Page 54 of When He Plays

“She has no other weapons on her,” Logan concluded.

She did.

“Where would she hide them?” Logan asked. “You just saw her legs, and the bodice of her dress is far too tight for concealing anything.”

She craned around his body to glimpse the guards.

They both looked suspicious as hell.

“We have to do the search,” the chatty one insisted.

“No one but me is touching Charlotte tonight.” Logan tilted his head back and stared at a camera that had been positioned near the top of the elevator’s closed doors. “Hear that, Ares? It’s a non-negotiable point. Either we’re cleared now or we leave. Really doesn’t matter to me. Actually, on second thought, it does matter.” A nod. “I’d rather leave. I’d rather go back to the limo and fuck Charlotte on the way home. That is going to be way more fun than anything you have planned at your lame-ass, private⁠—”

The elevator doors opened.

“Oh, look at that, would you, darling?” Logan exclaimed as he reached back for Charlotte’s hand.

Whenever he holds my hand, I will always remember reaching for him in the dark.

Her fingers curled around his.

There was…security in his hold. Comfort. Trust?

“I believe those open doors mean that Ares wants us to come on up. The search is over.” Logan guided her past the guards. “Don’t go losing that knife,” he warned the woman. “I’ll be super pissed if it vanishes.”

Charlotte entered the elevator. So did Logan. He turned back to the watching group.

“The brass knuckles, too,” Logan added, as if it was an afterthought. “Family heirloom, you know? My dad knew how to take care of business back in the day.”

The doors slid closed.

Logan didn’t even push a button. The elevator just began to rise on its own. Or, more likely, because Ares had control of the elevator system.

“He owns the whole building?” Charlotte asked. She retreated until she was against the rear wall.

“He does. For the moment.” Logan pursed his lips. “It would make a lovely addition to my portfolio, don’t you think?” Deliberate words. He’d turned and was closing in on her. “I’ll see if he feels like gambling it away tonight.” He put an arm up near her head. Flattened his palm against the wall. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Logan?” He had a predatory look in his eyes. His face was intent. His desire? Obvious.

“Gorgeous. And you are very much mine.” His mouth claimed hers in a ferocious, demanding, hot kiss.

Her lips parted beneath his. Her hands grabbed for the lapels of his tux. She gripped them hard, and she kissed him back with a full fury of lust. The kiss was for show, she got that. Logan was sending a message to Ares. An Ares who had to be watching through a camera in the elevator.

Logan had warned her that it was showtime, and well…

They certainly had to put on a good show.

A moan slid from her, only for the sound to be greedily swallowed by his mouth.

Chapter Eleven

Did he have to kiss her in the elevator? Was it necessary for the mission? For their undercover and, unfortunately, fake relationship?

Nope. Not at all.

But he was a bastard who could take prime advantage of a situation, and she truly looked gorgeous, and so Logan leaned in for that kiss.

What a hell of a kiss it was, too. Intense, passionate. Hungry. Demanding.