Logan crumpled with a wail.
“Show him the end of your scabbard to hasten the job,” I commanded.
Noah grabbed a stick from the floor of the playset and jabbed it at his father. “Go!”
“But I’minnocent,” Logan pleaded. “Please don’t do this.”
The man was quite an actor. I could’ve sworn I saw his eyes misting.
“Walk the plank, Daddy!”
Noah screamed with laughter as his father stepped to the edge and jumped down to the grass, then pretended to struggle in the water.
“I’m drowning! Save me!”
“Wait,” I cried out. “It’s true, heisn’tthe thief! We must save him.”
I jumped off the boat, and Noah followed, and the three of us wound up in a giggling heap on the grass.
My legs tangled with Logan’s for a moment, and I was rewarded with a flashback of sleeping with my cold feet on top of his warm ones.
“What in the…” a voice drifted over to us.
We paused to find Josie hovering nearby with a tray of cookies.
“I thought someone was being murdered out here!”
“Nay, just saving the life of a trusted sailor wrongly accused,” I answered in my pirate voice, which made Noah giggle. “Sorry for the fright. But don’t worry, the pirates of theQueen’s Revengewill always look after Castle Ashford.”
“Ohhh, okay. That’s very comforting,” Josie nodded. “Anyway, you’ve probably worked up quite an appetite with all that plundering. I brought you some warm oatmeal cookies.”
“Cookies!” Noah jumped up and ran over to her.
Logan and I got up slowly and joined them.
“This is nice,” Josie mused. “Different. The laughter. We’ve needed this.”
She couldn’t say more since little ears were tuned in, but I understood what she was getting at.
After a long quiet spell, a certain sad little Ashford was finding his smile again. It felt good to think I was part of making that happen. Almost like I belonged here after all.
17
NINA
Walking into Ashford corporate had my stomach in knots for so many reasons, primarily becauseeveryonewas staring at me.
Not that I blamed them. “Surprise wife” was probably a maiden voyage plot twist they weren’t expecting.
Yeah, same.
I was meeting the public relations team to strategize the best way to leverage our accidental marriage against the backdrop of the new family-friendly line. Logan told me that they were convinced they could spin our quickie wedding into the perfect happily-ever-after marketing strategy.
It struck me that at some point they’d be called into service again, to weather the fallout of our upcoming divorce. Not that they knew that now. Our charade needed to be airtight, which meant Logan and I were in full couple mode any time we stepped out of the house.
It helped that Noah was along for the ride as we met Logan at the office. Josie had offered to watch him during the meeting, but I didn’t want to burden her with even more work. Besides, having him around took some of the spotlight off the two of us. We were still a little awkward with each other given we were still getting used to our act.
“Can I push the buttons?” Noah asked when we got on the elevator to the executive suite.
