“No. I’m handling this on my own.”
I ignore his pout while he stands to refill his coffee mug. My gut has been clenching so hard, I’ve yet to finish my morning smoothie.
Chip returns a minute later, and our producer, Matty, tells us we’re on air in two minutes. I gear up, hoping to satisfy the town with my openness about the situation, even though I’m lying through my teeth.
Matty counts us down behind the window and points at us.
I reposition my headphones and straighten in my chair. “Hello, Sunrise Bayers! It’s Nikki Greene and I’m here with Chip.”
Chip says hello in his faux grumpy voice.
“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” I say, my stomach churning. “I think when MMA fighter Logan Stone came to town, everyone was on the edge of their seats. I know for a fact my brothers were drooling over the man.”
“So were your sisters,” Chip adds.
I laugh and shake my head. “Rumors are flying, and here at ‘Scandals of Sunrise Bay,’ I like to report the truth, as you all know. The truth is that I married Logan Stone in Las Vegas this past weekend.”
Chip presses a button and wedding bells ring.
“Thank you, Chip. It was unexpected and a hasty decision, but we’ve decided to see where it goes.” I can’t believe I’ve lied to my listeners for the first time ever.
“Did you know him before?” Chip asks. I give him a scathing look and he holds up a question card. “One of our listeners wants to know.”
Truth, Nikki. Tell as much as you can.
“No. As most of you know, my best friend, Molly, is a fanatic about MMA fighting, so when we booked our girls’ weekend away, she bought front row tickets to the fight. One thing led to another, and by morning, I was married. That’s the truth, Sunrise Bayers, and that’s about all I’m willing to let you in on right now.”
Chip holds up a stack of paper. “We have a few more questions.”
“Are they asking about my marriage?”
“Someone wants to know if you’re registered somewhere?”
I laugh. “Oh, we’re perfectly fine. Please do not buy us anything.”
“Another one wants to know where you’re going to live?” Chip keeps asking questions even with me slicing my finger along my throat.
“What do you mean?”
He raises his hands. Then it dawns on me that I have no idea where we’re going to live. Surely Logan doesn’t think we’re going to live together.
Matty sends in a call and Chip answers it. Damn him.
“Looks like I get to spread the word for once here,” Chip says. “We have a caller who just reported that Logan Stone has signed a lease for the old Linville house on the bay.”
I’m silent because the old Linville house is gorgeous. It needs some rehab, but the wraparound porch that looks out over the bay is its best feature. It’s usually rented out for tourist season well in advance, so I have no idea how Logan swindled the deal.
“My guess is you’re moving into the Linville house now, Nikki. Movin’ on up,” Chip says with a laugh.
I’d like Chip to go back to his grumpy self who doesn’t add a ton to my segment.
“Details to be reported another time. In other news…” I begin the next segment because I’m over talking about myself at this point.
When Chip and I end our segment, I catch sight of Logan in the booth with Matty. What the hell?
“And that’s all for today, Sunrise Bayers. See you tomorrow.” I click the “off the air” button before Matty allows Logan to come in.
“Great job, guys, and your man is here to see you, Nik,” Matty says through the booth.
“I’ll be right out.”
I hang up my headphones and grab my stuff. Chip is so close behind me on the way out, I can barely get through the door without feeling his breath on my neck.
“Chip,” I say, glaring behind me.
He has a piece of paper and pen in his hand. “I want an autograph.”
By the time I reach the hallway, Logan’s walking out of the production booth with Matty as though they’re old friends, talking about the fight from the other night and how Logan doesn’t look that beat up. The bruises on his jaw are already healing. I definitely need to ask him why he does what he does at some point.
“Hey,” I say.
Logan shoves his hands into his pockets and gives me the cutest shy look ever, as though he’s embarrassed or something. A girl could get addicted to a look like that coming from such an intimidating figure.
“Hi. Hope you don’t mind,” he says, his voice lower than when he was talking to Matty.
“It’s fine. We have to go anyway, right?”
He nods.
Chip clears his throat behind me, and I step aside. “Do you mind signing something for Chip?”
Logan’s hands spring out of his pockets and he accepts the pen and paper from Chip. He signs his name then hands it back.
“Thanks,” Chip says, staring at the piece of paper as though he’s a six-year-old boy who just met his idol.
Logan smiles at him. “No problem.”
We all stand in the awkwardness for a moment before I break the silence. “Okay, well, we have to get going.”
Logan shakes Matty’s hand then Chip’s. “It was great meeting you both.”
“Stop by anytime,” Matty says and runs his hand through his sandy-blond hair.
“Yeah,” Chip adds, still looking a little starstruck.
Oh boy, we need to get out of here.
I lead us out of the radio station to find a black SUV waiting at the curb.
“The plane is ready for us,” Logan says.
I nod and slide in as though I’m used to this kind of treatment, ignoring the people’s stares.
An hour later, we’re in the air. Being on a private plane is surreal. The flight attendant isn’t some young thing with her skirt right below her ass though. She doesn’t bend down to show Logan her cleavage, and it’s nice to see her wedding ring when she hands me a sparkling water with lemon.
Logan stares out at the mountains below us. “Alaska really is a beautiful state.”
“Yep.” I take a sip of my water.
“Have you lived here all your life?” He turns to me, and the blue of his eyes strikes me again.
If I trusted my instincts when it came to men, his eyes would say he’s trustworthy and kind. But I don’t.
“I grew up in Arizona. After my parents divorced, my mom moved us to Sunrise Bay since my grandparents still lived there. She grew up there. She rekindled her relationship with Hank and ended up marrying him. He’s my dad’s cousin.”
I figure why hide it? Someone will dig up that juicy piece of information and Logan shouldn’t be caught by surprise like he is now. Actually, he looks as if he’s trying to decipher whether I’m telling the truth or not.
I touch his arm. Damn, it’s hard. “Yeah, my dad and Hank are cousins, so my mom never had to change her name.” I give him a saccharine smile.
“So your stepbrothers and sister?”
I nod. “Yeah, they’re also blood related to me. I think it’s like third cousins or something.” I wave it off. “But we’re just one twisted, happy family.”