At Odds with the Heiress. Cat Schield
Читать онлайн книгу.
might get hurt.”
“You’re worried about me.” Nothing could have prevented her giant smile. “That’s so sweet.”
He actually growled. “Just because you and I don’t get along doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to you.”
“We could get along just fine if you’d stop fighting your feelings for me.”
“If you’re referring to that kiss in the elevator—”
“That oh-so-steamy kiss in the elevator,” she corrected with a smug smile. “And you never did answer my question. Was I acting?”
He regarded her without expression and said nothing.
“Maybe another demonstration would clear up your doubts.” She reached out and ran her fingers down his tie.
He snatched her hand in his, eyes blazing. “Damn it, Scarlett.”
Before he could complete his thought, a young woman appeared in the doorway. “Hello. I’m Madison.”
“Scarlett Fontaine.” It was tough taking her eyes off Logan’s stormy expression, but she managed. “Nice to meet you,” she said, moving out from behind her desk.
“Logan told me all about you.”
Amusement twitched Scarlett’s lips into a smile. “Really?” She caught his unrelenting gaze and drawled, “All about me?”
Logan gave her a tight nod. “I told her that you’d been an actress.”
“Not just an actress,” she corrected with dramatic flare sure to annoy him. “A star.”
“Really?” Now Madison looked interested. “I don’t recall seeing you in anything.”
Scarlett’s smile turned wry. “You probably wouldn’t recognize me. I was fifteen when the show ended. But for five crazy years I was Hilary of That’s Our Hilary.”
“I don’t think I ever saw that. Have you been on anything since?”
“Guest appearances here and there. A short-running cable show.” Scarlett glanced Logan’s way and saw that he was scowling at her again. Honestly. What had she done now to earn his disfavor? To distract him, she gave him the envelope. “Here, maybe seeing what’s inside will keep you from being so cranky.”
“Tiberius left it to you.” He tried to hand it back, but she shook her head.
“And not knowing what’s inside is bugging you, so open it.”
With a harsh exhalation, he slipped his finger beneath the envelope flap and pulled out a packet of papers. A key card slipped to the floor. Madison looked curious as she bent to retrieve it.
“It’s a rental agreement for a storage unit,” Logan said as he continued looking through the stack of papers. He handed a single sheet to Scarlett.
Scarlett recognized Tiberius’s neat handwriting. The letter was addressed to her. As she scanned it, her throat tightened. Damn the old rascal. He had indeed passed his files on to her. She took the key from Madison and studied it.
“A storage unit?” she mused. “Do you suppose there’s more than files in there?”
“Possibly. I hope you’re not considering going there alone.”
He might not like her, but that didn’t stop him from feeling protective. She could work with that. “Why not?”
His phone chimed, indicating he’d received a text. Pulling it out of his pocket, he checked the screen. Air slipped between his teeth in an impatient exhalation.
“Something’s just come up.” He turned to Madison. “I’ll be back for you at five.”
“Five?” Scarlett echoed doubtfully. “The action doesn’t get started around here until much later. You just go ahead and do whatever it is you do and I’ll make sure Madison gets home.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know. Midnight?”
Logan’s eyebrows dipped as his niece’s expression lit up. “Ten,” he countered.
“Seriously?” Madison piped up. “I’m seventeen years old. You don’t think I’ve been out past ten before?”
He looked as if he were chewing glass as he countered, “Ten-thirty.”
“I’m almost eighteen.”
“Almost being the operative word.”
Madison rolled her eyes at him. “My birthday’s two weeks away.”
“Ten-thirty.”
“When I turn eighteen you can’t tell me what to do.”
Scarlett watched the exchange with interest, noticing the way his gaze bounced from her to Madison and back. It was good to see that she wasn’t the only female who annoyed him.
“Why don’t we say eleven,” she offered, voice bright, smile friendly.
Her words stopped Madison’s revolt in its tracks. “Perfect.”
To Scarlett’s surprise, Madison moved to her side and linked arms. An unstoppable female phalanx against Logan. He did not looked pleased.
“Eleven.” Logan gave a tight nod. “And keep her out of trouble.”
“Stop worrying. She’ll be fine.”
Scarlett gave Logan’s authoritative shoulders and don’t-mess-with-me stride one final glance as he headed out of her office. Oxygen returned to the room in a rush with his departure. The man sure knew how to dominate a room. And a woman’s hormones.
“Let’s start our tour in reservations,” Scarlett murmured, gesturing the teenager toward the hallway.
“I thought maybe we could begin in the casino.”
Scarlett shook her head, crushing Madison’s hopeful expression. “We’ll save the best for last.”
Two hours later Scarlett had shown Madison around the entire hotel and was heading into the casino when her phone rang. Her heart gave a happy little jolt when she recognized Logan’s number. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. The man had given her yet another heaping helping of his bad opinion of her today and she still couldn’t shake this idiotic crush she had on him.
“I’m a glutton for punishment,” she muttered as she answered the call. “Hello, Logan. The tour’s going great in case you’re worried.”
“You’re still at the hotel?”
“Where else would I be?” She paused a beat. “Oh, right, the storage unit.”
“You’re taking this business with the files too lightly.”
Scarlett’s gaze followed Logan’s niece as she ventured toward a display advertising the opening of the Mob Experience exhibit in a month. “I already promised not to take Madison anywhere near the storage unit.”
“It’s not just Madison’s safety I’m talking about.”
A warm glow filled her at his concern. “So, when do you want to go check it out?”
“The sooner the better.”
“Tomorrow?”
“That should work.”
“What time are you going to pick me up?”
She interpreted his hesitation as dismay.
“You misunderstood me,” he said. “I’m going to check out the storage shed. Alone.”
“You could. But you’ll have a difficult time getting in without the key.” She let her meaning settle in for a couple seconds before she finished,