And he hadn’t missed the way that Seth had held her, bringing his head to hers like they were nestled together. Like they belonged. And they did. Georgia was rich. Seth was rich. Logan had to take a job watching a house to have a place to live.
A house Seth had built and lived in, and for some reason brought him into because there was no way Seth hadn’t had a hand in this shit. Because, like he knew—Seth was smart.
“So you’re fucking her?” It sounded way harsher than he meant it to, but he’d had a shit ton of tequila. He hadn’t meant to drink that either, but after a really uncomfortable talk with Nate that included one of his twins spitting up on him while Nate replaced his badge and gun, he’d needed it. Oddly enough, his anxiety at that moment in time had nothing to do with the job or having to walk back into the station house. It had everything to do with the kicking kid that had been placed in his arms like he had a right to hold anything that precious. Nate had just handed Zander over and gone about his business while Logan had been left looking into those completely innocent eyes and wondering if he’d ever get this—the sweet wife, the partner, the kids. Nate had a future right there in his hands. Two kids. Fuck. Nate had two kids and Logan hadn’t met them. The closest he’d come before today was standing outside Nate’s woefully small cabin and saying good-bye because he couldn’t stand looking in on a future that wouldn’t include him.
But the future he’d just seen had hurt so fucking much more.
Seth and Georgia. Damn, but they’d looked good together.
And he couldn’t forget the way she felt pressed against him, her mouth open under his. She’d hesitated only the merest second and then she’d been all over him, her body softening like it should for her Dom. Damn. He was so drunk his cock shouldn’t work, but the minute he’d seen her, he’d come right to life.
“You’re an ass,” Seth said flatly.
He hadn’t seen his best friend in over a year, and yet the statement didn’t shock him. It was just the truth. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Seth stalked toward him, a bottle in his hand. “Fine. I will. This fucking bottle cost twenty-five hundred dollars. Dos Lunas Grand Reserve. Did you like the tequila? It’s a luxury liquor. You must really like luxury.”
He couldn’t help but laugh a little, but then he’d gone through a whole bottle of tequila. A wretchedly expensive bottle of tequila. “Tasted like tequila to me. Put it on my tab, asshole.”
“And how about the gun?” Seth asked.
Logan groaned a little. Yeah, he was sorry about the gun. “There was some trouble earlier. Someone was walking around. I don’t know. Maybe it was a deer or something, but they were making noise and I scared them or it or whatever off. I thought it had come back.”
Seth stared down at him, looking way too much like a well-dressed father figure. Or any sort of male dude who would totally disapprove of him. Which these days included pretty much any male who met him. “You were mean to my assistant.”
What the fuck was this game? “Your assistant? If she’s just your assistant, I’ll shove that bottle up my ass.”
Seth’s mouth turned up, his lips curling in that son-of-a-bitch smile he’d used every time he’d come up with a brilliant plan when they were kids. “She has done nothing but help me with work.”
“I’m not an idiot, dude. She’s…fuck. She’s the one woman I’ve connected with and she suddenly turns up here in Bliss just when I have to come home, and she just happens to be in the same house where I had to stay because it was the only place in town? Yeah. I see Seth Stark all over that shit.”
Seth put the bottle down and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s the one.”
Seth turned and walked back to the kitchen.
A growl started in the back of his throat. A vision of Seth fucking Georgia assaulted him. Seth could give Georgia all the shit she thought she needed. Fancy stuff. Designer stuff. All Logan had to offer her was dominance and hard, satisfying sex. God, he wanted to fuck her. The fact that she was in a bedroom in the same house that he was in had his cock straining. Six months of nothing and he was in some serious fucking pain. “You’re a bastard. How did you find out about her? How many people do you have spying on me?”
He wouldn’t put it past Seth to have hired some “friends” for him.
“We talking true now?” Seth asked. He’d found a bottle of his own. Naturally the cabin came with a bar that would put most Manhattan hot spots to shame. Nothing but the best for Seth Stark and his honey girl. Cîroc. It looked like it was fresh out of the freezer, the blue bottle covered in frost. Seth poured a couple of fingers into what was almost certainly Waterford Crystal and knocked it back.
True meant getting past all the bullshit. “Yeah, we’re talking true.”
“Will you remember this in the morning?” Seth sat back, one elegantly clad foot over his knee.
Logan rolled his eyes. “You think this a bender? This is a fun Saturday night for me, man.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed down to slits of pure blue judgment. “I thought you stopped drinking.”
“Drinking wasn’t the problem.” Fuck. Yeah, drinking was definitely the fucking problem now since he hadn’t meant to say that, to ever admit that.
A long breath filled Seth’s lungs, and he sat back. “How bad did it get?”
He didn’t want to have this conversation. He never wanted to have this conversation. He’d been avoiding it with everyone. No one knew except the doc and Hope and Sawyer. God, he had to apologize to Sawyer.
“Logan?”
“I’m going to bed.” But his feet didn’t move. His arms stayed right where they were, clutching the chair like it was the only thing solid in the world.
“Are we done?” Seth didn’t look at him. His face was turned down, staring into that glass.
“Tell me how you found out about Georgia.” He couldn’t walk until he knew.
“I got a call from someone. I thought it was you because it was your number, and just for a minute, I got so excited because you don’t call me anymore. But it wasn’t you.”
He sighed. “I’m never underestimating Kitten again. I knew I hadn’t lost my phone.”
“She explained the situation and said Georgia needed a safe place to go.”
“So you took her in thinking you could use her to get me to come home.” He could see exactly how that plan had gone through Seth’s mind.
Seth was a manipulative, deeply possessive genius who hid a wealth load of ruthless will behind that happy-go-lucky façade of his. Yeah, he’d known that even as a kid. Logan wasn’t sure why, but Seth had clung to him and he’d…god, help him, but he’d craved it. He’d craved knowing he belonged with someone. He’d even liked how possessive Seth was of him. There had never been anything sexual between the two of them, but if Logan had been wired that way, Seth would have been the man for him.
“I fell in love with her the minute I saw her, Logan. She’s perfect. I might have thought I was keeping her safe for you before I met her. Now I know I’m keeping her safe for us.”
He still thought that would happen? He thought they could find the perfect woman and settle down? Seth had been banking on that shit for years, since they were kids. Logan wasn’t a kid anymore. “Take her. I’m not interested.”
He ached in a way no amount of high-end tequila was going to fix. His gut was an endless pool of self-loathing, and he was not bringing them into it. His hand went to his left pec. That was all he was going to get of Georgia.
“Bullshit. I saw what happened tonight,” Seth argued. “And I saw how she reacted to you. I could have been dying on the floor and the two of you would still have gone after it.”