Page 51 of Logan

“Yeah. Instead of solo, I’m leading a team again. But not constrained by the military brass above. We can take the assignments we want. We can run them how we want. We choose what to do, when to plan, and when to go, and then step back. Our investigations can get turned over to the FBI or Interpol, and we go home knowing we did our jobs.”

“If you’re the company leader, why did you take this job? Why not send one of your employees?”

When he grew quiet and his gaze dropped, she wondered if she had pushed too hard or in the wrong direction. “It’s okay, Logan. You don’t have to?—”

His head lifted his intense gaze on her. “This job is different. It came from the source who used to send me on solo missions. And my team is still new. We’re still learning about each other’s skills. This mission asked for something that I wouldn’t ask of my other employees. Something that I won’t do in the future. But the source who asked me to take it on thought I could handle it.” He hesitated, a battle of emotions crossing his normally stoic face.

Blowing out a breath, he said, “I talked to the other partners and told them what I was doing. They weren’t going to tell menot to take this assignment, but they understood why I chose to take it on myself.”

There was much she didn’t understand about his cryptic explanation, but knew he’d given what he could about the assignment. It also explained why he thought he was working solo and would just interact peripherally with the biologist. “And when it’s over?” Her words were spoken casually, but the air hung heavy between them as their gazes held.

Swallowing deeply, he said, “I guess I’ll go back to Montana.”

Her trembling lips curved tightly, the slight smile forced. He reached out and linked his fingers with hers. Vivian blinked, battling the desire to cry at how his fingers entangled with hers made her feel.

“I figure I’ll take a trip to Kansas first, though,” he added.

Her head nodded in jerks, her heart aching with an unknown pain. She felt his thumb caressing her palm and swallowed deeply.

“Figured I’d want to introduce you to my folks,” he continued, his eyes never leaving hers.

She blinked, but his words barely registered.

“Viv. Breathe,” Logan ordered gently but firmly, his fingers giving hers a squeeze.

Her breath left her in a whoosh, but she continued to stare. Swallowing deeply, she whispered, “You want me to meet your family?”

“I still don’t know what we’ve got here, Viv. But I know it feels like something real. Something that has fuckin’ roots that can grow. Fuckin’ wings that can fly.”

His words, so badass and poetic at the same time, caused her smile to slip through despite the enormity of his confession.

“I may be kinda out of practice, but I know what I feel,” he continued.

Licking her lips, she said, “We never even talked about any past…relationships.”

Sighing, he said, “A girl like you—gorgeous and smart. I know you’ve had men crawl over you since you were probably fourteen.”

Barking out a laugh, she shook her head. “Hardly. I had a high school boyfriend. In college, I dated a few guys, but no one ever sparked my interest. Since then, I’ve gone on dates… blind dates, men I met online. But other than a few relationships that lasted a couple of months at most, no one made the cut to something more substantive. Most of the men I work with are married or, if they’re single, we’d go out and talk about lab stuff. I work with it all day, so why the hell would I want to spend a date talking about it?”

She clutched his fingers, admitting, “I’d never met anyone who made me want more. Until you walked through that door, barking orders and being all pissy. You were larger than life. So handsome, it almost hurts my eyes to look at you. A body that wraps around me and makes me forget everything but you, protecting me from whatever is out there. It’s like I was waiting for some kind of a hero. I didn’t know it, but I was waitng for you.”

“I didn’t know it, but I was waiting for you.”

Those words scored straight through Logan’s heart and mind, stealing the oxygen from the room. It took a moment for his heart to settle to a less frantic pace, and as she continued to hold his gaze, he realized she was waiting for him to speak.

“I… I barely dated in high school…maybe one girl. Dated a few in college, and had one girlfriend who lasted a couple ofmonths. She was too jealous of the time I spent on my studies and getting ready for my Navy commission, so it ended. I’ll admit, I’d occasionally go to the bars during my years as a SEAL, but that was nothing more than a scratch to an itch.”

Logan caught her minuscule wince and inwardly cursed his crude confession. “Babe,” he called, waiting until she lifted her eyes to his. “Honest to God, I rarely did that. Hence the name.”

Her brows furrowed. “Name?”

“Preacher.”

Biting the corner of her lip in concentration, she shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, Logan. I don’t understand.”

“My call sign. We rarely used our real ones. Sometimes it was based on a physical characteristic or personality trait. My last name is Bishop, so someone initially called me Preacher as a play on the religious title of Bishop. But, as they got to know me, especially the way I stayed more sober than drunk, more alone than banging a FrogHog… Preacher stuck. When I took this mission, I decided to take that as my last name for our cover.”

The important conversation was halted by the sound of cars in the driveway. Looking out, they viewed Milak, Rashad, and Nafisa alighting from their vehicles and moving into the house.

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