“I need to spend more time with them. Kissing them when I come home and they’re already asleep isn’t enough, but I just don’t know how to make the time when literally every second between now and project delivery counts .”

So he does kiss them when he comes home. I feel sad for the children that they rarely get to see their father, though. Does work matter that much ?

“Add to all this now a new distraction,” he says, glancing at me. “That’s you, by the way .”

“Me? How am I a distraction, Logan?” Woops, I just called him Logan instead of Mr. Raider, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He moves right along like nothing’s happened. I can’t believe I could ever be a distraction to a man like him .

“Paisley, I don’t think you realize just how beautiful and sexy you are,” his deep voice soothes me in the darkness. “When I saw you standing at the gym door in your sweats and thin shirt, I saw you weren’t wearing a bra, I saw how tired you were—if not more tired than I am—and in your eyes. I saw that you wanted me, too .”

Wow. Well, I appreciate him saying I work hard. Glad that hasn’t gone unnoticed .

“The truth is, I can’t stop thinking about you.” His fingers reach across the pillow to caress my hair .

I sigh because I can’t believe this is happening. My boss, the most sought-after businessman in the entire city who’s designed famous modern buildings around the world, can’t stop thinking about me? ME , Paisley Carrington? What is this world coming to ?

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he asks .

“It’s hard to. You don’t understand. I’ve never been the girl that gets the attention. Not in school, not at college, not anywhere, really .”

“Those guys were stupid, then,” he says. “I know I said we couldn’t do this anymore, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been keeping myself at bay since that last time. But tonight, I was too weak to resist. Come here.” He reels me into his body and again, we doze in the darkness. This time I make sure to set my alarm, as Logan drifts off .

Within minutes, he’s asleep, but I can’t get there. Though our connection just got deeper, he’s still a man on the edge. He may insist I’m sexy, but I still think I’m only his stress-release plaything. I refuse to believe I have anything to offer him, though I know the back of my brain is screaming that it’s not true. I’m smart, I’m diligent, and I take damn good care of his children. Maybe that’s enough, but I still can’t help but feel that this is wrong on a deeper level .

Whether that’s my consciousness trying to warn me or my professionalism getting the best of me, I’m not sure. All I know is I’ve just joined Logan Raider on this cliff of emotions, and I don’t know whether I should leap down the ravine with him…or run the other way .