Chapter 1

Logan has a fiancée?

Are voices in my head talking to me or did I really just hear that correctly? The massive diamond looming in front of me doesn’t really belong to the woman that’s engaged to marry the man I just spent the night with, right?

Try as I might, there’s no denying the sinking feeling in my stomach: I’ve been played.

Again.

All of this really was too good to be true. I should have trusted my gut instinct the moment I saw Logan walk into the bar. I should have stayed as far away from him as possible. Now this is what I get for not trusting myself.

“This is Aimee,” a voice chimes in. “Aimee Watson.”

Lucas beams between me and Mara, snapping me out of my spiral of self-hatred. There’s a calculating glint in his eye, and I can’t help but get the feeling that he thinks he’s gained the upper hand in something.

I give myself a shake and do my best impression of a smile.

“Excuse me, I totally zoned out,” I say, trying to recover. I shake Mara’s still outstretched hand, if for no other reason than to just get that damned ring out of my face. Hopefully she doesn’t notice just how tense I am. “Nice to meet you.”

Her lips pinch together in what I’m guessing is her version of a polite smile.

Lucas continues continues on, apparently oblivious to the tension building all around him.

“It turns out that Logan knows Aimee from the city,” he says. He frowns before adding, “Though, I didn’t quite catch why she’s come out to the estate this weekend…”

The insinuation in his tone is obvious. I notice Logan’s eyes flash wide with anger for an instant before Mara squeezes my hand, pulling my attention back to her.

“Yes, why do we have the pleasure of your company this weekend?” she says. I don’t think she even made an effort to hide her derision.

“She’s a client,” Logan chimes in, quickly. We all turn to look at him and I’m amazed at how quickly his composure returns. “We were discussing some possible business ventures and I thought it would be nice to invite her out for the weekend to see if we couldn’t come up with something… mutually beneficial.”

A client? Mutually beneficial? He does know that what he just said sounds like he brought me out here just to get in my pants, right?

But I must admit, Logan has a casual way about him that oozes charm. It’s not hard to see how he can be so successful.

“A client?” Lucas says, frowning. “I thought you just said she was a friend…”

A huge charming smile spreads across Logan’s face as he claps the other man on the shoulder.

“You caught me! I didn’t want you getting jealous that I was out here entertaining someone other than you.”

Thankfully Lucas doesn’t try to push the topic any farther. I still can’t help the feeling that there’s something very… calculating… about him.

Mara’s smile is all hard ice when she turns it my direction.

“Nothing like a change in scenery to move things along,” she says.

A knot tightens in my stomach.

“It’s a lovely estate,” I says, hoping I at least sound more assured of myself than I feel. “But, I was actually thinking of going back today.”

Lucas barks out a loud laugh, shifting himself closer to me as he does.

“Nonsense, the weekend is only just beginning!” he says.

He might be a bit shorter than Logan, but his presence has a similar weight to it.

“The girl can do as she wants,” Mara says, reproachfully.

My back stiffens. The outright insult hidden in such a casual comment catches me off guard. Apparently Mara is not one of those women that is afraid to speak her mind.

“But I’ve only just arrived,” Lucas says without missing a beat. He flashes me a big smile. “Trust me, if you leave now you’re going to miss out. The fun is only just beginning.”

Logan’s charming facade shimmers only slightly as he looks between Lucas and I.

“We can get together sometime this next week if it’s better for you,” he says.

The knot in my stomach twists and hardens. I shoot him a death glare that is impossible to miss—it’s hard not to have murder in my eyes, right now. Engaged?!

The look obviously catches him off guard.

“You’re welcome to stay, of course,” he adds, hastily.

Welcome to stay? What the hell kind of invitation is that? If he thinks he can spend the night with me and then just shoo me away the moment things get inconvenient for him he’s got another thing coming. 

In the blink of an eye the murderous glare morphs into the biggest smile imaginable. For just the briefest of moments his brow furrows in confusion—I take that to be quite a personal victory, all things considered.

“Well, I am already out here,” I continue. “I might as well make the most of it…” I turn my smile back to Lucas and even manage batt my eyelashes at him a few times for good measure. 

I can feel every muscle in Logan’s body tense as Lucas slides in even closer to me. 

“I promise we will have the best of times,” Lucas says, his tone deepening and slowing.

Promises.

I’m starting to get the feeling that those don’t mean very much around here.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I say, while tapping my finger to his chest. The hardness of the muscles beneath his shirt is surprising.

The tense energy coming from Logan turns into a blazing heat. Am I really the only one to notice it?

He takes a step forward, nearly forcing himself between Lucas and I. Judging by the playful look on Lucas’s face he isn’t even aware that Logan is there.

“Lucas, since you’re here, there are a few items of business that we should probably discuss…”

“They can wait,” Lucas says, dismissively.

“But it would be nice if we could—”

“It can wait.”

Logan’s jaw clenches for an instant. It’s the equivalent of any other man howling in frustration.

“Darling!” Mara says, pulling him by the arm to get his attention. My vision turns red at the sight of her touching him. “We’re all here to enjoy ourselves—you boys can talk shop when you’re back in the city.”

For the briefest of moments there’s a war of emotions on Logan’s face. But as quickly as it was there, it’s gone again, replaced by his usual, collected demeanor.

“Of course,” he says, finally. “It can wait.”

“Shall we do breakfast, dear?” Mara asks, innocently. “I’m famished and could use some of your world famous Eggs Benedict…”

A queasy feeling rolls through my insides.

“That sounds delightful!” Lucas says, beaming. He turns to me. “Will you accompany me to breakfast?”

Now is definitely not the time for my stomach to let out another rumble of betrayal.

“Actually I need to find Bre and let her know we’ll be staying another night,” I say.

Really, I just need to get away from these people and clear my head, but she’s the only excuse I can come up with in the moment.

“Oh, you brought a friend?” Lucas asks, his excitement renewed. 

Mara cuts in once again before I can respond.

“Yes, please do go let her know you’ll both be staying. And perhaps we can all gather later?” She punctuates the question with a smile that lets me know the question was rhetorical. “Come now, gentlemen. I’m on the brink of starvation!”

Logan gives me a long look before Mara can tug him away. I’m not sure what message he was trying to convey with that look but I’m really not in the mood to hear anything from him. I don’t trust what might come out of my mouth in response to him.

The three of them disappear down one of the hallways—and not a moment too soon. I don’t think I can play it cool for much longer.

Another minute of that torture and I wouldn’t have been responsible for whatever happened next…