He’d been talking to the same group of gentlemen for the past twenty minutes about the Suffolk County crime rate statistics and I was out-of-my-mind crazy. With a smile I said, “No, I’m good, but if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to use the ladies’ room.”

“You’re bored, aren’t you?” he whispered in my ear.

His concern seemed genuine, but I wasn’t taking anything he said at face value. “No, not at all. Watching you at work is fascinating.”

The smile that lit up his face made me wonder if I’d taken my attempt to be upbeat a little too far. “The least I can do is walk you to the restroom.”

“No, Michael. Stay and network. You’re doing such a great job.”

He moved a little closer. “It’s you who’s doing the great job.”

Without pretense, I gave him a return smile. “I’ll be back.”

It was odd, but I couldn’t tell him about the threatening call I’d received. I was too suspicious of him. Although I wanted Michael to succeed in his bid to be nominated to run for the Suffolk County District Attorney position, I had to wonder what the big push was right now when his life was so completely turned upside down.

With each passing day, my doubts about Michael’s sincerity kept mounting. How was he going to keep my sister’s drug dealings out of the press? And if it did come out, would he be implicated? Because if I knew he was somehow involved, and Logan knew he was involved, someone else must surely also know.

Like the deliverymen, I thought.

Chilled, I couldn’t help but think about how they ended up.

The restrooms were near the bar and I took my time walking the short distance to them. My feet were killing me in the heels I was wearing and I couldn’t wait to kick them off. In truth, I couldn’t wait for this night to end. All this hobnobbing was exhausting. It didn’t take more than one night of this to know the political arena wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.

As soon as I opened the bathroom door, I found it to be equally as impressive as the ballroom. There was a lounge area with a few comfortable-looking chairs, a perfume bar, and stacks of black washcloths next to bottles of luxury soap. Obviously it had been decked out for the evening.

The perfume bar drew me to it and I looked at the various bottles. Jo Malone was among them, and I picked up the lavender scent and sprayed it on each of my wrists. Once I’d rubbed them together, I lifted them to my nose and closed my eyes to enjoy the fresh, clean scent.

There was a crinkle, a tickle, a tease on the back of my neck. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was. His own fresh scent gave him away. I gasped as my body betrayed me, my toes curling and my stomach fluttering at just the hum of his body near mine.

Lips brushed my neck and I couldn’t stop myself from trembling in need.

“You look incredible.”

That voice was raw. Husky. Sexy. All Logan.

My eyes snapped open and I found his hazel ones staring back at me in the mirror with more lust in them than any one human should be allowed to convey in that manner. “What are you doing here?” I somehow managed to ask, albeit in a squeak.

His hands gripped my hips and pulled me back toward him. I melted into his hard body and felt how much he wanted me.

Fire flamed through my veins, giving way to lustful desire that I couldn’t suppress.

I missed him.

I hated not being able to talk to him.

Hear his voice.

Touch him.

Feel his body against mine.

Yet, I knew I had to stick by my decision. My life wasn’t my own anymore and I had to remember that girl needed me.

His hold on me was possessive and he urged me to tilt my head to the side. “I’m the one who should be asking you that question.”

My pulse was beating wildly and even though I knew I shouldn’t, I gave in to his unspoken command and tilted my head.

Those lush lips skimmed down my neck.

And I couldn’t resist him.

In my red-hot haze, I allowed myself only a moment to absorb the feeling. While doing so, I admired him. I couldn’t help myself. Dressed in an expensive tuxedo, he screamed class, sophistication, and all things money. Pressed white shirt, black bowtie, and dropping my eyes I noticed he was even wearing expensive-looking shoes. He fit in at events like this so well, while all night I’d felt so out of place. That had to be another sign of why we shouldn’t be together. When I lifted my gaze and found his eyes, I knew I had to push him away. We were over. “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

His hands started tugging my dress up. “Everything about you is my business,” he growled.

It was then that I realized he must have seen me with Michael and he was jealous.

Jealous!

Was he trying to make his mark, stamp his claim on me? Well, I wasn’t his. He’d had a choice; he’d chosen not to be with me. I turned around and shoved him away. “No, Logan, you’re wrong. We’re not together anymore and nothing about me is any of your business.”

My words were cold and they killed me to speak them, but for the past few days I’d been just barely holding myself together. If this little tête-à-téte, or whatever this was in the bathroom, went any farther, it would surely make me crumble when he was finished marking me and then left me alone—again.

Logan grabbed my wrist. “Don’t say that, Elle.”

My breath caught when I looked at the real him, not the reflection of him. His eyes were wide. Pupils dilated and dark. So intense. And his lips were slightly parted, the lower one wet from where he’d just swiped his tongue. So delicious looking.

The urge to kiss him was too much to bear and I had to close my eyes to try to find my center, but I couldn’t. The sexual tension between us was off the charts and quickly causing my control to shift.

His hand was still holding my wrist and he let it slip lower. Before I knew it, he was tugging me into a bathroom stall and I was going willingly.

Saying nothing, he pushed me against the door, hard enough to rattle it. He moved closer until we were face-to-face, chest-to-chest, hip-to-hip, and then his hands were lifting my dress.

I shuddered when his thumb moved back and forth against the inner skin of my thigh. Slow, even strokes. This small touch was enough to electrify me and the shudder of my breath echoed in the small space.

He leaned even closer and his lips brushed my earlobe. “Tell me you’ll wait for me.”

I turned my head the tiniest bit toward him. I felt like I was going to break in two right there, I was so torn.

But I had to keep my stability—for Clementine.

My lips barely moved when I said, “I can’t do that.”

“You can.”

I shook my head. “I can’t, Logan. I can’t put my life on hold for something that might never come.”

The air around him crackled dangerously. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth.”

His lips skimmed down my neck. “Do matter what you do, you’re mine, Elle. Mine. You’ll always be mine.”

Torn between giving in to him and holding on to what I knew was the right path for me, I had to get away from him to think clearly. In a split-second decision I reached behind me and unlocked the latch, causing the door to swing open. I didn’t deny that I was his. He already knew I was. My body’s reaction to him alone was enough to confirm that, but I did say something I knew would make him dislike me, or maybe even hate me. Keep him from following me and tearing me apart. “I have to get back out there. Michael will be wondering where I am.”

“Michael,” he spat.

Guilt set in and I had to push it away. I was doing what I had to do. Still, I tried to ease the burn of my words. “Logan, I’m here with him to support him politically, not that I owe you any explanation.”

His expression cleared. I couldn’t read him at all. But then he leaned back against the sink and gripped the edge tightly, and I knew he was hurt.