would’ve remembered seeing an entire rugby team dressed in suit and tie. The guys were enormous, broad- chested, and walking right toward her with strides that ate up the dance floor. “There’s a wedding taking place here tonight. Can I help you find something?”
“Yeah.” The one walking a beat in front of the others spoke up first. He was at least six foot six of bodybuilding muscle, with a flop of chestnut-brown hair and ice-blue eyes. His accent was slow and rough, as though he’d just woken up. “I’m Carter, and I’m looking for Logan Black.”
“Carter!” Logan said, sliding beside Veronica and shaking Carter’s hand. “’Bout time you showed up. Thanks for agreeing to be here, I know it was last-minute.”
“You invited guests?” Veronica gritted through tight lips.
“Susan mentioned that the security team the hotel contracted isn’t coming tonight. Considering what happened at your house earlier, that wasn’t acceptable, so I took matters into my own hands. Don’t worry,” he said, putting up his hands as she was about to question him, “I took care of it, and called my most trusted friends. Rest assured that the Sanchez wedding will be the most protected wedding in Seattle.”
Veronica scrutinized the faces of the men. They were stoic and unreadable with jutting brows and sharp, slanting bone structures. Their expressions were dark and mysterious, giving off lethal vibes that clung to Veronica like the stench of smoke. Judging from their demeanor alone, Veronica knew they’d take the job seriously. They were already scoping out the exits and sizing up the workers. She didn’t want to trust these guys—they’d probably only been fingerprinted inside the four walls of a police station—but if the hotel’s security team wasn’t coming, what else could she do? If Jake trusted Logan, and Logan trusted these guys, they had to be in safe hands…
“This Veronica Vale?” Carter directed his question at Logan. “The one who—”
“Yes, this is Miss Vale,” Logan blurted. “But there’s no time for intros. I need you stationed outside those doors. Two of you can stand there, and there. Another two near the bathrooms, and a few more in the lot.”
Veronica wondered what Carter had been about to say. Logan had mentioned her? To his friends? If he was only going to mention that she was the one Logan had been hired to guard, why the rude interruption?
The team of rugby hunks split up as though someone had just yelled, “Break!” and called the next play.
“These guys will be the best replacements you’ve ever seen.” Logan smiled deviously. “Do you trust me?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“Then don’t worry about a thing. You’ll be safe here tonight,” he said, and walked away.
Veronica checked the head table, scooted the chairs in, and made the final rounds of the room as guests filed in. Susan—the gorgeous blonde in the red strapless dress—approached Veronica, an iPad secured in the crook of her arm.
“The place is a dream,” Susan said. “Probably the most beautiful I’ve ever seen it.”
“Thanks.” Veronica watched as Logan yelled something to the DJ, then opened the door wide for an elderly woman to pass through. “I appreciate your help setting things up.”
“I didn’t do much of anything. You should be thanking your go-to guy, Logan.”
“My go-to guy?” The way she said his name, unhurried and sensual, sparked a hint of jealousy in Veronica’s belly. Across the room, Logan bent to pick up something off the floor, giving the ladies a striking view of his rounded backside. “He doesn’t work for my company.”
“Really?” Susan said, leaning in close to Veronica’s ear. “So who is he to you, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Veronica minded very much. But why? She had no claim to him.
“It’s complicated, but we’re not together, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“I see.” Susan pursed her lips. “It’s not every day that I get an Ian Somerhalder look-alike walking around helping me carry things.”
“Ian who?” Veronica couldn’t take her eyes off Logan.
“You know, the hot guy from
Veronica bit her lip. “Oh. Yeah, I guess.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to focus the rest of the night,” Susan said, fanning herself with dramatic flair. “I still have a ton of work to do around the hotel, and I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from him. How do you do it? How do you keep your hands off and stay focused?”
Logan turned around, put his hands in his pockets, and smiled, a tiny dimple pricking his cheek. Had he heard what Susan said? He couldn’t have. He was too far away. Why, then, was he looking at Veronica as if he was waiting to hear her answer?
“It’s not difficult to focus on work,” Veronica said. “Not when he’s made it perfectly clear that I’m not his type.”
…
Not his type?
Logan’s heightened hearing had allowed him to eavesdrop on the conversation. Now he was certain the woman had lost her mind. He could barely glance at her without the blood in his veins melting to liquid lust. Veronica had an innocent kind of beauty: porcelain smooth skin, soft brown eyes, dark hair that fell in subtle waves past her shoulders, and rosy cheeks. She was a voluptuous version of Snow White, plucked straight from his fantasies. Looks aside, Veronica was his polar opposite. It was clear she longed for a serious, stable relationship, and that’s the last thing Logan wanted. She was a night owl, and he rose with the sun. She always noticed the good in people and he…well, years of bad experiences had taught him better.
Veronica was intriguing. Being close without reaching out and touching her the last week nearly broke him.
The reception had been flowing for hours. It was nearly seven o’clock and the first dance had been waltzed, dinner had been served, and the cake had been cut. There was no sign of the stalker, though every time someone snapped a picture of the happy couple, Logan wanted to rip the camera out of their hands and stomp it into the floor, just in case there were pictures of Veronica on the disk. The bride and groom looked blissfully happy, but Logan wasn’t fooled.
“Poor bastard,” Logan said as the dance floor filled. “Doesn’t know what he’s walking into.”
Veronica appeared in Logan’s line of vision. She was standing against the bar, swishing around a yellow blended drink in a crystal martini glass. A George Clooney look-alike stood next to her, drinking something that looked like sparkling water. He wore a pin-striped suit with a blue tie and spit-shiny shoes. They were talking. Laughing.
Logan had left her alone for two whole seconds and the wolves had descended.
Only this guy wasn’t throwing off the scent of a wolf. Good thing, otherwise Logan would’ve marked him as stalker suspect number one and escorted his ass out back.
Not liking their interaction, Logan walked toward the bar and pressed the button on his earpiece. “Everything under control out there, Carter?”
“You could say that,” Carter said from his position behind the hotel. “I just escorted a ninety-year-old woman to her car. She pinched my ass and dropped a quarter into my back pocket as a tip.”
Logan couldn’t force out a laugh. Not when Veronica’s eyes lit up and she smacked the stranger playfully in the shoulder.
“Highlight of the night, huh?” Logan started a slow trek to her position. He kept his voice low. “Just remember what I told you. If you even sense a wolf in the vicinity, alert me immediately.”
“Will do.”
Logan turned off his earpiece and stood at Veronica’s side, so closely that he brushed against her shoulder. “I’m Logan Black,” he said, extending his hand.
The guy squinted, and then shook Logan’s hand. “Patrick Bennett.”
“We’re old friends,” Veronica said, laughing. “I’ve known him since I was six.”
Patrick must’ve said something funny just before Logan walked up.
“He’s a pastor now,” she continued. “Though it’s still so hard for me to imagine:
