9

Logan heard his alarm go off and forced his eyes open. He glanced over at the illuminated clock on the nightstand. It was six in the morning. His alarm had interrupted the dream he’d been having…about Claire.

He might not have kissed her last night, but he’d definitely devoured her mouth in his dream. They’d been standing under the twinkling stars, but this time, he didn’t give her a peck on the lips. This time, when she’d lifted her mouth and leaned into him, he’d covered her lips with his, taking what she offered with a greed that astounded him. Opening his mouth wide over hers, he’d absorbed her taste, devoured her lips, while breathing in every moan of pleasure she made.

His tongue had tangled endlessly with hers, and the longer they’d kissed, the more she’d allowed her body to melt into his. He couldn’t stop kissing her. He just wanted to remain there, consuming her. He never wanted the moment to end. And there was no doubt in his mind that if the alarm clock hadn’t gone off, they would have eventually moved from kissing to something else.

He eased up from the bed and stretched, ready to get up and start a new day with Claire. It was getting harder and harder to shield his interest but he’d expected that. Still, it was worth the risk. And now that he knew she was thinking about working in the States for a while, he had to stay focused on his goal.

His phone rang. Since his siblings had their own ringtone, he knew just who his caller was. He clicked on. “What’s up, Lance?”

“Leland’s got his first tooth coming in. Can you believe it?”

Logan chuckled. “What I can’t believe is that you’d call me at six in the morning to tell me about it.”

“It’s nine on our time zone. Besides, you’re an early riser. I’m going to take a picture and send it to you. Hold on.”

Shaking his head, Logan clicked on the photograph when it came to his phone. All he could see were lips and gums. What did Lance do? Pry the kid’s mouth open to take a shot of the insides?

“You see it?” Lance asked excitedly.

“What I see is a lot of drool.”

“Oh. Wait. Let me wipe his mouth.”

Logan was about to tell him not to bother but then decided not to cheat his brother out of this proud daddy moment. If anyone had ever told him that he and his youngest brother would have such a conversation, he would not have believed them. That just went to show that anything was possible.

He heard another click and this time, he managed to spy what appeared to be a teeny-tiny shadow of a tooth, barely sprouting from the gum. “You see it?” Lance exclaimed proudly.

“Yes, I see it. I guess it’s time to start serving him steaks.”

“Not yet. But’s it’s exciting.”

“Obviously.”

“So how are things going with you and Claire? Did you read my book? It’s a bestseller by the way. It’s been number one on the New York Times list for six months.”

Logan didn’t doubt that. “I browsed through it, but decided I wanted to handle things a different way.”

“Oh? And what way is that?”

“I’m not going to rush Claire into anything. I want her to get to know me, Lance. It’s important that she wants to be a part of my life as much as I want her in it.”

“You’re too passive, Logan. I know Claire. If you give her too much time, she might overthink things. I had to take matters into my own hands when it came to Asia. Don’t forget, Claire is Asia’s sister. They think alike when it comes to certain things. You have to be aggressive in building a relationship with her. I suggest you take your time and read Chapter Five and then you’ll understand a bit better. In fact, if I were you -”

“But you aren’t me, little brother. So, let me handle my business the way I see fit, please.”

“Hey, it’s your life. I’m just glad you’ve finally decided to at least pursue her. It took you long enough.”

Logan decided to change the subject. “Have you talked to Pop?” he asked.

“Yes. He’s joining that woman for dinner today. I tried giving him pointers but he wasn’t terribly receptive. In fact, he reminded me he was the father and I was the son.”

Logan chuckled. “I guess he felt that you needed to be told.”

“I guess,” Lance said drily. “I’m going to let Carrie handle it. She’ll keep us informed about the situation. I’m going to call Lyle and Monique to tell them about Leland’s tooth. I’ll talk to you later.”

When Lance clicked off the phone, Logan couldn’t help but study the photos again of a one-tooth Leland. He smiled. He hoped that one day he would be doing the same thing Lance was doing now. Waking up the family, just to show them his child’s first tooth.

“OMG! This is simply awesome,” Claire said, standing beside Logan on the huge skywalk that overlooked the the western rim of the Grand Canyon. The sight before her was mind-blowing and she regretted waiting so long to see something so magnificent. She could just imagine all the millions of years’ worth of geological history you could see in the rock formations, brilliant in vivid colors of red, orange and brown. And from where they were standing, the Colorado River below, which helped form the canyon, appeared massive as it flowed through it.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Logan said with the same wonder in his voice.

At first, she’d been skeptical about getting on the horseshoe shaped glass bridge that extended out seventy-feet and was ten-feet wide. It was definitely not for the faint-hearted, but Logan had taken her hand in his and just like last night, she had felt protected, safe and secure. And now, she was standing here beside him, seeing the canyon open up to her, surround her. She’d never felt more in awe.

There had been about twenty of them who had left the lodge together that morning with a very informative tour guide named Sonnie Teal. Sonnie had kept things lively, pointing out historical landmarks along the way as they made the twenty-minute trek by bus. One of the tourist stops had been an authentic Native American Indian village.

A couple they’d met at dinner last night was a part of the group and Claire was enjoying getting to know them better. Since the man, Cohen Carlson, was Chief of Surgery at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, he and Logan had a lot to talk about. His wife Dee, like Claire, had a degree in education and was a third-grade teacher. Logan had told Claire that Jacksonville was only three hours from Tampa. The couple had gotten married in June, and although Dr. Carlson had seen the canyon before, when he’d lived in Phoenix, it was all new to his wife Dee. For them, this was the second phase of a honeymoon of sorts.

The couple would be flying out tomorrow, and after making a pit stop in Phoenix to visit friends and relatives there, they would head back to Florida. The Carlsons, Claire and Logan had promised to stay in touch.

Even when Logan released Claire’s hand to take pictures, she clung to the tail of his shirt, refusing to lose contact with him. Sonnie had assured everyone the glass bridge was sturdy enough to hold the weight of 747 jet. Even if that was true, Claire wasn’t taking any chances. If the bridge got crowded, she was ready to be one of the first to step off.

“Want to head back inside the gift shop?”

She glanced around and saw why Logan had asked the question. Several more tour buses had arrived, and visitors were rushing toward the skywalk. Claire appreciate Logan’s suggestion, no matter how ridiculous it might have seemed, after what Sonnie had told them. Still, she didn’t want to be standing on this thing if Sonnie’s information was ever proven wrong.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

He took her hand in his again and they carefully moved off the skywalk and went into the gift shop which sold beautiful Native American Indian artifacts. They’d ended up purchasing souvenirs, not just for themselves but for family members, including the cutest little t-shirt for Leland, along with a pair of moccasins for his tiny feet.

Claire was thoroughly enjoying her time with Logan. Again, she thanked him for asking her along. He made her promise not to thank him again, and she told him she would try, but he’d better not count on it.

After lunch, they were ready to experience even more adventure. Claire was still wondering how on earth she’d let Logan talk her into going hiking. She was so out of shape, that he sometimes had to slow down for her to catch her breath.

“Too bad you don’t live in Tampa. I’d take you to the gym with me at least four times a week.”

Claire couldn’t help but chuckle. “You would try.”

“I can be very convincing when I want to be, Claire.”

She glanced over at him. “Like I said, Logan. You could try. I’ve never been one to get excited about physical fitness. That’s Asia’s gig. She gets up early every morning to jog around the island.”

“If you don’t exercise, how do you stay in such great shape?”

He thought she was in great shape? She figured her size gave him that impression. She was never into all the physical stuff Asia did, but they were the same dress size. “High metabolism, I guess. But I admit, being a health food freak probably helps. However, I do cheat when it comes to chocolate. That’s a weakness of mine.”

“Hold up,” he said, and stopped walking beside her.

She glanced over at him. “Why?”

“It’s gotten hot as the dickens out here.”

Claire hadn’t really noticed, but then, she hadn’t been hiking as hard as he was. He’d been exerting a lot of energy where she’d taken her time, not breaking a sweat. He would vigorously hike ahead of her on the trail, then return to hike with her. He was doing double the work, so it was no wonder he was hot.

She couldn’t turn her head away from the sight of him peeling off his shirt. There was just something about a shirtless man with the Grand Canyon in the background that could stir a woman’s senses. “I’ll put it back on in a minute.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him not to do her any favors. She liked seeing him shirtless. He had such an awesome looking chest. Solid muscle. Massive biceps. Overall, he was an amazing specimen of masculinity.

“Do you mind putting this in your tote bag for now?” he asked, handing his shirt to her.

“Sure, no problem,” she said, not taking her eyes off him. Surely there had been other women who’d realized that his body had been designed purely for female pleasure?

“You ready?”

She snatched her gaze off his chest to look into his face. “Ready for what?”

“To finish our hike.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

He tried hanging back with her but his legs were too long and she really wasn’t trying to keep up. Like she’d told him, physical fitness didn’t appeal to her. Besides, with him walking ahead of her, she had the chance to appreciate his tush. It was tight, perfectly formed and charismatically shaped. And his jeans fit him like a second skin. As she walked, her attention was drawn to the trickle of sweat that was running down the center of his back.

As if he felt the heat of her gaze on him, he looked over his shoulder. “You okay back there?”

Why did he ask her that? Had he heard her moan? “I’m fine, but I have to admit, I didn’t take you for a tattoo kind of guy,” she said, switching her gaze to his back and the tattoo of an eagle that seemed to spread its wings from shoulder to shoulder. She wasn’t into tattoos, but had to admit that his was beautiful.

“It was Lance’s idea. We were celebrating his thirtieth birthday and he wanted the three of us to do something we normally wouldn’t do.”

“I like it. What’s the reason for the eagle?”

“No reason. I’ve just always been into eagles. I love to see them soar.” He stopped, glancing around at the canyon surrounding them. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

That was an easy question to answer. “Definitely. What about you?”

“I am, too. Thanks for coming with me.”

She glanced over at him. “Had I not accepted your invitation, I’m sure another one of your lady friends would have.”

He shrugged those powerful bare shoulders. “I don’t have many lady friends. I have lady associates.”

“But you do date, right?”

“On occasion. I’m mostly a homebody type who’s into reading, working out at the gym and watching late-night television shows. According to Lance, I’m a pretty boring guy.”

Claire couldn’t see any woman thinking that a man who looked like Logan would be boring. She knew from talking to Lance that as the oldest Montgomery child, Logan had had to grow up fast. Because his father had worked a lot, Logan had become his siblings’ caretaker. So, it stood to reason, he likely still had caretaker tendencies.

“Well, I don’t think you’re boring. I’m really enjoying spending time with you.”

He smiled over at her. “And I’m enjoying it too.”

They then continued to hike in silence.