“It couldbeyou.”
A thrill raced up my spine at his insinuation. I tamped it back down where it belonged. “Not in this lifetime.”
He smirked. “Sounds like we’re on the same page, then.”
“So, we good?”
“I guess so.” He held out his hand toward me. I eyed it like a pit bull on a leash. After a brief hesitation, I shook it. His handshake was warm and firm, with just the right amount of pressure. We released contact almost immediately.
“I was thinking we should put a few rules in place and have a check-in every week, just to make sure…” he trailed off, clearing his throat.
“Make sure of what?” Spell it out, Logan. Spell. It. Out.
“To make sure neither of us is…” He trailed off, his hand motioning in a circle as if he expected me to fill in the blanks.
“I’m not interested in you.” I was almost certain.
“Tell that to the stack of ‘marry me’ notes I’ve got buried in my closet.”
He wasn’t going to embarrass me. His hits couldn’t touch me because my humiliation cup in this town had runneth over.
I leaned closer, hands on my hips. “I think that you keeping them all says more about adult you than eight-year-old me.”
He gave me a look. “Eight? Come on now, Tess. You were older than that.”
My cheeks heated, but I kept going. “What? Do you read them every night before you fall asleep?”
“I’m not a psycho. They’re neatly stacked in my hope chest.” His sardonic grin did nothing to my insides except make me want to punch him, even as he draped an arm across my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug, friendly-like. And that was how I knew my heart was safe from Logan Marten. Forty thousand dollars was a much more sure thing to bet on.
“What happens when I can’t resist your charm and I fall in love with you?” The words came out as sarcastic as I meant it, but my traitorous stomach did a little flip as I said them.
“I guess I’ll try harder to not be so adorable. Might be dang near impossible.”
“What if it’s you falling for me?”
This time, the light from his smile hit his brown eyes. “Same plan for you, then. Stop being so adorable.”
As we walked back toward Jake, I allowed the wave of anticipation to flutter through my stomach without giving it much space in my mind. It was only a side effect from grade-school longing. If I didn’t acknowledge the hit, it never happened.
“We’ll do it,” Logan said to Jake.
Jake jumped down from the tailgate of the ostentatious truck, his smile growing wide as he appraised us both. “You guys playing for the truck or for love?”
“Truck,” we both stated.
“Famous last words.” Jake laughed, reaching inside his truck door for a yellow-lined notepad. “If I could get you two to sign this.”
“Kind of official for you, isn’t it?” Logan asked.
“Like you said, it’s an $80,000 truck. And if my suspicions are correct, lines may get blurred this summer. I want to make sure we each remember exactly what we’re playing for.”
Jake climbed up into his truck, searching for a pen, leaving Logan and me facing each other. My gaze flitted everywhere, taking in his low-slung jeans and t-shirt, his tan arms bulging out of the sleeves.
“My eyes are up here, Tess.”
His eyes were also laughing at me when I glanced up at him, but I tried my best to pay him no heed.
Jake handed me the document. Logan sidled closer to me, peering over my shoulder at the words.
