Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

LOGAN

T he business part of dinner was boring as hell, but Mira was relentless. Looking like a sensual, modern-day princess in a long, elegant purple dress that highlighted her curves and tempted me to stare at her cleavage, she'd sat me down and forced me to get business out of the way first.

"We haven't even ordered drinks or starters," I complained as I looked into those greenish hazel eyes from across the table. "Can we leave the discussion about the drilling team's qualifications until I've at least had a whiskey?"

"No," she said, as merciless now as she'd been on the rig. "It's the most important thing we need to talk about, Logan. Hiring a drilling team isn't the same as hiring a clown for a child's birthday party. There's a ton of formalities you have to consider before you decide who to pick."

I groaned when she launched into a monologue explaining the importance of the different qualifications. It seemed she really wasn't going to let me get a damn drink first.

A waiter arrived, and as soon as Mira took a breath, I took advantage of her sudden silence and placed my order. "Two whiskey sours, please. "

He nodded. "Will that be all, sir?"

"No, that's only for me," I said, turning to Mira. "Beer?"

"Wine," she countered, probably just to not have to agree with me. I knew she liked beer, though. That and tequila was all she'd drunk at the wedding. "A glass of Sauvignon Blanc, please."

A slight frown appeared between his eyebrows as he glanced back at me. "Two whiskey sours for you, sir? Is that correct?"

"Yes. Please and thank you."

The man made a note on his tablet and left, and Mira rolled her eyes at me. "Slate isn't even here yet and you're already getting drunk?"

"Pfft. I'm hardly going to get drunk on two drinks. Sadly, I probably won't even get tipsy, but it will help me get through this conversation."

"It's not that bad."

"I know. It's worse."

She let out a deep breath through her nostrils, annoyance flaring in the depths of her eyes. "I'm sorry that work is so boring for you. There are only a hundred or so lives at stake, so who cares, right? We should just get drunk."

"Exactly." I flashed her a teasing smile. "If we don't talk about this stuff, no one will die. That seems like a good thing to me."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. What I meant is?—"

"Bad things will happen if we hire the wrong team," I finished for her. "I got it, Mira. I may not have much experience on the rigs, but I'm not altogether stupid. Why don't I make this easy for you? Clearly, you're in a better position to choose the team, so choose the best one and I'll sign off on it."

Her dark eyebrows rose on her forehead. "Just like that? You're going to trust me with a decision that big?"

"Yes," I said simply. "I hired Spiers Consulting precisely because this industry is your specialty, and it was your father's before you. I respect that. You guys grew up with this stuff, whereas I don't think I knew what an oil rig was until I was a teenager."

"So you're comfortable with us making the decision? "

I nodded. "I've reviewed all the paperwork you sent me on every team. I've already had my assistant email Slate with my opinions. At this point, I think the smartest move I can make is to stand back and let the experts I hired for this exact reason take over."

Surprise flickered across her features, her nostrils flaring and her eyebrows arching. "Alright, then. That's a surprisingly smart decision."

I pushed back a laugh and tapped my temple with my index finger. "There's something in here, you know. I'm more than just a pretty face."

Her cheeks flushed a beautiful, light shade of pink, but she didn't acknowledge that she agreed with me about the pretty face thing. Instead, she checked her watch again and quietly cursed Slate for being late.

I, on the other hand, was silently thanking him for it. He didn't know that I had the hots for his sister, nor did I have any intention of telling him—or revealing that we'd hooked up in the past. It had been the best one-night stand of my life though, and that was saying something.

It was another secret I would be keeping from her brother, but the point was that I was enjoying this time that Mira and I had alone. I had enjoyed her company at the wedding as well, and that had not changed.

Despite the fact that she clearly hated me now and the subject matter was getting me pretty burnt out on work, I was still enjoying our time alone. How twisted is that?

She was boring me to tears and I still wanted to fuck her brains out all over again. There's something wrong with me. I'm sure of it. On the other hand, that cleavage is to die for. Her skin looks so soft and ? —

"Logan, are you listening to me?"

I snapped my gaze back up to hers, looking into her eyes now instead of staring at that cleavage. "No, I wasn't actually. What did you say?"

"I was telling you about the contract we have to renew for?—"

"Do it," I said simply .

Mira frowned. "Renew the contract of the guys who are trying to overcharge us?"

"Oh. No. Don't do that."

The waiter arrived with our drinks as exasperation tightened Mira's features, her eyebrows tugging together and her lips pursing. Hopefully, the wine would lighten her up a little bit and this dinner could become slightly less mind-numbing.

Gratefully accepting one of my drinks from him, I took a long sip and watched her do the same as he left. The column of her throat moved up and down as she swallowed. Then she swept her tongue across her lips and I nearly groaned out loud when I remembered what that tongue had done to me.

Mira's mind, it seemed, had not flown straight into the gutter with my own. "Did you hear anything I was saying before?"

"Nope."

"Why not?" She set her glass down and flicked her hand in my direction. "We're, like, two feet away from each other. What could you possibly be thinking about that?—"

"Sex," I said honestly, my gaze locking on hers. "Sex with you, to be precise. It was amazing, wasn't it?"

She blushed bright pink when I brought it up. "We're not talking about that."

"Well, we weren't, but we are now." I took another sip of my drink, but I didn't break eye contact with her. "Just admit it. You've been thinking about it too. If not before, then definitely after we ran into each other again."

"Stop it," she breathed, becoming flustered. She grabbed her glass and took a large gulp of wine. "We absolutely should not talk about it."

"Let's agree to disagree on that one." I let my gaze lower again, deliberately this time, noting that her chest was now as flushed as her face and her breathing was shallow. "I know you're thinking about it right now, for example. I know you're remembering how explosive it was and how hard you c?—"

"Logan!"

"Don't pretend to be scandalized," I said playfully. "I know you can handle a lot more than just talking about sex. Let's reminisce, shall we? God, do you even know how many times I've thought back to that lacy little thong you were wearing under your bridesmaid's dress?"

"The thong you still have in your possession?" she asked before she could stop herself, it seemed, but then she shook her head. "That's the last I'm saying on the subject."

"That's fine. If you don't want to say any more, you can just listen." I swirled the whiskey in my glass, my eyes moving back down to her chest before slowly sweeping back up, taking in her pulse hammering under her jaw and that pretty pink flush. "The noises you made that night are burned into my brain. I've replayed them so many times in my mind, but it's just not the same as hearing you make them."

"Logan," she said, gripping the table and giving me a stern look. "We can't."

"Why not? It's just us here and we both already know what happened. I'm keeping my voice down, and in case you haven't noticed, no one from any other tables has given us any funny looks. Either because they can't hear me or because they don't care."

"I care, though. It should never have happened."

"That's not true. Why should it never have happened?"

"You're my brother's friend. My older, protective brother who will strangle us both if he ever finds out."

"He won't," I said confidently. "Not unless you plan on telling him?"

"Never," she swore, her eyes wide on mine. "That doesn't mean we should reminisce , though. Who does that?"

"Me, apparently. Although, I'll admit that I haven't made a habit of it in the past, but this is way more fun than talking about legal issues."

"It is, but we're not here to have fun. We're here to talk business."

" You might be," I said. "I came here hoping to have at least a little bit of fun with you. Fun, Mira. Do you even remember what that is?"

"Yes," she hissed, her eyes narrowing once more. "Just because I haven't had it with you in a while doesn't mean I haven't had it at all."

"Is that so?" I asked, completely amused. "Are you trying to tell me that someone else has been eating you at their dining tables? "

"No, but?—"

"Someone else has been hearing those moans, then?"

She flushed an even deeper shade of red. "No, but that doesn't mean I haven't had any fun at all."

"You've already said that," I said mildly, taking another sip of my drink. I held her gaze and watched as she tracked the movement of my throat with her eyes when I swallowed. "Oh, I get it. What you mean is that you've been having fun all by yourself, is that it?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"So, I'm right." My cock was straining against my fly at this point, but when I tried to picture her getting herself off, it started throbbing. "What I wouldn't give to see that. Your surprisingly strong but dainty fingers on your pretty?—"

She sucked in a sharp breath, clearly getting as hot and bothered as I was. "Logan."

"Yes?" I asked breathlessly.

"Slate is here," she whispered, effectively dumping a bucket of ice water over my head with those words.

I twisted in my seat, seeing that she was right. Her brother had finally made his appearance, just in time to snuff out the spark I'd gotten going with his sister again.