He strode past her without responding and began pacing in the middle of the room.
“Don’t go.”
His brusque tone matched the tension vibrating off him. She was used to his demanding ways, actually enjoyed surrendering to his desires. Not that she would ever admit it. Ninety-nine percent of the time she preferred being in complete control. It was a throwback to her days in Hollywood when she’d had very little power. But she had learned she could trust Logan and it was nice to hand over the reins once in a while.
“Sure. It won’t matter if I don’t make an appearance in the casino tonight.” Her body tightened with hunger as she moved toward him. “What did you have in mind?”
He spun to face her. “I don’t mean tonight. I mean at all.”
Scarlett stretched out her arm and set her palm against his shoulder, treating him like a skittish dog, trying to gentle his mood with her touch. “Logan, I’m in charge of this hotel. I don’t see how I can stay away from my own casino.”
His arm snaked around her waist and brought her tight against his body. “Not the casino, you simple-minded darling. Don’t go to Los Angeles.”
“But you said—” She broke off when he stroked his hand up the side of her neck and wrapped his fingers around the back of her head.
“I know what I said.” He leaned down and seized her mouth with his, short-circuiting her brain.
The kiss was so like him. Commanding, skillful, hungry. He claimed her breath, stole her willpower and insisted on her complete surrender. Whether he’d admit it or not, he found her strength attractive. What if her weakness disgusted him? One way or another, she needed him to see the real her. Only by letting him glimpse her fear of rejection could she be free.
Terror and joy washed over her as she unraveled in his arms. Immediately, the kiss softened. Passion became play as his tongue and teeth toyed with and tantalized her.
How had she ever dreamed she could leave him? Only with Logan did she feel this alive and complete. She broke off the kiss and arched her back as his lips trailed fire down her neck. Gasping as his teeth nipped at her throat, she struggled to clear her thoughts from the drugging fog of desire.
“I’m not going to take the part,” she murmured, kissing his temple and the bold stroke of his dark eyebrow. “I’m not going to L.A.”
He straightened and peered into her eyes. “Madison said you were going to accept the role.”
“I never told her that.” If the teenager’s misunderstanding had caused Logan to admit how he truly felt, Scarlett would make certain she would do something extra nice for the girl. Maybe a day at the spa. “I don’t know where she got such an idea.”
“She said you were having breakfast with that producer fellow.”
“I did. I told Bobby once and for all that I wasn’t going to take the part.”
“But you wanted to.” Logan took her left hand and began peeling the black glove down her arm.
The drag of the fabric against her sensitized skin made Scarlett shiver. “For seventeen years my identity was caught up in being an actress.”
He hooked his finger beneath her pearl necklace and stroked her feverish skin. “I don’t see where anything has changed in that respect.”
She smiled as Logan set to work on the other glove. Being undressed by him was always such a treat. Occasionally their hunger for each other grew too feverish for preliminaries, but most of the time he took such pleasure in every aspect of making love, from removing her clothes to cuddling with her in the aftermath of passion.
“I think I’ll always be an actress in my heart,” she assured him. “But that’s no longer all I am. Managing this hotel has shown me that I’m also a darned good businesswoman.” She tunneled her now-naked fingers into his hair and pulled his head toward her. “I’m glad you didn’t want me to go, because I didn’t want to leave you.”
This time when they kissed, he let her lead. She understood why as her dress’s zipper yielded beneath his strong fingers. He stroked the material off her shoulders and left her standing before him in her pearls, a strapless black bra and panties and black pumps. His gaze burned across her skin as he took in the picture she made.
Divesting herself of the necklace and casting aside her wig, Scarlett stripped away the final trappings of Holly Golightly. The character was a woman with many lovers, but no burning love. She was a wild thing who craved freedom even as, deep in her heart, she longed for a place to belong.
Scarlett had no such conflicts. She knew exactly what she wanted, just as she knew where she belonged. In Logan’s arms. Pretending to be someone else, even for a while, couldn’t compare to the reality of being herself, in love with him. Her throat contracted as she realized why she’d turned down the part. It wasn’t just because she loved her new life as the manager of Fontaine Richesse. It was because she loved Logan Wolfe and all the heartache and joys that went along with being the woman in his life.
Lifting onto her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth. “Take me to bed, you big bad hunk.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Logan scooped Scarlett into his arms and headed for her bedroom, glad he’d followed his instincts and sought her out tonight. Those six hours between learning she’d decided to return to L.A. and showing up at her suite had been hell and he had no interest in reliving them anytime soon. His unhappiness at her leaving had forced him to assess just how reluctant he was to be without her.
How far would he have gone if she’d been determined to leave Las Vegas? Once upon a time he’d let Elle go and had never really stopped regretting it. What was happening between him and Scarlett claimed neither the duration nor the depth of what he’d shared with his ex-fiancée, but he felt as invested as if they’d been together for years.
Laying Scarlett on her bed, he began unfastening his shirt buttons. She made no attempt to remove her bra or panties, knowing he preferred to strip her bare himself. All she did was shake her hair free of the pins that held it in place and kick off her shoes.