But then she’d gotten home, and they’d gone inside, and…
“Guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought.” Natalie’s voice broke the awkward silence. “This was so good, Logan.” She slowly pushed herself to her feet. “I hate wasting it, but I just can’t—”
“You’re fine,” he cut her apology short. Glancing down, he noticed both of her bowls were half-empty.Better than nothing.“Just leave those there, and I’ll get them when I’m done.”
She started to reach for her dishes anyway. “You went through the trouble of cooking. The least I can do is help with the clean-up.”
Logan set his fork down into his partially eaten pasta and rose to his feet. With a quick wipe of his mouth, he dropped the paper towel he’d been using onto the counter and took the bowls out of her hands.
“I’ve got it.”I’ve got you.“Go. Get some rest. Pretty sure you’ve earned it.”
Her expression softened, those round eyes filling with a guarded appreciation. “Thank you. Not just for dinner, but for…” A loud sigh. “For everything.”
“What are friends are for, right?”
He’d purposely kept his tone breezy, as if the question was one of those quipped things people said without giving it much thought. But Logan had put conscious thought into the words as he’d said them.
I want to see her reaction.
“Right. Friends.” Natalie’s lips curved into a smile that barely showed her dimples. “In that case…” She surprised him by lifting to her tiptoes and pressing her lips to his cheek. “Good night…friend.”
Logan’s heart kicked in response. The combined scent of her lotion and his shampoo so intoxicating, he was still standing in the exact same spot moments after she’d left him to go to bed.
When he finally did get his head on straight, he got busy taking care of the leftovers and dirty dishes. Once the mess had been cleaned and the food put away, Logan grabbed another beer and his phone, and made his way to the glass sliding door leading to his back deck. Balancing the phone and bottle in his left hand, he slid the door open and stepped outside.
Just in case, he kept the slider partially opened. That way, if Natalie needed him for something, he’d easily hear her.
Walking the few feet to the deck’s wooden railing, Logan placed the bottle on the top board and unlocked his phone. Tapping one of the contacts in his Favorites list, he put the device to his ear and waited.
He had the hands-free earbuds everyone used these days, but he preferred not to have his hearing compromised. Not when he’d brought Natalie here for protection.
“Hayes, my man!” Jason “Lucky” Lucas answered the call on the second ring. “What’s up?
Music and blurred conversations filled the background.
With his shoulder keeping the phone held snuggly to his ear, Logan used the railing’s edge to pop off the bottle top, the crimped metal lid falling noisily to the planks at his feet.
“You at a club?”
It was no secret the man loved to dance. And while Logan and the rest of their old team took every chance they could to give him shit about it, the guy had some seriously impressive moves.
“Yeah, hang on. Let me go outside where I can hear.”
As requested, Logan waited patiently until the noise died down and Lucky came back on the line.
“Okay, that’s better. What’s up?”
“You got a few minutes?”
“For you? Of course.”
“Good, because…I need your help.”
In a flash, Lucky’s easy-going tone lowered to the deadly warrior Logan remembered him to be. Without so much as a second’s hesitation, the other man’s offer was instant.
“Name it. Whatever you need.”
“How are your hacking skills these days?”