Claire noticed as Wynne rang up the flowers that she didn’t wear a wedding band. Life as a single mom couldn’t be easy, and Claire was newly grateful for Logan’s presence in her life. Sharing the workload and the joys both would be so much sweeter.
“So have you two been in town before?” Wynne asked as her fingers skimmed over the keys on the register.
“I have,” Logan answered.
She finished ringing up the last stem and hit a final key. “Your total comes to seventy-three dollars even.” She paused. “How did you find out about us?”
“Actually, a friend of mine made a movie here a few years back, and I’ve been vacationing here ever since,” Logan answered as he pulled out his wallet.
“Oh?” Wynne’s smile faded slightly. “Who’s your friend?”
“Derek Shaw.” He handed her exact change.
Wynne occupied herself with counting the cash before tucking it into her register drawer. “Thanks so much. I’ll have the arrangement delivered to your room.”
Logan and Claire thanked her, then made their way back out onto the street. Claire turned to him. “Is it just me, or did she seem uncomfortable when you mentioned Derek?”
He frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah, she did. I don’t know why. Maybe he was rude to her when he was on location for the movie. When he drinks, he’s not himself.”
“Could be.” But somehow, she had a feeling there was more to it than that. Wynne had been extraordinarily friendly, only to close up the minute she heard the name Derek Shaw. There was definitely a hidden story there, she decided, her interest piqued.
“Forget about it.” Logan’s tone was amused. He looked down at her, his eyes glinting in the morning sunlight.
“What?” She grinned at him, all innocence. They reached a corner and she paused, waiting for a car to cross the street before her.
“I can see the wheels turning inside your mind. But I’m sure it’s nothing.” He touched her arm. “He’s been through enough hell as it is. Don’t go digging.”
Claire raised a brow at him. “I don’t see a shovel in my hand.”
“Fine.” He grinned at her, a sexy, knowing grin that made her stomach feel as if it had been invaded by hot wax. “I’ll just have to find some other way to keep you occupied. Have any ideas?”
She did actually, and they all began and ended with a great deal less clothing than the two of them were currently wearing. All thoughts of Derek and Wynne instantly fled her mind. Claire laced her fingers through Logan’s. He looked startled by the gesture but didn’t pull away. She decided to take that as a sign of progress.
“I’m sure I could come up with a few,” she told him slyly. “How about you?”
Logan laughed, leaning down to kiss her lips. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
As they walked hand in hand back to the hotel, the strangest thought occurred to her. She couldn’t recall when she’d last been this happy, and it felt good. It felt like the real thing. But now the question was whether it would last.
“Claire, I want you to move in with me.”
Claire blinked in surprise at Logan’s sudden shift in conversation. They’d been in the midst of discussing something. What had they been talking about, anyway? His words had her so rattled that she’d completely forgotten already. But whatever it was, it certainly hadn’t been living arrangements.
She paused in the glow of a streetlight to look up at him. They were walking back to the hotel after a delicious dinner at the café they’d visited for lunch the previous day. The sun was still visible just above the edge of town, over Logan’s shoulder, a blazing pink ball amid the periwinkle sky.
“What do you mean, Logan?”
A rueful grin kicked up the corner of his sulky mouth. “I think it should be self-explanatory.”
“It is,” she agreed. “What I really meant was why?”
“Again, that seems pretty self-explanatory.”
“So humor me and explain anyway,” she said dryly.
He looked distinctly uncomfortable, tugging at his earlobe and then tunneling his hand through his hair. “You’re carrying my baby.”
“And?” she prompted, her brow raised.
