Page 4 of Sapphire Sunset

“Copy that.”

“All right.” Buddy clapped his hands then rubbed his palmstogether. “I got an assignment that might give you some more excitement. Javiercalled in sick, so you’re going to help me guard the prince’s graduation party.Follow me.”

“The prince?” Logan asked.

A real prince? The hotel was nice, but it wasn’t that nice.According to Logan’s research, Sapphire Cove did its briskest celebritybusiness with fading reality starts hosting their second and third weddings.

“Oh, you haven’t met him yet? Hoo, boy. You’re in for atreat.”

When they entered the wide corridor for the conference andevent spaces, their feet swished over a thick spread of Pepto-Bismol andturquoise carpeting. The wedding off to their left had a loud and mostly off-keyband, but at the end of the corridor on their right, the metal push bars on theballroom doors rattled with fast-paced techno bass beats.

“Seriously, who’s the prince?” Logan asked.

“Connor Harcourt, owner’s grandson and the GM’s nephew. Heand most of the graduating class from UC Irvine are having a big blowouttonight in the Dolphin Ballroom. Our orders are to make sure it stays, and I’mquoting,contained and private. Translation—don’t let any collegegrads puke up their guts on the lawn outside, and don’t let any hotel guests into steal the free booze.”

Buddy stopped and turned so quickly Logan almost smashedinto him.

“Oh, and I’ve got some barf bags back in the office in caseyou need ’em.” He waggled his eyebrows like he andLogan were in on some secret together.

“For what?”

“Well, let’s just say the Harcourt kid’s got a fruityflavor, if you know what I mean.”

Logan felt a wave of tension sweep his body from head to toeand saw Buddy flinch, which said the anger had written itself on Logan’s face.

“Tangerine or pomegranate?” Logan asked before he could stophimself.

“All right, dude, don’t get all PC on me. I’m just trying towarn you. Youwillsee guysmackin’ on eachother in there, so steel yourself. And don’t go hauling off on anybody if theycheck you out. A guy like you, all muscly and moisturized, you’re gonna be justtheir type.”

Theirtype? Logan thought.Jesus.

Sapphire Cove wasn’t a tent revival church. But from whathe’d seen of it, the resort’s security team was a lot of hard guys looking fora softer route in life so they could either regroup or cash in. Logan didn’twant to make assumptions, but he was pretty sure they weren’t all gay friendly,and the ease with which Buddy had made his barf bagcomment didn’texactly persuade him otherwise.

Logan felt a familiar, uncomfortable flutter in his chest,not as bad as the one he’d get helicoptering into hostile territory, but close.The flutter he’d get whenever someone who had the power to screw up his dayasked him if there was a special girl in his life, and he just stood there,time stopping as he wondered whether he should tell an outright lie or just alie of omission, weighing which one of the two would take a bigger bite out ofhis soul.No, ma’am, no special girlorJust haven’t met the rightone yet.

There was a price for going where you were outnumbered orunwelcome and trying to succeed, and it didn’t always take the form of a doorbeing shut in your face on the first day of the job. Surviving was one thing,but if you tried to get ahead, people were less tolerant of your mistakes,quick to paint your natural screw-ups as a result of your so-called identity.If it wasn’t exactly like theirs. In other words, you had to be perfect all thetime. That’s what coming out now would really mean. Nobody would try to get himfired right off. They’d just start judging him by a harsher standard than anyoneelse, an effort designed to wear him down and eventually make him quit.

Well, if that turned out to be the case, they could suck it.He’d survived multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He could survivesome bigoted knuckleheads in the security department of a posh resort. Especiallywith his dad’s medical bills at stake.

Logan stopped walking and stood his ground. “No barf bagsfor me, thanks. Since I pay pretty good money to watch college guysmackon each other online, I figure I’ll just add it to myspank bank. Maybe save myself a buck or two.”

He braced for a punch in the stomach. Which was insanebecause A, they were working, and B, Logan was about twice Buddy’s size andcould easily flatten him. But he didn’t plan to take another step until Buddyaddressed his insult in some way.

“Aw, shit. Sorry, man.”

“About what?” Logan asked.

“That you gays can’t get free porn the way we straights do.”

Logan had to admit it was a pretty nice save, and Buddydelivered it with a winning smile. Still, the dude’s assertion that two guyskissing was vomit-inducing was going in Logan’s asshole bank. And it wasn’tlike Buddy had apologized for the comment.

As if to make nice, his grinning coworker held open the doorto the lawn outside and gestured for Logan to step through.

Just to their right, the Dolphin Ballroom’s terrace doorswere open to the night, the flashing lights from the dance floor pulsing acrossthe river of manicured lawn that sat between the terrace steps and an elegantbalustrade that marked the approximate edge of a cliff that plunged to theresort’s private crescent of beach far below.

There was no denying it—the thing that had allowed SapphireCove to stay independent was its prime real estate. It sat atop a promontorythat gave it three different sets of stunning views—either up or down the coastor straight out to sea.

Personally, Logan preferred the vistas north and south.After dark, they featured twinkling coastal hills plunging toward thepitch-black ocean, whereas the view straight out to sea was just black. Theresort didn’t have any guest rooms on its eastern wall facing the motor court. Maybenot the best decision for the hotel’s bottom line, but it meant there trulywasn’t a bad view in the house, a fact trumpeted on all of Sapphire Cove’spromotional materials.

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