Playing with Temptation by Erika Wilde Page B

out to her car, the intense, aggressive man she’d met the night before, the same one who’d all but glared at her when he’d seen her again at Noble and Associates, was playfully teasing her and coaxing her to do the same.
    The man’s charming side was just as lethal as his bad-boy persona, but there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that the power and depth she’d witnessed at The Players Club, along with all that raw sexual energy he’d exuded, was barely leashed below the surface, just waiting for an opportune moment to assert itself.
    She shivered at the thought as she slipped out of her car, even as she realized that she wasn’t completely opposed to seeing that sexy, dominant side to Logan again.
    He met up with her at the steel door that led into the back of her boutique, where she swiped a key card, then entered a security code that allowed the door to give a quick buzzing sound and unlock.
    “Who all has a key card to unlock the store?” he asked as he followed her into a sectioned-off area of the shop, where her office was located, along with a sizeable storage room she used for excess stock and inventory to fulfill the orders that came through on her website.
    “Just the full-time workers, which would be myself, my manager, Aaron, and the assistant manager, Callie, who also handles the packaging and mailing of the Internet orders. Part-time workers don’t have key access. And my best friend, Paige, also has one, for emergencies.” Raina used the same key card and code to unlock her office door, then stepped inside and placed her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, then used a small, regular key to lock it inside. “We all have our own card and code, specifically assigned to us, so there’s always a log of who came in the back door or the office, and at what time.”
    He nodded approvingly. “That’s a solid security system to have.”
    “I had a problem with an employee in the past who had a regular key to the store,” she said as she faced him again, his formidable size in her small office a bit overwhelming to her senses. “Security footage caught him coming in after hours through the front door, and inventory went missing on the night shifts when he closed up the place. When I let him go, it just seemed smarter to upgrade the security system and make everyone accountable.”
    He glanced around the office, his sharp gaze seemingly missing nothing, including the security monitor on the wall that showed a live feed of different angles and sections of the store. “How long ago did you fire this employee?”
    “About three months ago.”
    “Do you think he’d be disgruntled enough to start threatening you?” he persisted.
    “I’m pretty sure he didn’t leave the handcuffs and note,” she said with a shake of her head. “He moved to Vegas about a month ago.”
    Logan let it go at that, but Raina had no doubt that he’d mentally filed away the information for future use.
    “I’d like to get a key card for myself before the end of the day, so I have one in case of an emergency while I’m protecting you,” Logan said.
    “Sure,” she said, understanding his reasons. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the store.” She led the way out of the office and through a framed doorway covered in a brocade curtain, used to separate the back of the shop from the boutique’s retail floor.
    There were a few customers browsing in the store, her manager, Aaron, was up at the register helping a young man with a purchase, and Raina headed over to the lingerie section, where Paige was preoccupied with lacing up a mannequin in one of her newest corset designs—a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind creation made of sapphire silk, trimmed in black ruffles, and embellished with dark blue crystals.
    As she made her way around racks of sexy negligees, lacy baby-dolls, and barely there panties, Raina was very aware of Logan just a few steps behind her, his wholly masculine presence such an extreme contrast