Glancing down, he slowly lowers his arms to his sides, but nothing about his expression softens. “Sorry, love.”
“I’d believe that a lot more if you weren’t glaring at me.”
“I’m not—” He sighs and lets his features relax as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his chinos. “Sorry,” he says again, and this time it sounds sincere. “I’m not in the best mood.”
I gasp dramatically. “Really? I couldn’t tell.”
“The Thunder are winning without me, and Lola’s not here, so I can’t…” He shrugs minutely. “I’ll take a lap so you can do your thing. I don’t want to be in your way.”
Grabbing his arm before he can pass me, I do a quick sweep of the room in case Lola has finally made it downstairs. She texted me when the event started, apologizing for getting caught up on a call instead of being here to help introduce me to some of the other business owners, but I’ve been too busy trying to talk to people that I haven’t thought much about what that means for Logan.
“I’m sure she’ll show up eventually,” I tell him, hoping I’m not wrong.
His lips twitch, not quite a smile, and his eyes drift down to where my fingers rest on his warm skin. I could almost swear there’s an electric current between us, one I also felt yesterday when he touched me in my kitchen. Something new. “Yeah,” he agrees, then slowly pulls his arm out of my reach. His muscles bunch as he curls his hand into a fist, making me wonder if hefeels the same spark or if I’m delusional. “Let me know if she does?” He slips away, leaving me on my own.
I can’t help looking down at my fingers to see if the contact left a mark behind. After two days of radio silence, he caught me off guard yesterday by showing up at my apartment and apologizing for something I knew nothing about, and I almost didn’t invite him tonight because that would mean…
It’s a bad idea to start thinking about Logan leaving the US once he makes his connection with Lola. Mostly because it’s a bad idea to hope he stays.
Someone clears their throat behind me, and I turn to smile at the man standing at my table. “Hi!”
“You’re a…” He squints at my display as he starts loading Thai chicken meatball skewers onto a napkin. “…caterer?”
“It’s more of a meal prep sort of thing, but I do events on occasion. Whatever people need.”
He asks a few more questions as a couple other people join him, and I start to breathe easier now that I’m not being actively avoided. Thank goodness Logan really was the problem. I still wish Lola were here so she could coach me through selling my services, but at least people are talking to me now. Will any of these connections turn into money in the bank? Probably not. Small business owners willing to give up precious time to come to a mixer likely don’t have a lot of money to spare. But I won’t leave any stones unturned.
Ten minutes before the event is supposed to end, Lola finally appears at my table with a warm but frazzled smile. “Savannah!”
“Lo—uh, Mrs. Shafer. Hey.” I curse myself for almost using her first name when I’ve always kept that professional boundarywith her. I was calling her Lola in my head, which is entirely Logan’s fault, but at least I caught myself.
“How has it been going?” She looks around the room with a satisfied smile. “Oh good, Hyde Flooring made it. Give me just a minute, hon.” She strides away, stopping to talk to a man two tables down from mine.
I grab my phone, fingers trembling slightly as I type out a text to Logan. This had better not blow up in my face.
Savannah:
Lola’s here.
Logan:
Thanks.
Searching the room, I try to spot him in the dwindling crowd. He’s not the type to blend in, but it’s been a while since I saw him last.
Savannah:
Did you leave?
Logan:
Went outside.
Savannah:
The event’s almost over, so now’s your chance.
I really hope he thought of a way to play this meeting off as coincidence because I’m risking a lot by facilitating this. If Lola finds out that I brought Logan, she’ll be furious with me. Andnow that she’s getting me jobs with the school and inviting me to things like this, I might lose more than just her weekly orders.
