With a smile, she rose, padding her way over to the suitcase Logan had packed for her while she slept. He’d been very specific before leaving for the kitchen to toss together some breakfast: No peeking inside. If she wanted to add anything—no panties allowed—she was to leave the items on top. Tara wasn’t sure she liked this rule, as if she were too stupid to pack on her own, but he’d sworn it was about expectation. Fantasy Key would expect her to have certain articles of clothing and other . . . items. And Logan wanted to surprise her with all the things he’d collected for her in the last few days.
Tara wasn’t sure what to make of that. She was excited—but scared. Lord knows what a man with Logan’s sexual leanings had packed for her.
Repressing a shiver, she brushed her teeth, showered, then changed into her street clothes, at least for now. No doubt, Logan would have her change those before they reached the resort. And no matter how unsettling all his concentrated attention felt, she had to allow it.
Gathering some of her toiletries, she set them on her suitcase. When she came across her cell phone charger, she dug the phone out of her purse to check the battery. Almost fully charged—but she’d missed a call from Adam.
Five thirty in the morning. He’d be up.
She dialed his number, wincing. What should she tell him about everything happening?
“Morning, princess. You’re up early.”
“Hi, Adam. Yeah, I am. There’s been a change of plans.” She drew in a deep breath. This part he wouldn’t like, for sure. “I’m meeting with Bocelli in thirty minutes, then I’ll be on a plane to Florida. There have been some recent developments in my case, so I can’t wait to go until Wednesday. I should be home no later than Friday.”
“You’re leaving so suddenly?”
“You know how this job is. You did it for years.”
Adam blew out a breath, clearly concerned. “Yes, but I thought they’d give you more time to prepare for your first assignment.”
“I thought so, too. It didn’t work out that way.”
He paused, and Tara could almost hear him gearing up his arguments from the other end of the line. “Who’s your partner for this mission?”
Her heart shuddered to a stop, then beat frantically. “You know I was assigned to York.”
“I also know he’s gone AWOL.” When she gasped at his spying, he rushed to add, “Sorry. I still have friends in the Bureau, and—”
“You’re checking up on me.” And damn it, if that didn’t completely piss her off. “I’m not a child.”
“But you are a novice.”
“You probably know exactly who Bocelli is sending me in with, don’t you.”
“I do,” he admitted. “I got concerned when Brad told me that shithead user was training you. The fact that they’re making you partner with him nearly sent me through the roof.”
Tara huffed out a breath. “I can’t get into this with you now. I have to go in a few minutes and—”
“You’re putting yourself in a position to sexually and submissively serve the man who broke your heart. He’s going to get inside your head and break your heart again. Just like last time, he’ll say and do all the right things. Then, when you’ve fallen for him, he will rip you in two.”
His words pierced her with cold fear and sharp pain. She was definitely having feelings for Logan again. If she didn’t put the brakes on them, he’d soon have the ability to total her heart when she crashed.
But Adam didn’t know everything.
“I’ll be careful. But Logan had reasons for leaving me back then. Reasons he couldn’t share with me until now.”
“Yeah, so the piece of shit had a reason he’s spent years spinning and learning to deliver perfectly.”
Tara bit her lip. She thought Adam had Logan all wrong . . . but he’d said much of this to her at sixteen and, for years, it had seemed that he was dead right.
The night Logan had broken up with her, she’d found a beautiful heart pendant in Adam’s car. When she asked him if she could have it, he’d given it to her and explained that he’d bought it for her, to serve as a reminder that her heart was fragile and deserved someone who would give it special care. From all of the belongings she’d packed up at Brad’s house, she fished out that necklace and slipped it into her purse. She had a feeling that while with Logan over the next few days, she’d need the reminder.
“Guard your heart,” he insisted. “Get in, do your job, get out, then get as far away from that son of a bitch as you can.”
She couldn’t promise that, not with the feelings she was having for Logan now, but she didn’t want to argue with Adam, especially when he might be right. “I’ll tread carefully and do whatever I need to, I promise.”
Plane ride to Florida—Sunday morning
Bocelli’s warning rang in Logan’s ears: Don’t appear to want Tara too much.
Logan knew he had to hide his need for her or this mission would blow up in their faces. But as she curled up against his side on the airplane, her cheek resting on his shoulder as she clasped his hand trustingly, he had everything he’d ever wanted. Too bad this situation wasn’t that simple. Ending this mission safely had to take priority over his heart. That meant he had to shove aside his desperate urge to tie Tara to his bed again and master her body until she admitted that she still loved him. And she did; he was almost certain of that.
He itched to get some stamp of ownership on her, not so that Thorpe allowed him to keep his membership at Dominion—although once they were together and Logan met Thorpe’s conditions, he had a feeling that he and Cherry would play there sometimes—but because he needed to make her his. And he was desperate to be hers.
Getting these sick freaks who abducted women and made them slaves had to come first. Then he’d deal with the fucker who had killed his mother and now threatened Tara.
But one way or another, Logan vowed that Tara wasn’t getting away from him again.
As the flight landed, she jarred awake, blinking at him from behind fluttering ginger lashes, her expression sleepy and trusting. Just like that, she made him hard again.
“Are we here?”
“We’re in Key West.” He dropped his voice to something barely above a whisper. “Once we step off the plane, Fantasy Key’s van should pick us up. From that point on, we’ll have to stay in character. I’m going to be a son of a bitch, and you’re going to have to obey. I’ll apologize in advance and tell you that, for the most part, this isn’t me.”
She bit her lip. “I just hope I’m ready to handle whatever comes my way.”
“Whatever you do, keep hold of that little temper of yours. Think about how every response will look to others.”