The Moon is Not Enough by ThePekingNoodle
--------------------------------
Chapter Fifteen: Cat and Mouse
In which our hero and heroine prepare the trap for a certain rat…
Max was up before Logan the next morning. It was just past dawn when she awoke, and on impulse she pulled on a pair of light shorts and a T-shirt and made her way outside. She worked her way through her meditations and her routine, ending with a vigorous tumbling run. She finished up with a series of slow stretches to cool down and dropped onto the grass, laying back on her folded arms, so she could look up at the sky through the trees that surrounded the guest house.
As she lay there drinking in the peace and calm of the quiet forest, she heard a soft clapping and looked up. Logan stood on the balcony that opened off of the sleeping loft. He had on a pair of loose jogging shorts and a T-shirt, and she admired his toned legs and arms as he stood looking down at her.
"Bravo," he called down.
"Want to join me?" She waved to him in invitation.
"Be right down." He turned to go inside.
"You can't go that way. You might wake someone up." Max called back with a grin.
Logan looked at the tree that spread a branch close to the balcony. "You can't mean…?"
Max just sent him a challenging look. "If you're too old…"
Logan didn't bother to answer. Instead he stepped up, onto the balcony railing. He reached for the branch that overhung the balcony and then, with a quick swing, he was in the tree. Max watched with a smile as he made his way down to her.
"This is like old times," she said softly as he stood over her.
"No, it's better." He dropped onto the ground next to her and leaned in to kiss her. "Last time you were too young for me to do this." Max smiled as she felt his lips moving gently over hers. Then she gasped as his hands found her ribs and he began to tickle her. "…or this." He laughed as she squirmed underneath him, caught completely off guard.
His advantage didn't last long. As soon as he relented, Max neatly flipped him over and began to tickle him. Logan dissolved in laughter that matched hers as she found his ticklish spots and was merciless in her use of them.
Max tired after a few moments, and rolled off of him onto her back. The two lay there companionably, looking at the sky. Logan pulled a piece of grass up and lazily chewed on it.
"I was going to ask you if you were hungry," he said.
"Ravenous." Max responded. Logan grinned and began to lean over her, but she placed a hand on his chest and held him off. "For food," she said sternly.
"Damn." Logan said with mock disappointment. He jumped up and held out a hand. "Come on. As payment for the lovely performance, the least I can do is feed you."
Max grasped his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Hand in hand they wandered into the house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Bingo." Logan sat back from his laptop in satisfaction.
Max had just come out of the shower and was combing out her wet hair, but she put down the comb and walked over to stand behind him. "What?"
"I found it."
"Found what?"
"I tracked down the hacks that were blocking your paperwork." Logan pressed some keys and waited.
"Ah. Gotcha now." His fingers were working swiftly.
"What are you doing?" Max wanted to know, as screens came up and then rapidly blinked off of the laptop screen.
"Fixing your citizenship and our marriage records."
"What's to stop the hacker from just going back in and changing them again?" Max asked doubtfully.
"Friend of mine in the informant net who works in Immigration in DC. I've given him the scoop and he's going to make sure the files are copied and encrypted so there's no question. He's also going to pull some strings to get the local INS guys off of your case. There." Logan sat back with a satisfied smile on his face.
"So now what happens?" Max wanted to know.
Logan grinned at her. "Now we can go back to Seattle and deal with Cousin Ryan."
"Is he going to know that my records are fixed?"
"Nope. We're going to keep it quiet for now. Are you up for a society party when we get back?"
"Why?"
"Why so you can meet Cousin Ryan, of course." Logan gave her a wicked smile. "Don't you want to let him try to sweep you off of your feet?"
Max smiled back catching on to the plan. "Being as how I'm just a beautiful but dumb heiress and all."
"Absolutely."
"Sounds like fun. I can hardly wait. By the way who's giving the party?"
"My aunt and uncle of course. I asked Kendra to drop a hint that she wanted to meet the wealthy new face in town. That was all my aunt needed to hear."
"This is going to be some party. Your Aunt hates me. And if she wants Ryan for Kendra and he goes after me, she's going to hate me even more." Max rolled her eyes.
"As if you care." Logan retorted.
"Don't you?" Max asked him.
"Nope. Bennett and Kendra are the only worthwhile members of that family as far as I'm concerned." Logan responded.
"So when do we leave?" Max wanted to know.
"The party's Saturday night. So we should leave sometime tomorrow. Don wants us to have dinner with them tonight and I said we would."
"You were a busy boy while I was showering." Max commented.
"You know what they say about idle hands." Logan shot back.
"What?" Max gave him a puzzled look.
"Well if you don't know I'll be happy to show you…" Logan rose and started towards Max who ducked away laughingly.
"Down, boy. I just showered."
"So?" Logan continued to advance on her. He was about to grab her when Max moved in a blur of motion and he ended up tripping and falling onto the bed. Rolling onto his back he shrugged. "If that's the way you want it…"
"I want to go riding. If we leave tomorrow I won't have another chance." Max responded.
"I can accommodate that." Logan said smiling and making no move to rise from the bed.
"On a horse, Logan." Max was pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt as she spoke. "Get your mind off of sex for once."
"Where's the fun in that?" he wanted to know.
"If you're coming, I'll meet you in the stables." Max tossed over her shoulder as she left the room.
"I'd like to be…" Logan called after her but he got no response. Chuckling he rose and followed Max downstairs.
End of Chapter Fifteen…TBC…