Chapter 4 Indecent Proposal

‘Ahh!’ Alessia screamed, a high-pitched noise that jolted Logan’s mind back to the present.

She swatted away his offending hand. ‘Pervert!’

Logan shrank aback, flustered.

He was about to apologise, but the young woman let out a string of words that were not exactly expletives, but came pretty close.

‘It was an accident.’ He scowled. ‘And I don’t appreciate that kind of language.’

‘And I don’t appreciate you putting your hands where they don’t belong!’ Alessia’s face was flushed crimson.

‘Like I said, it was an accident.’

‘You even squeezed it!’ Alessia folded her arms over her chest, eyes blazing.

Logan cleared his throat. ‘I was just…checking something.’

‘Checking what? Cup size?’ Alessia wanted to smack him. ‘Pervert!’

‘I wasn’t…’ Logan struggled to put his thoughts into words, a rare occurrence for him.

But then, what he experienced just now was also a rare occurrence.

Not only was he not repulsed by this woman’s scent or physical proximity, he felt rather compelled to get closer to her.

And when he accidentally touched her, it stirred something within him that he thought was long dead.

Olivia Anderson wasn’t entirely off the mark when she said there must be something wrong with him.

There was, but he just didn’t know exactly what it was.

His experience in the mornings told him there was nothing wrong with him physically.

So it had to be a psychological thing that prevented him from getting intimate with women.

But if it was all in his head, how could he feel ‘excited’ with this woman who was practically a stranger?

He didn’t even know her name.

What was it about her that made her different?

Whatever it was, Logan was determined to get to the bottom of it.

‘Step aside!’ Alessia demanded. ‘I don’t want to be in the same room with a pervert.’

‘Don’t call me that,’ Logan said. ‘And you are not allowed to leave yet.’

He took another step forward.

Alessia retreated, but he kept advancing.

This went on until she had her back firmly pressed against the wall and nowhere to go.

‘What are you doing?’ Alessia glared at him.

‘I just want to confirm something.’ Logan was now her personal space.

‘Don’t come any closer!’ Alessia shouted, red in the face. ‘If you want the camera, take it! Just don’t come any closer!’

‘I don’t want the camera. I want…’

You.

Before the last word left his lips, Logan hissed in pain.

Unarmed, Alessia used her fingernails as the only weapon at her disposal.

She scratched Logan’s outstretched hand so hard, it drew blood.

‘When you turned down Miss Anderson earlier, I thought you were a real gentleman.’ Running out of space behind her, Alessia crab-walked to her left, trying to create some distance between her and Logan. ‘But you are just a pervert, like all other men! No, you are worse. You are sick!’

Logan furrowed his brow, once again drawing closer to her.

‘I said, don’t come any closer!’ Alessia made her right hand into the shape of a claw, ready to strike.

‘Sorry.’ Logan pursed his lips.

‘Sorry doesn’t make up for the fact that you tried to put your paws on me.’

‘I said it was an accident.’

He had been aiming for the camera when he accidentally touched her.

Though Logan couldn’t deny to himself that he, ahem, wanted to try it again.

Alessia’s reply was an eye roll. ‘Are you planning on keeping me here all night? It’s called false imprisonment, you know.’

‘Do you want the job at BuzzBeat?’ Logan asked suddenly.

‘Does a bear sh’—thinking of her five-year-old son, Alessia modified her language—‘poop in the woods?’

Logan pondered for a moment before proposing, ‘Stay with me tonight, and I’ll arrange a better job for you. What do you think?’

The next second, Logan saw Alessia’s initial shock turned into anger in her eyes. Just when he thought he'd hear dirtier words from her mouths, he saw Alessia narrowed her eyes.

‘Just spend the whole night with you? Is that what you’re suggesting?’

Logan nodded.

He wanted to see if her effect on him was just temporary or permanent.

‘What do I have to do?’ Alessia asked, as if seriously considering his proposal. ‘More importantly, what kind of job offer are we talking about here?’

‘Whatever kind of offer, it sure beats that of a tabloid reporter.’

Logan was a little surprised by her unexpected acceptance of his offer.

Even though he was the one who initiated the idea, deep down, a tinge of disappointment lingered.

He lowered his gaze.

Of all the women he knew, why did his body only react to her?

When he was momentarily distracted, Alessia saw an opportunity.

Swiftly, she raised her leg, aiming for a man’s most vulnerable region, hoping to give him a taste of her frustration.

But she’d forgotten about their height difference.

The tip of her shoe barely made contact with his mid-thigh, then Logan deftly dodged the kick.

Oops. She hadn’t expected his reflexes to be so sharp.

Logan quickly seized hold of her wrist and demanded, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

Frustration and fury mingled in Alessia’s voice as she shot back, ‘D*mn it! I’m not a prostitute! Do you think money can buy any woman you want?’

‘But you agreed,’ Logan replied with a knitted brow.

‘Screw you! I never agreed to your ridiculous proposal,’ Alessia retorted, lifting her chin defiantly. ‘I don’t need you to find me a job. I already have one.’

Logan’s brow furrowed deeper. ‘If you didn’t agree, why did you say yes?’

‘I never said yes! Get your filthy hands off me!’ Alessia forcefully shook off Logan’s grip, her anger fuelling her determination. ‘I’m deleting all your photos, all right?’

She held up her camera for him to see the screen, then deleted all the photos taken in the lounge. ‘There, happy? Can I go now?’

‘Can we talk for a moment?’ Logan backed up a little to give her space.

‘No,’ Alessia responded coldly. ‘I don’t have time for that.’

‘There’s been a misunderstanding.’

‘There’s no misunderstanding,’ Alessia scoffed. ‘I’ve seen plenty of men like you. You thought I was poor and desperate for money, and believed you could buy me on the cheap, didn’t you?’

Logan attempted to defend himself. ‘I didn’t mean—’

‘I don’t care!’ Alessia snorted. ‘There are plenty of other choices out there, ready for you to fulfil your perverted desires. Why don’t you try Sunny Meadows Ranch?’

‘Sunny Meadows Ranch?’ Logan gave her a quizzical look. ‘It’s a pig farm.’

‘Exactly!’ Alessia smirked. ‘It’s the perfect place for you to find your ideal match. After all, you are all members of the same species.’

Struck dumb, Logan had no idea how to respond to that.

He had been called names before, mostly by business rivals.

But he’d never been insulted by a woman in this ‘creative’ fashion, and right to his face.

Strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at her.

Stowing her camera into her shoulder bag, Alessia asked, ‘Can I leave now?’

Logan, unwilling to let her go, reached out and grabbed her wrist again, his touch searing against her skin.

‘Don’t touch me!’ Alessia screamed instinctively, her reflexes kicking in. ‘What else do you want from me?’

‘I need your help,’ Logan said.

Alessia glowered at him. ‘This is how you ask someone for help?’

‘I was afraid you’d leave without letting me finish.’

Alessia took a deep breath.

‘Fine. What help do you need?’

‘Just…stay still for a moment.’

Logan stood close to Alessia, their bodies almost touching, as he took in a deep breath, intoxicated by her scent.

It was a tantalizing mixture of cheap shampoo and something uniquely her.

The fragrance hung in the air, enveloping him and igniting a fiery desire within him that he struggled to suppress.

With every beat of his heart, the flames burned brighter.

Feeling the intensity of the moment, Logan knew he had to regain control.

He abruptly pulled back, tilting his body sideways to hide the undeniable evidence of his arousal.

His domineering nature recoiled at the vulnerability that Alessia’s presence invoked within him.

He couldn’t let her get too close, for fear of losing himself in her.

Alessia, growing impatient with the lack of response from Logan, was about to speak up when the door to the lounge swung open.

The newcomer flipped on the light switch. ‘Logan, I was hoping we could talk—’

Her sentence died in her throat as the lounge was flooded with light and her eyes fell upon Logan and Alessia standing face to face near the French window.

The two of them seemed locked in an intimate dance, poised on the precipice of something forbidden.

Olivia’s eyes widened, a mix of shock, hurt, and jealousy coursing through her veins.

The realisation of what she had interrupted struck her like a blow.

Tears welled in Olivia’s eyes as she turned to face Logan, her voice quivering with a mix of hurt and accusation. ‘Is she...is she your woman, Logan?’