Chapter Three


	Simon pulled the SUV into the parking lot of a sleepy looking motel and turned off
the ignition.  They’d been driving for hours and it was already dark. There was really no
point in pushing himself any more, since there was nowhere he had to be.  He
suspected there wasn’t anything pressing for his passenger either, since up until a few
hours ago she had expected to be spending the night in a tent deep in the canyon. 
Although the motel looked run down, anything would be better than sleeping on the
ground, he supposed.  With a quick glance towards the passenger seat, he reached to
open his door.
	Logan was asleep, her head resting back against the head rest, and he hesitated
before opening the door, taking the opportunity to study her for a moment.  Her face
illuminated with a soft yellow glow from the Motel sign and she looked so peaceful, he
thought.  She must have noticed the lack of motion, for she stirred and started to lift her
head.  Instantly Simon lifted the handle on his door, although he didn’t step outside right
away.
	“Wake up, Sleepyhead,” he said, and she sat forward and rubbed her eyes, then
looked around.
	“Where are we?”
	“We’re at a motel. It’s late, I need to rest before we end up in the ditch
somewhere.”  His explanation seemed to satisfy her, because she simply nodded, and
straightened in her seat.
	“I guess I haven’t been very good company for the last little while.”  She looked at
him and wrinkled up her nose, then tried to make out the face of her watch in the dim
light. “Sorry about that.”
	Simon shrugged. He hadn’t minded that she had fallen asleep.  It had eased the
guilt he had felt while she’d been awake and there had been that tense silence between
them.  At least while she’d been asleep he hadn’t felt like he’d been ignoring her.  
	“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “After a week in the wild it will be nice to shower off
a few layers of dust and then fall into a real bed. Why don’t you wait here, I’ll go get us
some rooms.”  
	She opened her mouth as if she were about to protest, then looked around the
empty parking lot and sat back in her seat. “Well, alright then.  You won’t be long?”
	“I’ll be back before you even know I’m gone,” he promised, and she gave him a
nervous grin, crossed her arms against herself, and sat back in her seat. 
	“Sure thing,” she said, and then he was gone.  She watched him walk towards
the motel office, his body held straight, his long strides punctuated by a sense of
purpose.  She wondered if Simon Crestwater ever found himself in a situation where he
wasn’t in control.  The thought made her grin, for she highly doubted that such an event
would ever occur.  Even when faced with the news that their project had been cancelled
he had taken charge.  If Jake Zimmerman had thought he could walk over Simon
Crestwater, he had tangled with the wrong man, she thought.  
	Her mind wandered back to the look on Jake’s face when Simon had walked into
the tent and taken the phone from her.  It was as if the bottom had just fallen out of
whatever plan he’d had.  His expression had held anger and panic, even disbelief. There
had been no indication from his face that he'd even entertained the idea of being able to
beat Simon at whatever game he was playing.   Logan still didn’t know what that game
was, mind you,  but she was confident that  as soon as they got to —
	Logan looked around in the dark. Where were they going anyway?  Where were
they?  She didn’t recognize the landscape, and she had no idea what direction they had
gone while she’d been asleep.  She hadn’t given any thought to where they would go,
when she’d climbed into the vehicle with him back at the camp.  She supposed she had
just assumed that they would head to Flagstaff, but that couldn’t possibly be the case. 
There’d be no reason to stop at a motel on the way to Flagstaff, regardless of the time of
night.  
	Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Simon heading back towards the
SUV.  He was walking faster than he had been on the way in to the office, and as he
passed under the light of the sign she was certain he looked like he was brooding. She
reached for the doorhandle, prepared to get out of the vehicle and meet him, but he was
at the driver’s door and climbing inside before she could even open her door. 
	“What’s wrong?” she asked, as he heaved a heady sigh and ran his fingers
through his hair. 
	“They only have one room,” he said flatly.
	“Two beds?”
	“One bed.”
	Logan turned to look at the building. The office was situated at one end of the
building, an old, dirty MOTEL sign perched on the roof, emitting a dim light through the
yellowed plastic that Logan assumed had once been white.  From the office, the building
extended towards them like an arm, its false brick missing in many places.  She counted
six doors. There were no other vehicles around.  She turned a look of disbelief towards
the man in the driver’s seat.
	“There doesn’t look like there’s anyone else here,” she said.
	“Only three of the rooms are useable, and two of them are apparently occupied,
although I wonder where the customers are.”  He looked at his watch and shook his
head.  “McCoy, who knows when the next motel is.  I can’t drive any further tonight.  I —"
	“Need to rest before we end up in the ditch somewhere,” she said, repeating his
earlier words.  “I guess we’ll just have to make this work then, since I’m also too tired to
drive, and it’s occurred to me that I haven’t got a clue where we are or where we’re
going.”
	He shot her a quick glance in the dim light. “Sorry. You were sleeping. We’re
going to Tucson.”
	“Tucson?”  Her eyes widened.  “Why on earth are we going to Tucson?”
	“Because that’s where Hector Shellington lives,” he said, pointedly, as if there
should have been no reason for her to question their destination.
	“Oh,” she said. “Hector Shellington.  Of course.”   Of course she was still just as
confused as she had been, she thougth.  She had no idea who Hector Shellington was,
but Jake had mentioned the name back at camp. Apparently he was the man she’d
been speaking to on the satellite phone. The one Simon had spoken to, a fact that had
upset Jake a great deal.  Was she to assume that Simon was going to see this Hector
Shellington?  There seemed to be no other explanation.  But what was she to do in
Tucson?  Although she’d assumed her job was done, with the cancellation of the plateau
project, he hadn’t even asked her where she wanted to go.
	“Are you coming then, or are you just going to sleep in the truck?” 
	The deep voice penetrated her thoughts, and she realized he had stepped out of
the vehicle and was standing there looking at her through his open door.  “Oh!” she
exclaimed, and clamboured to get out as well.  There might be only one bed in that
room, but there was no way she was going to sleep in the truck!  He closed his door and
moved around to the tailgate, where he retrieved her pack, then his own.  When he
made his way towards the room he had rented for them, she had to race to catch up
with him.
	The room should have been no surprise.  It looked much like the outside of the
building had. Shabby, dull, and dingy.  Both the drapes and the wallpaper were years out
of style, and showed their age with dark brown water stains in several places.  The
carpet, a mustard and brown coloured shag, was worn flat in the main traffic areas, and
the veneer on the furniture was chipped and bubbled in spots.  The once white lamp
shade was browned with age, and lit the room with a yellowed glow much like the
outside of the building. 
	Simon dropped his pack on the chair by the door and walked immediately to the
bathroom, emerging only seconds later to zero in on the bed, where he pulled back the
spread and inspected the sheets.
	“The  towels and sheets are clean, and there are no bugs in the tub.  I suppose
that’s about as much as we can ask from a place like this.”
	Logan dropped her pack to the floor and sighed. The bed looked awfully small in
comparison to the large man that presently stood towering over it.  How were the two of
them to sleep in this room together?  She looked around, glancing at the floor, and
chewing on her lip.  Without a word, he left the room, and moments later she heard the
sound of the truck door closing.  Seconds later he was back, and she actually breathed
a sigh of relief.  You’re being rediculous, thinking he was leaving you here, she scolded
herself, then she noticed he was carrying a sleeping bag, and looked at him in wonder.
	“If you want to freshen up, I’ll give you first chance at the bathroom.  When you’re
done, I’ll bunk out in the tub,” he announced, and she stared at him, trying to imagine his
large body fitting in a bathtub.  
	“You’ve got to be kidding! You’re going to what?” she asked him, staring at him in
disbelief, walking into the bathroom and looking at the tub.  “There’s no way in the world
you can sleep in there!”
	“I’ve slept in worse places,” he said, with a shrug of indifference.
	Logan stared at the tub and shook her head. “Come on, Simon! You’ll barely fit
your legs in there!”
	With a muttered exclamation under his breath, Simon grabbed a pillow off the
bed and marched into the bathroom.  In one swift motion he unfurled his sleeping bag,
laid it out in the tub and climbed in on top of it.  He settled the pillow behind him and
rested back, then crossed his arms on his chest defiantly.
	“There, see, I fit just fine,”  he said, and it was all Logan could do to keep from
laughing.  His knees were bent upwards and his arms were awkwardly propped against
the sides of the tub and folded on his chest.  He looked stiff and uncomfortable, and she
couldn’t imagine how anyone would be able to sleep like that.  But before she had a
chance to speak again, he sat forward and unfolded himself from the tub again,
dragging the sleping bag out after himself.
“Now will you please just do whatever it is you have to do in here, so I can come back in
and get some sleep?”  He marched out of the small room and dumped the sleeping bag
and pillow on the floor, and ran his fingers through his long black hair. When he hadn’t
heard the door close after a few seconds, he turned to face her again.
	“Look, McCoy,  get over it. Now, I’ll give you as much privacy as you need, as
long as you’re not going to waste my time, but if the shower isn’t running in five minutes
I’m coming in.  Make up your mind.”
	Logan gasped, and sprung into action, quickly closed the door between them
and locked it.  For a moment she stood there looking at the door handle, as if she helf
expected him to try to get in.  Then she blushed, and spun around to the tub and twirled
the taps on.  He didn’t really mean he would come in, she thought to herself.  Did he? 
One more quick glance at the door, then she drew the shower curtain closed and
reached in to flip the shower on.  Of course he didn’t, she told herself, as she began to
strip off her clothes.  He was just saying that to get me moving. But just in case, she
wasted no time climbing into the tub.
	The water felt so refreshing.  As she felt the soothing warmth flowing over her
head and down her back, all thoughts of rushing through her shower were gone.  She
closed her eyes and enjoyed the luxury of the water on her skin for several minutes
before finally washing.   When at last she turned off the water and stepped out of the 
tub she was struck by the sudden memory that Simon was waiting for her in the other
room.
	Gasping under her breath and muttering to herself, she grabbed a towel and
rubbed herself as dry as she could, then wrapped the towel around herself.  She hadn’t
had the foresight to bring anything into the bathroom with her, so all she had were the
clothes she had taken off before her shower. One look at them and she turned up her
nose.  They hadn’t seemed very dirty when she had taken them off, but now that she
was scrubbed clean the idea of putting them back on was unappealing. 
	There’s nothing to do but go out there in my towel, she decided. He’ll come right
in here and then I’ll be able to get dressed. It’s no big deal.  She clutched her clothes to
herself and glanced quickly into the mirror.  She didn’t have a  hairbrush either, but she
did  the best she could with her fingers.  She’d have to fix it later.  Quietly she turned the
handle on the bathroom door, and leaned in close to the wall,  opening the door just a
crack.  If she could just see where he was she’d know which direction to head once she
got out into the room, in order to avoid getting in his way.
	But she couldn’t see him.  Cautiously she opened the door further, and looked
around. “Simon?” she said quietly, but there was no answer.  Had he stepped outside,
she wondered. Had he decided to give her complete privacy to shower and dress
alone?  Perhaps he had taken a walk, or was getting something out of the SUV. 
Straightening her back, she opened the door fully and stepped out of the bathroom.
	Then she saw him.
	“Simon?” she whispered, but there was no response. He was laying on the bed,
on top of the bed spread, his long frame stretched out on a bit of an angle.  He had
removed his boots, but otherwise he was fully dressed.  And he was sound asleep!
	Logan stood for a moment and stared at him in disbelief, then blushed when she
thought about how long she had taken in the shower.  He’d been tired; he’d told her so.
What had she expected him to do?  With a muttered curse, directed at herself, she
grabbed her pack and looked around the room.  At last she decided the best plan of
action was to return to the bathroom to get dressed, just in case he woke up while she
was only half dressed — or worse!  She continued to mutter to herself as she slipped
into the sleep shorts and camisole she had brought for sleeping in the warm Arizona
nights in her tent.  As she ran a brush through her hair she scolded herself for having
made him wait, and debated whether he would be easily wakened or not.  She rubbed
the tub dry with a towel, then stood frowning down at it.  She still wasn’t convinced that
he’d be able to sleep there.  Maybe she should just leave him where he was and sleep
in the tub herself?
	Slowly she opened the door and looked out into the bedroom.  Simon was still
sleeping soundly.  He hadn’t even moved.  She sighed, and looked back at the bathtub. 
I don’t care what he thinks, she said finally.  He just won’t fit!
	With her decision made, she grabbed the sleeping bag and pillow he had tossed
aside and laid them out in the bottom of the tub.  Taking a deep breath, she stepped in
on top of the sleeping bag and crouched down, slowly settling into as comfortable a
position as she could manage.  Even for her, this was extremely uncomfortable, and she
shifted this way and that to try to make it better.  She crossed her arms and frowned,
and glanced out the doorway to where she could just see the foot of the bed.
	Damn!  she muttered to herself.  I can’t sleep here, and if I can’t there’s no way
he can.  Frustrated, she climbed back out of the tub, grabbed the pillow,  and went back
into the bedroom.  She stood with hands on her hips looking down at the sleeping man
on the bed for what seemed like an eternity, before she finally moved.  Slowly she crept
towards the bed in the dark, and carefully folded the bedspread away from the empty
side of the bed to cover him.  With her heart pounding in her chest, she lifted the sheet, 
watching him for any sign of movement.  In painfully slow motion, she lowered herself
onto the bed,  slipped under the sheet, and rested her head on the pillow. She couldn’t
move the sheet freely since he was laying on top of it, but she had enough to cover
herself, and tucked it up around herself.
	Then she breathed.  She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath, until
she slowly let it out. Turning her head towards him, she noticed he was still sleeping
motionless, and let out a sigh.  You can do this, she told herself.  It’s just a bed, and all
you’re going to do is sleep in it.  He’s already asleep, now you go to sleep! 
	In the eerie silence of the room, she lay there listening to his breathing. 
Eventually, when he had made no movement in quite some time,  she relaxed, and
allowed herself to melt into the bed, her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, until she
could no longer open them. There, this isn’t so bad, she thought, as she finally drifted
into a deep sleep.

	Much later, in the wee hours of the morning, with the sun peeking through the
drapes that neither of them had bothered to close completely, Logan stirred in her sleep. 
Wakefulness seemed to be taunting her from somewhere off in the distance and she
snuggled into the pillow in defiance.    It’s too early, she allowed herself to think. Let me
sleep longer.   She reached for her pillow and pushed it closer to her head, feeling the
softness against her face, and prepared to roll into it.  
	She couldn’t move.
	Carefully she tried again, but still she was unable to roll. Her body felt like a
heavy weight was holding it down. Then suddenly the grogginess cleared and she was
intensely aware that there was a heavy weight holding her down!  
Simon!
Her eyes shot open, and she turned her head towards the center of the bed. The
arm that held her was draped casually over her abdomen, the large hand resting on her
hip on the opposite side.  The owner of the arm was sound asleep, laying on his side
and pressed right up against her, his face only inches from her own.  His upper leg was
bent and both her legs were trapped under it.  The bedspread she had covered him with
the night before was crumpled up underneath him, and the sheet, which she had used,
was nowhere to be seen.  Obviously she had kicked it off in the warmth of the night, and
she lay there in her camisole and sleep shorts. 
	The heat of his hand through the thin fabric of her camisole tingled against her
skin, and she lay with her heart racing.  How on earth was she going to get out of there? 
Even in his sleep, Simon was a strong man, and his arm and leg were heavy
confinments.  Worse, if she tried to move him, he might wake up!  She stared up at the
ceiling, hoping that if she waited, he might roll away from her on his own and she could
escape the bed.  As she studied the stains on the once white paint above her, her mind
began to wander over the various things she had heard about Simon Crestwater over
the years.
	Being a long time admirer of his work, Logan had always dreamed of the
opportunity to work alongside him. Any mention of his name had made her ears perk up. 
Simon Crestwater makes the ladies swoon.  She’d heard it said that although he was a
confirmed bachelor, he was always a hit with the ladies.  The thought made her heart
skip a beat or two and she closed her eyes and tried to pretend that she was not lieing 
in a bed with his arm and leg draped intimately over her.  If he woke, would he think she
had climbed into bed beside him with different intentions than she had?  If he woke up
and found her in his arms would he assume she was there because she wanted
something more?
	Simon Crestwater is a perfect gentleman. This second piece of information she
had heard along the way did only a little to ease her mind.  Alright, so he was a
gentleman. She had no personal experience with him to prove or disprove that point,
except that he had returned to camp to rescue her.  True enough, he’d never behaved
ungentlemanly towards her, but then, he’d usually just completely ignored her.  Until
yesterday when she’d been sent to find him in the forest.  So did that just mean that if he
woke up and found her there, he would ask permission before moving in for he kill?
	Logan swallowed hard. She tried not to think about what a man and woman
together in a bed might be expected to do together.  She dug deep in her memory for
anything else she had heard about this man.  Simon Crestwater is a loner.  That wasn’t
much help, unless it would make him recoil from her if he woke up, she thought.  There
must be something else useful she had heard.
	Simon Crestwater is incredibly handsome!
	Logan’s eyes flew open.  Where on earth had that thought come from?  Without
thinking, she turned her head immediately to look at him.  She had never heard any
rumours about how handsome Simon was, or wasn’t.  What he looked like had never
crossed her mind before she had met him, and had never concerned her after.
	She looked at him as he slept.  Although his face had a slight roundness to it that
took the edge off features that would have been considered craggy otherwise, his nose
was sharp and sculpted and his jawline was strong.  Long black hair framed his face,
accentuating the tan colour of his skin, and his lashes were long and thick. Beneath
those eyelids, she knew, were the deepest, darkest eyes she had ever seen.  It was a
face she would never mind looking at, she reasoned, then felt herself blush as she came
to the realization —  Simon Crestwater was incredibly handsome! 
	But what had made her think that now, while laying in his clutches trying to conjur
up a way out? And not only that, but right after the realization that she found him
attractive, came the thought that there was no way he would ever consider her
attractive.  He’d made that perfectly clear already, simply by way of his behaviour
towards her back at camp.  A man who was attracted to a woman didn’t do everything in
his power to stay as far away from her as possible.  He may have a reputation as a
ladies man, but it was obvious he wasn’t at all interested in her. 
	And that’s just fine with me, she told herself, because I’m not interested in him
either!  It would make life   that much easier without any awkward attractions in the way,
whatever his reason for keeping her with him might be.
	 The man moved slightly, and Logan found herself holding her breath.  With any
luck, he would just roll over and face the other way, and then she could slip out of the
bed and everything would be just fine.  All she had to do was lie perfectly still, and wait. 
But he didn’t roll the other way.  In fact, he moved even closer to her, and with the arm
draped across her he drew her against him.  His leg, although straightening slightly, did
not release her, but rather hooked under her ankle, thus pressing his thigh over hers in a
very intimate manner.  Logan closed her eyes, tipped her face away from him slightly,
and waited!