Club Destiny 1 Conviction (15 page)

She was forcing his control.

He wanted to take her, but he was
going to follow her conditions. He had no choice. He wasn’t willing to give
this up. Not yet. He knew beneath the poised confidence was a wild woman, one who
would take him to heights he never thought he would go. One who could handle
his intense sexual needs.

Logan broke the kiss, pulling her
hands from around his neck, but keeping her legs wrapped around his waist. He
rested his forehead against hers and fought for breath.

“Ok, so, I’ll do as you’ve asked.
I’ve met one of your conditions, but don’t think that’s the last kiss. There
are plenty more to come, but in due time.” He paused, swallowed. “I’ve got one
condition of my own.”

Sam’s face was flush, her lips
swollen from his kiss, but she seemed interested to hear what he had to say.

“I need you to trust me.”

He knew that was asking a lot of
her, but he had to know she would give him that much.

~*~*~

Sam didn’t try to pull away, even
though that was her first instinct. He was asking for her trust? Trust was a
risky thing. She didn’t trust anyone. Well, not entirely true. She trusted her
parents, her brother, to love her unconditionally, but they had proven that
already.

She trusted she would get up and
go to work each day. She trusted she would give in to Logan with little effort.
Hell, since she was thinking about it, she realized even after how badly she
had been hurt, she did trust him.

“I trust you.” She looked into
his eyes and could see the concern reflecting in his. “But, next time, I walk
away. No looking back.”

She’d held on to her anger for so
many years ensuring no one would break her heart again, but for some reason,
her heart was willing her forward, or was that her hormones? Probably a little
of both.

If she didn’t let go, she would
never be hurt again. Worse than that, she would never be loved again either.
She had two choices… Take a chance that she would never know love again, or
that she got her heart broken. A double edged sword. Either way she would lose.

When Logan pressed his lips
against hers, this time he was gentle, tender. Sam wanted to hold on for dear
life, pray he wouldn’t hurt her. Instead, she let her lips linger on his until
he pulled back.

“There won’t be a next time, Sam.
Get some rest. You’re going to need it.” He whispered, letting her hands go as
he cupped her face in his palms. He pressed his lips to hers once more,
lingering for just a minute longer than the last time, and then lowered her
from the counter until her feet once again touched the floor.

Sam stood in shock from the
sweetness of his gesture, watching as he turned and walked toward the door. She
smiled back at him when he turned to her and gave her his crooked, sexy smile.
She wanted to chase after him, but she managed to maintain her control. Not
this time. There would hopefully be plenty of time for that later.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Logan went to the gym early on
Sunday. He had plans for the day and thanks to his rigid routine, he needed to
get in his workout. He hoped to go early enough he wouldn’t run into Sam. Not
because he didn’t want to, because he did.

More so because he wanted their
afternoon to be a surprise.

He was proficient at following
rules, and she had set forth hers. He couldn’t keep his mind off of her or the
kiss they shared last night. He would definitely oblige.

When he finished his workout, he
started toward the front door but was stopped within feet of his exit by
Brittany. Cardio Barbie? That was what Sam called her, and he couldn’t fight
the grin. He took in the sight of her in her skin tight spandex and her over
processed skin, proof of hours spent in a tanning bed.

“Hey, Logan. Got any plans for
tonight? I could keep you company.” She said in her fake, sweet voice.

“Actually, I do. I’ve got a
date.”

Screw it. He needed to take a
risk, and the biggest risk of all would be to fall for Sam, but that was where
he was headed. He didn’t need Brittany as a backup. She wasn’t even in the same
hemisphere as Sam.

“Well, maybe next time then.”

Doubtful.

“I think this one is pretty
serious, Brittany.” He said as he continued toward the door. “Later.”

~*~*~

Sam pulled into the parking lot
of the gym just in time to see Barbie Brittany approaching Logan. She was
shocked that he didn’t even stop. He wouldn’t have recognized her car because
he hadn’t seen it yet.

She sat hidden by the tinted
windows until he made his way across the lot to his truck. How many vehicles
did one man need? But just like the Cadillac, he looked good in a truck. Hell,
he looked good no matter what.

She got out of her new car and
walked into the gym. As she passed the front counter, she heard Brittany
talking to one of the girls who worked there.

“I can’t believe he just told me
he was seriously dating someone. This is Logan McCoy, the most eligible
bachelor I know. I wonder how some girl trapped him. Do you think she got
pregnant? That has to be it. He wouldn’t just settle down for no reason.”

Sam laughed to herself, hoping no
one was paying attention to how ridiculous she looked. The girl seemed rather
perplexed, and she had to admit she was more than a little happy about the fact
that Logan had blown her off.

It almost made up for the
disappointment she felt the day before. Almost.

Sam felt good throughout her
entire workout. She went to the Cardio Theater and used the elliptical machine
while The Bourne Ultimatum played on the large screen. Sam would have normally
drooled over Matt Damon –
sex God
- but at the moment, Logan made him
look like a little boy. And that was saying something because she loved Matt
Damon.

After an hour and a half on the
machine, she decided she would go home and shower. She didn’t have any plans
for the day, but maybe she could come up with something to do. Anything to keep
her mind off of sneaking over to Logan’s house to surprise him. After all, he
was supposed to be courting her, not the other way around.

Sam took a shower, put on her
makeup and dried her hair, but she hadn’t been able to get dressed when her
cell phone rang. She went to the dresser in her bedroom and picked it up,
hoping it would be Logan.

Nope, not Logan.

“Hey, Mom. How are you?” Sam
greeted her mother.

“Samantha, it’s so good to hear
your voice. I thought maybe you disappeared off the face of the earth. You
don’t return my calls.”

“That isn’t true, and you know
it. I was busy yesterday, or I would’ve called you back. It was late before I
got back home.”

“You know, they call it a mobile
phone for a reason. You could always answer it when I call and then you
wouldn’t have to call me back.” Her mother nagged.

“I did answer it, Mom. Remember,
I’m on the phone now.” Sam smiled.

She loved her mom dearly, even if
they did have this exact same conversation every time they talked.

“So, how are things going up
there in Dallas?”

“So far so good. I finally got my
apartment the way I want it, and I have settled in at work.”

“That’s so good to hear. Have you
heard anything more about a permanent position?”

“There is talk. I’ve even
contemplated buying a house.”

“A house? Really? That’s a big
step for you, honey.” The concern in her mother’s voice gave her pause. If
anyone knew her, it was her mother. “Are you sure you want to tie yourself down
like that? That’s so unlike you.”

Her mom was right; she didn’t buy
a house anywhere because she didn’t want to be tied down. Maybe that was why
she hadn’t found a relationship either. She liked her freedom. She could still
have her freedom and own her own home, couldn’t she?

“I know, but I think I might be
evolving.”

“Since you moved to Dallas?”

“Maybe.” She knew it had more to
do with Logan than Dallas, but her mom didn’t need to know that. “So, what’s
the reason for the call, Mom?”

“Can’t I just call to talk?”

“Sure, you could, but you don’t.”

“Ok, fine. I just wanted to call
to let you know your dad and I plan to come up to Dallas in a couple of weeks
to see you. Maybe you can take me out to see the sights.”

“Sure. Just let me know before
you come, and I’ll make sure the guest room is ready. I haven’t put much time
into that room, but I will.”

“We’ll be sure to call you the
week before we come. Your dad has a fishing trip planned next weekend, but
maybe the week after that.”

“Sounds terrific, Mom. I better
get off the phone. I need to run to the grocery store.”

“Ok, dear. I’ll call you later in
the week.”

“Bye Mom. Love you.” Sam tossed
the phone on the bed and walked into her closet. She was glancing through her
shirts when she thought she heard a knock on the front door. She came out of
the closet and stood for a moment, waiting to see if she heard it again.

After a few seconds of silence,
she figured she was hearing things so she went back into the closet. She heard
it again. This time she went to the front door.

She put her robe on, but she
didn’t have anything on underneath it and wasn’t about to answer the door. She
glanced through the security hole but didn’t see anyone. She decided to open
the door to see if someone was there. Maybe it was Logan, and he didn’t think
she was home.

When Sam pulled the door open,
she noticed three dozen or so red roses sitting in front of her door with a
card and a balloon tied to them. She glanced around but didn’t see anyone so
she took the vase and brought it into the apartment, sitting them on the bar.

She pulled the card from its
clear plastic stick holder and opened it.

Event: First Date

Day: Today

Time: 15 minutes

What you should wear: Something
casual (shorts, t-shirt, bathing suit)

The butterflies were back, and it
required tremendous restraint for Sam not to jump up and down like a kid on
Christmas. Instead, she smiled.

Fifteen minutes.

Without a second thought, she ran
to her closet, pulled out her black string bikini and a pair of short jean
shorts and a black t-shirt. She used up every bit of the 15 minutes making sure
she looked and smelled nice. It might’ve been a vain thing to do, but this was
her first official date with Logan. 

Standing in front of the full
length mirror on her bathroom door, Sam criticized her appearance. She could do
casual – she even pulled her hair back into a ponytail. This would have to do.

As soon as she made it to the
living room there was a knock on the door. She anticipated Logan, but when she
opened the door she almost jumped out of her skin.

It wasn’t Logan.

“Samantha Kielty? My name is
Darien. I’m Mr. McCoy’s driver this afternoon. He asked that I come up and get
you. Are you ready?”

Ready? No way in hell was she
ready to see Logan again. Well, maybe she was. Regardless, she was going to go
anyway.

“I believe I am.” She smiled,
wondering what Logan was up to. He sent his driver up to get her. Interesting.
She grabbed her purse from the bar, tossed her cell phone inside and then
locked the door behind her.

When she got to the sleek, black
limousine out front, she fully expected Logan to be inside. To her dismay he
was not. When Darien opened the door for her, she noticed a single red rose
sitting on the seat with a note attached.

Looking forward to today. Just
sit back and relax for the next twenty minutes.

~Logan

Sam couldn’t hold back her
surprise when the limo pulled into the marina in just under the amount of time
Logan referenced. The lake.
Holy crap
. Not a good idea, but how in the
world would Logan know how deathly afraid of water she was.

Hmmm
.

How could she break this to him?
Maybe the hyperventilating would be a dead giveaway.

Sam tried to control her
breathing as she remained seated in the limo. A moment later the back door
opened, and Darien took a step back so she could exit.

“Your destination, Ms. Kielty. I
hope you enjoy your day.”

“Thank you, Darien.” Grabbing a
couple of dollars out of her wallet, she went to hand them to Darien for a tip.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Darien said
kindly but didn’t reach for the money. “Not necessary. Mr. McCoy has generously
taken care of the tip. Have a wonderful time.”

Staring blankly at the handsome
driver, Sam tucked the money back in her purse and smiled. If she could manage
to make it to the boat, she might consider the day a success.