Club Destiny 1 Conviction (37 page)

“Do I have to pull the
information out of you?”

She heard his deep sigh, saw how
he hung his head, still giving her his back. After a moment, he reached over,
pulling a frying pan from one of the top cabinets, his shoulders tense. She
half expected him not to talk to her, but then he sighed again, and started
talking.

“Xavier came to me on Friday to
talk about the issue we have.”

“Issue? As in Larry and Abigail?”
Sam knew the two V.P.s voiced their concerns about Logan and Sam’s
relationship, but she didn’t know that it had gone any further. The impromptu
Friday afternoon meeting had given her a clue that something had escalated, but
she had tried not to jump to conclusions.

“Yes.” He replied, mixing eggs
into a bowl, glancing over his shoulder once before he continued. “Apparently
they aren’t going to let this go. So, Xavier and Alex have prepared an offer
for you.”

For her?
So, it all boiled down to the
fact that she had to go. Her stomach tightened into knots, but she did her best
not to show the concerns she had. “And that would be?”

As hard as she tried, she
couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice. When Logan sat the bowl down, turning
to give her his full attention, her chest squeezed, and a surge of nausea
washed over her.
Shit.
She could do this. She could.

“Sam, I want to tell you I think
it’s a fantastic offer. I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell you about
it, but they wouldn’t let me off the hook. So, please just hear me out before
you answer.”

She did her best to mask her
expression, staring back at him as she waited for him to deliver the death
blow. “Ok. Spill it.” This was going to drag out if she didn’t just face the
music now.

“Alex has come with a job offer.
He wants you to go work for CISS. Now wait, let me finish.” He must have
noticed her involuntary jerk, because he stood straighter, walking toward her.

“They want me to leave XTX?” She
asked incredulously. This couldn’t be happening. She had accomplished so much
in her tenure at the company for it all to come to an abrupt end.

“Sam, it’s a generous offer. You
wouldn’t be leaving XTX, at least for now. You would just be working for CISS,
rather than employed directly at XTX. You’ll be contracted out to XTX, and you
will report to Xavier, still doing the same thing you do today.” He added
quickly.

Ok, so that wasn’t exactly what
she was expecting.

Her plan to freak out had been
thwarted, and it took Sam a moment to adjust to what he was telling her.
Contemplating what this really meant for her, Sam stared at Logan, feeling
stunned and hopeful.

“So the gist of it is that I will
technically not be employed by XTX; however, I will still work for XTX. Did I
understand you correctly?”

Logan was frozen in place, the
expression on his face unreadable, but Sam could tell he was waiting for her
reaction.

“Did you hear me, Logan?”

“Yes. Sorry. Yes, that’s the gist
of it.” He confirmed. “You’d be employed by CISS in the same capacity, as an
executive, with the same salary, bonus, as well as benefits.”

She liked the idea of it. The
execution might be somewhat bumpy, but Sam liked the overall design of the
plan. “Would I still manage the same projects I do today?”

“Yes. Everything would remain
exactly the same; except you would report directly to Xavier and CISS is
offering you a permanent position. Here in Dallas.”

That took her by surprise. Her
current position was only temporary, until the project was completed – launched
and stabilized. To know she would have a permanent position almost made the
decision too easy. She wouldn’t have to leave Dallas. She could buy a house.

“Dylan and Alex are excited about
bringing you onboard.”

“Sorry, I don’t know who Dylan
is.” Sam stated, trying to dig into her memory banks to remember who he might
be.

“Dylan Thomas. Xavier’s grandson.
He has taken a vested interest in CISS and decided to go into business with
Alex, relocating here sometime in the next six months or so. His daughter has
been accepted to UTD so he’s decided he wants to be closer to her.”

Well, that explained it.
Standing, Sam felt a little disoriented. Could this be too good to be true? Was
this the answer to all of their problems? She wasn’t sure how Logan felt about
the situation, he hadn’t offered his opinion, but Sam was afraid to ask him.

Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking
of something so permanent so fast. Sure, he might have professed his love for
her just that morning, but that didn’t mean he wanted her permanently employed
so close by. What would happen if he decided to move on?

Suddenly, her stomach hurt. She
needed some air. She turned and left the kitchen, leaving Logan behind her,
still staring in her direction. Making a beeline for his bedroom, she found
some clothes, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt she had left over last weekend,
pulling them on quickly. She just needed to clear her head, get some
perspective.

“Sam, where are you going?” Logan
asked, standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

Sam didn’t know where she was
going, but she needed a few minutes to clear her head, to think.

“I’m just going for a walk.” She
decided.

~*~*~

Shit
! Logan watched Sam walk out the
front door as he remembered the food on the stove. Jogging through the house,
he made it to the kitchen, only to find the butter he had placed in the pan had
disintegrated from the heat. Needing something to do, he rinsed the pan, then
started the process all over again. He needed to eat, and hopefully Sam would
want to when she got back.

The fact that she went for a
walk, and not a drive, left him with some hope. Since her car wasn’t at his
house, he was pretty sure she would be back.

Pouring the eggs into the
skillet, he turned the heat to low so they would slowly cook while he chopped
the vegetables and the meat he’d pulled from the fridge earlier.

Logan admitted he wasn’t much of
a cook, but when it came down to it, he was capable of making a pretty decent
omelet. The problem he was facing now was that he wasn’t all that hungry
anymore.

He’d been surprised by Sam’s
immediate reaction to the information she’d asked for. At first he thought she
had been pleased with the idea, she hadn’t gotten defensive or tried to shoot
down the idea. It wasn’t until he mentioned the position would offer her a
permanent relocation to Dallas that she seemed to have panicked.

Did she not want to move here
permanently? Did she not want to take the opportunity? Would she have preferred
if he had been the one to leave the company?

So many questions swam through
his head, leaving him feeling sick to his stomach. Being the problem solver
that he was, Logan didn’t know what he could do to make this situation any
easier. For either of them. The only thing he did know was that he wasn’t
willing to let her go without a fight.

He hadn’t told her about Xavier’s
revelation that if she didn’t take this new opportunity, she would be heading
back to San Antonio to her old job.

In his mind, that wasn’t even an
option. Leaving XTX wasn’t in his cards, so keeping her there was his only way
of making this work. But, he was willing to compromise.

Whatever it took, Logan wanted
Sam in his life. He wanted her in his bed every night, for as long as they
lived. He’d even considered proposing, but he didn’t want to move too fast, and
he didn’t want to scare her off. They’d come to terms with their true feelings
for each other just that morning.

Flipping the eggs so the other
side cooked, Logan tapped the spatula on the counter. It wasn’t often that he
was in a predicament he couldn’t dig himself out of on his own. But with Sam,
he didn’t have a clue what he could do to make this work.

Adding the vegetables and meat to
the egg mixture, Logan finished making breakfast, but by the time he was
finished, he definitely wasn’t hungry. He wouldn’t let the food go to waste, so
he grabbed a container from the cabinet, dumped the food into it and shoved it
in the refrigerator.

Grabbing his laptop from the
counter, Logan took a seat on the couch in the living room, propped his feet up
on the coffee table and checked his emails. On any normal Saturday, he’d be
making plans that didn’t have anything to do with work; unless he had something
pressing he needed to take care of. Today, he didn’t have either.

Until Sam returned, Logan was at
an impasse.

Just when he was about to close
the laptop, his IM popped up.

[McDermott, Alex – 11:23am]
What’s up? You talk to Sam?

[McCoy, Logan – 11:23am]
Yes and no.

[McDermott, Alex – 11:24am]
What the hell does that mean?

Logan stared blankly at the
screen. He didn’t want to have this conversation with Alex right now. He
couldn’t give the man an answer, because he didn’t know what Sam’s thoughts
were.

[McCoy, Logan – 11:25am]
It means I don’t fucking know.

[McDermott, Alex – 11:25am]
Alright, alright. No need to get
testy.

[McCoy, Logan – 11:25am]
Fuck you, McDermott.

[McDermott, Alex – 11:25am]
I know all about your kink,
McCoy. I’m not interested.

Damn the bastard. Logan was in no
mood for this shit. Especially not on company property.

He knew Alex was just yanking his
chain, but the thought of his personal life being aired on company property,
was enough to set him off. And yes, Alex was one of the very few people who
knew some of the darker sides of Logan’s preferences, but Logan trusted the man
implicitly.

[McDermott, Alex – 11:26am]
Just screwing with you, man.
I’ll let you be, just let me know when you know something.

Logan didn’t bother answering; he
shut his laptop, tossing it onto the cushion beside him. Glancing at the clock
on the cable box, Logan noticed that Sam had been gone for about thirty
minutes. He wondered how long she would stay gone. Even in early September, it
was damn hot outside in the middle of the day.

Getting to his feet, Logan paced
the floor. He had no fucking clue where to go from there.
Shit. Fuck. Damn
.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Sam returned to the house an hour
later, looking a little worse for wear. Logan was once again pacing the floor,
but once she came in the door, he stopped midstride. Watching her as she
approached, he tried to gauge her reaction. Once she realized they had company,
he noted the change in her demeanor.

Logan partly regretted inviting
Luke over, but at the time, he had needed someone to talk to and his brother
was usually the first person he went to. They’d been standing in the kitchen
for the last half hour, while Logan laid out the issue, and Luke offered little
to no help in the matter.

“Hey.” Logan finally said,
breaking the silence in the large room.

Sam’s gaze darted back to him,
then to Luke once more. “Hey.”

“You ok?” He didn’t know what
else to say.

“I’m fine.” She said, turning
back to him. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Logan watched while Sam stared
between the two men, looking a little lost and no better than she had when she
had walked out the door over an hour and a half ago. No other words were
necessary because she left the room in a rush, going to his bedroom.

Of course, now that she was back,
Logan felt a surge of relief. She wasn’t leaving. At least not yet anyway.

No, instead she was going to get
naked in his shower. The image of her standing under the spray, the water
caressing her naked body, had his body going instantly hard.

He gave a quick look to Luke, who
nodded his head in understanding.

If they weren’t going to talk
about work, Logan was going to take her mind off of it completely. Having spent
the last hour and a half feeling helpless, he’d built up a generous amount of
tension and needed a release. He only hoped Sam was up for it because Logan had
some pressure to burn off.

Logan joined Sam in his bathroom,
where she proceeded to get undressed, the shower water already running. He
didn’t waste any time, he stripped his shorts off quickly, causing her to stop
and stare at him. She’d removed her shorts and her t-shirt but was still
wearing her panties and bra. He wanted them off. Now.

“Strip.” He ordered, his voice
much harder than she probably expected. At that point, he didn’t give a fuck.

Sam had left him wondering what
the hell was going on, and he was going to make sure she remembered exactly
what she had done. She might need time to think, to work things out in her
head, but Logan deserved her explanation. That was part of a relationship.
Talking. He might not be good at it, but he wouldn’t have walked out on her the
way she did him.