Run the Risk

What the hell was she thinking, fooling around with the new neighbor? She knew better, damn it.

Because he’d taught her better.

Having random, well-hidden cameras in the building hadn’t proved useful until now. Usually, she took no chances. He’d felt safe with the occasional contact, knowing Pepper could reach him in case of an emergency.

But ever since Logan Stark had moved in, he’d been more vigilant—mostly because Pepper had been different. It seemed that, despite all his precautions, she’d come to the end of her rope. He’d have to deal with that, with her—but first he’d deal with Logan Stark.

Down the street, somewhere in the darkness, a car alarm blared. Glass broke. Sirens split the night.

A streetlamp flickered back on, disturbing the concealing cocoon of the blackout, sending a river of light to shimmer across the washed-out roadway.

The woman on his arm shivered from the rain and pressed her heavy breasts into his side. “It’s cold.”

“Not really.” He’d already forgotten her name but didn’t care. He wouldn’t see her again after tonight. Wrapping an arm around her, Rowdy asked, “Better?”

“Are we going in or not?”

“Yeah.” He could smell her perfume, felt the heat of her small body. He threw the toothpick away. “Remember, I’ve got an hour or less. That’s all.”

Running a hand down his chest and smiling, she said, “Sugar, that’s all the time I need.”

* * *

STILL CURLED IN HER BED, relaxed from a good night’s sleep, Pepper watched the sun begin filtering through the curtains. She had that type of lethargy that only came from sex.

She stretched, smiling, wondering what the coming day—and the night—might bring. More time with Logan? More sex? She hoped so.

Her cell phone rang.

She frowned toward it, but she knew it would be Rowdy, and she knew he’d be angry. Much as she wanted to keep reality at bay, she had to answer.

Rolling to the side of the bed, she snatched up the phone and pressed the button to accept the call. “You’re up early.”

“But you’re not?”

Smiling again, she fell to her back. “I slept in.” To daydream. To remember.

“We have to talk, Pepper.”

Uh-oh. Hearing Rowdy’s exasperation, she shook off her dreamy preoccupation. “What’s the matter?”

“You already know, so don’t play dumb.” And then, sharper, “What do you know about him?”

“He’s…harmless.” A neighbor, an oversexed guy willing to abide by her stipulations for a little fun in the sack. In other words…perfect.

“He’s working construction.”

Shrugging to herself, she said, “He told me.”

“But you didn’t know it, not until I checked.”

She looked at the clock. It was after ten. “Is that where he’s at now?”

“Yeah.”

“And you figure it’s legitimate?”

“Since he just shot a nail through his hand, I’d say so.”

She bolted upright in the bed. “Is he okay?”

Rowdy fell silent.

“Is he?”

“You care about him,” Rowdy accused.

“I barely know him.” Not a lie; but she knew him better than she knew most people.

Because she’d gotten intimate with him. A strange sort of intimacy, but still…

“He got sloppy with the nail gun, but I’m sure it’s not a big deal.”

Only another guy would think that. “Did he go to the hospital?”

“No. A few of the other guys patched him up.”

Her anxiety lifted. It must not have been too awful. “So you’re convinced he’s on the level?”

“Hell, no. You shouldn’t see him again.”

But she would. “Why not?”

“You know why.” Disgust mixed with anger in his tone. “Think about it, Pepper. What does he really want from you?”

Sex. “I don’t know.” And dinner. And…conversation? She shook her head. “Maybe he just wants to know a friendly face here.”

With silky menace, Rowdy asked, “And have you been friendly?”

Oops. Bad wording on her part. “Not exactly.” She propped her back against the headboard. Anxious to get off the topic, she said, “So you only called to caution me?”

“To warn you. You’re playing a dangerous game.”

She didn’t ask her brother if he’d been celibate; she knew the answer already. Double standards always annoyed her. “Duly noted. Now I need to go. I have to see how much damage the storm did to your building.”

“Wait.”

Pepper could almost picture him grinding his teeth, and she smiled. “Yes, Rowdy?”

A beat of silence, and then: “Until I get a chance to do a more thorough check on him, keep him out of your apartment.”

Her lips compressed. Rowdy had gotten awfully good at giving her orders—and expecting them to be obeyed. “Fine.” She wondered if Logan had been sent home from work but didn’t dare ask Rowdy. He was surly enough already. It never paid for her to tweak his temper. “Let me know if you find out anything more.”

“Might take a few days, but I’ll be in touch.”

The connection died, and so did her good mood. She tossed aside the phone and bounded out of bed. She had a lot to get done, so she might as well get to it.

Going to her closet, she chose another drab, ugly outfit and carried it into her small bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she touched her dull hair and even duller complexion.

She hated to face the truth, but Rowdy had a valid point. Though he hadn’t come right out and said it, they both had to wonder what Logan saw in her.

Easy sex? Accomplished.

So now what? More sex? For most of the men she’d known, it was all about the conquest. Once they got what they wanted, they moved on to more challenging territory.

For now, Logan was an enigma.

She’d shower, dress and get through her errands which, despite what Rowdy said, included buying heavier drapes and blackout blinds for her bedroom—just in case. It was bad enough that Logan had seen her treadmill.

She didn’t need him seeing anything else.

Being a woman of her word, she’d insist that dinner be at his place tonight. And after dinner, maybe she’d be able to talk him into round two.

Letting out a long sigh, she cooled the temp on her shower and stepped in.

She knew better than to hope for too much; nothing in her life had really changed. She still lived a lie, and she needed to remain in isolation.

But she couldn’t seem to stop herself from reaching for this one pleasure.

Her very restrictive existence suddenly looked brighter. For the first time in a long time she had reason to anticipate the day.

Given half a chance, she’d thank Logan for that—in the limited ways left to her.

* * *

WITH HIS CELL PHONE on speaker, Logan paced his small living room and stewed. His hand ached, but he deserved it. Luckily, it was his left he’d injured, not his gun hand. He could shoot adequately with his left, but he had improved aim with his right.

Even luckier—depending on your point of view—it wasn’t an uncommon accident to have happen on the job site. While he’d cursed a blue streak, the other workers had laughed at him, proof positive that they’d seen it happen before.

Dash had remembered not to single him out with concern and had, in fact, chewed his ass for being careless, as he would do with any worker.

But now he’d have a few days off work, and that’d fuck with his cover and his control. He needed to stay busy, to keep his thoughts occupied.

What the hell was Pepper Yates hiding under those hand-me-down clothes?

What didn’t she want him to see? To touch?

Men were simple creatures, women not so much. They always wanted physical attention during sex. Hell, they needed it to get off.

Not Pepper.

He could still feel her sliding down his shaft, at first so slowly that she’d made him nuts, then taking him deep. And he could still feel the way her body had tightened around him during her climax.

A climax she’d reached with little help from him.

All while dressed. Without a single seductive stroke of his fingers.

Or his tongue.

He hadn’t seduced her, hadn’t incited her.

He hadn’t done anything except supply a dick and then react to her lead. It burned his ass big-time that he felt used.

It burned him even more that he wanted her to want more.

Reese finally picked up on the fourth ring and said with irritation, “Anything wrong?”

His mood gave Logan pause. “Not really, no.”

Reese cursed. “Then this better be good.”

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Actually, yeah, you are.”

Logan grinned. “New woman?”

“New puppy. It’s destroying my place.”

That was so far from what Logan had expected to hear, it threw him. “You got a dog?”

“It sort of got me. Long story.”

So he’d taken in a stray? Logan grinned. “You’re such a big softie.”

Reese snorted. “You want me to come there and kick your ass? Is that it? You’re all lonely and, instead of admitting it, you’re finding a reason to piss me off so I’ll hunt you up?”

Logan laughed outright.

Reese said, “Dog, no. No! Damn it.” Then with a growl to Logan, “What’s up?”

It took some effort to fight off another laugh, but Logan took pity on Reese and got to the point. “I need you to do some specific searching through our collection of photos.”

“Rowdy?”

“No.” He knew Reese wouldn’t be happy, but what the hell? Logan had his reasons. “Pepper.”

Reese paused. “We don’t have much on her. Some small black-and-whites, that’s all.”

“I know.” And if there was any way Logan could do this himself, he would. The last thing he wanted was another man scrutinizing Pepper’s body. But it’d be too dangerous for him to have the photos around, so he’d have to rely on Reese. “Look at what we have, see if we have any body shots.”

“Body shots?”

Forging on, Logan said, “Try to get a read on her…body.”

“Come again?”

At least now Reese sounded more interested. “She’s hiding something, something physical I mean.”

“And you know this…how?”

No way in hell would he give Reese the nitty-gritty. Pepper Yates was a pawn in the big scheme of things, but for whatever reason, Logan didn’t want to betray her.

So fucking stupid.

“Look to see if there are any shots showing her in a blouse, or hell, even a T-shirt. Anything that’ll show…” The words dropped off. What could he say?

“The size of her rack?” Reese finished for him.

Logan rubbed his face with his uninjured hand. “Yeah. But more than that, too. Body type. Like is she shapely all over, or athletic, or maybe extra slim—”

“Damn it, Logan, what the hell are you doing now?”

“Nothing.” Nothing that he’d share anyway. “I just need to know what I’m dealing with.”

“Because you’re dealing with her boobs?” Reese grunted. “Never mind. Forget I asked. At least I know you haven’t had sex with her, or you’d know the answer to that one yourself.”

No, he wouldn’t. But again, not Reese’s business. “Can you try to find some pics or not?”

“Yeah. Give me till tomorrow morning.”

Logan looked at the bruising on his hand, flexed his fingers and winced. Being done with the topic of Pepper’s body—for now—he asked, “So did you name the dog?”

“Cash.”

“Nice name.”

“It was either that or Debt.” Reese made a sound of frustration. “He’s been expensive. And speaking of that, I need to go. He’s eating one of my shoes.”

Logan heard Reese call out to the dog, then drop the phone, and with a laugh, he ended the call. Next time he and Reese got together, he’d find out more about the animal. But for right now, he had other, more important issues on his mind.

Like how he’d get Pepper Yates naked.

No time like the present to start working on that.

CHAPTER FIVE

WEARING JEANS AND A T-SHIRT, Logan stepped out of the apartment, locked the door, turned—and found Pepper standing there.

By the looks of it, she’d just left her apartment, as well.

“Sue. Hey. I was just coming over to see you.”

How she could look so shy after last night, he didn’t know. The woman had used him up, and they’d both loved every second of it.

She licked her lips—which now, to his curious libido, appeared soft and lush—and nodded at him. “Hi.” Clutching a big purse to her chest, she turned toward the stairway to the apartment building entrance. “I was just on my way out.”

“Hold up.” Logan fell into step beside her. Bright sunshine poured through the glass entry doors, gilding her long, dark eyelashes, highlighting her lack of makeup. He hadn’t noticed it before, but she had amazing skin.

And when the hell had he ever noticed a woman’s skin, unless it was on an interesting place on her body? “Where are you off to?”

“Shopping.”

“I could give you a lift.”

“No. Thank you.” She trotted down the steps. “That’s okay.”

“What’s the rush?” He tried a laugh that, even to him, sounded fake as hell. But damn it, she was running from him. Still.

First the hurried sex in the dark with her clothes on. Then the abrupt goodbye. And now she didn’t want to take a single second to talk with him.

“Sorry,” she said again. “I have a lot to get done today.”

“I could help,” he offered, but she was already shaking her head. “Why?” he demanded. “What’s different today?”

But he knew. Intimacy, mixed with sunshine. She wanted to keep her damned secrets.

He wouldn’t let her.

Eyes wide, she stared at him. “Nothing has changed. Why would you think it has?”

Now, that pissed him off. He leaned toward her. “I was inside you last night.”

As her face went hot, she dropped her gaze to his shoulders, then lower to his crotch. “Yes,” she breathed, and she touched his chest. “You were deep inside me.”

God, the way she looked at him made him feel it all over again. His cock twitched, his heart started popping against his ribs. He covered her hand with his own. “You liked it.”

“I did.” She looked into his eyes and pulled her hand away. “But that doesn’t change anything. I still can’t…” She gestured from him to herself and back again. “Can’t. But if you want, we can still do dinner tonight.”

Only dinner? Like hell. He’d squelch that idea at the first opportunity. “My place or yours?” he said as a challenge, then wanted to smack himself when she jumped on the offer.

“Yours.”

Figuring her out could take a lifetime. But he’d already spent considerable time getting to this point. He wouldn’t waste a minute more. “Okay, sure.”

Maybe after he had her brother, he’d be able to nail Andrews and ultimately get justice for his best friend’s murder.

And then he could work on unraveling the mystery of Pepper Yates.

He looked her over in the faded jumper that she wore over a blouse with elbow-length sleeves. “What do you feel like?” God Almighty, she had horrid taste in clothes. “Besides me, I mean.”

Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, making them look darker and somehow more mysterious. “Besides you—I don’t care.”

Damn. So sex was still on the table with no effort on his part at all?

He’d never known a woman to be all timid one minute, then so verbally ballsy the next.

The contradictions left him singed.

“I’ll be over at seven.” Tentatively, she reached out and touched his chest again in a vague, barely-there goodbye gesture. “See you then.”

Logan rubbed the spot where she’d just stroked him.

What was it about her? She may as well have stroked his junk for the way it affected him.

She hadn’t asked about his hand, or why he wasn’t at work, but then, he’d already told her he didn’t work every day. And really, with her attention on his body, who cared if she noticed a stupid injury or not?

He didn’t.

Before she got too far down the walkway, Logan stuck his head out the doors. “I’m cooking barbecue.”

Her head down, her shoulders forward, she gave a negligent wave of her hand and kept going in a brisk walk.

Almost like the hounds of hell dogged her heels.

Logan watched her until she was out of sight. Damn it. He hadn’t even realized he was staring after her until he couldn’t see her anymore.

He had to get it together.

Preferably by getting her under him. Without clothes. Lights on. And with enough time for him to explore every inch of her.

Once he had her, all of her, then he’d be better able to focus.

But for now…what to do?

He looked up the steps, considered breaking into her apartment to snoop around, but if Rowdy had any booby traps set, he could end up blowing his cover.

Best not to push it.

Tromping back up to his own apartment, he got his shoes and a shirt, and headed out to the grocery. His culinary skills were limited. He knew only how to cook what he liked best, which meant meat and potatoes. He’d pick up the barbecue, and maybe grab a cake or something from the bakery.

He made a point of driving around the block so that Pepper wouldn’t think he followed her. They could still run into each other, but it wouldn’t be on purpose—not on his part, anyway. Along the way he thought about Morton Andrews. So far, Andrews had gotten away with a lot, including murder. So many times, in so many ways, the trail led to him.

Unfortunately, Andrews had connections everywhere, which meant he always had an alias.

Logan needed Rowdy Yates’s eyewitness account to nail the bastard for good. The facts bolstered his belief that he’d eventually be successful.

Yates had worked at Andrews’s club, Checkers, a few years ago. For all Logan knew, Yates had been legitimate muscle for the club, but either way, he’d been in the right place at the right time to have the inside scoop.

A reporter had claimed to have a breaking story about Jack’s murder—thanks to confidential info from Yates.

That story had died with the reporter, but Yates was still around, and soon, Logan would be able to question him.

He could hardly wait.

Thoughts of Morton Andrews continued to plague him even as he parked and did his shopping. He could still see the smug prick: fifty years old, tall, trim, and as dirty as they came. Women seemed to find him handsome with his dyed white-blond hair, near-black eyes and slick wardrobe.

As one of the wealthier club owners in the state, he always had a babe on his arm. The women either didn’t know, or didn’t care, that Andrews dealt drugs and was suspected of forced labor trade and everything from theft to murder.

What would Pepper think if she knew of her brother’s association with Morton Andrews? Did she even know her brother had worked at Checkers?

As Logan grabbed the few things he needed off the shelves, he could have sworn he felt someone watching him. Not casual curiosity but intense observation. He paid for his groceries and walked out to the parking lot.

The sense of being watched sharpened. After slipping on mirrored sunglasses, he looked around, nonchalantly checking parked cars, customers and shadows.

Though he saw no one in particular, he’d been on the job long enough to know he hadn’t imagined it. Only Reese and the lieutenant knew he was currently undercover, but Andrews was always a threat. For that reason, Logan remained cautious. But he was damn good at his job, and he doubted Andrews could have had him followed, not without Logan knowing it before now.

So who then? Possibly Rowdy Yates?

He stowed the groceries in the rear of his pickup and opened the driver’s door. The fine hairs on the nape of his neck prickled; would he end up with a bullet in his back? Anyone with a rifle could pick him off with ease. Was Rowdy corrupt enough for cold-blooded murder?

“What are you doing here?”

Logan jerked around and found Pepper standing there, a hand shading her eyes from the sun, a soft breeze playing with a few loose tendrils of her dark blond hair.

When he pulled off his sunglasses to greet her, he noted her look of unease.

Logan knew her damn brother was the most likely threat to him…but was he also a threat to her? “I had to get stuff for dinner.” To make it more difficult for anyone with a rifle scope, he maneuvered her between his body and the grocery store entrance. He had his own truck at his back. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed some groceries myself.” Looking beyond him, expression wary and anxious, she scrunched her face against the glare off the blacktop parking lot. “I could have gotten your stuff for you, but since you’re here anyway—” she took his arm and began hauling him back toward the store “—you may as well give me a ride home when I’m finished.”

That attitude was so different from what she’d expressed back at the apartment that his suspicions darkened. Was she hoping to protect him from Rowdy?

He said only, “Glad to.” And he freed his wrist from her grip so that he could put a hand to the small of her back.

The rain from the night before had ramped up the humidity, but it also left behind that stirring breeze that plastered her skirt to her legs. The skirt kicked up with each hurried step she took.

“Stop staring,” she said. “You’re embarrassing me.”

He’d been about to ask her why she was rushing him, but she effectively sidetracked him. “I find it hard not to watch you.”

“Why?” she asked.

Before, he’d studied her to make her aware of him, not out of any real intimate interest of his own.

Now…her every move enthralled him. He needed to see her body, to touch her all over. At every moment, some part of his brain churned over the body hidden from him. In a very short time, he’d become obsessed.

“You have long legs,” he mused aloud.

She missed a step, then moved ahead of him, out of his reach.

Knowing he had her on the run, Logan smiled. “Slim hips, too.”

She charged forward, grabbed a cart and shoved her way down an aisle. Hanging back a little, aware of the concentrated way she resisted any sway to her walk, Logan watched her.

Suddenly she stopped and turned to glare at him.

And it was a glare of pure fire, taking him by surprise.

“Stop it,” she ordered him, “or leave.”

Mesmerizing, that small sign of her temper. “You asked me to give you a ride home.”

“Yes, but if you can’t behave in a civilized way, I’d rather walk. In fact, I like walking. It’s good exercise and—”

“Forget it, honey.” Logan put his arm around her and started her forward again. “I’ll pretend you’re not hiding a sweet body, okay?”

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She clung to the cart, almost using it for support as he urged her down the bread aisle.

As she shopped, Logan stayed attuned to their surroundings, but he no longer felt the scrutiny of prying eyes.

Come out, you bastard, Logan thought to himself. Come out so I can get to you.

But he didn’t see Rowdy Yates anywhere around, and he didn’t feel that burning gaze, either. His disappointment would have been more pronounced if he weren’t so fascinated with Pepper. The no-nonsense way she shopped, how she moved, even her junk food choices were a source of interest.

Add to all that her awareness of him, which he felt in spades.

Even in the middle of a grocery store, that damned sexual chemistry arced between them, live, hot and alarmingly real. Possibly the most real thing he’d felt in two long years.

* * *

“TURN IN HERE.”

Logan glanced at her. “What?”

“I need to go to the department store, too. Turn in here.” He’d been silent too long, and she didn’t know if it was because he’d sensed her brother’s nosiness, or his curiosity about her body that kept him brooding.

Neither possibility boded well for her peace of mind.

As he pulled into a parking spot, she opened her seat belt. Already preoccupied with thoughts of her brother and his domineering presence, she said, “You don’t need to wait. Thank you for the lift, but I’ll walk the rest of the way after I’ve finished.”