Then I realize what we’re talking about, and the fire in my belly rushes up to my face. Is he being genuine about meeting my parents? Because that sounds an awful lot like he’s planning to stick around. I know the rugby here isn’t the same as it isback in Australia, but he didn’t seem to miss the game during his suspension. Maybe it won’t matter where he plays.
“Gotta stop looking at me like that, love,” Logan warns as he scoots around a slow-moving minivan. Traffic in LA is always terrible, but he’s navigating the streets with ease. He hasn’t looked at me for a few minutes now, so I have no idea how he knows how I’m looking at him.
“Then stop kissing my knuckles,” I complain. “How else am I supposed to look at you if you’re being sweet and talking about meeting my parents?”
He curses under his breath and returns our hands to the console, his jaw flexing. “Food to prep,” he mutters and shakes his head likeI’mthe one pushing the boundaries this time. “We’ll get your client his food, andthenwe can figure out what I’m going to do with you.”
My heart does a backflip in my chest. Not because he’s making plans about me but because he said ‘we.’
Like he’s in this with me.
He’s been helping me for a couple of weeks now, but this feels like something different.
This feels like we’retogether.
That’s something we both desperately need, whether we’re willing to admit it or not.
Chapter 21
Logan
Who’stheidiotwho,at the peak of his skill, fell in love with a spitfire girl who makes him think about stepping away from it all?
Ah, right. That would be me.
I came to California for one reason only, and from the start I’ve done just about everythingexceptwhat I came to do. I made a mess with my team, got myself injured, cowardly hid from Lola when she was twenty meters away from me.
My eyes jump to Savannah as she moves around my kitchen like she was always meant to be here, and one more mistake flashes through my mind: I opened my heart to a woman who might actually be tough enough to handle it.
As far as my goal goes, she was the worst decision I could have made, and I don’t care.
She’s always been beautiful, but nothing compares to right now. Her hair’s pulled back in a messy plait, there’s a streak of red sauce on her cheek, and she’s humming along to whateversong plays on her phone as she chops vegetables with the skill born from hours of practice.
I’m done for.
There’s no turning back now.
I could stand here for the rest of my life, watching her make magic. Watching how she jumps among three different tasks at once. How she seasons without measuring. How every once in a while she pauses to sway her hips to the music. She’s wearing that sassy pink apron pulled tight against her curves, and the fluid way she moves around the kitchen is enough to make a man lose his head.
But then I notice the wrinkle between her eyebrows and the tense set of her shoulders when she checks the clock on the stove.
She lied about having plenty of time. And it’s my fault.
She came after me instead of finishing this order. She chosemeover her business, over the thing she values most and has sacrificed so much to build. My heart has been pounding unevenly in my chest since I saw her on that beach, and she’ll never understand what she’s done. How much her choice means to me.
She chose me.
No one’s chosen me like that except my parents. I’ve always had to prove myself and show my worth to get people to stick around.
But Savannah didn’t hesitate.
And now she might lose what could be her biggest client of her whole career. Because of me.
Swallowing the knot of guilt in my throat, I step forward and tap the volume down on her phone. “What can I do?”
She looks up, startled. “Huh?”
I gesture at the chaos spread across the counter. “Put me to work, Sav.”
