Club Destiny 1 Conviction (13 page)

 “What do you mean ‘why’? This is
heading in a direction neither of us is ready for. Neither of us can get
through this unscathed, and I don’t want this to get out around the office. So
far, we’re safe. Nothing happened, and we can walk away knowing that we did the
right thing.”

God she hoped nothing happened.
She certainly wouldn’t want him to think she didn’t remember. But, she didn’t.
So…

“When you say ‘the right thing’,
you mean we didn’t take a chance on one another?”

Logan moved closer, his bare
chest pressing against her back, the soft tangle of hair covering the hard
planes tickled her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Sam squeezed her legs
together as her body ignited. If he got any closer, she wouldn’t be responsible
for her own actions.

Oh, hell. Who was she kidding?
She was the only one responsible and here she way, lying in bed with her half
naked boss, wishing like hell they were both fully naked. His words resounded
in her head. A chance?

“What chance is there to take, Logan?”
She asked, pulling away from him in an effort to sit up. “We can’t do this. It
isn’t appropriate, and you know it as well as I do.”

Apparently that was the wrong
thing to say.

“Appropriate? I’m so fucking
tired of appropriate. If you want to go, go. I’m damn sure not stopping you.”
Logan turned over and dropped his feet to the floor on the opposite side of the
bed.

Before Sam could say anything, he
continued.

“I don’t regret bringing you to
my bed last night. The only thing I regret right now is not taking it to the
next level. But, a promise is a promise. I hope you can see your way out
because I’m going to take a shower.”

Sam sat there, her heart aching.
She didn’t mean to upset him, but clearly he wasn’t thinking with his head.
Well, not with the right head anyway. This wasn’t the right thing to do,
although nothing had ever felt more right than being with him. She wanted him
wrapped around her, inside of her, making her scream. She wanted to let go with
him. She wanted all he had to give her, but where would it lead? Sex?

Yes, that was an easy answer. But
anything past that was just wishful thinking. Sam knew in her heart that casual
sex wasn’t something she could do, no matter how hot Logan was and how
desperately she wanted him.

Once they slept together he would
usher her out of his house, and she would be more broken than she was before.

She learned her lesson with Nick.
He had taken her heart and crushed it in the palm of his hand. For the past
eight years, she spent her time trying to trust someone again. Guarding her
heart and her feelings so fiercely, she hadn’t allowed herself to get close to
anyone. She managed to gain some close friends out of the deal, but that was
only because she closed herself off to any idea of romance and friendship was
the only option left.

But, until Logan she had never
felt so drawn to a man before.

Not even Nick.

It had to be due to the fact that
Logan was her boss. He was off limits.

Taboo
.

But with that came the fallout.
Sam wouldn’t survive it. Her career wouldn’t survive it. To make it worse, she
respected Logan when it came to business, and she couldn’t risk something going
badly between them. They’d end up hating each other. That would make their
lives so much harder, especially now that she was in Dallas, hopefully
permanently.

But maybe…

No, absolutely not.

She didn’t want to think about
it. The what-if’s could easily send her brain on overload.

What if they just used one
another for the next year while she was here? Either of them could make the decision
to call it off at any time, and they would continue working together for the
benefit of XTX until she went back to San Antonio.

Her body told her that was the
answer. But, what if she wanted to stay in Dallas indefinitely? How would that
work?

It wouldn’t.

She would want more, he would
want nothing and things would become awkward between them.

As she sat in his giant bed, Sam
could hear the shower. She could imagine him standing beneath the hot spray,
gloriously naked, water sluicing over him, his body sleek and hard and suddenly
the only answer was to go to him.

Fuck it
.

She never went for anything that
wasn’t safe and well planned out. Now, she was going to go for it. What other
choice did she have? The what-if’s, the right versus wrong… None of it mattered
when her entire being ached for him. She would hate herself if she walked away
from Logan and didn’t take the chance he was offering her. She would rather go
for it and see where that led.

With a determined breath, Sam
planted her feet on the floor, threw right and wrong right out the window and
straightened her clothes.

Walking slowly into the bathroom,
the tile cold on her bare feet, Sam tried to be quiet. She could see Logan in
the massive doorless shower, nearly the size of a normal bathroom in itself,
three walls tiled, with jets and showerheads throughout.

The jets sprayed from all
directions, directly on his tanned, naked body. She felt the wet heat between
her thighs as she stood in the middle of his bathroom like a voyeur.

“Holy hell.” She whispered to
herself.

This was it. The point of no
return. She could drop her clothes on the floor next to his and join him in the
shower, devour his body while he devoured hers and never look back. And she
wanted to. Oh how she wanted to.

One step forward and he would
know she was there.

Sam lifted her foot to do just
that, but instead she turned the opposite direction. She had to get out of
there and fast. Without hesitating any longer, she turned and ran out of the
house.

~*~*~

Her apartment was quiet. Too
quiet.

Sam took a step inside, locking
the door behind her out of sheer habit. It wasn’t like anyone was going to come
knocking on her door, much less want to come inside.

Especially not after what she’d
just done.

The drive home from Logan’s had
only taken half an hour, but it felt like an eternity. Her conscious had
battled with her heart for the entire drive back, leaving her wishing she had
been stronger.

But what did that mean? Strong
how?

Strong enough to resist him the
night before? Strong enough to tell him she couldn’t stay just to talk? Or
should she have been stronger and joined him in the shower just to see where
that would take them?

The erotic images that assaulted
her told her exactly where that would have gone. The lingering regret nearly
overpowered her.

She should’ve stayed.

What was done was done, though.
All for the best, she tried to convince herself.

What gave her the idea she could
handle a man like Logan anyway? She couldn’t hold on to him, she knew that
much. He would want something she wasn’t capable of giving. Or he would want
nothing at all.

However, the day must go on.

Sam quickly changed into her
workout clothes and headed to the gym. Her membership with the popular
franchise had easily transferred from San Antonio to Dallas, offering Sam the
same benefits as before. Now, she just needed to immerse herself in some
serious, heart pounding exercise, and all would be right in her world.

After two hours of cardio, Sam’s
desperate attempt to burn off some of the pent up energy, she headed to the
showers. Staying at the gym any longer than she needed to was risky. Even
though she had never talked to him there, Sam had seen Logan once or twice.

Hurrying through her shower, then
drying her hair quickly, Sam hoped to escape without running into him.

Her luck ran out as she was
walking through the lobby. Catching a glimpse of Logan as she neared the exit,
Sam was immediately hit with a force she hadn’t been prepared for.

Near the back row of treadmills,
Logan was talking to a scantily clad, exceptionally attractive woman. A woman
who apparently knew Logan on a more intimate level if the way she was touching
him told the story.

An ugly wave of possessiveness
overcame her and Sam choked back the sob that threatened. She had no ties to
Logan; after all, she had run out on him that very morning.

Sleeping in the same bed for one
night did not a relationship make.

It was like an accident on the
highway, and she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from the twosome blatantly
flirting like teenagers. She immediately took a dislike to the girl hanging on
his every word, as well as his muscular bicep. Although disappointment was like
a knife in her back, she wasn’t going to interrupt what appeared to be a rather
personal conversation.

Luckily, he hadn’t seemed to
notice her standing only a few feet away, so she ducked her head and hurried
out the door. As she made her way across the parking lot, she refused to acknowledge
the pain constricting her chest, it was imaginary she told herself. She truly
didn’t care if Logan was seeing other people. After all, he had made her no
promises, and he didn’t owe her anything.

Some women see promises where
there aren’t any.

His words from the night before
hit her like a ton of bricks. She would not be that woman. At least she still
had her pride. After all, she had walked away that morning rather than divulge
in a few minutes of shared passion. The intense pain in her chest was her own
fault. Shame on her.

After she arrived home, she
showered again, shaving and scrubbing with her favorite body wash, spending
more attention to detail than she had in a while. But, she needed something to
distract her from the thoughts running through her head.

After she dressed in shorts and a
t-shirt, she decided she needed to get out of the house. Basically, because she
feared Logan would show up, but worse than that, she feared he wouldn’t. She
didn’t even know why she thought he would attempt to talk to her. His pride was
wounded. Was that screwed up?

As she climbed into her truck,
she tried to think of something to do to take her mind off of Logan and the
events of the night before. A pedicure would be a good thing, she told herself
as she drove out of the apartment complex.

She didn’t know much about the
Dallas area, but there was no time like the present to go exploring. She drove
a couple of miles to a nail salon she remembered seeing. She sat in the truck
for a moment, not reaching for the door handle.

A pedicure would be nice, but it
would give her too much time to think.

Screw it. She was going to do
something crazy. She backed out of the parking place and headed south, her foot
heavier on the gas pedal than she intended. She might be making a monumental
mistake, but nothing could be as devastating as the mistake she almost made
that morning.

Night descended by the time Sam
finally made it back to her apartment. She parked the car in her covered
parking spot, but on her way upstairs, she glanced over at the garages located
on the property. She wanted a garage, but she also realized that she wanted
something more than a garage at the apartment complex. Her scenic drive had
taken her past numerous houses, and one in particular had caught her eye.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow she would alter
the rest of her life.

One significant decision per day
was her max so she pushed the thought from her mind.

After putting on her pajamas and
washing her face, Sam decided to turn her cell phone back on. It had been a
conditioned response that she always turned her phone off because she knew she
would just be looking at it all day to see if anyone called her. Today was not
that day so she had turned it off, hoping to avoid anyone who called or anyone
who didn’t.

The phone booted up, and she
glanced through the missed calls. There were three missed calls and two texts.
She hit the button for her voicemail and pushed the speaker phone.

“Hey. What happened to you today?
I went by your house but didn’t see your truck. I wanted to apologize for this
morning. Where are you? Maybe we can get together tonight and talk?”

Logan’s voice was deep and sexy.
Asshole
.

Sam couldn’t believe how her
heart was betraying her. She didn’t care about him, especially after the stunt
he pulled at the gym just that morning. She didn’t need him, or the shit he
would bring to her life.

The next voicemail began to play.
“Hey honey, its mom. I just wanted to check in and see how things were going
with you. I’m sure you’re busy with work, but I hoped to hear from you today.
Call me tomorrow if you get a chance.”

The voicemail said the call had
come in about forty five minutes before. Sam made a mental note to call her mom
back on Sunday. She just didn’t have the patience for a lengthy conversation at
the moment.