For the Night: Complete Box Set (42 page)

‘It’s not real, I may come, because hey, I’m a
guy, it’s what we do. As for the rest, I fake it with all of them, or I did
until
you
booked me. They mean
nothing
to me, it’s sex with no
emotional attachment. Besides, it’s my main source of income.’

‘As is acting for me. In fact it’s currently my
only source of income, you still have your personal training, so you can forget
it. If seeing your sexual predilections wasn’t bad enough, if this is what you
think will clinch the deal to me agreeing to see you, then consider your offer
permanently rejected,’ I bit with tears stinging my eyes. I’d never felt so
insulted in my life. I spotted my clutch on the kitchen island and grabbed it
as I ran for his front door.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he called,
‘this discussion isn’t over.’

‘It is now,’ I called back, as I fiddled with his
security chain with shaking fingers. ‘As is this … whatever
this
is.’

‘You’re not going out there dressed like that.’

‘I have dresses shorter than this shirt and you
don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m going to find a telephone box
and ring for a taxi. I’m going home,’ I muttered, as tears started to roll down
my face. I really thought he’d liked me, he said he was falling for me. Not far
enough it seemed or he wouldn’t hurt me like this.

‘Firstly, how many telephone boxes do you see
around London anymore?’ he asked, as I felt him press up behind me and put his
hands over mine, removing them from the lock. ‘You have no idea where you are
so how would a taxi come to pick you up? Plus you’re not wearing any shoes.’

‘Don’t touch me,’ I moaned as I sniffed back my
tears.

‘You’re crying?’ he gasped and spun me around. He
looked so concerned that I was upset.

‘Don’t, don’t be all nice, you’re so confusing.
You’re nice, you’re romantic, you take care of me, then you have a seriously
scary room, tell me you want to hurt me and that you still want to sleep with
other women while you date me. Right now I kind of hate you.’

‘O, angel,’ he sighed and wrapped his arms around
me. I sobbed against his chest. Why did I suddenly feel safe again? My emotions
were spinning so fast. I was tired, beyond tired. I’d worked so hard lately,
I’d just had the biggest night of my life, I had this gorgeous man who seemed
to want me, who’d made me come so many times my legs still felt like jelly and
I felt all at sea. This wasn’t the right time to try to talk about what we
wanted from each other. I needed some time and space. ‘I didn’t mean to scare
you, or hurt you. But if I cancel on my clients to date you and you decide that
you don’t want me, that I’m not good enough for you, it’s an uphill struggle to
try and rebuild my reputation again. You’re asking a lot of me.’

‘You’re asking a lot of me to expect me to give up
acting and to be faithful when you aren’t. You didn’t like the idea of me
faking it on screen, imagine how
you’d
feel if I was actually having sex
with someone else?’ I felt him tense up immediately.

‘I’d hate it, I’d want to kill anyone who touched
you,’ he snarled.

‘You can’t ask something of me, something more of
me, than you’re prepared to do yourself. I … I
really
like you, Logan.
But if I’m going to have sex with you again, I won’t share you.’

‘So what? You want to forget this? Give up on
whatever we have? Because we have something, Summer. I’ve been with enough
women, feeling nothing, to know that this is real.’

‘I don’t need anyone else, to know that I want
more with you, but I need to know you better. The man beneath Logan Steele. The
way you are when you’re not being paid to be perfect. I need you to explain to
me what me being submissive would mean? What you’d do to me in that bedroom?
Because that terrifies me, Logan.’

‘You really want to get to know me, the real me?’

‘I don’t want to fall in love with one man, to
find I’m actually seeing another,’ I replied, as I sniffed against his bare
chest.

‘Last night and this morning, that was the real
man. You think you could fall in love with him?’ he asked, his heart beating
wildly against my cheek.

‘In time, yes,’ I whispered. ‘But not if you’re
still doing what you do.’

‘So where the hell do we go from here?’ he
replied, as he reached up to stroke my hair and kissed the top of my head.

‘I think we have to take sex out of the equation,
just see each other as friends, until we’re both sure we want to move forward
with this.’

‘No sex?
Seriously
?’

‘I have feelings for you Logan and it would hurt
me to share you. I understand your reluctance to give up your job, but you have
to accept my reluctance to be just one of many the women you sleep with. If it
happens again, I want to be the only woman.’

‘Do you have any idea how hard that’s going to
be?’ he whispered as his grip tightened. ‘To see you but not be able to kiss
you, or touch you?’

‘About as hard as that erection currently bruising
my stomach,’ I replied as I kissed his chest. I suddenly wasn’t so sure that I could
cope seeing him, even as friends, not knowing he was still having sex, touching
other women the way he touched me, but there again I liked him so much that if
I walked away, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over him. Could I live with that
regret if I didn’t go through with this crazy friendship plan?

‘I think you’d better leave then, sooner than
later. Having you in here, dressed like that, it’s too much of a temptation.’

‘Agreed,’ I nodded, without looking up at him. One
look at those beautiful grey eyes and I’d cave, but I deserved better than to
be one of many. I wanted to be his only, just as I’d be his.

‘I’ll call James to take you wherever you want.
When will I see you again?’ he asked as his fingers tangled in my hair.

‘I’ll email you.’

‘No,’ he shot back. ‘That email is for clients, I
told you that you’re not a client. I’ll give you my personal mobile number.
Just don’t make me wait, I’m not a patient man.’

As the doorbell rang I was sitting in his lap, my
head on his shoulder, my arms around his waist, as he had his around mine. We’d
sat there for half an hour in silence, just holding each other tightly. I was
scared to let go. What if I walked out that door, decided to call him only to
find he’d changed his mind? Or what if I rang him and he never even answered or
returned my call? He was my Prince, an unconventional one, but I knew it
without even getting to know him better. Why couldn’t I have just met and
fallen for a regular guy? The doorbell rang again and he sighed.

‘Someone needs to make a move here.’

‘I know,’ I replied, as I lifted my head and kept
my eyes downcast.

‘Look at me,’ he whispered.

‘I can’t, I don’t want to think that I may be
looking at you for the last time with tears in my eyes.’

‘It won’t be the last time, Summer. It can’t be
the last time,’ he replied firmly. I took a deep shaky breath as he used his
fingers to tip my head back up, as tears rolled down my cheeks. ‘Kiss me
again.’

‘Logan,’ I objected.

‘Please, in case you change your mind and don’t
ring me. I’ve chased you twice now, Summer Beresford, I won’t chase you again,
I couldn’t take another rejection.’

‘It’s not a rejection,’ I sniffed, still not
totally convinced myself, as I dragged his shirt sleeve across my eyes. ‘It’s a
stall, a time out, to see if all we have is this physical attraction to each
other.’

‘It better just be a time out, not a goodbye,
because I don’t ever want to feel pain like this again,’ he sighed.

‘Tell me about it,’ I nodded. He clasped my face
as he looked at me sadly and his lips moved closer. I knew I should resist, but
I couldn’t help myself. If it was our last kiss, I wanted the memories of it to
last me a lifetime. I flung my arms around his neck and trembled as he wrapped
me up in his. Sparklers wrote his name in my eyes, brightly coloured fireworks
exploded in my head and I felt like popping candy was going off in my mouth. I
heard him groan as his grip on me tightened. We both ignored the third ring of
the bell as we lost ourselves in each other, in the most perfect kiss we’d had
to date. I could feel all of his emotion in it and it felt real, I only hoped
he felt mine in return. We only broke away when we heard the intercom crackle
and a voice boom down it.

‘Sir, I’ve rung your doorbell three times and I
now fear for your safety. If you can hear me, you have precisely thirty seconds
to respond with our safe phrase, when I end this message with the word “Over,”
or I’ll be coming through the door. I really don’t want to be traumatised for
life by catching you in the middle of the act, with your naked backside in the
air. No matter how attractive the ladies might think it is. Are we clear? And
please tell me that you haven’t dead bolted the door, as I really don’t fancy
putting my shoulder out of joint, or ruining my suit by performing water manoeuvres
through the canal to reach your balcony. Over.’

We both burst out laughing, poor James.

‘Sorry, I’d better let him know we’re ok, he’s too
old to damage his shoulder and that canal isn’t the cleanest,’ Logan grinned,
as he stood up and set me on the floor. I wiped my eyes as he jogged over to
the intercom on the wall. ‘Sorry, I was doing the housework,’ he stated, with a
wink over at me.

‘Thank God, I’m getting too old for all this
commando shit,’ came James’s voice. ‘Apologies if I was the cause for anything
to …
deflate
. I shall wait patiently in the car if more time is required
to get back on track.’

‘No, no deflation. Miss Beresford is ready to
leave once she puts her shoes on, James.’

‘Sorry to swear, Sir. I was a little worked up.’

‘No apology required. I’m a creature of habit, why
wouldn’t you think something was wrong when I didn’t answer immediately. We’ll
be out in a moment.’

‘“Sorry, I was doing the housework?”’ I enquired.

‘Hate it, I have a cleaner,’ he replied, as he
disappeared into the bedroom. He returned wearing a pair of jeans with a grey
t-shirt stretched over his taut torso, carrying my shoes and gestured with his
head to a stool at the island. I padded over and took a seat as he lifted one
foot after the other and did up the straps for me, placing a kiss on each ankle
when he was done. He laced his fingers through mine and opened the front door.
I had no recollection of arriving last night. He had a glossy black front door,
with two large round box hedges in stainless steel pots either side under a
glass canopy. James was waiting with the limo door open for me. ‘I’ve got it,
James, thank you,’ Logan advised. James nodded, got into the driving seat and
closed his door.

‘So,’ I sighed.

‘I had the best night, don’t give up on me. Give
me a chance, take the time to get to know me?’ Logan asked as he held my gaze.

‘You promise to be honest with me? No lies, no
keeping things from me that you think I can’t handle?’

‘I promise. Here’s my number, it’s not to be given
to anyone else and you need to promise to call me,’ he countered, as he pushed
a folded piece of paper in my hand.

‘Then expect a call from me very soon,’ I nodded.
He leaned forward and I thought he was going to kiss me again, my lips
automatically parted, but he lay one on my forehead.

‘Take care, angel.’

‘You too,’ I choked. If I’d liked “baby” I loved
“angel.” I quickly slid onto the back seat before I broke down on the street.
Logan took one last look at me, before he closed the door and rapped on the
roof.

‘Home, Miss Beresford?’ asked James.

‘Do you mind going via my hotel?’ I replied, as I
tried to discreetly wipe my eyes, wondering what he made of me being at
Logan’s, dressed in just a shirt and heels. ‘My bags are still there.’

‘Of course not,’ he replied. ‘I’ll give you some
privacy, but press the button directly in front of you if you want my
attention.’

‘Thank you,’ I replied, as he slid the privacy
screen up. I looked out of my window to see Logan had his hands in his pockets
as he stared in. I knew he couldn’t see me, because of the blacked out windows,
but I kissed my fingers and put them against the glass anyway and twisted my
head to watch him, until we pulled out of sight, then started crying again. I
lay down on the seat, tucking up my legs and smiled through my tears to see my
purple dress from last night carefully folded in the corner of the seat
opposite. I unwrapped the piece of paper in my hand to see a little note, along
with Logan’s number, which made me cry even harder.