LOGAN (BAD BOY BIKER ROMANCE) (23 page)

No one came out to greet them. Nor were there any sounds, at least man made. They appeared to be completely alone.

Owen jumped over onto the dock, clutching a bag stuffed with what looked to be Realtor related stuff.

As Owen landed, he slipped, and Cole quickly caught him in both arms.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked, enjoying this little movie moment.

"Yeah!" Owen said, laughing nervously as Cole let him go. "I'm just fine. Thank you." He seemed to appreciate thier proximity more than he expected.

They turned to take in the island and the resort. Lush green jungle crowded in all around. Water lapped at the bay's white beach. The resort and all its buildings seemed to beckon to them.

It was quite amazing to look at, he thought. And again, his eyes were drawn to Owen.

He seemed equally impressed with the island. "Wow. Quite the sight. So, any first impressions?"

He removed his sunglasses so Owen could see his eyes were firmly fixed onto his. "My impression," He said, "is that I may have found more than I was expecting on this trip."

Chapter 4

Owen

Did he just make a pass at me?

Owen was stunned. He managed to blink out of his shock and return Cole's smile. He guessed Cole was complimenting him, and he found that he liked it.

"I'm glad to hear it," he said for lack of a better response. What else do you say when a single, handsome billionaire tells you something like that?

Then, without thinking, Owen said, "I like to know that my clients are happy."

What the heck did I just say? he thought. He mentally scolded himself. Now Cole must think he was this eager to flirt with all his clients.

Cole seemed to sense his inner conflict, and said, "Well, I'm most certain that I may be the first client to truly mean it." Again, that easy smile. He turned toward the resort, and Owen found himself breathing again.

"Shall we look around?" Cole asked.

"You bet," he said, glad the subject had changed. Keep it together girl! He fumbled out a folded laminated map of the resort. "You'll have to excuse me as I haven't the chance to be here before, so I can't go by memory."

"And here I was getting use to the idea that you were perfect," Cole said, grinning.

Oh, my God, he needs to stop that! Owen thought with alarm. But he found Cole's flirtatious talk refreshing. And welcome. Jason almost never flirted with him. He was too lazy, and it wasn't in his programming to show any appreciation for a guy. Let alone his.

Owen chuckled and unfolded the map. From the dock, it was an easy walk through the first set of bungalows, and to the resort's front doors.

"Lead the way," Cole said. He had taken out his smart phone, which was a model Owen had never seen before, and was taking pictures.

They walked down the long dock, which was devoid of any features save for their own ship. The clomping of their feet on the old wood was the loudest sound. Just the rustling of the leaves in the trees and the occasional sound of water lapping against the dock was all that could be heard.

"Very peaceful," Cole said, as if reading his mind. "I like that there is no one here. No tourists, anyway."

"Yeah," he said in agreement. It was quite nice. Especially after almost an hour of the boat motors roaring in his ears. Without tourists, or staff, this place was a calm paradise.

I could live here, he found himself thinking. Maybe I could learn to be an Oceanographer, or study birds, or something. he glanced at Cole who was taking a picture of one of the bungalows. Maybe, if he bought this place, I could manage some type of position here.

The thought of the word position, and multiples, and the image of Cole's naked form pressed up against him suddenly flashed in his mind. It brought him up short. He found the thought very pleasant.

Cole noticed him stop suddenly. "Everything okay?" he asked. There was genuine concern in his voice.

Owen found himself feeling flush, as if Cole could see what he had just imagined. "No, just fine, thank you," he managed. "Maybe just a little hot," he said. Hot because of him!

"I forgot to bring water," Cole said, and turned toward the boat. "I'll grab you a bottle."

"No that's okay. I have one here," he said. Owen quickly fished a plastic bottle of water out of his day bag and unscrewed the top. As he sipped he tried to get his mind back on track. Naked, sexy billionaires were nice to think about, but he had an island to sell.

Keep it together, and make this sale. Naomi would kill him if he found out that his brother couldn't close a potential sale of this size because he allowed himself to become smitten with the client.

He envisioned Naomi's look of disappointment, and it brought him back to reality.

Owen placed the bottle back into the bag. "Shall we continue?" he asked.

Cole smiled and nodded. "Lead the way."

They walked off the docks and onto a cobblestone path that lead one way into the clutter of bungalows and the other direction up toward the resorts main building. Cole indicated the direction of the main complex and they sauntered up the path.

Various bungalows and service buildings lined their way, but everything was widely spaced. All of them were locked and the windows sealed to keep the elements from getting inside. But it was quite obvious that nothing else had been done since, especially any upkeep.

Dirt, leaves and other debris cluttered the pathway. Cole playfully kicked aside a coconut out of their way.

"It looks like the insurance company didn't bother to spend any money for keeping things clean here," Cole said.

Owen was relieved that Cole didn't say Owen, and his sister's company were responsible. "No, I guess not," he said, a little embarrassed. "After the original owners went belly up, the bank moved in. Afraid they would be stuck with something as large as an island and its resort they quickly sold to an insurance company, which for whatever reason, saw a way to turn a profit. But it looks like even they didn't want to spend any more than they had to."

"No security?" Cole asked.

Owen shook his head, as he navigated around a small fallen tree that lay across the pathway. "None. Just a lot of locks and chains I guess."

"So there is no one else on the entire island?" He asked. "Except us two castaways?"

Again, Owen felt the beginnings of a flush up his neck. "Not any more. The bank did, more out of necessity, I think. Once word got out the resort was closed they had some regular security guards. But once it changed hands to the insurance company, that ended. So, yes," he said, glancing at him almost shyly, "We are the only people on the entire island. Or should be, at least."

Cole was smiling. Almost mischievously. "I like the thought of that."

As Owen was trying to interpret what that phrase could possibly mean, beyond the obvious, they came upon the resort building's front entrance. Huge double doors towered above them. Wrapped around the doors' pull handles, was a thick chain. At its center was a gigantic padlock. It was almost comical in size.

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone broke it," Owen said, with a sense of professional relief. He would have had strong words with the insurance company if he had arrived to find the whole place ransacked.

"No doubt thieves were intimidated by this thing," Cole said, indicating the lock. "Got a key?" He smiled.

"You bet," Owen said, and fished out a ring of large keys. He had visited the insurance company's lawyers office before stopping to buy snacks, earlier. They had supplied him with the keys but not before asking if he would need a captain for the boat. That seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day.

As he looked through all the keys, in hopes of finding the correct one, he was suddenly struck with a thought. Cole did not say anything about his piloting the boat. He made no joke about his needing a captain. Unlike every other man he had encountered since his arrival, Cole did not make fun of him about it.

Interesting. More points for this guy. So far, he was racking them up.

Owen found the right key. It was huge, and even had the word 'Front' stencilled on its side. He slide the huge key into the equally huge lock, but found it wouldn't turn.

As he struggled with it, Cole pretended not to notice his plight and took pictures of the building.

He struggled to turn the key. After a few minutes of this nonsense, and on the verge of cursing and screaming, he looked to Cole. "Want to take a shot at this? I don't think its been opened in years."

"Sure thing," Cole said, and stepped forward. He took the key from him, almost gently, then gripped the lock.

Owen was struck by his hands. They were large, and muscular. Almost like a carpenter's, or even a boxers. So this guy did more than sit behind a desk counting his money. He was in obviously good physical shape, and his hands more than completed the picture.

He found himself thinking what other body parts of his were in good working order, when Cole twisted the key, and the lock came undone.

"There we go," Cole said. "Just needed a special touch." That grin again.

Oh, it's on, he thought, and his heart started to hammer in excitement.

Before he could say anything, that could potentially betray his thoughts, Cole pulled the chains away from the door handles. Once cleared, he gripped both handles, then looked at him.

"Ready?" Cole asked.

"You bet," he said. He found he meant that in more ways than one.

Cole pulled on the doors, which opened outwards. With a loud squeaking protest, both doors swung open. A wide dimly lit foyer presented itself to them.

Cole piled the chain against the bottom corner of one of the doors, to prop it open.

For a moment Owen had a sense of foreboding. As if they were about to enter a long abandoned haunted castle, as opposed to a neglected luxury resort.

"Big strong men first," Owen said to him with a grin.

Cole laughed at his comment. "Well, since there doesn't seem to be any around, I'll take the lead." He entered.

Trying not to think of all the other potential magical things those big strong hands could accomplish, Owen followed him inside.

Chapter 5

Owen

As soon as they entered nothing jumped out to attack them, much to Owen's relief.

The main entrance foyer was huge to the point of being cavernous. The vaulted ceiling extended up to the third story roof. Large, open entryways lead to the east and west, with what looked to be the start of the dining hall directly to the north.

A wide stairway, slowly curved along the wall leading up to vanish at the second floor. The floor was composed of wide square stone tile, and other than a fine layer of dust and sand, was none the worse for wear.

The entryway alone could easily have handled several dozen arriving tourists at the same time and still had room for a football team to play a game.

"Wow," Cole said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, wow is right," Owen agreed.

They both stood for a few moments drinking in this huge wide structure. And this was but a fraction of what the main building had to offer.

"Doesn't look to bad for being ignore for several years," Cole said, kicking at the dusty floor.

"Guess they had it sealed up pretty good," Owen said. "The construction used the best materials and most advanced architectural techniques. Or so the brief says."

Just looking at it all one could tell a tremendous effort was made to make this one of the finest buildings in all the South Pacific. To think some greedy idiots ruined it was almost an offence on common sense.

"Doesn't look like we even need flashlights," Cole said.

Owen agreed. Most of the windows had some amount of outside boarding done to them, but enough space was left that the bright early sunshine found its way in. That and the wide bright colored walls helped bounce light around.

"I have a couple of flashlights, just in case," Owen said.

"For someone who had to show up in a rush, you came prepared."

Again, a compliment. He smiled. He was getting use to them.

But Owen didn't want him to stop.

"Let's just take a peak in the dining hall, then head upstairs and work our way down," Cole said.

Owen nodded and they walked across the huge room, their footsteps echoing off the walls. Other than the occasional breeze from the front entrance, it was otherwise as silent as a tomb.

They stood in the double wide entryway of the dining hall. There was no longer any furniture. Anything of worth had long since been stripped away to sell. So all that was here were some discarded folding chairs and tables leaning up against one wall. The rest of the huge hall was barren of features. At the far end was a stage, long unused.

Owen could almost imagine this hall full of people and wide, round tables. Food of all kinds being served to happy couples, and newly weds. A cheerful band could have played on the stage, taking requests and keeping the mood upbeat throughout the meal.

Now it just looked sad. Like the rest of the complex.

The Realtor in the back of his mind waved a red flag and Owen glanced over at Cole. He seemed lost in thought as his eyes took in the vast space.

"I think with a couple of throw pillows and a little dusting, this place would be as good as new," he said with some levity.

For a brief moment, Cole did not appear to comprehend his dry quip, but then he burst into laughter. Slightly relieved, Owen found himself laughing, too.

"Actually," Cole said, "I was thinking this would convert well into a bowling alley."

Owen couldn't read is dead pan expression, but when Cole laughed again, he joined in.

And a sense of humor, too, he thought. This keeps getting better by the minute.

"Come on," Cole said. "Let's check upstairs."

They went back into the main foyer then started to ascend the stairs along the wall. It was so wide that a half dozen tourists hauling luggage could have climbed these steps and not got in each other's way. The banisters looked to be of a thick mahogany and just underlined how much money was used here.

"I can imagine children sliding down those and causing their parents to have heart attacks," Cole said, indicating the banisters.

"Yeah," Owen said. Then he found himself blurting, "Do you have any children?" And immediately regretted it.

Cole's face transformed from one of outgoing happiness, to a sudden sullen gloom. "No," he answered. "I don't." And went quiet, instead focusing on the steps they were climbing.

Ah, damn! Owen thought. What did he just do? Based on his research of Cole, he never considered looking into the public details of his personal life. He sensed that asking such a question just made whatever friendly progress they had going slip into reverse.

Then, unexpectedly, Cole looked over to his and said, "Well, not yet, anyway." And offered him a wide, glowing smile.

Owen's heart was suddenly hammering in his chest. Whoa.

The reached the second floor entryway, while the stairs continued up to the third, and final floor. Directly across was another wide hall, with vaulted ceilings. It appeared to some sort of resting area. On its far side were some double glass doors, that lead out to a huge balcony.

They looked down the east wing, then west wing hallways. Dozens of room doors presented themselves.

"What do you think? Should we check out the balcony?" Owen asked. He was a little relieved that whatever mood swing he accidentally triggered had gone. Cole appeared back to his old, cheerful self.

"Sure," Cole said. As they approached, he noticed another set of chains, and a padlock, but this one was considerably smaller than the one at the front.

"You are the key master," Cole said.

He fished out the key ring again, and started to hunt through them. Finding the key he inserted it into the padlock. Thankfully, it did not fight back and unlocked. As he unwrapped its small chain from the doorhandles he looked to Cole who was trying to peer through the boards to see outside.

At his handsome profile Owen was struck with a thought. This guy would most definitely be worth adopting children with.

"There we go," Owen said. He stepped back as Cole pushed the wide doors outward.

They were hit with bright sunshine and a warm breeze, as they emerged from the the grey murk of the resort's interior.

Like the rest of the building, the balcony was gigantic. No doubt it was used for an eating area as well.

As they stepped out, Owen's phone burred, indicating a message.

"Oh," he said. "This will just take a moment."

"No problem, take your time," Cole said, and walked toward the edge of the balcony.

The text message was from Naomi. It read, "Handsome? Gorgeous? Studly? Tell me!" Owen could practically hear his sister's voice hollering these words from New York, demanding answers.

"Oh, boy," he said. He didn't have time for this right now. he simply texted back, 'Busy now. Later.'

He hoped that would placate Naomi. At least for the moment.

Owen walked over to join Cole at the edge of the balcony.

"Stunning, huh?" Cole asked.

It was. The view was absolutely spectacular. At this height, they had a commanding view of almost the entire bay, save for some overgrown trees which muddled it a bit. But the vista was breath taking, to say the least. Deep green jungle, aqua marine ocean, bright blue endless sky.

Owen needed a moment to truly appreciate what he was seeing. "Sheesh," he said, finally.

Cole was equally impressed. "I guess this explains the price, eh?" he said, indicating all before them.

Owen laughed. "Definitely. And worth every penny." He said this with the widest smile possible, showing as much of his pearly whites as he could.

Cole laughed. "I guess I asked for that. But, still, I've been to many places in the world, and I am completely bowled over by this."

Owen's inner Realtor was now screaming at him, with trumpets blaring. He's sold on the place! Get him to agree to a price while he's weak with the appreciation of its beauty! Go! Go!

"Well, this is quite unique, you must admit," he started to say, slipping into business mode. That was why they were there, after all. "Perhaps if you looked at this agreement, I'm sure you'll find - "

Just then Owen's phone rang loudly in his bag.

"Ah, crud," he said. Bad moment or what? "Let me just get rid of them."

"Sure," Cole said, but instead of taking the agreement from Owen's hand he returned his gaze back to the view.

Damn it! he thought. Moment ruined!

He snatched the still ringing phone from his bag and checked the display. It was from Naomi.

"One second," Owen said to Cole, but he didn't seem to hear him, lost in the majestic view.

Owen took a few steps away, then answered. "You have some very bad timing, sister mine!" He hissed into the phone.

From clear across the planet, his sister responded with, "Why? Are you two naked already? Sealing the deal, as it were?"

"No, but I was close," Owen said, trying not to growl. "I have him on the ropes. He's in love with place. I just have to get it down on paper."

"Ropes? Love? Getting down? Brother, you just can't keep your hands off our clients can you?"

Owen made an effort to count to five before speaking. "Look, things are going well. I should have a tentative agreement soon. If you would just leave me alone to - "

"But that is just my way!" Naomi interrupted. "You know how darn paranoid I am. When I didn't hear from you I started to worry. Thought I'd call the navy, or the marines, or whatever it is they have down there. What do they have, anyway?"

Owen had to set his sister straight once and for all, or this could very well go on all day. Well, at least until the agreement was signed, then Naomi can pester him all he wanted.

"I want you to listen to me, please," Owen said.

"Okay, little brother, I'm listening," Naomi said. Owen sensed she was still not being serious.

"Listen carefully," Owen continued. "It is very, very important that you - ."

His phone connection suddenly went dead with an audible click.

Having lost his momentum, Owen gaped at the phone's display, trying not to curse. No signal.

"Shoot," he said, glaring at the little screen.

"What's up," Cole asked, walking over to his.

"Ah, my signal cut out. Dropped the call on me."

"No worries," Cole said. "Here, you can use mine." He produced a sleek black phone that looked like it belonged on the set of a science fiction movie. "Its a prototype from one of my companies. The military uses it and will never lose its signal."

"Ever?" Owen asked, impressed.

"Ever," he said. "Well, unless someone shoots the satellite out of the - ." He stopped talking, staring at the screen.

"What is it?" Owen said.

"Well, that's odd." Cole looked at the phone, concerned. "There is no signal. But that's impossible."