Page 15 of Sapphire Sunset

“There are,” Connor said.

“Well, technically they’re on my rounds, so if Sapphire Cove’sreally going to be lucky to have me, you should probably show me where theyare.”

They weren’t on his rounds. The beach, maybe, but the guystold him they only checked it once or twice a night because it took them toofar from the hotel’s potential late-night hot spots—the event spaces and thebar inside Camilla’s.

Maybe Connor knew this, maybe he didn’t.

The intensity in Connor Harcourt’s eyes made it look like hecould hear the pulse roaring in Logan’s ears. Logan almost wanted him to,wanted the guy to have some sense that it was wild hunger for Connor that hadleft him tongue-tied and reckless, and not a lack of interest.

Softly, the man they called the prince said, “I’d be happyto show you anything you like, Logan Murdoch. Follow me.”

Then he slipped past Logan toward the gate in thebalustrade, beyond which lay a set of wooden stairs that descended the cliffface to the beach below.

Defuse the mystery. Thank the guy for his heroicactions. Get Naser to stop nagging him about the whole thing so he could texthim later with the sad news Luscious Logan—as Naser, Jose, and Ken had all swiftlynicknamed him—was straight and married and probably comfortable enough with hissexuality to make jokes about dancing with other guys.

Those had been Connor’s intentions when he’d searched theproperty for the hero of his graduation party.

But Logan, it turned out, wasn’t married to a woman ordating one. And he looked into Connor’s eyes with a hunger that made Connor’sbreath catch inside a tiny space right below his throat.

Best of all, Logan didn’t wince or draw back or go cold whenhe heard the sound of Connor’s high-pitched voice. Agay voice,asmore than one Tinder date had referred to it, and never as a compliment. The treacherousworld of Internet dating was full of gay and bi guys who loudly proclaimedtheir exclusive interest in “straight-acting men,” and he’d had more than oneexperience of having a prospect show lots of emoji-strewn enthusiasm for hisprofile photos, only to retreat into sullen silence once they met in person andrealized Connor was just his mother’s side of femme. They used code words, ofcourse, little turns of phrase to make themselves sound less homophobic andsexist, but Connor had learned to recognize them all. Bubbly. Precocious. Lively.Spunky. Full of personality. Atalker. So even after it became clearLogan was on the same team, Connor had waited for the inevitable recoil.

But the more he’d talked, the more he’d been himself, themore Logan Murdoch had leaned in. The wannabe dude-bro recoil never came. Andwasn’t that refreshing?

It was beyond refreshing.

It was intoxicating.

And now, as Connor descended the wooden staircase to the beachbelow, his hands felt tingly even though the air was distinctly cooler thisclose to the surf. He was headed to the sea caves, after dark, out of sight ofeveryone at the hotel, with one of the most attractive men he’d ever met. Butcalling Logan Murdoch attractive was like calling a redwood tree solid. Sure,it was technically true, but it didn’t come close to describing the full extentof what you felt when you were standing before it.

“This way.” Connor guided them along the base of the cliff,where the sand was hard packed and had less of a chance of getting in theirshoes. He steered them through the shadows between the security lights studdingthe cliff face overhead, then toward the spot where a high, cast-iron gate tallerthan Logan blocked access to a narrow wooden boardwalk hugging the cliff’s basewhere it jutted out into the sea.

“Not sure I have a key for that.” Logan reached from behindConnor and gripped one of the gate’s bars. Connor thought the guy might be aboutto press him up against the metal and take things to the next level rightthere. Instead, Logan gave the gate a small shake with his big hand thatrattled it from top to bottom.

“You do. It’s the same perimeter key that works on the poolareas.”

“All right, then. Let’s have at it.”

Have at it.The words were deliciously direct andfull of possibility, especially when accompanied by Logan’s commanding tone.

The gate opened with a whine. Logan gestured for Connor tostep through first. Gracing these furtive proceedings with such a gentlemanlygesture made Connor’s heart flutter. Once on the boardwalk, wet spray mistinghis arms and neck, his heart started to thunder. When he heard Logan close thegate behind him, it felt as if he’d closed a bedroom door.

The ocean-facing stretch of the boardwalk was lined withinformational placards about the sea life offshore and the history of thesurrounding coast, and a few coin-operated telescopes. These had been Connor’smom’s doing. A former high school teacher before she’d married a man she hadn’tknown was a multimillionaire until their fourth date, she was always trying toinject some higher purpose into the business of pampering vacationers.Sometimes it worked. Mostly it didn’t. Thanks to Uncle Rodney.

After a few yards, the boardwalk made a sharp right turn.And then the cave swallowed them.

“Wow.” Logan’s voice echoed through the rocky chamber.

Here, the sounds of the ocean surf softened into somethingthat was more like a gurgling brook. What whitecaps the cave’s mouth capturedwere filtered down into something frothy and inviting amidst the labyrinth oflow rocks within. The basic security lights at foot level threw a soft goldenlight across the metal struts that secured the rock ceiling overhead.

“I used to come here all the time as a kid with my friends,”Connor said nervously. “There’re all kinds of caverns back here we used to playand hide in before my mom found out and busted us. She still has no idea theydon’t go that deep. She still thinks you could get lost in here. But I’ve gotan excellent sense of direction.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, I usually know where things are headed.”

“Makes sense, I guess. Your life’skindalaid out for you, right? You’ll probably run this place someday, right? Heirapparent and all that.”

“Oh, God. Do they still call me the prince?” Connor turned,resting his butt against the guardrail so he could focus on Logan.

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