Weslee settled back into the leather recliner on her father’s jet and closed her eyes. Her headache had eased quite a bit, but she longed for the medication to fully take effect so she could put Logan and that unbelievable kiss out of her mind. His kiss had ruined her and her future relationships. No one had ever kissed her like that. Not even her fiancé.

The fiery passion Logan had unleashed inside her in that brief moment had stunned her. She firmly believed that intimacy should be reserved for marriage. She still believed that, but she’d never been so tempted to throw all of that away as she was in that moment of insanity brought on with his kiss. If he’d carried her off to a room, she wasn’t sure she had it in her to resist. It scared her to death, and yet she still wanted him.

She heard a noise and thought maybe Logan was here, but it was only the flight attendant fiddling with something in the galley. Her bodyguard hadn’t arrived at the airport yet. Honestly, she doubted he would show up at all. Kate had escorted them to the airport after Logan left to take care of some urgent business. Agent Bradley didn’t know anything about his emergency. She looked as in the dark as Weslee felt.

Inez settled into the chair beside her. “Honey, there’s no reason to fret. Logan will be here. I know he will.”

“I’m not fretting.” Weslee kept her eyes closed. “I’m tired and still have a headache.”

Inez thought the whole reason she had come home early was due to a headache. Heartache was more like it. Logan had kissed her and then passed her off to another agent.

Why had she flirted with him in the first place? She cringed inwardly at how eagerly she’d jumped into the role as his girlfriend. That had been her first mistake. Okay, maybe her first mistake had been how jealous she’d acted when the two floozies had propositioned Logan under the guise of dessert. Then she’d gone and done the same thing. On a much more innocent level, of course. Kissing had been on her mind…until he’d actually kissed her. She was ashamed to admit how easily she could’ve been swayed for something more.

Nope, she should’ve never openly flirted with a man like Logan. But after Dallin had stopped by their table and asked her to save a dance for him, Logan had acted like the possessive boyfriend he said he didn’t need to portray unless there was a threat. Dallin wasn’t a threat to her safety.

Secretly, she’d loved how jealous Logan had been. It had lowered her inhibition, and she’d instigated the flirty banter and then challenged him to show the two women she was really his girlfriend. He’d taken the challenge. Boy, had he taken the challenge. He held and kissed her hand and then asked her to dance.

That dance. A sigh nearly escaped through her lips as she remembered every tiny detail of the dance. The feel of his hand on her lower back, his masculine scent that made her want to bury her face against his neck and breathe him in. His heart had pounded just as furiously as hers as they’d inched their faces closer and closer until their mouths connected in a kiss to transcend all kisses in the history of the world.

Then the pop of a champagne bottle brought them back to reality. Instantaneously, Logan had morphed from the hot-boy-next-door, past the sexy spy, and directly to a fearless soldier. She still couldn’t believe he hadn’t even hesitated for a second to protect her. It made him that much harder not to want.

“Is he here yet?” Jon asked, coming out of the restroom. He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to put a call into Sutton if Mr. Steele doesn’t arrive in the next five minutes. We’re wasting time and resources waiting for him.”

“Hush,” Inez said. “Our girl still has a headache.”

“It’s getting a little better,” Weslee said, opening her eyes to look at the two people who had never failed her. “I think you should go ahead and call Mr. Smith. Perhaps Agent Bradley can come with us.”

Jon settled onto the recliner across the aisle from Inez. “That’s not a bad idea,” he said, tapping on the screen of his phone to scroll through his contacts.

“Of course it is,” Inez said. “I think Miss Kate is a lovely person. She’s capable and all, but Mr. Logan, well…I just have a feeling about him.”

“Stop playing matchmaker,” Jon said. “Mr. Steele’s job is to protect Weslee, not woo her.”

Since they were talking like she wasn’t here, she closed her eyes again and tried thinking about anything but her bodyguard. Why couldn’t her fascination be with Dallin Morrison? The man was obviously interested in her, which was absolutely amazing. What woman in the world wouldn’t be excited about the billionaire-soon-to-be-a-senator pursuing her? There were even rumors that Dallin would make a bid for the presidency someday. He was the perfect catch. He even came from a big family, something she’d always wanted. Certainly, a man like him could kiss a girl senseless, right?

Then there was Robbie Whitaker, although he wasn’t in the running for husband. She didn’t want to become another notch on his bedpost or ex-wife number five, but he could be a nice distraction and could probably deliver a good kiss.

Still, no matter how many times she tried to think about someone else, Logan would intrude until he was the only one occupying her mind. She had to stop this madness. No more thinking about Logan or kissing him again. Definitely no more flirting if he happened to show up. Ignoring him was her only option.

“Sutton, Jon Curtis here,” Jon said in a loud voice. “Yes, sir, that’s exactly why I’m calling.”

Weslee couldn’t help opening one eye to peek at Jon. She wished he was on speaker phone so she could hear what Mr. Smith was saying. Inez had her head turned as well, so Weslee opened both eyes.

“I see,” Jon said, glancing at his watch again. “No, of course not.” He listened, his brows furrowed. “Sounds good. Thank you.” He ended the call and slipped the phone into the pocket of his dress shirt.

“Well?” Inez asked. “What did you learn?”

“Everything is fine.” John slipped on his reading glasses and opened his laptop. “Mr. Steele—”

“Is here,” a deep voice said. “I apologize for the delay.”

Weslee’s stomach dropped to the floor at the sound of Logan’s voice. Her entire body felt alive, which irritated her more than when she’d thought he wasn’t coming. For the first time since their kiss, she met Logan’s eyes. Even at this distance a current of awareness arced between them as if they were connected by a single wire.

Act normal Weslee Campbell, not like some immature debutante.

“You’re welcome to choose any seat,” Weslee said, hoping her voice wasn’t as shaky as her body felt.

“Thank you.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “If it’s okay, I think I’ll join the pilot in the cockpit.”

Seriously? She’d hoped he would choose the seat across from her so she could practice ignoring him. Now she was going to think about him for the entire flight home! “I hope you’re not going to sweet-talk your way into flying the plane, Mr. Steele. You may have flown a helicopter once before, but they are not the same thing.” The second she spoke she wanted to reach out and snatch the words back. She sounded bitter and exactly like a spoiled debutante.

He lifted a questioning brow. “Ma’am, being a sweet talker isn’t something I’ve ever been accused of.”

Ha! She’d witnessed firsthand how well he could he sweet-talk. She kept her mouth shut as he grinned wider.

“But I can fly more than helicopters.”

“Are you a pilot, Mr. Logan?” Inez asked, sounding like he was the world’s most gifted man alive.

“Yes, ma’am.” His lips twisted into a wry grin. “I even have previous experience on this aircraft. I’m one of Sutton’s backup pilots.”

“How wonderful,” Inez said, turning to look at Weslee. “Isn’t that wonderful, Weslee?”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, gazing out the window into the dark. “Wonderful.”

“Now that we’ve agreed how wonderful Mr. Steele is, maybe we can take off?” Jon asked. He got cranky when it was past his bedtime, so Weslee didn’t point out that she hadn’t actually agreed on how wonderful Logan was in general, just that it was wonderful he was a pilot.

She grudgingly admitted to herself it was comforting to know that if anything happened to their pilot they wouldn’t die because they had a backup pilot onboard. Although she didn’t let it stop her from getting on a plane, she had a fear of flying that stemmed from an incident when she was a child. The plane she and her parents had been on hit severe turbulence not long after taking off, causing the overhead bins to open and dump some of the luggage. She remembered being so terrified, especially from all the screams from the other passengers. The motion sickness medication she always took made her sleepy, which helped curb her anxiety. She could already feel the effects of the drug and, coupled with the medicine for her headache, Weslee should sleep throughout the flight home.

“Yes, sir,” Logan said with a laugh. “Again, I apologize for the delay.”

Weslee really shouldn’t have looked at him, but she couldn’t help it. Their eyes met and held for several intense seconds. “I hope your urgent business wasn’t bad news,” she said, wondering if he’d give her an honest answer about why he’d really been delayed. Somehow she knew it had to be because of her and that utterly delicious kiss.

“No, ma’am,” he said evenly. “It wasn’t bad news.” His penetrating blue gaze held her captive for another heartbeat before he turned and made his way to the door of the cockpit.

“Mr. Logan gets more intriguing by the minute,” Inez whispered when the captain opened the door to let Logan inside.

Jon snorted a laugh. “He’s too young for you, Inez.” Then he peered at Weslee over his reading glasses. “As for you, young lady. He’s your bodyguard. Nothing more.”

“Goodness, Jon,” Inez scolded, “Weslee is a grown woman. She doesn’t need you giving her dating advice.”

“I’m not dating him,” Weslee said. “Uncle Jon is right. He is just my bodyguard.” She really meant the words, but her heart wasn’t listening to reason. It wanted Logan Steele. So did its owner.

“That’s my girl,” Jon said with a wink.

The cabin lights dimmed, shrouding Weslee from Inez’s probing gaze. Feeling tired and just a tiny bit peeved with pretty much everyone, including herself, Weslee reclined her seat until it was almost flat. She didn’t like feeling like this and hoped that with a good night’s sleep her emotions would stabilize. She couldn’t think about Logan as anything more than what he was—her bodyguard.

Pushing him out of her mind, she thought about returning home to North Carolina. She needed to get on with her life. A life without her parents.

It wasn’t fair. Mama was supposed to be here to help plan her wedding, and Daddy was supposed to walk her down the aisle. They were supposed to be here when Weslee had her first baby. They were supposed to grow old together and enjoy their retirement surrounded by their grandchildren. They weren’t supposed to die coming home from a weekend trip to the beach.

Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She squeezed her eyelids tight, not wanting to end this day with a crying session. Things would look brighter tomorrow morning, just like her daddy always told her. She also needed to give herself a little grace. Coming to San Diego had been her first step back into the world without the numbness of her grief. On top of that, she had a weird stalker who may or may not wish to harm her, a company to run, and the responsibility of contributing to the many charities Ground Zero supported. The list could go on and on. Of course, she was emotionally drained.

Basically, this was life. Crazy, messy and beautiful. She could embrace it and grow stronger or wallow in self-pity until she withered away to nothing. She chose to embrace it. Suddenly, going back to the house on Emerald Isle didn’t feel depressing or scary. She was lucky, really, that she had a place to go that was wrapped up with so many good memories. The thought of sharing the house with Logan when he really didn’t want to be there with her hurt more.

As she drifted off to sleep, she realized she owed Logan an apology…another one, since she hadn’t issued the first one. It wasn’t his fault she liked him. Her hormones needed to claim that one. Dax’s email had messed with her, making her vulnerable to a guy who was getting paid a lot of money to protect her and play the role of her boyfriend if the situation called for it. The kiss had been provoked by her wanting to prove they were a couple. It didn’t mean anything. Even if it did, technically, Logan was the rebound guy. Everyone knew that kind of relationship was doomed from the start.

The medications she’d taken finally kicked in, allowing her to fall asleep. The next thing she knew she was trying to wake up from a bad dream. Her eyes felt heavy like she hadn’t slept at all. She struggled to wake up as vague images of her dreams about dancing with Dallin Morrison, scarecrows with big boobs, helicopters, running from an unknown stalker, and being in Logan’s arms surfaced. Like most dreams, they were chaotic and didn’t make much sense. But the dream about being in Logan’s arms had been so real.

He’d been carrying her, but she couldn’t remember where they were or when he set her down. She just remembered the feel of his muscled chest, the tangy scent of his soap and the tender way he’d reassured her she was just having a bad dream. Another fuzzy memory surfaced, and she could almost swear he’d kissed her on the forehead, which was totally ridiculous.

Hoping they’d already landed in North Carolina, she managed to force her eyes open, feeling groggy and in desperate need of the bathroom. The medication had never left her feeling like this. Of course, she hadn’t ever taken the migraine medication and her motion sickness meds at the same time before. They were safe to take together but coupled with the time difference and stressful past few days, it had knocked her out cold.

Sunlight filtered through plantation shutters, which made no sense at all. Daddy’s jet was nice, but it didn’t have fancy shutters covering the windows. Either Weslee was still dreaming or she was in her room at the beach house.

The urge to visit the bathroom prompted her to get up. Swinging her legs down, she quickly discovered where she was as she stubbed her toe on the nightstand, knocking the lamp over. It crashed to the floor and landed on top of her already throbbing toe. Hobbling to the bathroom, Weslee finally accepted this wasn’t a dream. She was fully awake and in the house on Emerald Isle.

While she washed her hands, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked horrible. Black smudges underneath her bottom lashes made her eyes look puffy. Turning the water off, she leaned in to get a closer look. The puffy eyes weren’t an illusion.

Hoping a shower would help, she went back into her room. Her toe must not be broken because the pain had already begun to diminish. After righting the lamp back onto the nightstand, she looked around to see if her suitcase had been brought in. If not, she still had clothing here she could wear, most likely washed and put away by her sweet mother. To her surprise, thinking about her mama straightening up her room didn’t make her sad. If anything, she felt closer to her mother simply by being in the room they’d decorated together. Yellow was Weslee’s favorite color. It reminded her of sunshine and happiness. Most every piece of décor in this room had been picked out on one of the many shopping trips she and her mother had taken together.

Peace washed over her as she crossed the room to open the shutters, letting more sunlight into the room. The view of the ocean from her third-story bedroom was beautiful. Memories of spending time with her parents here flooded her mind. Playing in the ocean with her daddy, hunting for washed up treasures with her mother, and taking long walks along the shoreline as a family.

A desire to create new memories with a family of her own stirred inside her. She didn’t mean to let her thoughts go there, but it did anyway. She knew who she wanted to create a family with and at the same time realized that it wasn’t likely to happen.

Logan had been playing a part last night. That kiss had meant nothing to him. He was her bodyguard, and she was the client.

Weslee repeated this over and over as she found her suitcase by the closet and put it on top of her bed to unpack. As she sorted through the contents of her luggage, she realized it didn’t matter how many times she repeated the mantra. Her heart still wanted Logan Steele. Trying to dispute that fact was giving her another headache.

A knock sounded on the door before she could take a shower. “Weslee?” Inez called out. “Are you awake, sweetie?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She patted her cheeks to give them a little color and then opened her bedroom door. Her former nanny’s eyes popped open at the sight of her. “I know I look bad.”

“Not too bad, especially after that nightmare you had.”

“What nightmare?” Weslee asked.

Inez’s forehead wrinkled with concern. “You don’t remember screaming out?”

“No.” She massaged the side of her head with her fingertips. “I don’t remember much of anything once the medicine kicked in.” She stopped rubbing her temple and frowned. “By the way, how did I get in my room?” She didn’t even recall the plane landing.

A smile crinkled the skin around Inez’s eyes. “Mr. Logan carried you.”

Goosebumps pebbled Weslee’s skin as the realization that her dream of him carrying her hadn’t been a dream at all. The longing she’d felt for him was back again, only stronger. “He carried me from where?”

“The plane to the car and then from the car to your room.” Inez pulled her phone from her apron pocket and tapped on the screen. “It was so sweet, and I couldn’t help myself and took a few pictures of him.”

An internal battle waged inside Weslee’s head. One part of her shouted for her to back away and never look at the pictures, while the other part begged her to look at them, transfer them to her phone, and then have them printed to hang on her wall.

She held out the phone for Weslee to see. “I don’t care what Jon says. The two of you make such a cute couple.”

“We’re not a couple.” Weslee refused to look at the phone, telling herself that if she looked at the images they’d be forever imprinted on her mind. The dream was hazy and would eventually fade. Seeing the pictures would solidify it had happened and make it real.

She must want to torture herself for the rest of her life. Without consciously making a decision, she wrapped her trembling fingers around the phone and viewed the first picture.

Oh. My. Goodness. Why did she have to look? Logan held her in his arms like she weighed nothing. The gray dry-fit shirt he wore barely contained his bulging biceps as he confidently carried her down the stairs of the plane. Weslee tapped on the screen repeatedly, each shot making her body feel lighter and lighter until she was sure she would float away. Inez had shot more than a few pics. It was as if she’d captured every movement so if you played them in succession it would create a movie.

The closer Logan got to Inez’s proximity, the more details Weslee picked up on. She might have slept through the whole thing, but that hadn’t stopped her arms from circling his neck, or from snuggling in close to his chest. She paused on the next photo, studying the amused look on Logan’s face as he gazed down at her.

She prayed she hadn’t talked in her sleep. She’d been known to do that before, and she wasn’t the kind of sleep-talker that mumbled nonsensical words. Once, she’d had a whole conversation with her mama, divulging the name of a boy she’d kissed at a party the night before. Weslee was close to her mother, but at the age of fifteen, she would’ve never intentionally confessed she’d kissed a boy.

That was the last picture. Before she lost her head and started scrolling backward, she handed the phone back to Inez. “You should probably delete those.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s embarrassing.” She placed a hand over her stomach, trying to quell the butterflies knocking around inside. “Does Logan know you took those pictures?”

“If he does, he didn’t say anything to me.” Inez gazed down at the last picture visible on the screen once more. “I think this one is my favorite. If y’all get married we can have it printed and display it at the reception.”

“Inez!” Weslee said in a voice louder than was necessary. She gently cleared her throat and softened her tone. “Please, stop saying things like that. He’s just my bodyguard.”

“Are you tellin’ me you don’t like him?” Inez shook her finger at her. “And don’t you dare fib to me. I’ve known you since before you said your first word, and I’ll know a lie if I hear it.”

“No.” Weslee licked her lips, knowing she had to tread very carefully. “I like him…as my bodyguard.”

“I know you like him as your bodyguard,” Inez said with a dramatic eye roll. “But what about as a man? Like a man you could fall in love with?”

Dropping her eyes to look at her bare feet, Weslee thought about how to reply. Inez would drag the truth out of her one way or another. So perhaps if she gave her just enough information then she would leave it alone. She couldn’t tell her former nanny that she’d kissed him and might already be half in love with him, which seemed absolutely insane. But then hadn’t her parents fallen in love the first time they met? Then they’d married three weeks after their first date and had just celebrated their forty-fourth wedding anniversary the month before they died.

“I like him as a man too, but that doesn’t mean you can start planning a wedding.” She raised her chin and lifted one shoulder up in a shrug. “Besides, just because I like him doesn’t mean he likes me back.”

“He likes you, darlin’.” Inez pumped her eyebrows up and down. “I know a smitten man when I see one, and he is definitely smitten.”

The smitten man suddenly appeared down the hall and started walking toward them. Weslee couldn’t let him see her like this. She pulled Inez into her room and slammed the door shut. Turning around, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Hopefully, Logan would take a hint and leave her alone.

“What has gotten into you?” Inez asked.

“Nothing…I just wanted to show you my toe.” She kept her voice to a whisper and held out her foot. The toe hardly looked red at all. “The lamp fell on it. I thought it was broken.”

“Are you sure it didn’t hit your head?” Inez asked dryly.

Another knock sounded at the door. Weslee stifled a yelp and put her finger up to her lips. “Shhh,” she whispered, hoping the older woman would just go along with this.

Inez let out a huff and shook her head, muttering a prayer to the Lord for more patience.

Another knock sounded at the door. “I already know you’re awake,” Logan said in his deep voice. “And I know you’re dressed, so I could walk right in.”

Weslee reached behind her and locked the door.

He snorted a laugh. “You seriously think that is going to stop me?”

“No, but it’ll at least deter you,” she called back. Then she pointed a finger to her face. “I look horrible,” she whispered to Inez. “I don’t want him to see me like this.”

Inez snapped to attention. “Go get in the shower and I’ll take care of this.” She motioned for Weslee to come away from the door and then pushed her toward the bathroom. “Take all the time you need.”

Weslee hurried back to her bathroom and closed the door. She snickered when she heard Logan’s exasperated voice. “I really need to talk to her.”

“You can talk to her once she’s out of the shower.”

“Right, and then she’ll need to fix her hair and put on makeup. I can’t wait that long.”

Weslee couldn’t help hoping he couldn’t wait that long because he wanted to kiss her again. No, you are not to think about that kiss again. She hoped if she told herself this over and over eventually she’d actually listen.

“What’s so important that you need to see her right now?”

“I need access to her computer, but the password Jon told me to use doesn’t work.”

Weslee covered her mouth so she didn’t groan out loud. She’d been prompted to change her password the week before and had put in the first thing that popped into her head. It had been right after she’d run into Logan when she didn’t know he was Logan. She’d planned on changing it, but had forgotten to do it until now.

“Let me get it from her,” Inez said. She knocked on the bathroom door. “Weslee, Logan needs your new password for your laptop.”

Beads of sweat broke out across her forehead. What should she do? She could hurry and turn on the shower and hope they’d think she hadn’t heard them talking. No matter what, she couldn’t reveal her password with Logan standing right there.

Tiptoeing across the floor, she turned the water on and winced when it made a loud squealy noise.

“Weslee? Did you hear me?” Inez asked through the door.

“No.” She slapped a hand over her mouth and then realized it was too late for that. “I’m getting in the shower. I’ll talk to you when I get out.”

There was silence, so she quickly stripped out of her pajamas. It occurred to her that once she was in her room someone had helped her undress and then put on her PJs. Surely Inez wouldn’t have let Logan do it. No matter how determined her nanny was that Logan was the one for Weslee, she would never resort to such unladylike tactics.

She stepped in the shower and screamed loudly as icy cold water sprayed over her. With another squeal, she moved out of the line of fire so she could adjust the temperature. Suddenly, the bathroom door flew open, forcing Weslee to move closer to the faucet so she was hidden by the tiled wall. She screamed again. The water was still ice cold, and a Navy SEAL had just busted down her bathroom door.

“Don’t come any closer!” she yelled out, fumbling with the handle to get hot water. “I’m…nak…not decent.”

“Why did you scream then?” Logan demanded. “You scared the sh—.” He stopped mid-sentence and then finished with, “Was someone else in here?”

Finally, the water turned warm and she could think again. “No, the water was freezing.” Then she peeked her head around the tile and scowled at him. “And the only person in here other than me is you, so please get out of my bathroom.”

Even with the shower on, she could hear Inez laughing from her bedroom. If any other man had just barged into her bathroom while she was showering, her nanny would have killed him first and then asked questions.

Logan looked like he was going to argue with her, maybe even press her for the password. She would rather risk exposure than reveal what it was. “Please leave, Lieutenant Steele. And close the door behind you.”

That prompted him to look at the door, which was splintered around the doorknob. “Sorry about that. I promise I’ll fix it.”

“Thank you.” She risked sticking her hand out and shooed him away. “Now go, please.”

As if he just realized where he was, a slow grin spread across his face, making him look every bit like the hot-boy-next-door kind of guy with a healthy dose of mischievous rogue added into the mix. She’d never been attracted to a rogue before. Heaven help her, but she was attracted to this one. Still, he needed to get out of her bathroom.

“I can shoot an arrow straight through a bulls-eye, so I’m fairly certain I could nail you dead on with a can of shaving cream,” she said in her scariest voice. “You have five seconds to leave before I test my theory.”

The skin around his eyes crinkled, and she could swear the man was mentally counting down. Her fingers curled around the can of shaving cream. “I’m going,” he said when he had two seconds left. He grinned, then laughed out loud as he turned and finally left. When he tried to close the door it popped back open, but not quite as far. “Sorry,” he called out with a snicker. “And hurry it up. I’ve got work to do, and I need your password.”