Two Times as Hot (17 page)

“I do. And maybe you’ll let me rearrange a few things? Change some of the displays
a bit?” She eyed the display of work-boot laces hanging by the cash register.

“You are bound and determined to help, aren’t you?” He crossed his arms and tried
not to think about wrapping them around her.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. That’s horrible of me to even ask, but it’s kind of been a dream
of mine. When most little girls wanted to play house, I used to play store.” She shrugged.

Logan laughed at that revelation. “Far be it from me to deny a woman her lifelong
dream. If that’s what you want, go for it. Rearrange anything you want.”

A smile lit Emma’s face as she moved a step closer until they were inches apart. “Thank
you.”

“Anytime.” If this was all it took to make her happy, Logan would let Emma play store
all she wanted.

As she stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss near the corner of his mouth, Logan realized
there were so many other ideas he had that he hoped would make Emma happy. The least
of which would be allowing her to move the shoelace display.

After her kiss, Logan gave in to the urge he’d been fighting. He wrapped his arms
around Emma and held tight. She snaked her hands around him and squeezed him back.
Dropping his chin to rest on the top of her head, Logan realized something. On the
outside, he’d been holding himself together for everyone else, but deep down he was
ready to snap. It wasn’t until he held Emma, leaned on her, literally, that he realized
he needed someone to lean on.

She remained quiet. Neither of them spoke as they just stood, holding each other.
He felt her breathing as her back rose and fell beneath his hands. He smelled her
perfume and her shampoo. It all took him back to a time when he was carefree and happy.
Back to the night of Tuck’s wedding when the biggest thing Logan had to worry about
was getting Emma alone.

The memories of their time together, the ones he hadn’t had time to revisit lately,
surfaced and his body reacted. Emma pressed against his growing length. His erection
was wedged between them and making his jeans really uncomfortable.

She glanced up, her eyes heavily lidded with what he hoped was need for him. “How
bad would it be if you locked that front door and put an
Out to Lunch
sign up? Just for a few minutes.”

“I can definitely do that.” Though he hoped whatever they did together would take
more than a few minutes.

His heart pounded as he strode to the front door and turned the lock. Looking back
at Emma, he couldn’t believe what a welcome sight she was. He wanted her. Needed her.
How much he hadn’t realized while they’d been apart. Now, together again, it was clear.

Grasping her hand in his, Logan pulled Emma to the back room before someone saw them.
Once they were out of sight of the front windows, Logan’s resolve broke. His mouth
punished hers with a rough kiss he couldn’t control.

He stopped kissing her to yank his belt buckle open, and then it hit him. “Shit. I
don’t have a condom.”

The last thing he’d thought about this morning, or hell, even over the past month,
was having sex. He sure as hell didn’t keep a condom stashed in his jeans, and birth
control was the one random thing his father didn’t sell here.

Emma touched his forearm. “Logan, it’s okay. We don’t need one.”

She must have gone on the pill since he’d seen her last, and he couldn’t be happier.

“That’s good to hear.” His voice seemed almost feral to him, as he finished opening
his pants and crowded her between his body and the workbench.

Logan went to work on her clothes, not stopping until he’d stripped off her black
knee-length shorts and her lace underwear so she was naked from the waist down. He
hoisted her onto the workbench.

It was high, built by his grandfather to accommodate the tall men in the Hunt family.
It helped prevent backaches when working at it. The height put Emma in the perfect
position for Logan to appreciate what he’d been missing. He ran his hands from her
waist down to her thighs. He spread them wide and took in the view.

Reaching between her glorious legs, he spread her lips and drew in a breath when he
saw the tender, pink flesh hidden there exposed. All the while, she watched him with
those eyes, so deep, like pools of cool spring water. He’d missed her.

He slid one finger inside. It was going to feel so good to bury himself in that tight
heat. The thought stirred something deep inside him. Brushing a thumb over the hidden
bundle of nerves, he watched her eyes drift shut and her mouth open. She drew in a
shaky breath.

Here on the workbench next to the saddle he was supposed to be working on for a customer,
Logan had every intention of working Emma to orgasm.

Determined, he used both hands and mouth until she began to shudder beneath his touch.
Her muscles clamped down and began pulsing around his fingers inside her. He held
himself in check as long as he could, until the spasms began to slow, and then he
couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed the elastic of his underwear out of the way and
thrust deep into Emma. While her bare feet were braced on the edge of the table, he
clung onto Emma’s hips and rocked into her, hard and fast.

The wooden workbench groaned from his motion. Logan spared a brief moment to hope
the legs would hold under the stress. He looked up to meet Emma’s gaze as she watched
him. It made him want to kiss her.

While still buried inside her, he did just that. Logan pulled her upright and took
possession of her lips. She gasped for breath as his mouth covered hers.

The table was the perfect height as he pounded into her. How had he never noticed
that? All those years he’d worked here as a teenager, thinking of nothing except the
clock and when he could go home, he’d never considered how convenient this big bench
would be for certain activities. He appreciated it now, as Emma perched on the edge,
clinging to him. He ran his hands over her back and felt her heart thundering beneath
her ribcage.

Having her in his arms again so unexpectedly made him want to hold on and make this
last. Breaking the kiss, he moved to bite on one earlobe before he pressed his mouth
against her ear and said, “God, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” She sounded breathless.

“How long are you staying?” It was crazy to ask while he made love to her, but he
needed to know. Logan held her tight and thrust inside one more time.

Her mouth opened on a gasp and her muscles clenched around him. “Two weeks.”

As their eyes locked, he knew that two weeks of stolen moments with this woman wasn’t
going to be long enough.

“I
’m so happy you’re here.” Becca wrapped her arms around Emma and squeezed. All the
air whooshed out of Emma’s lungs from her sister’s enthusiastic stranglehold on her.

Emma let out a breathless laugh and extricated herself from Becca’s grasp. “I’m happy
to see you, too.”

“Did your plane land late? I expected you over an hour ago.”

What could Emma say to that? Maybe she should lie. If Becca had already checked the
airline’s website, she wouldn’t be asking because she’d know the flight had landed
early. The last thing Emma wanted to do was admit she’d picked up the rental car and
driven directly to Logan’s shop.

Her web skills had come in handy, as did the fact Logan’s hometown was as small as
they came. It had been easy enough to find. A few searches had yielded the store conveniently
named after the family. The rental car’s GPS had led Emma to him.

She’d thought she could drop in and see Logan, then come straight to Becca without
anyone noticing. What Emma hadn’t counted on was she and Logan not being able to keep
their hands off each other. Her attraction to him hadn’t changed or lessened over
time. Not one bit.

Since her heart had started pounding the moment she saw his truck parked outside the
shop, Emma should have realized how strongly she’d react to the man himself. He acted
like a drug on her system. She felt so good when she was with him, and so bad when
she wasn’t.

And it wasn’t just knowing she carried a piece of him inside her. She hadn’t been
able to stop thinking of him even before she’d realized she was late and had taken
the test.

One more time, Emma found her hand covering her stomach. She moved it before her sister
noticed and somehow guessed the secret Emma hid from her. She wouldn’t be able to
hide it forever. Emma would have to figure everything out soon.

Becca narrowed her gaze, acting a little too observant for Emma’s liking. “Emma, what’s
going on?”

Apparently, she’d taken too long answering Becca’s question.

Emma used to be a champion liar. A trait she seemed to have lost thanks to her current
situation. Just when she needed it most. Now what? She channeled her inner bad girl
and remembered that the best deceptions contained a tiny bit of the truth.

“All right, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell your
husband.” Emma kept her voice low to add to the illusion she was about to confide
the complete truth.

“Okay. I promise.” Becca’s eyes grew wide as she nodded.

“I stopped by to see Logan at his father’s store on my way here.”

Becca drew in a sharp breath. “Oh my God. You did? Was he there? How did you know
where it was? Wait, have you two been talking this entire time? Are you dating? Why
didn’t you tell me?”

That had worked out nicely. Becca had hit her with a string of questions, but that
was fine with Emma. Not one of them had anything to do with the real secret she wanted
to hide.

Emma distilled Becca’s inquisition down, choosing what to answer to best suit her
purposes.

“No, we’re not dating or talking. I googled the store because I think Logan’s cute
and I wanted to see him again while I’m here visiting you, but I knew if I asked you
about him, I’d get a hundred questions.” Emma delivered that last bit in hopes the
guilt would keep any further questioning from Becca at bay.

“We can definitely make sure you two get together while you’re here. It’s perfect
timing. I mean, it’s terrible what happened to his dad, but with Logan right next
door, and Tuck and I already planning on helping him out, we’ll see a lot of Logan.”
Becca couldn’t have looked happier. Her matchmaking instincts had kicked in and for
once, Emma wasn’t upset about that.

“That’s what I thought, too. I’m glad you’re not angry. I missed you, but I also had
an ulterior motive for visiting.”

The confession had Becca throwing her arms around Emma one more time. “Of course,
I’m not angry. I’m thrilled.” She pulled back. “Imagine if you and Logan got married?
Tuck and Logan are like brothers to each other. We’d be almost like sisters-in-law.”

Emma laughed at Becca’s crazy logic. “Uh, we’re already sisters, but yeah, it would
be cool.”

From Becca’s mouth to God’s ears. The best-case scenario would be for Logan to fall
in love with Emma without knowing about the baby. That was the only way she could
accept a marriage proposal from him with confidence.

“I’m even happier you’re into Logan than I was when I thought you liked Jace.” Becca
truly did look happy.

“And why is that?” Emma cocked a brow. “Because he and his ex-girlfriend disappeared
for half your wedding?”

“It wasn’t half—” At the look Emma shot her, Becca cut off her own remark. “Anyway,
if you marry Logan, we could be army wives together.”

“Will you stop taking about Logan and me being married, please? You’re going to jinx
us. I’m not even sure Logan’s interested. I mean we get along well enough.” Envisioning
herself half naked on the workbench beneath Logan made Emma realize what a vast understatement
that was. “I’m just afraid he’s not the commitment type.”

“Why would you say that?” Becca frowned. “He’s very responsible. He’s an officer in
the army and the head of his department. He’s in charge of lots of soldiers and cadets.”

“That doesn’t mean he wants a wife. Or even a serious girlfriend. He told me at your
wedding that he’s married to the army.”

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Becca pursed her lips together. “I wonder . . . what if something
happened in his past that I don’t know about? Maybe an old girlfriend broke his heart.
I could ask Tuck—”

“No! You will not say a word to Tucker. Rebecca, do you hear me?”

“Yes, fine. You don’t have to pull a Mom and use my full name. I won’t tell him.”

The faraway look that appeared in Becca’s eyes put Emma on immediate alert. “Becca.
Stop plotting.”

“I’m not. But what if I could unearth some information about Logan’s romantic past
on my own, without Tucker getting suspicious?”

Knowing Becca and her inability to keep a secret, Emma drew in a breath in frustration.
“See, this is why I don’t tell you anything.”

“Stop. I would never betray your trust. You know that.”

“Mmm, hmm. I also know you can’t seem to keep your nose out of my love life.”

“I seem to be married to a cowboy and living in Oklahoma because you couldn’t keep
your nose out of my life or your hands off my laptop keyboard.” Becca raised a brow
in challenge. “Remember?”

“Yes.” Emma couldn’t deny she’d been the one to secretly send Becca’s résumé to OSU
for the teaching position, but she could remind her sister that it was all for the
best. “You’ve never been happier. You’re welcome.”

“Whatever. Now where did Tuck’s mom put the wine? I went to the store and stocked
up when I heard you were coming. Ah, there it is.” Becca headed for the kitchen counter
where at least half a case of wine bottles were lined up in orderly rows, like little
glass soldiers.

As much as Emma needed a drink about now, she couldn’t drink. Not for many more months.
“Wait, Bec. You know what? No wine for me. I think I’ll just have some water.”

“What?” Her sister spun to face her, the bottle in one hand and a corkscrew in the
other. “What do you mean you don’t want wine?”

Uh, oh. This could be the thing that outed her. Emma had never said no to a glass
of wine, and after all these years, Becca damn well knew that. Emma pressed one hand
to her belly. “My stomach isn’t feeling that great.”

Becca’s frown deepened. “You always said wine was good for an upset stomach.”

“Not this time.” She crinkled her nose as if in pain. “I think I might be getting
that acid reflux thing. Wine seems to make it worse.”

Her sister’s eyes opened wider. “You’d better go to the doctor. Fix it before it becomes
a real problem.”

“I will, but I bet he’ll just tell me to lay off the wine.”

“Probably.” With a scowl, Becca put the bottle back.

“You can still have a glass.”

“No. It’s no fun without someone to drink it with.” Becca’s lips formed a definite
pout.

“Sorry, Becs. Want to have a cup of herbal tea with me instead? You like that.” Emma
counted on how well she knew her sister to get her out of this jam. It was the ritual
of sitting down together that Becca enjoyed most. It didn’t matter if it was wine
in a crystal glass or tea in a porcelain mug.

Looking moderately happier at that suggestion, Becca turned toward the stove and reached
for the kettle on the burner. “Okay. That sounds good.”

Crisis averted. Emma breathed in relief.

“Hey there, darlin’. What’re you doing here?”

Or maybe not . . . What more could the universe drop on her shoulders?

Emma turned to see Jace striding across the kitchen, his end goal obviously her. After
knocking his ever-present cowboy hat back a few degrees, Jace wrapped his arms around
Emma in a big hug, followed by a kiss planted dead on her lips.

Now he wanted to get romantic with her? Of course. Given Emma’s luck it was expected,
really. Why wouldn’t Jace be all over her now that she was carrying Logan’s baby?
His ex-girlfriend must be busy elsewhere. Emma stifled a sigh.

“Hello, Jace. I’m visiting my sister.”
And my baby-daddy.
God, how in the world had her life gotten so complicated? “What are you doing here?
Don’t you live in Stillwater near Tucker and Becca?”

“I do, but it’s rodeo season. I’m here to steal my compadre away from his new bride
and take him to Elk City for a competition.”

“Ah.” As if Emma knew where Elk City was. “Got a lot of elk there, do they?”

He grinned. “Can’t say I ever saw one there myself.”

“Tuck’s just out back, Jace.” Becca glanced over her shoulder as she stood on tiptoe
and stretched toward the shelf in a cabinet far above her head.

“Thanks.” Jace reached past Becca to grab one of the mugs that were just an inch out
of her arm’s length on the second shelf. “This what you want?”

“Yes, two please.”

Jace took down two as Emma watched, baffled. His persistent gentlemanly behavior had
been one of the things about Jace that had gotten to Emma in the first place. Back
before she knew it also extended to being a doormat for his ex’s every whim, no matter
how inappropriate.

The irony wasn’t lost on her that the problem with Jace had been his past long-term
relationship, and the current issue she had with Logan was his lack of one. Having
a very Goldilocks moment, Emma had to wonder if maybe there was no man alive who was
just right
.

“Anything else you need here? Stepstool?” Jace grinned as he joked with Becca.

“No, thank you. Go get Tuck. He’s expecting you. He’s got his overnight tote all packed
and ready.”

“Overnight tote?” Jace’s brow drew comically low. “Jeez, woman. It’s a
gear bag
. You make it sound like he’s got, I don’t know, silk pajamas and an eye mask in there
or something.”

Becca rolled her eyes. “All right. I stand corrected. His
gear bag
is in the truck, packed full of extra manly, bull rider things, I’m sure.”

“Damn right, it is.” Jace gave a single enthusiastic nod as he put one hand on the
doorknob. “And we won’t be gone overnight. We should be back late tonight, unless
we’re both too tired or broken up to drive.”

“Too broken up. Great. Good to know.” Becca looked less than thrilled with that information.
As Jace opened the back door, she said, “Hey, Jace? Please tell Tucker he’d better
come inside and kiss me good-bye before you two leave.”

“As if he’d ever give up a chance to kiss you. But yes, ma’am. I’ll tell him.” Jace
turned and winked at Emma. “I’ll see you when we get back. Maybe you’ll save a kiss
for the winner?”

“Okay, I will. Just make sure to bring him home with you.” Emma smiled at her own
wit as Jace grinned and, after a tip of his hat, was out the back door and out of
sight.

“I don’t understand this thing between you and Jace at all.” Becca shook her head.
“You two seem to get along so well.”

“I thought you already had me married off to Logan.” Emma’s brows shot high. “What
happened to you and me being army wives together? Now you’re back on Jace? What the
hell, Becca? Fickle much?”

Emma joked with Jace. She could even joke with Becca about being with Logan, but secretly,
she never forgot how serious her situation was.

“You need to go to the doctor, Em. I can see your stomach is bothering you.” Becca’s
focus dropped to where Emma had once again pressed her hand to her belly without realizing
it.

“I will.” Emma swallowed hard. She had to stop acting pregnant. At least the upset
stomach story was holding. “And you really have to stop pushing me at Jace.”

“I will.” Becca sighed. “I know he was a jerk to you at the wedding.”

Emma held her hands in the air. “Finally. Thank you.”

For the first time, Emma felt vindicated. Becca had admitted the truth about that
night and didn’t act as if Emma had exaggerated the whole thing with Jace and Jacqueline.

Standing next to the kettle on the stove, which was taking its time boiling, Becca
drummed her fingernails on the countertop. “I bet Tucker’s mom knows about Logan’s
past. I mean their parents are good friends.”

And now it seemed Becca was back on the subject of Logan, and back to her meddling.
Trying to follow her train of thought was enough to give a person mental whiplash.
Emma eyed the bottles of wine on the counter, wishing she could have some. She’d never
needed it more.