"Meaning my house looks bare?" He smiled at her.

He was so incredibly handsome that if Logan didn't already have her so twisted up inside, she might have been more admiring. "You're supposedly rolling in dough, right? So why don't you pretty up the place a little?"

He bent to pull a weed, too. "I'm not rolling in dough, " he told her. "But I am comfortable."

She snorted. Comfort could mean a variety of things to a variety of people.

Only the well-to-do used it to describe a lifestyle filled with security and extravagance.

"If I lived here," Dash said, "maybe I would decorate more. But the draw for me is that I don't have to do anything when I'm here. I cut the grass-"

"You mean the weeds," she quipped, and pulled another.

"-when it's necessary. But mostly I just laze around in the sun, go swimming, row out the boat, that sort of thing."

"Do you come here often?" If it was her place, she'd never want to leave.

"A day here, a day there, and a couple of times a year I find a week or more."

He bent, turned over a rock and watched a fat spider scurry away. "I don't want this to become a big responsibility, and that's what it'd be if I felt like I had to get here to water bushes or flowers, or trim the lawn."

"I guess. But you could hire someone." Since he was so well-off.

"Then others would know about it."

And Logan wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving her there. Dash hadn't complained, but she still felt she owed him an apology. "I'm sorry that we intruded on your privacy."

Standing in the shade of a shed, he looked around at the fallen branches and twigs from tall trees, and at the rusted lock on the shed door. "Don't be. Logan knows he can count on me for...

anything." He checked the lock. "Damn, I guess I do need to do a little maintenance work."

"You have a lawnmower?"

"Push, yeah." Using his wrist, he cleaned sweat off his forehead. "The hill is too steep for a rider."

"I'll cut the grass."

He paused. "You don't need to do that -"

"I want to. I love the sun and the heat and the fresh air." Grudgingly, she confessed, "I'm a little bored, and I'm feeling sluggish. Since I don't have a suit for swimming, and Logan got his boxers in a bunch over the idea of me skinny- dipping-"

"Would you have?" he interrupted her to ask. "I mean, without Logan here to know you're doing it?"

The grin came slow and easy. "You think I only did that to irk him?"

"Yes."

And he'd be right. "You've got me there. But if you tell him, I'll make you sorry."

He joined her in grinning. "Why would I do that?"

"Logan is your brother."

"That he is, and even though I love him, last night was mighty entertaining."

Entertaining? That hadn't been her intent at all. But it was so nice hearing Dash openly admit to loving Logan that she let it slide. "Most men aren't so honest with their feelings."

"Men who aren't wusses are."

She laughed at that. "I'm not overly modest, you know, but I'm not really someone who runs around in the buff, either."

"You impressed me. It was a diabolical payback, the type only a woman could connive."

"I'm not sure I like the way you say that." He made her sound really vindictive and wicked. Was she? Okay, she could be. But Logan had it coming...

didn't he?

"I just meant that Logan's too serious.

I like it that you're keeping him on his toes."

"Yeah, well, I'm still mad at him."

She went to the shed and tugged at the flimsy lock. "You have a key?"

"Tucked out of sight on a hook inside the lazy-Susan cabinet." He crossed his arms. "Are you really that angry with him, even knowing why he had to dupe you?" Understanding softened his tone.

"Or is it that you're still hurt because you care about him, and you trusted him?"

Pepper took in his sincere gaze, the dark brown eyes so much like Logan's, the breadth of his shoulders and the way his biceps bunched with his crossed arms. Beard shadow darkened his jaw and gave him an appealing, rakish look, and that smile... He probably broke hearts on a regular basis.

"Did I grow horns or something?"

She shook her head with amusement.

"I bet you have an easy time of it with the ladies, don't you?"

"Dodging the answer?"

"Just making an observation. And the answer is...both."

He considered that before nodding and giving an answer of his own.

"Women aren't too difficult once you understand them."

"What's there to understand?"

"Number one is that they're different from men-more tenderhearted, gentler and far more emotional."

"That's awfully sexist." Was she being too emotional about Logan's ruse?

"But true all the same." Dash winked.

"Later, when it cools down, we can work on cutting the grass if you really want to. For now, why don't we swim?

There's heavy-duty sunscreen inside, and you can borrow my drawstring shorts and a T-shirt to use. I promise, no matter how awesome you look in the getup, I'll do my best not to notice."

Such a charmer. "Okay, sure." Maybe she could use the time with him to dig into Logan's psyche. No way did she want to be the overly emotional one.

"You'll tell me more about Logan?"

He started them both back toward the house. "What did you want to know?"

"Everything." And to ensure he didn't disagree, she said, "It's the least you can do to entertain me while I'm stranded here."

"All right. But be prepared to dislike us both even more. Overall we've led pampered lives filled with love and indulgence." He smiled while saying that. "Our mom is a natural-born coddler and our dad is a real stand-up guy. Life has been good."

Oddly enough, she was glad to hear it.

"I don't dislike either of you."

"No?" He looked pleased with her confession.

"No." She wouldn't wish her childhood on anyone. "I'll treat your story like a fairy tale." And maybe it'd make it easier for her to sleep at night.

That is, after she got a little more retribution with Logan.

LOGAN FOUND HER in the rowboat,

stretched out on her back across one of the hard wooden seats, a floatation cushion under her head, her feet hanging over the side. Dappled sunlight came through the tall trees shading the lake.

Rippling waves kept the boat rocking lazily, occasionally bumping the dock.

She slept on.

The heat of the day had dried her hair after her swim, leaving it in twisted hanks with a crooked part. A little too much sun kissed her nose and the tops of her cheekbones. Wearing a pair of Dash's shorts, cinched tight around her hips, and one of his large T-shirts, she should have looked silly.

Instead, she looked...relaxed. Happy.

More at ease than he'd ever seen her.

Finding her like this worked as a buffer against the futile efforts of the day. He wouldn't mind ending every shift this way-coming home to find Pepper there, knowing she'd be his for the night-and longer.

Interviewing witnesses had proved a waste of time. He'd tried to check out Andrews's body, but the lieutenant had that locked up pretty tight. He'd have drawn suspicion if he'd started poking around too much.

Hopefully Reese found out something more.

Sitting on the dock, Logan took off his shoes and socks, then unbuttoned his shirt and rolled up his pant legs. A humid breeze licked over the bared skin of his chest, ramping up his edgy need.

His gaze tracked over her body, from her breasts to her long legs to her narrow feet.

"Thinking of joining me?"

His attention shot to her face. He found her watching him through heavy eyes, a slight smile on her mouth.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay." She stretched, and even in the absurd clothes, she made his blood boil. "I've been napping too much today."

Enjoying this mellow mood of hers, Logan smiled. "You needed to catch up on your sleep." God knew, they hadn't gotten much rest yesterday.

"So do you." She sat up yoga style and, shielding her face with one hand, squinted up at him. "You get the rubbers?"

So bold, and so damned tempting. She left him savage with lust, but it was the overwhelming emotion he found difficult to contain. "I got everything on your list."

"Good." She looked around at the lake, at the sun now dropped in the sky.

"What time is it anyway?"

"A little after seven. I meant to be back here sooner, but-"

"You have a job to do." She reached out a hand to him, and when he took it, she stepped from the boat and stood beside him. "Anything new to share on Morton?"

Eye-level with her knees, he stirred more. It'd be so easy to lean forward, to put his face against her warm thighs, breath in her scent, made muskier by the hot sunshine. "Not a whole lot."

"That's too bad." She touched his hair. "What about the rest of your day?"

Did she actually want to talk about that with him? It'd be unique for him to share his work with a woman, but then, Pepper was a unique woman, and this situation involved her as much as- maybe more than-him. "I went through a string of witnesses today."

She tugged him to his feet. "Bet that was a waste of time, huh? Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."

"That's about it." When she started on the buckle to his belt, his abdomen tightened. "Reese went to the hospital to talk to a few of Morton's guys who were injured, but they're pretty dopey on pain meds."

"They'll live?" she asked without much concern. With his pants now open, she abandoned them to strip his shirt off his shoulders.

"Yeah." He helped her with the shirt, freeing his arms and dropping it to the side. When she went back to his pants, he caught her wrists. Not wanting to dissuade her but unsure how to continue, he asked, "What are we doing here?"

"I thought maybe you'd like a quick swim to cool down." She pulled a hand free and smoothed it over his chest.