“And how is it going with Doc Munster?” Kaysie smirks as she sets a cappuccino in front of me, a lily carved into the froth. “I can’t believe they’ve finally run away together after giving each other moon eyes for years.” She waggles her perfectly plucked brows at me. “Did you give Rosie any tips on how to make the most of her shaggin’ wagon?”
“Ew.” I slap her arm before I take a quick sip of my drink. Logan bought me a fancy coffee machine last Christmas, but nomatter how much I fiddle with the frother, they never taste as good as Kaysie’s. “Why do you have to call it that?”
“Because every six months you park it out by Willow Lake and torture yourself with inadequate heat aids.” Kaysie narrows her eyes at me, her faint beta scent sharpening. “But you’re done with that now, right? No more suffering through your heats alone when you have that big, hunky soldier moving back in next door.” I squirm, but my best friend isn’t letting up. “You have given Logan a proper welcome home, haven’t you?”
“Sort of,” I hedge. “I mean, I took him a lucky bamboo and that bottle of merlot I got from that art gallery guy in Boise.”
I shudder at the thought of both red wine and that disastrous date, but Kaysie doesn’t look impressed. “Wine and a house plant,” she repeats. “You own the best flower farm in the state, and you couldn’t give the guy a welcome home bang in your petal-strewn sheets?”
It’s been years, but ancient memories still descend on tattered wings, and I jerk back so violently, I splash coffee all over my jeans. “Shit.”
“Whoa.” Kaysie is already on her feet, a bunch of napkins in her hand. “Hey, sorry, babe.” Her eyes narrow with concern. “You know I was just teasing. But feel free to ignore my stupid mouth.”
“No, it’s my fault,” I reassure her, taking the napkins and blotting up the worst of the mess. “I’m just on edge.”
“About Logan?” Kaysie eyes me carefully now as she sits back down and bites into one of her mini chocolate croissants. She nudges the plate towards me, but I just stare at the pastries, and she reaches over to squeeze my hand. “You know he’s crazy about you, right?”
I shrug, because thoughts of a long-ago heat in an expensive hotel room are slow to fade. I never told Kaysie the whole story, but she saw the aftermath, and there was a time when I couldn’teven look at a rose petal without bursting into tears. Kind of a job requirement, too, when your mom’s flower farm is literally called Rosie’s Blooms.
But I’m not surprised Kaysie thinks I’m stressing about Logan. While he has told me countless times that I’m the most important person in his life, his military career has always come first. Up until a fortnight ago, he was never home for more than a couple of months of leave. He’d spend most days with me, helping on the farm and talking about our future together, but he always went back.Thistime, he promises it’s different, and while he’s shown me his discharge papers, I still can’t accept that he’s home for good.
“What is it, babe?” Kaysie’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “He’s not going back, is he? When I last spoke to him, he said he’d left the Marines.”
I sigh, too weary to deal with her outrage. “According to Logan, you never really leave the Marines, you just get discharged. But yes, he’s promised he’s not going back.”
“Thank Christ on a cupcake.” Kaysie fans her red face. “I was going to give him a swift kick to the nuts if he’d signed up again. I mean, fighting for your country is heroic, but you need himhere. And so does Leo. It’s time for Logan to step up and be a real father.”
I flinch, but I’ve had these exact thoughts playing through my head for a while now. Leo deserves to have a devoted father, but I’ve never wanted to force Logan to choose between us and his duty. “I just don’t want him to wake up one day and realize he’s trapped, you know?”
Kaysie’s eyes bug wide. “Girl, that man wants you to tie him down so bad, he’d handweave the rope and drill the d-rings himself if he thought you’d have him for real.”
I can’t help snorting at the image. “You’re so full of it.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s hoping to makeyou, but whatever.” I groan at her heavy-handed innuendo, but she just laughs. “Hey, speaking of fun times at Willow Lake, did you hear that someone has bought the haunted house?”
I blink, wondering if I’m actually asleep and this is the beginning of a new nightmare. “Seriously?”
“Mmm. Some out-of-towner who wants to play lord of the manor, no doubt. I heard he’s going to gut the place and turn it into a shiny new McMansion, complete with boat ramp and helicopter pad.”
“Ugh. Just what the pristine wilderness needs.” As awful as it is to think of the historic house being given a gaudy makeover, a more disturbing thought strikes me. “Do you think… They won’t start imposing that trespassing rule, will they?”
Kaysie gives me a sympathetic look. “Well, the lake comes with the property... But don’t panic. They might let you still visit, if they know it’s for a good cause.”
“Yeah, I can just imagine pleading my case to some pompous asshole.Please, sir, can I still drive my ratty old trailer out to your beautiful lake so I can suffer through my heat with a little dignity?”
“Hmm.” Kaysie taps her nails on the side of her coffee cup. “Or you could just explain your dilemma to Logan. I’m sure he’d bethrilledto help you out.”
I squirm again, because even when Logan’s leave overlapped with my heat, we never spent it together. I have pretty firm rules I like to follow during my heat, and since Logan never offered to be part of it, I always assumed he didn’t want to commit to something so intimate when he was in bed with Uncle Sam. “Ugh. I’m not sure I’m ready to have a conversation like that.”
“Girl, your heat is in likefive weeks.” Kaysie can’t keep the exasperation from her voice. “Are you just planning on springingit on him? Because despite how much you like to orchestrate your sexy times, most guys prefer to have a little input.”
“Hey!” I protest, flicking one of the balled-up napkins at her. “You make me sound like a control freak!”
“If the dildo fits…” She smirks at me again, then gets to her feet and starts clearing the table. “Just talk to him, babe. You’ve been in love with the guy since you first clapped eyes on him at thirteen.”
“Maybe.” Butterflies are stirring in my belly, but I mentally shoo them back into their cage. “I just don’t think romance is for single moms with dirt under their nails and a struggling business.”
“If you ask me, that’sexactlywho it’s for.” Kaysie snatches a paperback off the counter and tosses it to me. I catch it, bursting into laughter as I turn it over to see a busty woman tangled in a nest of manly arms and other appendages. The title, fittingly, isThe Needy Omega Finds Her Pack, and Kaysie waggles her brows at me. “Wealldeserve a little of that, am I right?”
