A Real Cowboy Always Protects by Stephanie Rowe

Chapter Eight

Beingfake engaged to Logan felt great, for about thirty seconds.

Which was the point at which Skylar realized how great it really did feel.

The kind of great that made her realize that the hopelessly romantic dreamer inside her was taking it much too seriously.

As the plane cruised toward their destination, Skylar narrowed her eyes as Logan leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. How could he sleep? He'd just proposed to her, and she'd just said yes.

But he hadn't. He'd proposed a plan to keep her from being murdered. Totally different.

But dammit if that little part inside her wasn't reacting as if it were real…as if she were really engaged to the man she imagined Logan to be. She already knew he was handsome. Big family. A protector. Kind. Loyal.

A man who would never leave her. Never cheat on her. Never rip her heart out and shred it in front of all the world.

"Skylar." Logan didn't open his eyes.

"What?"

"Would it work if I told you to relax?"

"No. I hate being told what to do."

He grinned, still not opening his eyes. "I'm the same way."

His smile made her relax slightly. "Is your family going to believe we're engaged?"

Logan's smile faded, and he opened his eyes to look at her. "I don't know."

"We have to lie to people you love." Calling her mom at one in the morning to tell her she was going off on a business trip to somewhere that didn't have cell service had been terrible. And that had been on the phone. What about in person? Day after day? To Logan's family. "I'm not a good liar."

He smiled. "That's okay. You don't have to say much. Just act like I irritate the hell out of you and you're not sure why you put up with me. That'll convince them. They all know I'm a pain in the ass."

She furrowed her brow. "I don't find you irritating."

He laughed. "Give it time. You'll come around."

She pursed her lips as the plane began its descent, making her ears pop. "What are we doing, Logan? This is ridiculous." She looked down at the ring on her hand, shiny and glittering. "Where are we going to sleep? Together? If we're engaged, they're going to expect that." She looked at him. "Unless your family is the no-sex-before-marriage type?"

Logan couldn't help but chuckle at the hopeful expression on Skylar's face. God, he couldn't believe how much she lightened the darkness that weighted him down so constantly. He hadn't expected to have any kind of reaction when she'd put the ring on, but the moment she'd settled it on her hand, something inside him had come alive. A fierce, unyielding possessiveness. Not of the ring. Of Skylar.

His response to seeing that diamond on her hand had been so visceral that he'd actually closed his eyes, trying to regroup, to remind himself of what mattered in his life and the promises he'd made to himself. Work. Protection. Focus.

He released a breath, focusing on Skylar's clear blue eyes as she waited for his answer on whether they would be sharing a bed. Sharing a bed. He hadn't given any thought to those details ahead of time, but now that she'd mentioned it? Hell, yeah. The idea was so compelling he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He cleared his throat. "I have nine brothers and one sister, and a dead father who knocked up eight different women to produce all of us, so yeah, not a lot of concern about premarital sex in my family."

Alarm flickered across her face, making him sit up. "We're going to sleep together, then? Share a bedroom? A bed?"

Protectiveness surged through him at her fear, protectiveness he hadn't felt in years, not since his younger brothers had grown up and his dad had died, ending the threat to all of them. But Skylar brought it all back, his need to keep someone else safe. His need to give every bit of his soul to safeguard her.

"I need to be with you all the time, Skylar," he said evenly. "On the slim chance Eugene finds us, if it takes even a second for me to get to you, that could be too late. So, yeah, we'll be sharing a bedroom."

"Shit."

He almost chuckled at her epithet. God, he loved how expressive she was, how she didn't hold back what she was feeling. But he did not like her being afraid of him. "I would never push myself on you. Ever. I swear it."

Surprise flickered across her face. "Of course you wouldn't. I wasn't worried about that."

He relaxed slightly, glad she realized that. "Then what makes you nervous?"

She chewed her lips. "Honestly?"

"Always." He was curious now.

She stared past him, focused on the window of the plane, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

He waited, his interest growing.

She finally sighed, and looked right at him, owning whatever she was about to say. "I'm super attracted to you, Logan."

Tension slammed into his gut, and all the sexual tension he'd been trying to keep at bay exploded through him.

He'd been attracted to Skylar since the first second he'd met her two years ago. Every single time he ran into her, he walked away with a hard-on. He'd fought it for a million reasons, and he'd proposed the fake engagement only when he'd made sure he could keep it straight in his gut that it was a business arrangement only.

But with her declaration hanging between them, all his best resolutions seemed to shoot out the window. He cleared his throat, and kept his voice neutral. "Okay." It was all he trusted himself to say.

Her eyebrows furrowed in that adorable way she had. "I don't want to get involved with anyone," she said. "But you make me dream of it. I don't know if I have the willpower to run around with your ring on my finger, being all cozy, and not fall for the guy I imagine you are."

Her words burned through him, temporarily rendering him speechless.

"I can't fall for the wrong guy again," she said. "I'd rather die a crazy cat lady with hair growing out of my ears than endure another heartbreak like I went through."

The wrong guy? She thought he was the wrong guy? That bit deep, but at the same time, he was glad she saw that about him, because she was right. He let out his breath and tried to deflect. "I thought I was the one who was going to have hair growing out of my ears."

She stared at him, and then threw her sweatshirt across the plane at him, smacking him in the face. "You're so irritating."

He caught her sweatshirt. "See? I knew you'd figure it out." He grinned, catching a whiff of her shampoo on the fabric. He loved that scent.

"Logan. I'm serious—"

"I know." He handed her back the sweatshirt. "Look, I'm not going to lie. I'm incredibly attracted to you as well."

Her cheeks turned pink. "How is that helpful?" She glared at him. "You're supposed to say that you find me so repulsive that I could throw myself on top of you stark naked and you wouldn't be tempted."

Heat shot to his groin at the vision of Skylar throwing herself on top of him naked. He'd seen her in shorts and a tank top enough times for him to get a pretty good idea of how incredible she would look naked. "Repulsive isn't a word I could ever associate with you." His voice was huskier than he intended, and he paused to clear his throat.

"Again, not helpful." She was hugging her backpack again, as if the bag could save them both from the sexual tension rising in the confined area.

He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs. "My job is dangerous."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Is it? I hadn't realized."

Damn, he loved her sass. "As you saw tonight, my job poses a risk to anyone who's close to me."

She wrinkled her nose. "I did notice that."

"When I made my career choice," he continued, "I promised myself that I'd never let the job endanger anyone I cared about. As a result, I've taken a number of precautions, including not forming close personal connections with anyone." He met her gaze. "That means I would never cross that line with you."

She stared at him, her lips slightly parted as she listened. "Really?" At his nod, she frowned. "So, there's never been anyone for you? No woman?"

"No one that mattered. I never let anyone in. Ever." The promise he'd made himself so easily ten years ago seemed to stick in his throat in a way it never had before. "I'm alone, Skylar, and that's the way I'll stay." He managed a small smile. "That means that when we're alone and have no one to impress, you're safe from my seduction, I swear it. I won't screw with your emotions."

She surveyed him, a thoughtful expression on her face that made him think she was seeing a lot more than he'd told her. "So, despite all this raving sexual attraction between us, we're going to be like brother and sister."

He snorted. "Shit, no. Just because I'm not going to make love to you doesn't mean I can think of you as my sister. More like the hot cheerleader who's so far out of my league that I don't even dare make a move."

She raised her brows. "Hot cheerleader?" she challenged.

He grinned. "Smart, successful, charming-as-hell architect who's off-limits for a bunch of reasons?"

"Better." She let out her breath. "All right, then. So, we're going to be a fake-engaged couple who entertain numerous sexual fantasies about each other, make out in public, lie to those we love, and share a bedroom, while maintaining a strictly professional relationship?"

His pulse quickened at the idea of making out with her in public. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"That sounds doable." She sighed and leaned back in her seat. "You definitely need to start shaving more closely, though. That stubble is literally begging me to run my fingers over it."

He laughed, and then leaned forward. "Skylar. There's something you need to know about me."

She let out her breath. "What?"

"I was born into a life of abuse." He ignored the concern that suddenly darkened her eyes. He kept going, not wanting to give her a chance to ask questions about his past. "Among other things, it taught me to be a protector of those who couldn't protect themselves. My younger brothers for a long time. And now, I protect the innocents who don't even know I exist. Protecting is in my nature, and you're in my circle now. I'll protect you. Not just your life, but your heart, your soul, and that adorable smile that lights up the world. I give you my word. You're safe with me."

She stared at him.

He frowned, waiting for her response. "Skylar?"

"That was quite a speech."

He shrugged. "It's the truth."

"I haven't felt safe in a very long time," she finally said. "The idea of being able to drop my guards is…" She stopped, and her eyes suddenly became shiny with unshed tears.

Something surged through him, more than the need to protect. Something deeper, more personal, more primal. "I won't let you down, Skylar. I promise."

For another moment, she said nothing. She simply stared at him.

He shifted. "Skylar—"

Before he could finish, she unfastened her seatbelt, walked over to him, and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. Her body was warm and alive against his, settling all the tension that seemed to always be rushing through him.

He brushed a kiss over the top of her head, and then froze at the intimate gesture, at his need to slide his hand under her chin, raise her face to his, and kiss her. For real. The way he'd always fantasized about doing.

Skylar went still against him. "Logan?"

"Yeah." Her hair was like silk against his jaw.

"I think hugging and lap-sitting in private should be off limits. Your abs are ridiculous, and you smell amazing."

He burst out laughing as she pulled back. "It's your hair that's unfair. It's pure temptation."

She retreated back to her seat. "I'll shave my head if you'll eat a lot of donuts and roll in horse manure. That should take care of it."

He grinned. "Deal." But even as he said it, he had a bad feeling he was in over his head.

That they both were.

And the cost of screwing up was her life. Her heart. And hell, maybe even his.