A/N - Thanks for all the great comments so far. I'm excited to see what people think of this one since Alexis makes a brief appearance again.

Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.

Chapter 2 – Hearst - Take Two

On Tuesday morning, Veronica headed to the Sheriff's Office after kissing Logan good bye for the day. Leo was out in the front office talking to one of the deputies when she arrived. The Sheriff's Department had moved to a new building while she was gone, and the new office had several private offices in addition to an open area with desks for some of the deputies. Veronica had been given her own office, which was located right next to Leo's.

"G'Morning," Leo said in his usual chipper tone with his slightly bashful smile.

"Are you and Logan going to the Hearst event tonight?" He asked curiously after Veronica had returned his greeting.

"Yeah, we are. You?" Veronica wasn't surprised that he would be invited as well since Logan had mentioned that Hearst tended to invite a lot of the local city officials when they went to see the play. Leo nodded in reply. Veronica got a sly look on her face. She'd pestered him a few times about whether he was dating anyone special and he'd remained completely coy about it. "Are you bringing anyone special as your date tonight?" she asked with a curious expression, her eyes narrowing slightly.

He shrugged and mumbled his reply, "Maybe… I am bringing a date along."

"Hmmm…" Veronica thought momentarily about his answer. "Is that a 'maybe' that she's someone special then?" She grinned at him mischievously.

Leo gave her an embarrassed half smile, and headed toward his office. Veronica of course wasn't content without an answer, so followed him and stood in front of his desk as he sat down. "So, who is this mystery woman?" Veronica asked, clearly not ready to give up without getting some answers from him.

Leo chuckled and even blushed a bit. Veronica found it endearing how he could run the Sheriff's Office with complete authority, but when it came to talking about his love life, he became the completely shy deputy who had first asked her out all those years ago. "Her name's Emily." He finally replied when he realized she wasn't going to leave if she didn't get some answers.

"Mmm hmm," she said thoughtfully, "and her last name?"

Leo shook his head, "I think we'll keep that a mystery so you don't go and dig up dirt on her before tonight. It's a little late for me to find a new date." He gave her a determined smile.

"Okay, fine." She studied him for a few more seconds, "Well what does this mysterious Emily do?"

He hesitated for a second, and then must have decided telling her that much wouldn't be too risky. "She's a pediatric nurse that I met when I was down at Neptune Memorial Hospital getting information on a case. But no digging, Veronica."

Veronica smiled happily at him, "Well I can't wait to meet her tonight," she said as she turned to go to her own office.

She spent her morning looking through the jewelry case files without uncovering any new breaks in the case yet. She knew Logan had a lunch meeting, so she spent her lunch hour visiting Monique's shop to pick out a new dress for the evening.

"Veronica!" Monique said happily as she entered the shop. "It's so nice to see you again. Logan called this morning to let me know you'd be stopping by. I actually have a dress I've been saving for you since it arrived. When I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for you and it was in your size too. Wait here, while I go to the back and get it for you."

Monique returned a few minutes later with a beautiful emerald green gown. It had a halter top, leaving the back and shoulders exposed, with a gorgeous intricate waistband. The waistband was embellished with clear crystal beads that caught the light perfectly and almost looked like diamonds. The skirt of the dress was multiple layers of sheer fabric that flared out from the waistband. Veronica's eyes widened when she saw it. "It's absolutely gorgeous, Monique," she gushed as Monique led her to one of the fitting rooms to try it on.

Veronica slipped into the dress, which fit her perfectly and really accentuated her figure. She came out to show it to Monique, who smiled proudly as she saw how amazing it looked on her. "I knew that would be just perfect for you," she said happily. "Did you want to try on others too, or do you think this is the one?"

Veronica gave her a large smile, "I can't imagine one I'd like better than this. You really are just wonderful at picking dresses out for me. I also loved the one you sent for me to wear on Catalina."

Monique smiled and nodded. "I'm happy to hear that too. Oh and I think we also just received a shipment of new shoes that would go very well with the dress if you don't already have something." Veronica gave her an interested look, and Monique asked for her shoe size, and then went to the back of the shop again, returning a few minutes later with a shoe box. The shoes were strappy high heels that were in a shade that almost made them look like crystal, just like the embellishment around the waist. Veronica spun in front of the mirror with the shoes and the dress and smiled giddily. Monique also had a wrap that she said would go well with the dress for her to wear outside so she wouldn't be too cold.

Later at home, Veronica was about finished getting ready to go out for dinner before they went to the art exhibit when she finally heard Logan come into the house. He'd called a bit earlier and said he was running late, but they'd still have time to go out to dinner before the event. She was just finishing up her makeup when he came in the bedroom door. He froze in his tracks as she turned to look at him in the dress, with her hair pulled up in a formal up-do and her make up perfectly applied.

"Wow," was all he was able to say as his jaw dropped open.

She spun around for him and smiled blissfully at him. "Do you like it?"

He nodded and walked closer and gently placed a kiss on the side of her head close to her ear, being careful not to mess up her hair or her makeup. There was a full length mirror near the walk in closet and he took her hand and walked her over to it, standing behind her looking at her in the reflection.

"I think it's just missing one thing," he said with a smile. She gave him a confused look, and he opened his jacket pocket and pulled out a box. Her eyes grew large, as she watched him in the reflection. He took out a stunning emerald and diamond necklace and placed it around her neck. "Now it's perfect," he said as he hooked the necklace on for her.

"Logan!" She blurted out with a slightly panicked expression on her face. "This is way too much. You shouldn't have bought this. I told you last night, I was just asking about jewelry for my case."

He smiled and shook his head, "Slow down, Bobcat. I didn't actually buy it. You know how jewelry designers will loan out their work to celebrities for special events? Well I have a jeweler friend who is just letting us use it for tonight. Unless you really love it, then I'd be more than happy to buy it for you."

She calmed down and smiled again, running her fingers over the sparkling gemstones. "It really is beautiful. And it matches my dress perfectly too." Logan smiled a bit sheepishly at that and she quickly caught on, "You called Monique to see what color my dress was didn't you?" He nodded and kissed her neck. He took advantage of the open back design and placed several kisses down her spine as well.

"You'd better stop that, or we'll miss our dinner reservation," she scolded as she spun around. "I promise you can do whatever you like when we get home tonight."

"I'm going to remember that," he replied as he gave her a leering look.

She paused for a moment and then looked at him again with a concerned expression. "I'm sure the necklace is probably worth almost as much as the new Benz isn't it?" He shrugged at her, but shook his head a little. "What if something happens to it while we're borrowing it?"

He gave her a comforting smile, "They have insurance policies to cover that too. So there really isn't anything to worry about." He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead, and then went to the closet to change into a nicer suit to wear to dinner.

After an absolutely delicious dinner at a fancy new Italian restaurant, they headed to Hearst. The art exhibit was in a different part of campus than the play had been, but the college still had valet service set up for all their distinguished guests. Logan reluctantly handed the keys to the Benz to the valet, and then walked around and opened the door for Veronica. She gave him a sympathetic smile, and patted him on the arm. "I'm sure she'll be fine," she gently whispered to him, as if talking about an actual child. He glared at her for a moment and then smiled as he held his arm out for her to wrap her own arm around.

As they entered the hall that the art exhibit was set up in, they were immediately greeted by one of the art professors. He shook Logan's hand and thanked him for coming. He let him know that they'd like to take a few pictures with him and the Dean a bit later and then gestured to where he should return to for the pictures. Veronica spotted Leo across the hall and pointed him out to Logan.

They headed across the room to talk to Leo, but right before they reached him, one of the city council men saw Logan and stopped him briefly to talk for a moment. Veronica smiled politely and took a few more steps so she could talk to Leo and meet his date.

"Veronica," Leo said as he spotted her. He gave her a shy look and then added, "You look beautiful tonight."

"Thanks Leo," Veronica replied and turned toward his date with a friendly smile. "Hi I'm Veronica Mars," she said holding her hand out to Emily.

"Hi, I'm Emily Talbot." Emily said politely and shook Veronica's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Leo's mentioned you and how excited he was to have you join his department."

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too. Leo told me you're a pediatric nurse?"

Emily gave Leo a sweet smile and nodded. She placed her hand gently on his arm in a very affectionate way. "Yes, I just love working with children. Sometimes it can be heartbreaking to see them in pain or struggling, but I always do my best to make it as comfortable for them as I can. It's so refreshing when you get the chance to see the world through their eyes." She looked warmly at Leo again, "Leo's come by and volunteered to help in the children's ward too, reading stories and playing games with them when he can. He's quite a natural with them."

Leo smiled and tipped his head down, looking slightly embarrassed by the praise.

Veronica couldn't help but smile at the two of them and think how perfect of a pair they seemed to make.

Logan finished talking and turned around to the others. Veronica noticed the moment his eyes landed on Emily, "Leo," he started to say with a nod of his head, then he noticed the woman by Leo's side, "Em.. ily?"

"Do you two know each other?" Leo asked with a curious look on his face.

Logan nodded, "Yeah, we're old acquaintances."

"Nice to see you again, Logan," Emily said politely and moved a little closer to Leo. Leo put his hand around her waist and looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment.

Veronica studied Emily even more closely now. Not only was she incredibly polite and kind, but she was quite striking with beautiful strawberry blond hair and light green eyes. Old acquaintances, Veronica thought to her self, obviously that was Logan not wanting to make it awkward by admitting he'd dated the woman Leo was there with. The next thought that came to her mind was that Emily seemed to be the complete opposite of Kennedy. Strawberry blond versus fiery red hair. Sweet versus completely psychotic. Says nice things about children versus throwing out catty comments.

"We're going to keep walking around and looking at the exhibits," Leo said with a friendly smile, "Maybe we'll catch up with you later."

Logan nodded and gave Leo a quick hand shake as they continued on to another part of the hall. Veronica glanced at Logan with a raised brow. He sighed and smiled cautiously at her.

"Emily seems very nice," Veronica said watching his reaction. Logan nodded. "How long did you two date?"

His expression changed to a grim smile. "About two months." Veronica nodded. She wasn't sure if she was relieved he'd dated someone as sweet as Emily seemed to be given the personalities of Alexis and Kennedy, or if that made her feel a little jealous. He'd been honest with her though and had admitted he'd dated other women after Alexis, and she knew it wasn't really fair to hold anything that happened in the time she was away against him. Honestly though, she actually didn't feel all that jealous of Emily. Even though she'd just met her, she seemed a much better match for Leo than she could have imagined she would have been for Logan and she couldn't imagine someone that sweet ever trying to cause problems for an ex, unlike the other two women.

"Ready to go look at the exhibits?" Veronica asked with an understanding smile. She reached her hand out for him to take. He nodded and took her hand, lifting it up to his lips and kissed it softly. She gave him a loving look as she watched his warm lips press against the skin on the back of her hand. As he moved her hand back down, she intertwined their fingers together and they started walking around the exhibit hall.

They started in an area of sculptures and were about to move on to the photography section when they ran into Alexis and Casey. Veronica was surprised to see Alexis with Casey again, since she'd been with Tommy on Halloween just a little over a week before and they had seemed quite cozy together. Although given the way Alexis seemed to have control over men, she realized she probably shouldn't be all that surprised.

"Veronica," Casey said with a friendly smile, "You look beautiful tonight." He gave her a quick hug, and then shook Logan's hand. "Great to see you again too, Logan."

"Thanks, Casey," Veronica replied as she took Logan's hand again.

"That really is an amazing dress," Alexis added, giving Veronica a polite smile. She'd moved back to wrap her arm almost possessively around Casey after he was done hugging Veronica. "Are you two enjoying the show? There are a lot of really nice exhibits this year."

Logan and Veronica nodded in unison.

"You two are coming to Growlers on Saturday night for Alexis's birthday celebration, right?" Casey asked looking between the two of them.

"Vanessa's coming over from Catalina with Tyler, and I know she'd really like to see both of you again. We just decided earlier today to go do that on Saturday, and I didn't get a chance to ask Logan about it yet," Alexis added with the same polite expression.

Logan looked at Veronica to see what she was thinking about the invitation. Veronica shrugged and nodded a bit unsure. "It would be nice to see Vanessa, and meet Tyler," she replied giving Logan a knowing look. She knew he was still worried about whether Tyler was mistreating Vanessa at all and seeing them together in person might be good. They hadn't yet planned another trip out to Catalina to check on them.

"We'll try to make it," Logan answered.

"You'd better," Alexis replied with a friendly little wink.

One of the professor's assistants walked up to them and asked Logan and Alexis if they were free to take a couple pictures with the Dean since he'd finally arrived. Logan gave Veronica a questioning glance, to which she nodded and smiled. Logan and Alexis followed the assistant, leaving Casey and Veronica alone.

Veronica still wasn't terribly trusting of Alexis and really didn't want to see her hurt Casey. Even though she knew she probably shouldn't butt in, she just couldn't help herself, she hadn't changed that much in the last eight years. "I must say I was a little surprised to see you here with Alexis tonight," Veronica said as Casey handed her a glass of champagne from a tray that a waiter was carrying by.

Casey gave her a suspicious look. "Ah, because you saw her out with Tommy on Halloween?" Veronica smirked and nodded. At least Casey was well aware of whatever games Alexis might be up to. "I told you before, I'm not naïve Veronica. You really don't need to worry about me, though I appreciate that you are." He gave her a little wink. "I'm more her choice for high society events. I don't think Tommy would fit in so well at a College Art show, do you?"

She chuckled lightly and shrugged. "I suppose not."

"I can understand why you aren't a big fan of Alexis's, but I enjoy spending time with her and I can take care of myself, okay?" His tone and expression remained friendly even if he was more or less trying to tell her to mind her own business.

She nodded and smiled at him. They decided to walk around and look at the photography exhibits while they waited on the other two. Most of the exhibits were all from this year's students, but there was one wall that had top prize-winning exhibits from alumni from other classes as well. There was a black and white photograph that caught Veronica's eye and she went over to look at it more closely. It was taken from the vantage point of someone who was lying on a rope hammock with someone else, as you could see two pairs of feet slightly intertwined together on the hammock, and then in the background was a tropical setting, with waves breaking against the shore and palm trees. The moon was low in the sky, most likely it was evening before the sun set and so there was enough light to capture all of the details, as well as the very full moon rising above the horizon. Veronica glanced at the name of the alumni, and felt a sinking feeling spread through her when she realized it was an A. Calloway. As she stood there looking at it, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and a pair of lips kiss her lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey there, what's a gorgeous woman like you doing all alone over here?" Logan whispered in a sensuous tone into her ear.

She sighed and leaned into him, "Well my date left me unattended, so I suppose I've just been waiting for someone else to come along."

"Mmmmm…" he mumbled softly against her neck, "must be my lucky night then." He placed another kiss on her neck right below her ear. She closed her eyes as his warm lips came in contact with her skin sending a warm sensation through her entire body, and for a moment she forgot about the photo she'd just started obsessing over.

She turned in his arms so she could face him and opened her eyes and smiled lovingly at him. "Hey there," she said in a shy voice.

"Hey there" he replied back lovingly "So what were you looking so intently at?" Logan asked as he turned his gaze back toward the wall. She heard him take a deep breath and then he looked back at her, studying her face to see what she was thinking.

"I didn't realize they still had any of her photographs on display." He said with an apologetic look.

Veronica shrugged and gave him a small smile. Of course Casey and Alexis had also wandered back to them just then. "Ah, Tahiti," Alexis said as she gazed at her photo. "Have you ever been there Casey?"

"No, I've been to Fiji before, but not Tahiti." Casey replied with a smile. "That's a very nice photo Alexis." He glanced briefly at Logan and then back at the photo. "Good surfing there?" he asked as he turned back to Alexis.

"The good surf spots were definitely difficult to get to there. We did find some good waves, but I think we spent more time doing other non-surfing activities. The views were exceptional though." Alexis glanced at her picture then back at Logan for a moment before turning back to Casey. "How was Fiji? I think we'd talked about a trip there, but never did go."

Casey had a genuine smile on his face as he described the other island. "I loved Fiji. The surfing there was fabulous, and the resort I stayed at was amazing. Have you heard of Matanivusi Resort?" It was hard to miss the look Logan and Alexis shared, though they quickly looked back at Casey.

"That's the resort that's touted for being eco-friendly right?" Logan asked, joining in the conversation for the first time since the other two had walked up.

Casey nodded. "It's just gorgeous there, well if you're looking for 5-star spa service, then it's not that, but if you're looking for something secluded and beautiful, surrounded by the jungle with magnificent views of the water and surfing nearby, then it's perfect."

"We should plan a trip there," Alexis said to Casey as she ran her hand down his chest and pushed her body closer to his, "We could make a long weekend and fly down in your plane."

Casey smiled and nodded, "That would be great, I'll check with my assistant and figure out if there's some time that would work for the two of us to go." He suddenly seemed to feel a bit awkward discussing their plans in front of Logan and Veronica. "Of course if you two would like to join us, that would be cool too."

Alexis looked at Logan and Veronica with amusement, definitely doubting they'd agree to go on a couple's vacation with her and Casey. "Yes, that could be fun if you two want to come along with us," she added, with a satisfied smirk.

Logan took a deep breath and answered before Veronica even had a chance to react, "That's thoughtful of you Casey, but I think we'll pass." Alexis kept the smirk and nodded.

Leo and Emily happened to walk by and stopped to greet the group. Veronica couldn't help but notice the look that Alexis and Emily exchanged. It certainly would not have qualified as friendly. She wondered for a moment if she was going to witness a repeat of the Kennedy versus Alexis face-off, but neither woman said anything. Logan had quickly introduced Leo and Emily to Casey, since they hadn't met previously.

"I'm surprised to see you back in Neptune," Alexis finally said an icy tone to Emily, "I thought you'd been transferred to a hospital in San Diego?"

Emily seemed to force the pleasant smile she'd worn before back on her face before she answered. "I transferred back to Neptune Memorial Hospital a few months ago."

Alexis smiled almost maliciously. Her voice to on a mischievous tone. "Well we make quite the interesting group don't we?"

Logan shot her a warning look. He knew that look and tone too well. "Don't start Alexis."

She gave him a smug grin and shrugged. "What, I was just curious. Since Logan's dated all 3 of the women here, and Emily and I have each dated two of the men, I was just wondering how many Veronica's also dated."

"I think that's our cue to go," Casey said, wrapping his arm around Alexis's waist and escorting her back toward the sculpture portion of the exhibit. He gave Veronica a quick apologetic look as he walked by.

The other four stood there a bit awkwardly for a moment, until Logan spotted someone of interest across the room. "If you'll excuse us, there's someone I wanted to introduce Veronica to." Leo and Emily smiled and said a quick good bye, likely thankful for a reason to leave, and walked off in the opposite direction that Casey and Alexis had gone.

Veronica gave him a questioning look as they started to walk.

"I thought you might want to meet Grant Whitman for your case?" Logan said to answer the look she was giving him. She smiled and nodded and he put his arm around her, pulling her a little closer to his side and started leading her across the room. "I'm also sorry about Alexis," he whispered as they walked. She shrugged and gave him an understanding smile back.

While it was a terribly bitchy thing to say out loud, it wasn't actually untrue, Veronica thought to herself as they walked across the room. We certainly were an incestuous little group there.

Grant was probably in his early fifty's, though he definitely had a youthful aura about him. He was there with his wife, Tiffany, who of course was adorned in a set of very expensive looking jewelry. She may have only been slightly younger than he was, but still had the appearance of being a trophy wife.

"Mayor Echolls," Grant called out as Logan approached him and held out his hand for him to shake. "So nice to see you again. You remember my wife Tiffany right?" The blond woman on his arm smiled broadly at Logan, as he nodded.

"This is my girlfriend, Veronica Mars." He said introducing her to the other couple.

Grant seemed to be trying to place her once he heard the name. "Any relation to Keith Mars?" he finally asked once he seemed to connect the last name to someone he knew. Veronica nodded with a friendly smile on her face. "Great guy, he's helped me on a few insurance fraud cases in the last couple of years."

"Thanks, I agree he's a pretty great guy." Veronica said with a proud smile, "I'm actually working for the Sheriff's department now. I just started to investigate the recent rash of jewelry thefts that have been occurring the last few weeks in the 09 zip code." She watched him carefully to see how he reacted to that piece of information. She didn't catch anything unusual in his demeanor.

"I certainly hope you're able to make some headway on that soon." He shook his head in an obvious show of disgust. "Those thefts have cost my insurance company quite a bit lately."

Veronica nodded in agreement, "I hope so too, Mr. Whitman."

"Please call me Grant," he replied with a friendlier smile. "Lovely necklace you have on tonight. Looks like one of Sylvia's?" He looked at Logan for confirmation. Logan nodded. "Her designs are so unique and beautiful. I don't recall seeing a new policy come through for you though?" he continued with a questioning expression.

"We're just borrowing it for the night," Logan replied with a knowing smile. "Sylvia said it was already insured for being loaned out for events."

Grant nodded in return. "Most of her collection is." He turned back to Veronica. "It really is stunning on you. If you decide to purchase it, be sure to give me a call to write up a policy for you."

Logan smiled and nodded, "Of course."

Tiffany must have either become bored of the insurance talk, or actually did see someone across the room she wanted to talk to, because she leaned in and whispered something to Grant, and they politely excused themselves and headed across the room.

"So any of your spidey senses going off?" Logan asked with a curious smile.

Not about my case, Veronica thought to herself, still thinking about Logan and Alexis's reaction to the name of the resort that Casey mentioned. But of course that's not what he's referring to.

She smiled and shrugged, "I didn't sense any unusual reaction when I mentioned the case and he seemed sincere in wanting the guilty party to be apprehended." She looked more intently at him thinking to herself, your reaction to the resort in Fiji was much more noticeable. Not that she actually wanted to go to Fiji with Casey and Alexis, but she was also surprised that he didn't even glance at her before announcing they wouldn't be joining them on a trip there. Focus on the case, not Fiji, Veronica. She smiled warmly at him, before speaking again. "Thanks for introducing me."

He smiled and nodded and they spent about another hour walking around the exhibit together discussing the different photographs and paintings. Luckily they didn't run into Casey and Alexis again. They finally decided they'd been there long enough and had seen everything, so they went to retrieve the Benz from the valet. Of course Logan walked around the entire of car after opening Veronica's door and before getting in himself, to be sure there weren't any scratches or dings. Veronica gave him a teasing grin as he finally climbed back into the car.

They'd been in the car for about five minutes driving in silence, before he finally spoke up. "Thanks for coming tonight."

"Of course," She replied softly.

They sat silently for a few more minutes, "So Matanivusi?" she asked finally.

He sighed and she thought his hands may have gripped the wheel a bit tighter, but in the dark it was hard to tell. "We were supposed to go there for our honeymoon." He said grimly with his eyes staring straight ahead on the road.

Ouch, Veronica thought to herself, I expected it to be just a cancelled trip, not THAT cancelled trip. She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." They hadn't really talked at all about how far they'd gotten with planning their wedding or anything that specific about their engagement. She hadn't really had a desire to know that much detail about him almost marrying someone else.

He shrugged and still didn't glance in her direction, "You didn't know."

But Alexis must have known, and she didn't hesitate to suggest her and Casey should go there. And on top of that, she had such a smug little grin when Casey invited us along too. Could she be a bigger bitch? Poor Logan.

"I could have just let it go though," Veronica said in a gentle voice, "I didn't need to bring it up just now, so for that I'm sorry."

He finally glanced at her for a moment and a small smile formed on his lips. He reached over and placed his hand on her leg and she covered it with her own hand, drawing little soothing patterns on the back of it with her thumb.

"Thanks Veronica," He said quietly, "I know with your undying curiosity it's hard to just let things go though, and I'm really okay with that. I told you before that I'll be open and honest about anything you want to know, and I really meant it."

"Did you want to talk any more about it?" she asked gently as she continued to rub her fingers along the back of his hand.

"No," He said with a little sigh. He glanced at her for a moment and then gave her a loving smile. "Hypothetically, if we were ever to get married, where would you want to go on our honeymoon."

While that may be a nice way to replace those bad memories with good ones, that's still a bit of a panic inducing question for him to ask me. She took a deep breath and didn't answer right away.

"Just hypothetically Veronica," He said in a comforting voice when he felt her hand still that had been gently rubbing his own. "We can do hypothetical can't we?"

"Yeah of course," she replied in what she hoped didn't sound like a terrified voice. "I don't know," she glanced out the window at the lights of the buildings they were driving by.

"I was just curious if there was someplace you'd really like to visit, that's all. It wouldn't have to be for a honeymoon." He added, sensing how uncomfortable she had become with her body language and tone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's fine," she said as she turned back to watch him. A blissful smile crossed her face as he turned and looked lovingly at her again. It was one of those deep soulful looks that took her breath away and made her want to be better at being open with him. "I'd actually really like to go to Scotland some day. I think it would be amazing to visit some of the gorgeous castles and abbeys. Have you ever visited Scotland?"

He gave her a quick look and a grin, "I think you probably know I haven't Veronica."

She gave him a slightly guilty smile. "How'd you know that?"

He chuckled softly, "I noticed my passport had been moved a little bit in my desk. I figured you probably took a look at it. Which is totally fine, by the way. I told you no secrets, anything you want to know. I'm an open book and I told you there wasn't anything I was going to hide from you either."

She picked his hand up from her lap and kissed it softly before setting it back on her leg and squeezing it tightly. "I'm really rusty with my stealthy snooping skills, aren't I?"

"You don't need to be stealthy with me," he replied in a calm tone as he smiled at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road.

They drove the rest of the way home in a comfortable silence. Logan drove the Benz into the garage when they got home, and they headed into the house. "You really do look absolutely amazing tonight," he said as he wrapped his hands around her waist as she walked down the hallway to the kitchen, placing a warm kiss on her shoulder.

"I owe most of that to you," she said with a loving smile as she turned in his arms to face him. He gave her a puzzled expression. "The dress and the necklace," she said when she saw that he didn't know what she was talking about.

He smiled lasciviously at her, "I'm pretty sure you'd look just as amazing if you didn't have those on."

"Hmmm," she said with an exaggerated thoughtful look on her face. "Perhaps for research purposes we should go upstairs and see if your hypothesis holds true."

He smiled lustfully back at her, "Who can say no to research." He kissed her deeply, and then pulled his head back slightly. "I'd hate to stand in the way of scientific advancement."

After turning on the security system, he followed her up the stairs to their room. She'd already taken the heels off and he gave her a scolding look.

"I think for research purposes, I should be the one who gets to decide what things you take off and in what order," he said with a lascivious smile. "Put the heels back on."

She raised her eyebrow in a questioning look but did as he said. He went over and sat on one of the chaise lounge chairs and motioned for her to come and stand in front of him. He'd taken his jacket and tie off on his way up the stairs and set them on the other end of the chair. He studied her carefully for a moment, and then seemed to have made his choice. "Dress off first." He said in a low deep tone. She turned so he could help with the zipper and the button that was on the halter strap. Her skin tingled as he ran his warm fingers almost teasingly across the skin of her back. She carefully stepped out of the dress as it fell around her ankles and gave him a seductive smile.

He took a deep breath as the dress fell away, revealing a matching emerald green lacy thong and nothing else. She raised her eyebrow at him, "Well?" she asked in a sexy tone, "more amazing with or without the dress?" His eyes gazed over her. She still had her hair up in the sexy up-do, though a few of the strands had started to fall, and was standing in front of him topless, with the emerald and diamond necklace, dark green lace thong and high heels.

"Mmmm," he moaned as he looked at her and ran his tongue across his bottom lip. "I think I need to see you from all angles to decide." She smiled mischievously at him, and then spun slowly around. He stood up from the chaise, pressing his body up against her, "Definitely sexier now."

He walked her backwards toward the bed. Once they reached it, he picked her up and spun slowly so he could pull her down on top of him, then rolled them so she was on the bottom. She moaned beneath him as his mouth closed over her right breast and he ran a hand up one of her thighs. He moved his mouth to the other side, and then shifted up higher so he could kiss her deeply.

"Necklace next," he whispered against her neck as he kissed her tenderly and reached back to carefully undo the clasp. Once it was off, he carefully laid it on the table next to the bed and gazed over her body.

She raised her eyes in question and he'd almost forgotten their little game of research as he started to get consumed by the passion of her being in only a thong and high heels stretched out on their bed for him. "Even sexier now," he said in a low growl. She could see his eyes getting darker with lust the more he watched her. He crawled back on top of her and kissed her deeply again.

"You have way too many clothes on, Mayor Echolls," she said in a seductive tone as she reached to start undoing his shirt. Soon she had him completely naked. She looked questioningly at him and then down to her heels.

He ran his mouth down her inner thigh, licking her soft warm skin with his tongue as he went. He scooted down to the end of the bed, and carefully removed each of her shoes, then slowly crawled back up, continuing to kiss and run his tongue over her legs and stomach. He kissed her passionately again on the lips, and then finally removed the green thong.

"I was right," he said a bit breathlessly against her mouth. She smiled and ran her fingers lovingly through his hair. "You're most amazing in nothing at all," he said before he pressed his lips to hers again.