Truthfully, I didn’t know what to make of Jace Logan. One minute, I had the urge to throw myself at him and find out if he was as good as he was in my late-night fantasies. The next, I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. At that moment, running away seemed like the best option.
I thought about the look in his eyes when I’d first realized he’d been watching me exercise. How long he’d been standing there, I didn’t know, but that look had been practically feral. Hungry. While I occasionally received appreciative glances from men, I couldn’t remember the last time one had looked at me like that. Even now, the memory of it sent an excited shiver down my spine.
It was a good mental image too. A picture of Jace, casually leaning against the doorframe like some sexy predator eyeing up his prey, had burned itself into my sex-deprived brain. He was a fine-looking man, built well. Obviously, he took good care of himself. Lean and toned, quietly proclaiming strength and masculinity. Silky dark-brown hair just long enough to fist. Golden eyes like a wolf. And full, sensual lips that made me weak-kneed with thoughts of exactly what kind of skills they wielded.
Then later, during the movie, he had been watching me again but differently. Those looks were still quite sensual—I didn’t think Jace was capable of completely turning off that raw male sexuality thing he had going on—but softer. Watchful. Curious. But definitely interested.
Which was why I felt like shit this morning.
And exactly why I never, ever brought my work home with me.
Granted, it had never really been an issue before. I’d met my share of desirable men. Wealthy men. Talented men. But none, save one other, had ever given me a case of the hot and sweaties with little more than a heated glance—which meant that Jace Logan was much more dangerous than I’d originally thought.
Sneaky too. In the course of a single evening, he’d managed to endear himself to my boys—who generally discounted ninety-nine percent of my clients as total posers. And more worrisome, he had managed to trip every one of my silent alarms. Because deep down, beneath the polished, cool, competent exterior I presented to everyone else, I was still harboring that foolish, naive girl who’d ventured into the lion’s den all those years ago. The one who believed in soul mates and true love and happily ever afters.
Oh yeah, he was good.
It wasn’t enough that he was the walking, talking embodiment of animal magnetism. Or that he was over six feet of sculpted, defined flesh that looked good in anything but especially in faded jeans and a plain white button-down with the sleeves folded back to reveal tan, corded forearms. Or the fact that his low, velvety voice conjured images of whipped cream, candlelight, and agonizing screams of pleasure.
No. He had to be incredibly talented, smart, funny, and genuinely likeable as well.
And I, just like so many of his adoring female following, had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.
I growled into my coffee. What had I done to deserve this? I tried to be a good person. To resist temptation. I kept my cool at work, even when dealing with egos bigger than Texas. I was kind to children and animals and old people. I recycled and reused and donated generously to charity. So, why was the universe on a seek-and-destroy against me?
I shook my head, trying to dispel the image of Jace’s face when he’d lingered at the door the night before. I’d held my breath, certain that he was going to attempt to kiss me good night.
He hadn’t. Instead, he’d looked deeply into my eyes for a long moment and thanked me again for my hospitality. Then, he was gone, and I couldn’t decide if I was pleased or disappointed.
To make matters worse, I didn’t know what I would have done if he had tried to kiss me. I’d like to think I would have rejected such an advance, but my inner diva laughed hysterically at that, leading me to believe otherwise.
Grabbing two caffeinated headache tablets, I popped them into my mouth and chased them down with a healthy gulp of strong brew, wishing at that moment that I’d thought to have requested a low-carb bagel too. Ross still wasn’t back, which meant I had to juggle his workload and mine for another day. On the plus side, Dark Wing would be in the studio all day.
I had to get myself back together.
I briskly rubbed at my temples, reminding myself that I was a successful, grown woman who would handle this with poise and grace and professionalism. A woman who was doing just fine on her own and who had no more need for a man in her life than a second mortgage. I was certainly not the type of woman to melt into a puddle because a hot guy gave her the fuck-me eyes, no matter how beautiful those eyes were.
Clearly, I was overreacting. I’d simply fallen into the same trap millions of other women had. The fact that I’d been turned on by his mere presence wasn’t his fault. I was the one who had chosen to forego dating and sex and a social life to concentrate on being a good mom and excelling in my career.
And Jace, well, he was just being Jace. I wasn’t special. It meant nothing.
Hell, I’d probably imagined most of it, the overactive, creative part of my brain hooking up with my self-imposed celibacy and concocting fantasy-worthy scenarios. I was reading too much into it. It was harmless flirting; that was all.
If anything, he might have been mildly intrigued because I’d turned down his dinner invitation. Men like him weren’t used to being told no. Now that he’d gotten his payback for siccing Ted on him, we were even.
He sure had bonded with Brian and Tommy though. They were pretty great kids, if I did say so myself.
Maybe it was exactly as Kurt had said—they just craved a bit of normalcy after spending so much time on the road. Hanging out at someone’s house instead of a hotel. Eating a home-cooked meal instead of takeout. Playing Rock Band with a couple of teens instead of partying at the Pussycat.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It wasn’t about me. It was about Jace feeling real for a few hours, nothing more.
“Fool me once, shame on you,” I whispered over the rim of my coffee as a memory of Ian cruelly taunting me pushed its way into my mind. “Fool me twice, shame on me.”
I felt somewhat better after I’d worked that out, but despite the caffeine and the painkillers, the dull ache in my head continued to grow. I grabbed another protein bar from my stash. I was prone to bad headaches and recognized the signs. If I didn’t nip this in the bud, it had the potential to become a full-blown migraine. I couldn’t let that happen. With Ross away, my morning was jammed, and I was unable to take a break.
~ * ~
Jace
I gave a few soft raps on Eva’s office door. I’d been going batshit crazy since my memories decided to return with a vengeance around three in the morning. I needed to see her again, needed to confirm what my memory and heart already knew to be true.
“Come in.” The words were spoken so softly that I wasn’t sure I’d even heard them, but I wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip by.
I was on a mission, convinced that this re-crossing of our paths was no accident. With a sense of excitement, a sense of destiny, I opened the door and entered.
Eva sat behind her desk, her head inclined downward, as if reading. I stood there feeling ... well, I wasn’t quite sure what I was feeling at that moment. Triumph? Relief? Maybe awe.
Her hair was different now than it had been then, no longer a wild mane of glossy black. She wore considerably less makeup too, but that was a decided plus. While the dew of youth had faded from her features, she was even more stunning now than she’d been then.