Private Confessions. Lori Borrill
Though Logan hadn’t been looking for fantasies, he knew other subscribers were and given that Scorpio had never suggested sharing information, he was almost certain she wasn’t looking for anything more.
Moving from the large bay window, he grabbed his cell phone and turned it on to check messages, finding only one. His brother, Dane, had called twenty minutes earlier, and Logan dialed the code to hear the message.
“Hey, where are you? I’m dying here! Sonja’s been gone three days and I’m crawling out of my skin. You said you’d be home tonight. Call me. I’m bored. I need to get out of this house and I can’t find a solitary soul to hang out with. You’re my last resort.”
His last resort?
Logan dialed the number and waited for Dane to answer.
“Hello?”
“Nice to know I’m so high on your list of priorities,” he said flatly.
“Huh?”
Logan grinned. “Never mind. What do you want to do?”
“There’s open gym at the club tonight. Shoot some hoops? Loser buys beers.”
He looked at his watch. It was still early, and sitting here thinking about his love life didn’t sound like a plan. Between Scorpio and Trisha, he’d managed to work himself into a mood and beating his brother on the basketball court usually did wonders to lift his spirits.
“You’re on. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes?”
“Make it ten.”
“YOUR GAME WAS OFF tonight,” Dane said, sipping a beer at O’Malley’s, an Irish pub on Geary that was close to the gym Logan and Dane belonged to. “I actually won.”
“I’m feeling generous, figured I’d buy the beer this evening. Besides, you sounded pretty pathetic on the phone. I decided you didn’t need any more humiliation.” He slugged back a gulp of his pale ale and asked, “So what’s up? You said Sonja’s out of town?”
“She’s in Italy doing a shoot. And before that, she’d just spent a week down south.” Dane shook his head. “This schedule of hers is killing me. I may need to call in reinforcements or find someone who doesn’t travel so damn much.” He looked at his brother with all seriousness. “Don’t ever date a fashion model.”
Logan didn’t intend to, discovering after his divorce that the women in Dane’s address book definitely weren’t his type.
He glanced at his brother and asked, “Have you ever thought about finding a nice local girl and settling down?”
“No.”
Dane made the comment without the slightest flinch or hesitation, and Logan knew he’d asked a stupid question. His little brother was a consummate playboy with a black book full of beautiful women who preferred their men fast and noncommittal. Logan couldn’t understand the lifestyle. When it came to Dane’s type, the sex might be fun for a minute, but the moment you wanted to talk about something deeper than the weather, you got nothing but air.
To Logan, women were a package that included a body and a brain, and he’d never been able to appreciate the former if it wasn’t accompanied by the latter.
The thought brought him back to Trisha. Why the hell couldn’t she have been his real estate agent or dry cleaner instead of his employee? The hassle—he didn’t need, he’d just gotten past his divorce, restored his business and his personal life from the shambles they had become. He’d lived a life of celibacy for some time and that was quickly running cold. He was ready to seek out someone who might be able to offer a second chance.
And the first woman to tempt him had to be the ultimate in forbidden fruit.
How was that for fate?
“I’m fine,” Dane insisted. “You’re the one who needs help with the opposite sex.” He leaned back and propped his feet on an empty chair, giving him a better view of the bar and the dozen or so men and women sharing drinks over darts and pool. Dane was perpetually on the prowl.
“So have you still opted out of the dating game, or are you finally coming to your senses?” he added.
“There’s a couple women who’ve interested me.”
Unfortunately, one was off limits and the other was a fantasy, probably living in a trailer in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
“Yeah? Tell me about them.”
He’d rather not. Discussing Scorpio63 was out of the question. He hadn’t even admitted to Dane that he’d logged on to the site. Telling him he’d fallen for his virtual sex partner was out of the question.
Discussing Trisha was equally unappealing, although Dane would definitely give him a fresh, if not sordid, perspective where that was concerned. Given the state he was in, he could use the advice, no matter how one-sided it would probably be.
He took a swig of his beer and decided, what the hell?
“There’s a woman at the agency,” Logan started. “Smart, funny, killer body. She’s top in her game.”
“What is she, a secretary?”
“Marketing director.” He popped a pretzel in his mouth and added, “I’m thinking of promoting her to VP.”
Dane threw his head back and spoke to the ceiling. “What are you, a masochist or just brain dead?”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Then what the hell are you doing? Logan, you’re just getting the business back on track. Have you got some kind of aversion toward success?”
“Bill doesn’t think she’s another Virginia.”
Dane stared at him blankly. “Bill’s an idiot.”
Dane calling Bill an idiot was like Moe Howard calling Larry Fine a stooge. Neither of them were the brightest bulbs when it came to women, which was why Logan fit right in. In this kingdom of idiots, he’d be the court jesters since Bill and Dane were happy with their love lives and hadn’t managed to destroy their careers, which gave them one leg up on him.
Deciding to play devil’s advocate, he went on. “Bill could be right.”
“Okay,” Dane said, apparently willing to play. “Let me ask a few questions.”
“Shoot.”
“How long has she worked there?”
“Two years.”
“And you’re already thinking VP?”
“She deserves it. Advertising’s in her blood. She’s a natural, someone I intend to keep.”
“So she’s another woman on a fast track to the top.”
“Not necessarily. She hasn’t expressed displeasure with her position. If you recall, Virginia had been the one pushing for promotions. This woman hasn’t uttered a word.”
“But you’re going to do it anyway.”
“If she lands this account, we’ll need a VP. She’s good. I’ve got no reason to pass her up for someone else.”
“And I take it if you’re interested that means she’s available.”
“Yes,” Logan said, that chilling feeling returning to his gut.
He’d been shocked when she’d told him she didn’t have a boyfriend. A woman like Trisha should have been snatched up years ago; he couldn’t help recall that same surprise when he’d met Virginia. Back then, he’d chalked it up to his good luck. This time, it gave him that eerie feeling history was repeating itself.
“But that doesn’t have to mean anything,” he added, as much for himself as for Dane. “Lots