“So why am I here if not for my usual visit?” he asked suddenly.
She studied him, wondering if he had sensed what she was about to say and had deliberately headed her off. “Follow me.” She turned and strode to the kitchen. The table was laid out with plates and silverware that were all relics from her first marriage, but she hadn’t had the time buy replacements with all the change in her life. There was a vase with fresh flowers in the center of the table and a bowl filled with brightly colored salad greens.
She faced Logan. “I thought I would surprise you with a birthday dinner. Happy birthday.”
He stared. It felt like minutes ticked by with him just staring at her, his expression impossible to read, his eyes dark and unfathomable. Her nervousness asserted itself once more and she began to wonder if maybe she’d made a fool of herself in doing this. Maybe Logan was perfectly happy with their current arrangement and a dinner like this would be an unwanted complication for him.
“Say something,” she said finally, a plea even to her own ears.
“I don’t know what to say.” Logan seemed rooted to the spot, gently swaying and patting Julie’s bottom. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before. That you remembered my birthday at all amazes me. Even I forgot about it.” He paused. “I’m stunned.”
She wasn’t certain she liked the sound of that. “In a good way or a bad way?”
“In a good way, sweetheart. In a very good way.”
His words sent a rush of warmth throughout her body. “Why don’t I get the bassinette so she can be out here with us and we can eat?” she suggested, trying her best to avoid looking like the lovesick idiot that she was.
Without waiting for Logan’s response, she swept past him and clipped into the living room, retrieving the bassinette. Before returning to the kitchen, she took a deep, steadying breath and reminded herself that she didn’t want to seem too eager. If there was a foolproof way to scare off a man, it was certainly to appear too eager.
And she was trying to catch Logan, not scare him off.
When she returned to the kitchen, she found Logan in the midst of stealing a chocolate chip cookie from her cooling rack. He swung around when she entered, the cookie poised halfway to his mouth, a look of comic sheepishness on his handsome face.
“That’s dessert, you know,” she informed him tartly, depositing the bassinette on the floor by the kitchen table.
“Hmm.” A sexy grin curved his lips. “I was hoping you were dessert.”
Simple words, but they stole her breath, made her heart beat in triple time. Shameless images filled her mind. “My doctor says it’s a go, so maybe I can arrange that,” she said, breathless.
“Oh I can definitely arrange that.” Logan took a bite of the cookie, closing his eyes in culinary-induced ecstasy. “Christ, Claire, you make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. How do you do it? I could eat nothing but these for the rest of my life and never get tired of them.”
She laughed. “Of course, you might not be able to fit through doors anymore.”
He joined in her laughter, popping the rest of the cookie into his mouth. “Julie, your mommy makes the best cookies in the world.” Swallowing the cookie, he continued to address his daughter in a serious tone. “You know, I would let you taste it, but you don’t have any teeth yet. I guess that means Daddy will just have to eat them all.”
“After Daddy eats the dinner Mommy spent all afternoon preparing,” Claire said pointedly.
“After that,” he agreed, leaning down to drop a kiss on Julie’s cheek. “We would hate to disappoint Mommy.” Crossing the room, he gently placed their daughter into her bassinette.
Julie immediately began making noises of protest.
“If we want to eat at all, we’ll have to hurry,” Claire said, rushing to the oven to remove the roasting pan containing her apple cider chicken. She recognized the sound Julie was currently making as the precursor to the deafening Wail of Hunger. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that she would have about half an hour before Julie would demand to be fed. She closed the oven door with her knee as she hefted the roasting pan into the air.
“Can I help you with anything?” Logan asked solicitously. His voice was right behind her. She jumped and set the roasting pan on the stovetop with more force than necessary.
Logan’s hands settled on her waist and he pulled her back against his body. She could feel every tantalizing inch of his hardness against her. Including his arousal. He pressed his face into her neck and kissed the spot behind her ear he knew drove her wild. His hot breath fanned against her sensitized skin. She turned her face and their lips met.
Before she even realized it, he spun her in his arms and their bodies were flush in earnest. The kiss deepened, intensified. It struck her that she should have done this weeks ago. She should have taken a chance and showed him how she really felt. A relationship between the two of them would either work or it wouldn’t but she would never know for certain unless she was completely honest with him. It was time to tell Logan that she loved him.
“Mmm.” His arms tightened around her. “You taste delicious.”
She smiled against his lips. “You taste like chocolate chip cookie.”
“Also delicious,” he murmured.
“Mmm.” It was Claire’s turn for a nonverbal response. Being in Logan’s arms, with his skillful lips on hers, was sweet.
“I love your vanilla perfume,” he whispered, kissing her neck again. “It makes me want to lick every inch of your skin.”
