbled in his chest and he ran his hands through his hair. Why even think about this now? He should just enjoy his good fortune while he had it. Who knew when he might get so lucky again?

“Are you all right?”

He glanced up to see Sunny standing at the stall door. Strange how just looking at her made him feel better. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Can I help you with anything?”

Logan shook his head. “Naw, you just stand there looking pretty.”

“I called Lily and she told me that my package is waiting at my father’s Adelaide office.”

“What does your father do?”

“He’s into energy,” she said. “Oil, petrol, electricity. I really don’t know all the details.”

“My power bill is overdue,” Logan joked. “You think he could help me out with that?”

“Next time I see him, I’ll ask.”

She stepped inside the stall and wrapped her arms around his neck, then gave him a kiss, her tongue teasing at his until he was forced to drop the pitchfork and wrap his hands around her waist.

“I’m never going to be finished if you keep interrupting me,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her neck.

“Stop complaining,” she replied.

“Oh, I’m not complaining. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the night.”

* * *

B
Y
THE
TIME
S
UNNY
and Logan got to Adelaide, it was nearly seven o’clock. Sunny had thought about stopping at her father’s office the next morning, but when she called, she was surprised that the receptionist was still waiting for her arrival.

Logan stayed in the campervan while she went inside the glass-and-steel building in the downtown business district. A pretty girl sat behind a wide desk, the Grant Energies logo on a wall behind her.

“Are you Sunny?”

Sunny smiled and nodded. “I’m so sorry to make you wait.”

“Oh, no worries. I was happy to do it.” She picked up a large box and set it on the counter. “Your father’s assistant took the liberty of preparing our beach villa and you’re welcome to stay there while you’re in the area. It’s just fifteen minutes from here.” She handed Sunny another envelope. “It’s a lovely place on the water.”

She stared down at the envelope. Her father had a beach villa? “Thank you,” Sunny murmured. “And thank my father’s assistant. I’ll be sure to mention her kindness. And yours.”

The receptionist smiled. “There’s a map in the envelope. And the combination for the lockbox with the key. Have a lovely time.”

“We will,” she said.

A man suddenly appeared, picked up the box and nodded at her. Sunny glanced back and forth between the receptionist and him. “This is Darrell. He’ll help you with your box.”

Sunny turned and walked to the door, smiling to herself. She knew her father was a very successful businessman. When they traveled to equestrian events or went on holiday, the accommodations were always first-rate. But she never knew that he employed so many people just to take care of the details of his life. Too bad he couldn’t find someone to bring her mother back from Paris.

Sunny held the door open for Darrell, and when they reached the street, Logan was standing next to the campervan. Darrell took in the battered state of their vehicle and gave her an odd look.

“I can take that,” Logan offered.

“Where do you want it?” Darrell asked.

He quickly opened the side door to the campervan and Darrell set it inside. Then Darrell turned to Sunny and nodded. “You have a fine evening, Miss Grant. Drive safely.”

“Thank you,” Sunny said.

Logan stepped to her side as she watched Darrell walk back inside. “Should we have tipped him?”

She shook her head. “No, he works for my father. I’m sure he’s well paid.” She turned to him. “We have to talk.”

“What?”

She saw concern cross his features and she reached out and took his hand. “You know how I said we could rent a room tonight and maybe sleep in a real bed. And have a real shower?”

He nodded. “We don’t have to do that. There are plenty of nice campgrounds in—”

“I know a place where we can stay for free,” she said. “My father’s assistant set it up.”

“I’m all for that,” Logan said. “No need to spend money when we don’t have to.”

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

The got back into the campervan and Sunny pulled the map out of the envelope. Her father’s assistant had drawn a line from the office to the Henley Beach villa.

“Where are we going?”

“Just turn left and then forward until the next signal.”

They found the beach villa without any trouble, and when Sunny hopped out of the campervan, she smiled. Though the villa blocked the view of the water, she could smell the sea in the air and could hear the waves over the traffic on the street.

She grabbed Logan’s hand and pulled him along to the front door. As promised, there was a lockbox. She punched in the code and it opened, revealing a set of keys. Sunny unlocked the door and they walked inside.

The interior was airy and spacious. Through a wide wall of windows on the beach side of the villa, Sunny could see the sunset, a blaze of orange and pink.

Logan slowly walked over to the windows and stared out. “Holy shit,” he murmured.

She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Is it all right? Can we stay? It is free.”

He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “Yeah, I think we can stay. Hell, maybe we should just move in.”

She unlocked the door to the terrace and walked outside. A narrow path through the scrub led to a beautiful white-sand beach. She looked up and down the beach and in the distance saw a high jetty jutting out into the water. This was the perfect spot to relax for the next few days. “Thank you, Daddy,” she shouted.

She turned around and walked back inside to find Logan standing in the kitchen, the refrigerator door held open. “You should see what’s inside here,” he said. He pulled out a bottle of champagne and held it up. “Do they think we’re on our honeymoon?”

“They’re just making us comfortable.”

“Well, I would have been happy with a beer and some crisps.”

“So what should we do? There’s a pier not far from here. Maybe we could walk down and see what’s happening.” She paused. “Or we could check out the bed. See if it’s comfortable.” Sunny slowly approached him, unbuttoning the front of her dress. “Or we could always take a shower.”

He chuckled softly. “Why don’t I go get that big box of yours and we’ll change and take a walk. I need to stretch my legs before you put me through my paces in the bedroom.”

“Giddy up,” she said with a teasing glint in her eye.

They hurried outside to the campervan and gathered up all their things, then carried them inside. Sunny tore open the box and was thrilled to find that Lily had packed some of her favorite things.

She dumped everything out on the bed then hung the clothes up in the closet. She slipped out of her dress and put on her hot-pink bikini, pulling a comfortable cotton dress over the top. She found a pair of thongs in the bottom of the box and slipped them on her bare feet, then went to find Logan.

He was sitting on the terrace, his long legs stretched out in front of him, a beer in his hand. His sunglasses shielded his eyes against the sunset, and when she stepped outside, he held out his hand.

Sunny placed her fingers in his and he pulled her hand to his lips. “It’s a whole different world,” he said.

She knew how he must feel, especially after all the things he had told her about his family. To him, money meant comfort and security. But what he didn’t understand was that sometimes all the money in the world couldn’t make a person feel as safe as she did with him.

Sunny wanted to find the words to tell him that, to tell him how wonderful he was and how perfect he made her feel and how she didn’t think of their differences when they were together. But she’d never completely understand what he’d gone through.

“It’s a perfect summer night,” she said. “Let’s enjoy ourselves while we’re here.”

“I can do that,” he said.

They walked down to the water and dipped their bare feet in, letting the waves wash up as they stared out over the Indian Ocean at the setting sun. From a distance, Sunny could hear music, and they picked up their shoes and started down the beach.

Logan draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked, and they chatted about simple things, riding and horses, Sunny’s competitions and Logan’s ranch. They never seemed to run out of topics. One question always led to another. And when there was silence between them, it was because they just wanted to enjoy being together and not because they didn’t have anything to say.

When they reached the jetty, they walked up toward the street and found a huge square. A band played on one end and people had gathered with food and drinks, to watch. Logan grabbed them each a beer from the bar and they found a place to sit.

As they watched the band, Logan seemed to lose himself in his thoughts. When he finished his beer, he got another. Sunny watched him, worried that she’d done or said something wrong.

When the band took a break, they walked out to the end of the jetty. He leaned over the rail, resting his arms as he stared out at the sea. Slipping her arms around his, she rested her head on his shoulder. “If this is too much, we can find somewhere else to stay.”

“No, this isn’t too much,” he said. “It’s just...perfect. Really, it is.”

“It’s not who I am,” Sunny said. “Maybe it used to be, but not anymore. It’s not important.”

“That’s easy to say. Especially when you have everything you could possibly want.”

“I don’t,” she said. “I have nothing that I really want.”

He laughed and glanced over at her. “I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true.”

“What do you want that you don’t have?”