“Yep!” he lied a little too cheerfully.
As Logan hurried to put the dryer back together again, his mind continued traipsing through the string of possible explanations for what he thought he’d seen.
Perhaps it was nothing more than a byproduct of the long day he’d had. Hewaspretty tired, after all. So maybe…maybe it was simply a case of his eyes playing tricks on him.
Or maybe it had nothing to do with his eyes. Maybe it was the hug, itself.
Logan couldn’t deny it had meant more to him than she could ever know. The feel of her in his arms, the scent of her favorite lotion mixed with the sweet smell of her hair…
Everything about that moment had felt so perfect—soright—he could’ve gotten caught up in his own hidden desires. So maybe he really had imagined the look of attraction crossing over Natalie’s gorgeous face.
It was the only thing that made any sense.
Nat wasn’t attracted to him. She didn’t want him the same way he wanted her. She couldn’t. And yet…
You didn’t imagine a damn thing. It was there, and it was fucking real.
Logan’s heart pounded as he gave the last bolt an extra turn. Dropping the wrench into the toolbox at his feet, he gripped the edge of the dryer and pushed it back to its rightful place with ease.
But he didn’t immediately let go.
With a tight hold on the frame’s smooth, rounded edge, he locked his elbows tight and hung his head low between his tense shoulders.
Jesus, man. Pull yourself together. You can’t let her see you like this!
Eyes squeezed shut, Logan used every ounce of strength he had to clear the hurricane of thoughts and emotions spiraling around inside him. For a split second, he considered bailing on dinner. But couldn’t—wouldn’t—do that to her.
Not when she’d already gone through the trouble of making it, and he’d already promised to stay.
You leave now, she’s going to know something’s up.
Yeah, if she didn’t already feel as thrown off balance as he did, his cutting out early would definitely raise suspicions. And if she suspected something was wrong, she’d ask questions.
Questions he sure as fuck didn’t want to answer.
Omitting the truth was one thing. But looking the most important person in his world square in the eyes and flat-outlying… That was something Logan simply couldn’t do.
With no other choice, he sucked it up and pushed it all aside. He could make it through a helping or two of lasagna, pretending as if everything was A-okay. He’d been doing it for the last two-plus years, and he’d gotten pretty damn good at it, too.
If he did say so himself.
This was proven minutes later as they were sitting on Natalie’s patio enjoying the delicious meal she’d prepared. Though things had admittedly been a bit awkward when he’d first joined her in the kitchen, once they’d settled themselves outside and began to eat, Logan once again felt like the master of deception.
And boy, wasn’tthatsomething to be proud of.
“What do you think of the new recipe?”
Logan swallowed the heaping bite he’d just taken and nodded emphatically. “This is seriously the best lasagna I have ever eaten.”
“Really? Thanks.” Natalie smiled. “It was my mom’s recipe. Although I’m pretty sure she got it from my grandma. I’d have to ask Tessa to be sure. She found it in a box of old cookbooks she had stored away.”
“How is your sister?” he asked with genuine curiosity.
He liked Tessa Baker. Like Natalie, her older sister was pretty, smart, and even more of a smartass than Nat.
“She’s good. Her new practice seems to be going really well.”
“That’s right.” Logan took a quick sip of iced tea. “I forgot she opened her own office downtown. She’s keeping pretty busy, then?”