He nodded a bit jerkily. “As it should be.”
She reached out and covered his hand with hers. “But I also want to work on our relationship.” She paused, uncertain of what to say, how much to reveal. There were some emotions she just couldn’t give voice to, not yet anyway. “We’re having this baby together, and over the past few weeks, we’ve become strangers again. I don’t want that, not for the baby and not for us either.”
Logan didn’t speak. He turned his hand upside down so that his palm rested against hers, lacing their fingers together. A rush of longing ran through her, more powerful than the contractions she’d experienced yesterday. She wanted more than this mere touching of hands. She wanted to touch his heart.
“Say something,” she whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable.
He cleared his throat, his fingers tightening on hers. “Maybe we can start over from this moment. Forget everything that’s happened before.”
Her lips trembled with a smile. “Forgetting is impossible.”
“I know.” Shifting closer to her, he took her gently into his arms. “God, I know.”
Claire curled into his familiar warmth, burying her face in his neck. She had missed this, missed him. Being so close to him, in his arms with no anger or misunderstandings between them, felt incredible. It felt, oddly enough, like home.
Or maybe it wasn’t so odd, after all.
Raising her face, she kissed him, devouring his mouth the way she wished she could devour the rest of his body. When the kiss finally ended, she met his gaze. “I’d like to start over with you. From this moment.”
“From this moment,” he echoed, kissing her again.
“Do you have any sevens?”
“Nope.” Claire shook her head, casting Derek a smug look. “Go fish.”
With a growl, he reached out and took a card from the pile resting at the edge of Claire’s bed. While Logan was cooking dinner, Derek had decided to occupy her with an impromptu game of Go Fish. She was currently getting the best of him and he had a meager pile of matches to prove it. Despite the fact that it still felt more than just a little surreal to be playing cards with a famous man, she was having a good deal of fun.
She feigned deep thought for a moment, tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips. “Hmm. Do you have any jacks?”
“Damn it.” Derek forked over two jacks.
She held out her hand expectantly, wiggling her fingers. “Where’s the third one?”
He cursed again and slapped the third jack onto her palm. “There. Take it and be satisfied.”
Raising a brow at him, she put down all four jacks. “That’s another match. Sneaky of you to try cheating. Cheaters never prosper, you know.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to make it through this game with a shred of my manly dignity still intact. You’re kicking my ass.”
Claire grinned. “It’s not my fault you stink at Go Fish.”
The grin he sent her in return was wry. “I’m a little rusty. I haven’t really had any Go Fish opportunities since I was about six years old.”
“Did you play it with Logan?” She couldn’t help asking. There was so much about Logan that she didn’t know.
“Actually, no.” All traces of mirth vanished from his face. “That was before I met Logan. I used to play with my mother.”
“If you’d rather not talk about it, I completely understand.”
Derek shrugged, idly rearranging his cards. “It’s not anything the press doesn’t already know, anyway. You can read all the details on any of my ’unofficial’ websites.” He paused, attempting to look more collected and nonchalant than he truthfully was, Claire could tell. “My mom had a string of abusive loser boyfriends. One of them was driving Mom home from work one night and decided to stop at a bar on the way home. He got trashed and got in an accident about a half mile from our apartment. They were both killed.”
When he finished, Claire was in tears. “Oh Derek. That’s terrible.”
“My mother was an alcoholic too,” he continued quietly. “After the accident, I ended up in foster care. Which is how I met Logan, and he’s the brother I never had, so there’s a happy ending after all.”
Looking at Derek, Claire wasn’t really sure if he’d found his happy ending yet. Logan was very close-mouthed about his friend, but she knew from bits of information she’d read in the newspaper or heard on the radio that Derek had severe addiction problems himself. She also knew, since Derek had told her, that he’d recently completed treatment at the Starling Foundation, an excellent treatment facility that boasted a celebrity who’s who patient list. In this moment, he didn’t look like a self-assured, charismatic movie star. He looked like a desperate man trying to find his way.
“Can I hug you?” she asked impulsively.
