I felt an immense amount of guilt for letting my emotions come out and ultimately influencing Logan’s decision to purchase a home. He hardly looked around while we were there, never bothered to lose himself in how the place felt or what he would need to change. I nearly swallowed my tongue when he told Josh to offer full asking price. I had the flier in my hand, the bright red numbers at the bottom of the page a few thousand dollars from half a million.

“I do have some bad news for you.”

My heartbeat quickened in excitement as Logan returned to the table, needing to take a call he said was urgent. I began praying it was an issue with the house, a bidding war or the owner having second thoughts. Tucking my emotions away this time, no need to have them dancing in his face, giving him some signal to buy something else outrageous.

“That was my Captain.”

“Oh?”

“He had one of the corpsmen call me earlier, telling me he wanted to see me Monday.”

“Why, is there something wrong?” Ross had been called back from leave a few years ago. He couldn’t tell us what happened, even when he came back a few months later.

“No, nothing is wrong.” Logan reached across the table, taking the glass out of my hand and wrapping both of his around mine. I'd begun to crave his touch, welcoming his eyes on me. I wanted more, would give anything to be able to break the chains keeping me from letting him in.

“He wanted to have a formal sit down, which would have meant shaving the scruff you love so much. I assumed when he and I met at the house, there would be no need for me to come in. Unfortunately, he wanted me to understand our meeting today and his accepting of my offer had nothing to do with the order he gave for Monday.”

My heart sank a little, my hopes of him getting out of the deal fading like light from a setting sun. “Wait, you bought the house from your new boss?” My brain was finally connecting the dots allowing the words, and emotions, to spill from my lips.

“Yes, he was the man I was speaking with out on the deck.”

Oh that deck, even with the brief amount of time I spent there, I had envisioned friends and family enjoying the pool, Ross burning hamburgers on the grill while Amanda sunned herself as she watched the kids. Cool evening parties enjoyed with a fire roaring in the fire pit as beer from the keg flowed freely. Easter egg hunts, Fourth of July picnics, birthday parties, all celebrated and enjoyed on that deck.

“I introduced myself, he recognized my name, and then told me everything I needed to know about the house.” His deep, blue eyes didn’t betray him, confessing he was telling me the God's honest truth. He may not have searched every nook and cranny, but he took a tour of the house through the eyes of someone who loved it. “He’s eager to join his wife and I know what it's like to miss the woman in your life, which is why I stipulated a ten-day close.”

“You know, Doctor Forbes,” swallowing back the pocket of doubt which had been living in my gut for years, inching closer to the day when I could set it free. “Just when I think I have you figured out, you change the rules on me.”

As Logan drove me home, I let my mind wander over the past few months. This was what it was like to be on the receiving end of generosity. All those letters and packages I’d shared over the years, gave me as much joy as the ones who opened the lid. I never imagined what it was like to arrive at the end of the journey and find the beautiful gift of all-consuming love waiting for you. Somewhere along the line, I’d convinced myself I could never have a life like this, one filled with so much joy you practically drowned in it. Now that I found it, had it firmly in my grasp, I would treasure every minute and celebrate every day I was allowed to remain.

* * *

“Harper, I’m going to pick up something to eat and will be back in ten minutes.”

Avery was a puddle of anticipation, with her wedding eight days away and her family arriving tomorrow night, she was burning the candle at both ends. She had requested to take a few weeks off for her honeymoon; she and Cole had reservations at a hotel on the beach somewhere, with no plans of ever seeing the ocean.

“Take your time. Sarah will be back soon and then I’ll take a break.”

“You want me to bring you something back?”

“No, I have something already, but thanks.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind, I have my cell on me.”

Avery slung her bag over her shoulder, turning swiftly and heading out the door, the bell clanging against the glass from her overzealousness. I stifled a laugh as I watched her nearly plow down a number of people on the sidewalk. This afternoon posed to be a busy one as the annual Khaki ball was a week away. Sarah had been flooded with wives and girlfriends needing her expertise, her reputation for her sewing skills a local legend.

With Logan still on leave, I had breathed a little easier when Ross told me he shouldn’t be required to attend. He hadn’t mentioned it, which I was glad as it was the same night as Avery’s wedding and I had accepted her invitation weeks ago before I knew Logan was moving here. He had been so busy between opening the gym, The Fitness Factory, and moving into his new house, we haven’t had much time to talk.

I’d recently contacted a friend of mine who worked as a buyer for one of the chain stores here in Virginia. She had one of her staff put back a sample dress from last season for me, marking it down to a price which made me feel as if I was stealing it from her. Sarah nearly fell out of her chair when I brought it to her, as it needed four inches taken off the hem. She made me swear to leave it to her in my will after I died.

“Excuse me?”

I’d managed to get lost in the daydream of new dress ownership and failed to hear the sound of a customer coming in. Looking in the direction of the voice, I found an Amazon beauty standing just inside the door. Long, blonde hair so thick I bet she broke a comb or two brushing it. Toned and clear skin that reflected a rigid diet or expensive salon visits. Dressed head to toe in cream, highlighting the tan of her skin which was most definitely achieved from a spray and not a weekend at the beach. She was a walking advertisement for Prada, and I bet everything was the current season.

“I’m sorry, how can I help you?”

With a gradual removal of her sunglasses, revealing a set of violet eyes, she took in her surroundings as if she had landed in Harlem, instead of downtown Chesapeake.

“Is this the establishment associated with Reece International?” Blondie didn’t look like a reporter, though we’d had several of those lurking around after Meredith went back to New York.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

Crossing the room, my outstretched hand in her direction. The light from the sun bouncing off a windshield, blinds me and causes me to retreat slightly. The door opens again, shifting the light and allowing me to open my eyes once again.

“Oh, good, Harper, you’re here. Where’s Logan?”

Lisa stands beside the glamazon, their attire complimenting each other. Clearly they are friends, shopping at the same expensive boutiques and hovering in the same circles.

“Hi, Lisa. How are you?”

Lacing my tone with a little bite, making sure she didn’t think anything changed with the addition of her new friend here.

“I’m sorry, Harper. I’m dead on my feet as I’ve just finished back to back shoots.”

Stepping away from her friend, she wraps her arms around me, hugging me close and then placing a side kiss to my cheek.

“Penelope called as I was getting off my plane in New York and told me she heard Logan was here.”

So the glamazon was Penelope, Jillian’s top contender for Logan’s bed. “Neither one of us has seen him in a long time, so here we are.” Raising her hands like Vanna White showing a new puzzle, Penelope waving as if on a Macy's parade float.

“I’m sorry, Lisa. Logan isn’t here, he’s either at his new gym or his house.”

“Gym?”

“House?” The pair spoke over each other.

“Logan is using a public gym and has a house—here?” Penelope looked as if she was about to become ill, her nose turned up in disgust as she looked to Lisa.

“No,” shaking my head, feeling the burn of disappointment settle in. “He co-owns a gym with my brother, and yes, he recently purchased a new home. Not far from here, actually.”

“Logan Forbes owns a gym, you’re sure?”

“Why are you so surprised, Lisa?”

Penelope stepped around Lisa the sound of her shoes clacking on the tile floor, rattling my nerves and making me clench my fists.

“Harper, correct?” She questioned, a seed of curiosity floating in her smile.

“Penelope—”

“I know who you are. I had the pleasure of meeting your mother in New York recently.” I interrupted, hoping to save her the need to use any of her treacheries on me, keeping it for the next unsuspecting girl who stood in her way.

“Then you’ll understand why we are so surprised. Logan is a trained physician, with a name notorious enough to open any door he knocked on. Why would he willingly leave all that behind to open a gym and buy a house so far from the life he has always known?”

Penelope posed an interesting question, one I considered several times as I tried to rationalize all of this inside my head.

“Tell you what, as soon as my assistant returns, I’ll take you to the gym myself.”

Twenty minutes and an uncomfortable car ride later, we pulled up to the front of Fitness Factory, the block letters against a camouflage background, the two T’s exchange for trident spears. The glass front door was propped open, and three muscle-bound men carted large boxes inside. Lisa sprang from her seat, the rusted and aging door moaning in protest. Ross had begged me to replace this truck, pointing out its numerous mechanical issues and various safety concerns. But I couldn’t let it go, not willing to let the last gift Alex had given me.

Penelope didn’t wait for an invitation, as she too scooted across the passenger seat and out the door, not bothering to close it behind her. The men carrying boxes stopped dead in their tracks as the two beautiful women approached. Who could blame them? It wasn’t every day a pair of runway models showed up in this town.

In a much more casual, and relaxed fashion, I found my way to the front door. Passing the same men, whose smiles and tips of their hats had been used up on the two ladies before me. The sound of blowing fans and angry rock music greeted me as I stepped over the threshold.

In the time since I’d last been here, Logan had managed to transform the space from looking like a tampon commercial, all soft and in different shades of beige. To one hosting cage fights and products related to hard-core men, with black ceiling tiles and gray walls, the carpet ripped up, and the underlying concrete polished to a bright shine.

Scanning the room, over the rows of treadmills and past the army of elliptical machines, some wood like structures sat against the far wall. Logan was balanced on what appeared to be a straight bar suspended on a pair of wooden pegs.  His back was glistening with sweat as he heaved the bar up the wooden structure, using his upper body to move the bar to the next peg, climbing the structure. With each heave of his arms, his lower body would swing slightly and his tucked in heels almost reaching the edge of his shorts covered ass, building momentum to move the bar higher.

The muscles in his back corded in response to the weight of his body, flexing and relaxing in time with his movements. When he reached the highest peg, he lifted his feet and draped them over the bar, allowing his body to relax as he hung upside down. His chest heaved with each intake of breath, but his eyes remained closed, stretching his arms several times over his dangling head and then returning them to his side. I wasn’t certain who was breathing harder from his workout, him or the three of us? Lisa and Penelope stood slack jawed just a few steps ahead of me as we all watched Logan open his eyes.

“Hey!”

He shouted over the thumping base of the music coming from the speakers above our heads. Removing a black object from his pocket, he presses a button, and the music abruptly stops, leaving my ears ringing and my body still panting with unbridled desire.

“Now this is what a guy wants to see. Three incredibly beautiful women watching him sweat out his frustrations.”

If watching him climb the ladder made me want to do dirty things with him, it was nothing compared to what I felt when he came back down.  

“Lisa, how the fuck are you, sis?”

She squealed as he lifted her off the ground, his laughter bringing me out of the sex driven haze his pecks had lead me to.

“Pep, always happy to see you. Does your mother know you left Manhattan?”

“Who do you think told me you were slumming it down South?”

Where Jillian seemed to be deceptive and calculating, hiding behind her clever choice of words and social standing.  Her daughter appeared to be the polar opposite, brutally honest with no hidden agenda.  Still, there was something there, some deep-lying secret, poisonous enough to do real damage.

“It appears some things never change do they, Pep?” A moment of silent slips between the pair, Logan’s eyes drift between the two, waiting for something, but I’m not sure what it is.

“And some things, thank God, do change.” Penelope fires back. A sliver of disbelief flashes across Logan’s face and then it’s gone. I would ask them about it later, but I fear it’s like Ross and his missions, unable to tell the real story of what happened.

“Well, at least Jillian pointed you in the direction of my Harper.”

Logan stepped around the two, his bare chest disorienting me and confusing me further. His warm arms and musky man smell solidified the spell he was placing me under, making me forget temporarily what I’d heard.

“Hey, baby, I missed you.”

Without care of who stood in the room, he lowered his mouth to mine, his tongue crossing the boundary of my lips, meshing the two of us together. His exploration of my mouth as if we were in a dark room and the promise of much more to come, bloomed in the distance. A loud crash from behind us pulls Logan’s attention to the men carrying in the boxes.

“Hold that thought, I'll be right back. Pep and Lisa showing up reminded me of something.” The huskiness of his voice rekindling the fire in my belly, pushing me closer to the edge of giving into him.

Logan walked over to the men, his chest still bare and his calf muscles having their own audition for my needy eyes. He helped right the tipped over box, assuring them nothing inside was breakable. Winding around the large desk in the front, he reached behind it and grabbed what looked to be his shirt, sliding it over his head and covering those delicious muscles I wanted to run my hands all over.

“Ladies, I’m glad you’re here.” Logan stood before us, hands on his hips and his feet apart, the gym logo splash across his massive chest. “I have an event I have to attend next weekend, and I need you to go with me. It’s formal—”

“Khaki ball.” I interrupted, knowing full well where this conversation was leading.

“Yes, I found out today. My new Captain has selected and directed everyone who is eligible to attend.”

“I’m sorry, Logan, it’s the same day as Avery and Cole’s wedding. I’ve already RSVP’d I would be there.” My heart sunk a little as I watch his face fall, but the loyalty I have to my friend overrode my need to comfort him and give him a false hope I would go.

“Damn it, I’d rather go to the wedding with you.” Rubbing his chin, the scruff filling in nicely, giving him that bad boy persona I loved so much.

“I’m sure one of these lovely ladies would be happy to be your arm candy for the night.”

Penelope’s phone rang from her purse, “Care to guess who this is?”  Logan and Lisa snickered as Penelope examined the phone in her hand. I hated being on the outside, not familiar with inner workings of this relationship to understand the offhanded jokes. I considered leaving the two of them with Logan and heading back to my store where I knew I was wanted.

“Hello, Mother.” Penelope rolled her eyes, the condescending tone in her voice almost at a disrespectful level. “Of course I’ve located Logan. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

I turned away from the trio, not interested in conversations I couldn’t understand.  Penelope made it seem like a joke, how her mother encouraged her to pursue Logan. Was there perhaps someone who Penelope favored, a forbidden love out of her social status or economic reach? Or maybe it was all a show for Logan, giving her an inlet to make him laugh, sharing stories of her mother's desperation over a bottle of wine and ending with breakfast in bed and a baby on the way. Whatever the reason, or whomever he chose, one thing was certain; Lieutenant Logan Forbes was going to be the envy of every man in attendance.