“Have you listened to a word I’ve said?” Georgia asked as the hostess carried out the rest of their luggage. Georgia didn’t pack light, and he was going to have to haul everything up to the house because he hadn’t brought along servants. He wanted to be alone with her.
“Sorry, my mind drifted.” He was glad he worked out. He stacked the two large rolling bags and lifted the third one. Damn. What had she packed? Her whole shoe collection? At least her brothers had done one thing right. She didn’t protest that she should be carrying the luggage. She made a single attempt to get her own suitcases and backed off when Seth waved her away.
“I said maybe I should hop a plane to Malibu and visit my brother. I don’t know these people, Seth. You should have brought a girlfriend.”
Seth stopped because this wasn’t going according to plans. Fuck. She was back to feeling bad about the kissing incident. He had to think and fast. “Georgia, you know how my work goes. I need you here with me. It’s just two weeks. If you still want to go out to Winter’s place after that, then I’ll give you some time off and let the jet take you out there.”
She wasn’t going to Win’s place. At least not without him. Seth still didn’t trust the bastard. For all he knew, Win might lock her away like a freaking princess in a castle.
In the low glow that came from the plane and the landing strip lights, he could see the indecision on her face as she kept pace with him. They walked toward the back porch of the cabin. The beautiful structure had three levels and some floor-to-ceiling windows that would offer a spectacular view of the river and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. “I don’t know, Seth.”
The porch light wasn’t on. Actually, no lights were on. Was Logan here? He couldn’t see the front of the house so he wasn’t sure there was a truck up ahead. If Logan was at Hell on Wheels, Seth was going to have to go drag his ass out. Damn it, he was supposed to be better. Seth hefted the suitcases onto the perfectly finished wraparound deck and prayed he’d remembered the key.
“It’s going to be great, G.” Where would the broker have hidden a key? He needed to get Georgia settled and then go after his crazy-ass best friend. He had to make sure Logan was sober and presentable enough for breakfast in the morning.
Georgia followed him up the steps. “It just seems weird to go to someone’s party. I don’t know them. I’m just your assistant, but sometimes you don’t tell people that when you introduce me and they assume we have something going and I have to correct them. I don’t like it, Seth.”
He set the bags down and realized that she needed him more than he needed to plot. He could try to make her understand a little. He got in her space and was happy when she didn’t back down.
“Can you have some faith in me?” he asked, looking down at the face he was just crazy about. God, she was so fucking pretty. “Can you believe that I want what is absolutely best for you, and I will do anything I need to do to make it happen?”
“Seth, I don’t know why you would say that to me.”
“Yes, you do.” His lips hovered above hers. Maybe he shouldn’t wait any longer. He was finally home. He wanted to commemorate the moment, and there was nothing better on the planet than kissing Georgia in the moonlight. He was jumping the gun, but god, she was so close and he just didn’t have the heart to shut her out again. He couldn’t do it. She was his Kryptonite. Just one kiss. Then he would put her to bed and make sure she was safe and he would go after Logan’s ass.
The sound of a gun being cocked wasn’t completely foreign to Seth’s ears. Nope. There was just no way to mistake that fucking sound.
“Move an inch and I’ll blow your head off,” a familiar voice said.
Seth felt the press of metal against his head and realized that Robert Burns had been right. Sometimes the best laid schemes of mice and men came up against an idiot with tequila on his breath. Or something like that.
Chapter Four
Georgia held her breath. The cool of the night air suddenly felt thick along her skin, and she remembered just how badly it hurt to get shot. She remembered the fire lashing along her flesh and the almost certainty that she was going to die and it might be better for everyone that she did. It hadn’t been so terribly long ago. She still dreamed about it—dreamed about that stupid cage and how Nat should have let her go.
Now she understood Nat a little better because she couldn’t imagine anything worse than Seth being in the same position.
She couldn’t see their assailant. He was a looming shadow, but the metal of his pistol glinted off the moonlight.
Such a beautiful setting to die in.
“Please don’t hurt him.” Funny. She didn’t think about it. Georgia didn’t think to plead for her own life or to use those feminine wiles she’d always fallen back on. They only worked part of the time anyway, and this was too important to play around. She couldn’t stand here and watch someone shoot Seth. She couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure who she was asking. The assailant probably wouldn’t care. Maybe she was just pleading with the universe.
“He’s not going to hurt me,” Seth said in an altogether “too calm for the situation” voice. He dropped contact with her. Seth brought his hands up slowly as though he was showing their attacker that he wasn’t armed with anything but that big brain of his. “He’s going to put down the gun because he shouldn’t be carrying while he’s obviously toasted. Georgia, this is my friend. His name is Logan Green, and we’re going to have a throw down the minute he gets rid of that gun. Or maybe he’ll go ahead and shoot me since he knows damn well he’s an instant billionaire if he does it. What’s it going to be, buddy? Are we going to play out this ID TV special right here?”
Logan? No. No. That massive shadow seemed to reform and now she could see those big, broad shoulders and muscled arms.
“G? Georgia?” His words seemed a little slurred, but sure enough he tossed the gun aside and shoved Seth out of the way.
Logan. Oh, god, he was right in front of her. She could feel the heat coming off his body. He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of low-slung jeans and a white muscle shirt that clearly defined his too-die-for body. He was so big, so tall and strong. And he was going to be so pissed off that she’d found him. He would probably think she’d been looking for him.
“I didn’t know you were here,” she said quickly, forcing her hands to her sides.
He didn’t seem to hear her. The smile that crept across his face was slightly loopy, like he wasn’t altogether there, and yes, she could definitely smell the tequila on his breath. “I thought this was a shitty dream.” He sighed as he moved in closer. “Thank god. It’s a good dream. Seth, you can go away now. I’ll deal with you when I’m awake.”
He moved faster than a drunk should be able to and with far more grace and strength. One minute she was standing there waiting for him to get all mad Dom on her because she’d disobeyed his “never see me again” order, and the next her back was flat against the side of the cabin, her balance off, but he seemed to like it that way.
“Hello, Georgie. You miss me, girl?” He plastered his body to the front of hers, crushing her in between the cabin and his very excited form. His hips moved from side to side, rubbing himself against her like a horny cat.
And damn her, but she just responded. Maybe he was right and this was a very nice dream. She would wake up and the plane would be landing. It wasn’t like she hadn’t dreamed about him before.
He didn’t wait for her to answer, just put those ridiculously sculpted lips over hers and sucked her bottom lip straight into his mouth with a groan that had her insides lighting up.