Momentarily tongue-tied, the only word that comes out of my mouth is, “Ack.”Really attractive, Savannah.Not that I need Logan to be attracted to me.
He grins, his smile as smug as it is full of interest. “Noted.”
Good gravy, if I knew how he manages to be both aggravating and entirely captivating, I’d probably be a lot better at landing new clients. That smile tells me he has everything I could ever want but I’m going to have to fight for it, and every cell in my body wants to do it.
Telling myself—again—that getting involved with Logan Callahan is a terrible idea, I have to tear my eyes away from his face to find my voice again. “You got hit harder than anyoneknows, didn’t you?” Before he can argue or flat-out deny my claim, I tug the collar of his hoodie to the side to give me a better look at the deep purple bruise mottling his neck and right shoulder. I caught a glimpse earlier, but now that I’m seeing more of it, it’s no wonder he’s in pain.
Is this why he asked me to bring his meals to his apartment? With a pit in my stomach, I tug his sweatshirt lower to see how far the bruising goes, like knowing the depth of his injury might help me know how to make it better.
Surprisingly, he doesn’t pull away or stop my examination. “I get hit all the time,” he says in a rumbling voice. “It’s part of the game.”
“Not being able to lift your arm? That’s normal?”
He huffs out a laugh and shakes his head when I meet his gaze again. “You’re a nosy little thing, aren’t you?”
“I like to call myself curious,” I counter. “And concerned for the welfare of my best-paying client.”
The corner of his mouth tips up as he leans closer, cutting the already small space between us in half. He’s making it much harder to breathe regularly. “And here I was thinking you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“With your moodiness? No. The rest of you…” I shrug, though the gesture is far from casual. “Still up for debate.”
“Says the woman who finds me attractive.”
Heat rushes into my face, and there’s no hiding my blush when he’s this close. I’m all too aware of every place our bodies are in contact, from his knee against my thigh to his hip gently pressing into my stomach, holding me in place against the car. Forget breathing; I’m not entirely sure my heart is ever going todrop to a normal pace again. I thought he was going to kiss me a week ago, and now I’m wondering if that’s only the beginning of what he’s imagining as his eyes trace my face.
Pure panic and a rush of adrenaline are the only things that explain the breathless words that come out of my mouth. “I find yourmusclesattractive. No one said anything about the man they belong to.” Who am I kidding?
Certainly not Logan. “Is that so?” He leans closer, lining up more of his body to mine. His hands may be on the car, but that sure isn’t stopping him from touching me.
With my luck, this man has super hearing and can hear my heart pounding in my chest. At the very least I’m sure he feels it. I don’t like lying, and of course I find him attractive. This man is built entirely of muscle and stands several inches above six feet, with thick hair and gray-blue eyes and a jawline so defined that it’s begging me to touch it. I still haven’t gotten over some of those sweet texts he sent me, so it isn’t just his physical appearance that triggers a flutter in my stomach every time I look at him.
But I can’t act on this attraction.Wecan’t. Beautiful though he is, Logan is also gruff and abrupt and thinks way too highly of himself, so I can’t go letting myself get any ideas unless I want to end up in a bad way. Pursuing an attraction to Logan Callahan isn’t going to lead to anything permanent.
I’m finally starting to make some headway with True Fuel, in part thanks to the Shafer family, and I don’t need distractions. Especially big russet-haired ones; I deal with enough from Beef Wellington. Logan keeps sending mixed signals, one minutegetting close and giving me heated looks, and the next running away and avoiding me. What does he want?
Better yet, what doIwant? I’ve put so much time and money into my business, and I’ve already put all that at risk more times than I care to admit when it comes to my cat. Throwing a whole man into the mix? I don’t see a way to have my cake and eat it too. This can never work.
Clearing my throat, I place a hand on Logan’s chest and push him away from me. And by ‘push’ I mean I press my hand into his pectoral, and he takes the cue and steps back because there’s no way I’d be able to move his weight around on my own. “Why’d you really come here, Logan?”
“I wanted to see.” He furrows his brow, dropping his gaze to the pavement. “See what they’re like,” he clarifies. “If they’re anything like me.”
I don’t know how he thought he’d manage that from a distance, but my heart softens in my chest at the rare show of vulnerability, whether he’s aware he’s being vulnerable right now. When we first met outside the Shafers’ house, Logan claimed he only wanted answers, but I can’t imagine how it feels knowing the one person who was supposed to love and care for you didn’t do that. The big guy might be more than physically hurt right now.
Problematic as it is, I want to help him. He kept his identity a secret today, and I want to trust that he’s going to be smart about things and keep the Shafer boys out of the mess with his mom.
I trust him. And I should show him that I do. Show him that he’s not alone in this.
“I think you and Kacen are a lot alike,” I say with some hesitation. Will that help him? I don’t know. “You’re both quiet, intelligent, focused. Except, he might be more emotionally mature than you.”
Logan snorts, shaking his head as he glances back at the field. “You think I’m emotionally stunted as well as mean?”
“I think you let your frustrations get the better of you.” The fact that he doesn’t argue says he’s more self-aware than I’ve given him credit for, and I find myself holding back a smile. He’s going to keep giving me reasons to like him, isn’t he? “But I can’t pretend I know you all that well, so maybe I’m wrong.”
He stuffs his hands into his pockets, surprising me with a restrained smile of his own that lacks any hints of smugness. “You’re not wrong.”
“What sort of things could the great Logan Callahan possibly have to be frustrated about when you’reso goodat everything you do?”
Tilting his head to the side, he bites his lips to keep hiding the smile that I’m coming to crave. “You are better at cutting me down than I’d like, Savannah Blair. Even when you compliment my physique, there’s always that bit of sass behind it.”
