Club Destiny 1 Conviction (9 page)

Sam was embarrassed by his
praise, but she did her best to keep her composure. She found she wanted this
job more and more. Unfortunately, she also wanted this man.

“I’m glad to hear that. To know
I’ve managed to build some strong relationships makes it all seem worthwhile. I
enjoy working for XTX, and I think I’ll enjoy Dallas just as much as San
Antonio.”
If not more
. She thought the last part, and was glad it hadn’t
tumbled out of her mouth.

The remainder of the lunch went
well, the two of them discussing more in depth what the priorities of the
organization were and the overall objectives of the upcoming projects. By the
end, Sam was ready to tell him yes, she would take the job, but she still
wanted to talk to Jeff a little more. If for nothing else than to make Logan
sweat a little.

The thought of him sweating
nearly had her coming undone.

Sam offered to pay for her own
meal, but Logan insisted, using the excuse that it was on the company. As they
walked out to the car, she could almost feel his body heat as close as he
seemed to be. Maybe it was her imagination.

Logan had been completely
professional all through lunch. After all, she was the one with the devious
thoughts that seemed to be wandering into unchartered territory. Sam had to get
over the school girl crush she seemed to have developed and keep the relationship
professional.

As they reached the car, Sam
reached down to open the door at the same time Logan reached for the handle,
and their fingers brushed lightly. The sparks that ignited between the two of
them were instantaneous and almost visible to the naked eye.

Pulling back quickly, Sam managed
to avoid his gaze. Her physical reaction to the boss was highly inappropriate,
unprofessional and just plain wrong, but the heat that flamed around her
threatened to turn her into a quivering mass of lust.

Maybe the best thing to do would
be to refuse the job and go back to San Antonio as fast as she possibly could.
Since that seemed a bit hasty, Sam hoped she could find a way to avoid him for
the next few days. Some time to get her head on straight was what she needed
and being within one hundred feet of him would make that nearly impossible.

As she slid into the car, Sam’s
eyes met his once again, and she knew she had to stick to her plan. She wasn’t
imagining the heat she saw this time. There was no way she could have predicted
the storm of energy that ignited between the two of them, but she knew he felt
it as much as she did. She’d seen that look on a man’s face before, and if she
wasn’t mistaken, he wasn’t thinking about how well she would perform at the
job. Neither was she.

That was the problem.

She let her hair drape her face
as she broke eye contact, letting him shut the door. She avoided watching him
as he moved to the driver’s side.

She truly needed to consider what
she would be getting herself into if she accepted this job. This was her life.
If she did something so stupid as to believe she could balance both her career
and a man like Logan McCoy, she’d be setting herself up for failure.

Not only was he going to be her
boss, which made him totally off limits, Sam wasn’t sure she could handle the
firestorm he ignited within her.

Damn, she was in big trouble
here.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Exactly two months to the day had
passed since Sam formally accepted the VP job. Thankfully, Jeff agreed to stay
on for a few weeks after her official transition, and in that time, Sam had
managed to shadow him while she gathered her bearings in the organization.

She reluctantly agreed to go to
the happy hour they threw in his honor and Sam received a warm welcome from
most of her new managers as they all said their final goodbyes to Jeff. Only
one, a tenured manager named Tricia Shoenrock, didn’t seem quite so ecstatic
about her arrival.

According to Deanna, Tricia
believed she was a shoe in for the position, and when she wasn’t even
considered, the woman turned bitter.

That night, Sam shared a couple
of drinks with her new team, spent a little time talking to Deanna, and
managed, thanks to a tremendous effort, to avoid Logan for the most part. Their
only interaction had been when he insisted on buying her a drink when she was
attempting to say her goodbyes, hoping to sneak out early and avoid him
altogether. His tactics worked and she stayed, spending half an hour talking to
him.

When she finally managed to call
it a night, she’d been relieved when he didn’t walk her to her car. She
wouldn’t have been able to control herself at that point and for the entire
time she’d been in the Dallas office, she’d fought hard to put the needed space
between them.

Outside of what was absolutely
necessary, strictly business of course, Sam tried to do most of her
communication with him via email. He wasn’t making any extra effort to have
face to face contact with her either and that both disappointed and relieved
her.

She did find it difficult not to
try and catch a glimpse of him as he came into the office each morning. Her
office was at the opposite end of the building from his, but from her desk, she
could see the third floor landing, where most employees came and went. That was
the only indulgence she would allow herself though.

After accepting the offer, XTX
had done what they promised to do. They bought out her apartment lease in San
Antonio, allowing Sam to select a nice, comparable apartment relatively close
to the Dallas office.

She didn’t want to do something
as final as buying a house just yet, at least not until she was convinced
Dallas would be the right place for her, so she figured renting would be the
best avenue to take. It probably wouldn’t take much convincing for her to make
a final decision to stay in the area, but until that moment came, she wanted to
play it safe.

After a couple of weeks, Sam had
gotten into the groove of things, established her routines and ensured her
projects were on track. Every Thursday she gave a project update to the
impacted vice presidents who also reported to Logan.

Luckily, with all of the work
that surrounded her, she didn’t have much free time and while she was avoiding
Logan, she still had to report to him.

Since she utilized Deanna’s
assistance when she could, it didn’t take long before the two of them developed
a close relationship.  They’d consistently gone to lunch at least twice a week
for the last month. So when Deanna left Sam a voicemail the night before to
meet her at her desk first thing, it didn’t surprise her.

 “Hey, good morning.” Sam greeted
the pretty blonde sitting at her desk as she approached.

“Hey. How are things going? I
couldn’t reach you by phone, but I knew if I summoned you here, you would
come.”

“I guess I’m easy like that.” Sam
joked.

Samantha glanced over at Logan’s
office, and she felt an intense sense of relief seeing that he wasn’t there
yet. Most days they managed to only pass one another in the hall, or sit in the
same room at one meeting or another for a limited amount of time. Since Sam
still reflected on the lunch date they shared when she first arrived, she knew
that given half a chance she would easily be distracted by him which was
definitely not an option.

“He isn’t in yet.” Deanna stated,
obviously noticing Sam eyeing the man’s office door. “He called to say that he
would be a little late. He needed to pick something up for the party.”

“Party?” Sam hadn’t heard of
anything, but she didn’t necessarily expect to. Although she had become a
familiar face within the Dallas offices, it wasn’t as though she had been there
for long. There were probably many events that had been scheduled prior to her
arrival that she wasn’t invited to.

“Yes. We’re having a pool party
at Logan’s house this afternoon. It starts at three o’clock, so we’re letting
everyone go home early today.” Deanna stared back at Sam with a look that told
her she was expected to make an appearance.

“That’s great. What’s the
occasion?” Sam asked, not necessarily wanting to know what went on at Logan’s
house after hours. The intrigue that came along with that thought scared the
shit out of her.

“We all try to get together at
least once a month and do something outside of the office. Logan says it builds
relationships within the team. You’re invited.” Deanna said, a sweet smile on
her face as she waited for Sam’s response.

“Well, I don’t know. I –“

“You what? You have other plans?
Doubtful, especially considering it’s during working hours. You have to come.
I’ll need someone to talk to.” Deanna wasn’t beyond pleading when it came to
getting the office personnel to do what her boss wanted them to do, and Sam
found herself on the other end of the woman’s kind hearted manipulations now.

“You can bring anyone you’d like.
I’m bringing Tommy. I’d really like for you to meet him.”

Well, hell
. How could she say no to that?
Sam looked into the bright blue, begging eyes and found she couldn’t refuse
Deanna’s sincerity. “Sure, I’ll be there. Can you send me directions to where
it is?”

“Sure.” She typed a quick note on
her computer. “Done. And don’t worry. You’ll have a fabulous time. This group
of people is a hoot when they are out together. Just watch out for Alex
McDermott.” Deanna laughed.

This was the last thing Sam
needed right now. She was already worried about what Logan thought about her
reaction to him. She wasn’t a particularly convincing actress and knew how
transparent she was.

“I guess I’ll see you at three
o’clock. Oh, and about Alex. You don’t have to worry about me,” Sam leaned in
close, “he and I go way back. He’s harmless.” Sam grinned and then quickly
headed down the corridor to her office, shutting the door behind her.

There was no way she could get
out of this now.

She was thirty minutes late to
the party, but it had taken her that long to convince herself she was seriously
going to go. Then, it had taken her that much more time just to figure out what
was appropriate to wear.

Going home to change had been her
first priority. With the brutal Texas sun beating down, she’d burn up in the
one hundred and two degree heat wearing what she was wearing. August in Texas
wasn’t much different than June or July – hotter than hell with enough humidity
to make it necessary to take a shower more than once a day. The jeans she’d
chosen for work had proven to be too hot even as she walked to her car.

Back at her apartment, she’d
opted not to wear a swimsuit after trying on the only two she owned. Although
she hadn’t been dissatisfied with the way she filled them out, modesty had been
her deciding factor, and she resigned herself to not get in the pool.

Not that she didn’t want to
submerge herself in the cool water; she did, just not under these
circumstances. Partly because this was a company function, but mostly because
Logan would be there. She wouldn’t be able to hide the telltale reaction she
had when he was around.

Obviously the security guard
stationed at the gates to Logan’s upscale neighborhood knew he was expecting
company because once Sam gave her name, he opened the gates and allowed her
entry.

If that encounter hadn’t been
intimidating, Sam found herself feeling way out of her league as she maneuvered
through the wide, paved streets, immaculate two and even three story mansions
lining both sides. Their lawns were impeccably landscaped, the cars that dotted
the circular drives worth more than she made in an entire year.

When she finally arrived at the
address Deanna had given her, the wide circular drive lined with lush, green
boxed hedges welcomed her as she pulled her SUV into an empty spot. Logan’s
large stone home sat several yards from the street, surrounded by a freshly
mowed, thick, green lawn with bright, blooming flower beds outlining the
beautiful house.

With a little reservation, Sam
climbed out of her truck, grabbed her bag from the backseat and then finally
coaxed her legs into moving. As she made her way up the winding path that led
to the front door, Samantha admired the brilliant colors that bloomed in the
vast gardens on both sides.

Although she shouldn’t have been
surprised, Sam still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the vast
differences between her and Logan.

 She was the type who pinched her
pennies, letting her savings grow as though she actually had a plan for the
future. Rather than owning something of her own, she chose to waste her money
on rent so she didn’t get tied down to anything. She had contemplated buying a
house in the recent past but because of her commitment phobia she had yet to
even begin looking.

By the looks of the grounds
surrounding Logan’s exquisite estate, he didn’t mind dropping money here and
there on things that were obviously important to him. She envied his ability to
settle down at least that much.

Although he seemed to be her
polar opposite when it came to residences, her body heated with every thought
of him and she woke repeatedly every night from erotic dreams that starred
Logan. And recent dreams had definitely been filled with the man. Each night
seemed to be more man, less clothing.