I froze.
His eyes widened, but herecovered quickly, smiling and waving over at me like he hadn’t left me intears the last time we saw each other.
My gut tightened as hemurmured something to his wife and stood.
No. No no no. He was comingover here.
“Sorry,” Logan said,sheepish now, looking down at the table.
It wasn’t his fault.Mike had seenme, not him.
I nudged his foot under thetable again as Margery beat Mike over with a pot of coffee and two cups,pouring for both of us while he stood behind her, rocking impatiently on theballs of his feet like a five-year-old.
He was still gorgeous.Square-jawed and bright eyed, classically handsome in every possible way rightdown to his perfectly symmetrical nose.
I liked Logan better. Iliked my lopsided, scarred, sweet, gentle man who I wanted to keep with all myheart.
“Long time no see,” Mikesaid. “You back in town?”
I nodded, sipping myroom-temperature coffee.
Logan did the same,wrinkling his nose adorably the moment the dark, viscous liquid that was onlycoffee by the broadest possible definition hit his tongue.
He couldn’t have survivedhere. Not when this was the best coffee on offer for thirty miles.
But I wished he could.
“Who’s your friend?” Mikeasked, looking at Logan.
“Boyfriend,” Logan correctedwithout missing a beat.
My heart stuttered.
Boyfriend.
Logan didn’t have to saythat. I would never have even thought of it.
And yet, here he was. Layingclaim to me. Saving me looking completely pathetic in front of the man who’d broken myheart.
Of course he was. He was theman who’dtaped the pieces back together and promised me that you couldn’t tell it wasever broken. Who took me as I was, and had never once wanted me to change. Who’dstood proudly next to me in front of all his friends and family.
Why had I ever even beeninterestedin Mike when there were men like Logan in the world? Good, kind men who didn’t treat me likea big guilty secret.
“Oh,” Mike said. “Right,umm. Oh. Are you… moving back with Ashley, or…?”
Logan smiled at me. “Actually, I’mplanning to take him away from all this someday,” he said, and it was sosincere that I almost believed it. “Just gotta tie up some loose ends first. Iknow you guys’ll take care of him while I’m gone. I’ve heardallabout you.”
I’d never heard Loganthreaten anyone before, but I was sure that was what had just happened. Thechange in his tone was so subtle that no one could have pointed it out, buteven Mike seemed to have caught it.
“Of course. We always takecare of our own, right Ashley?”
“Sure,” I said, unable tosummon even fake warmth for him.
Logan reached across thetable and took my hand from where it’d been resting in front of me. Not only didhe hold it, he held it so Mike could see my chipping pink nails.
I knew what he was doing,and if I hadn’talready decided I was in love with him, this would have sealed it.
“Good,” Logan said, stilllooking at me instead of Mike. Looking at me like I was the most importantthing in the world, the only person in the room. “It’d break my heart to seehim unhappy.”
