basin and stared into those eyes, remembering how he’d looked at her the moment before he’d kissed her. As if he wanted to ravage her.
She’d enjoyed taunting him, had liked how he stood up to her and gave as good as he got.
Her gaze drifted to his mouth as her hand drifted lower, her fingers seeking her clit. She was so wet, thanks to him.
She stared at his lips and remembered the feel of his tongue in her mouth, skilled and sure, and imagined what it could do where her middle finger zeroed in on now. Her pulse raced, the lightness in her chest making her feel as if she were floating as she circled her clit over and over, her excitement escalating too quickly. She didn’t care. She needed a release and, with the man who’d wound her up gone, she needed it now.
Breathless, she started panting a little. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment as she imagined Logan’s fingers touching her, Logan’s tongue licking her, Logan’s dick inside her... She tensed and came on a soft moan, sagging against the basin.
When she opened her eyes, he was still there, staring at her from that photo, looking way too smug and self-controlled.
He’d got her so wound up that she’d just masturbated away from home for the first time.
Time to ruffle him as much as he’d ruffled her.
LOGAN HAD DOUBLE-CHECKED the quote twice before firing it off to Hope an hour ago.
Considering he’d already fucked up by kissing her, he didn’t want there to be any potential problems with this job.
Not that he expected any, as she’d been as into that unexpected make-out session as he had, but it still didn’t sit right that he’d crossed the line with a client.
‘Hey, bozo, what’s happening?’ Rick, his foreman, slapped him on the back as he slid onto a bar stool opposite. ‘You know I can’t drink when I’m on pain meds so why the hell did you ask me to meet you at a pub?’
‘To torture you, of course.’ Logan raised his schooner in a cheer. ‘What are you having? Lemonade? Cola? Soda water?’
‘Fuck you.’ Rick flipped him the bird. ‘Get me a light beer. That way I’ll only get half-pissed when it mixes with the meds.’
‘Dickhead.’ Logan headed for the bar and ordered Rick a lemon, lime and bitters, glad he’d invited his old mate here tonight. He needed the distraction. Sitting here rehashing what he’d done with Hope wouldn’t help anybody, least of all himself.
When he placed the drink in front of Rick on the small round table between them, his friend groaned. ‘You’re not my mother. Get me a real drink.’
‘No can do, mate. You’re the best foreman in the country and I need you on deck sooner rather than later, so let the meds do their work and that means sticking to soda for you.’
Rick grunted, took a sip and wrinkled his nose. ‘Fucking lolly water.’
‘Bottoms up.’ Logan took a gulp of his beer and ignored Rick’s woebegone expression.
‘So what do you think of the new job I emailed you?’
Rick gave a thumbs-up. ‘Looks good. We’ve done a few of those recording studios now. You must be getting a reputation.’
A bad one, if Hope ever blabbed to anyone about that kiss.
‘They’re lucrative, that’s for sure.’ Rick took another sip and made a gagging sound. ‘Though the quote seemed high. Is there a problem?’
Logan shook his head. ‘The owner was being a bit of a smart-ass so I upped the ante, expecting she’d cave. She didn’t, so now we’re going to make a healthy profit.’
‘Uh-oh.’ Rick’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve got the hots for her.’
‘Don’t be a dumb-ass,’ Logan said, unable to meet his mate’s eyes and opting for looking into his beer glass instead.
‘You do like her!’ Rick made an odd triumphant, crowing sound. ‘You always like the ones with the smart mouths because they challenge you, so if you charged her that much she must’ve really got to you.’
‘Maybe a little,’ he admitted begrudgingly, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face. ‘She’s a firecracker all right. Ice princess one minute, fiery the next.’
Rick imitated playing a violin. ‘Look at you, all smitten kitten.’
‘Bullshit.’ Logan downed the rest of his beer. ‘Don’t mind me while I go get another alcoholic beverage.’
Rick flipped him the bird again and Logan laughed. He liked the company’s Melbourne jobs for this reason: he got to hang out with his best mate. They’d known each other for twelve years, after he’d met Rick on the first day of his apprenticeship in the city. He’d been a naïve eighteen-year-old who loved building stuff; Rick had been a thirty-year-old electrician on the same job. They’d been mates ever since. Logan trusted Rick when he didn’t trust many people in this world.
When his construction company had started taking off, he’d offered Rick the job of head foreman on all jobs in Melbourne. It gave him peace of mind, knowing Rick had his back when Logan travelled the country doing quotes. He had a good, reliable work team in each major city but Rick was the only guy who would never screw him over.
‘Seriously, mate, how’s the back?’
Rick screwed up his nose, held up his hand and wavered it side to side. ‘The anti-inflammatories did the trick in the first week and I’m weaning myself off the pain meds now. I’m seeing Madame Lash, the torturous physio, three times a week, and Doc wants to review at the end of the week.’
‘Cut the cookie-cutter medical spiel.’ Logan rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Shitty from being cooped up at home and not on the job site but otherwise okay. The back really is improving.’
Logan nodded. ‘Good to hear.’
‘So tell me more about this client.’ Rick slipped his mobile out of his pocket and scrolled through his emails. ‘Hope McWilliams. Fancy-schmancy name.’
For a fancy-schmancy woman. Logan had never met anyone like her. Sure, he mingled with the rich on occasion. Being a successful CEO of a major construction company ensured he got invited to all the right parties, particularly when he had so many satisfied customers. People talked and he hadn’t been bullshitting Hope when he had said he didn’t have to advertise. But even the refined women he met in those circles weren’t like Hope. Those women looked at him as if he was a curiosity, as if he was a wild pet they needed to tame. Hope hadn’t looked at him like that. When she’d dropped her frosty exterior and thawed, Hope had looked at him as though she’d wanted to devour him whole.
‘She owns a piece of prime real estate on the outskirts of inner-city Melbourne, so she’s loaded. Didn’t baulk at my asking price either.’
‘I’m not interested in her bank balance, doofus.’ Rick rolled his eyes. ‘What’s she like?’
Logan searched for the right word to describe Hope, coming up with a lame ‘Interesting.’
‘You’re pathetic.’ Rick took another sip of his drink and mock-barfed. ‘I can’t drink this shit, it’s too sweet. I’m going home to have a beer.’
‘Hey, you can’t—’
‘Take a chill pill, dude. I’m messing with you.’ Rick stood slowly, unkinked his back and winced. ‘But I am heading home. I’m just as keen to get back to work as you are to have me there, so it’s exercise time for me. Keep me posted on the McWilliams job, okay?’