She bit her lip and nodded.
It was like she was made for me.
10
I’m never gonna love you, baby.
It had been three days since Logan had uttered those words and I could still taste the heartbreak. Which was stupid because I didn’t want him to love me and I didn’t want to love him. But it still hurt to hear him unequivocally confirm what I already knew. And in those three days, Logan had become more confusing. Every night after work he’d shown up at my house. Not for sex. Oh, no, not Logan. He ate dinner with me, we watched more TV, laughed, talked, teased. You know, all the things I was going to get smart about and not do. Yeah, well, I didn’t wise up. I fully participated in the madness. This was because I found I enjoyed Logan’s company.
When we were at home…whoa, whoa, whoa…when we were at my house he was a totally different man. He was quick to laugh and faster to smile. And each night he loosened up even more. We were coming up on a week and we’d slept in the same bed since the first time we’d been together. If I didn’t know any better I’d say we were in a relationship. But then I’d remember, I’m never gonna love you, baby, and my heart would splinter before I glued it back together and added a steel plate to reinforce the damn organ.
This was going to be painful.
Yet, I didn’t put a stop to it.
Logan’s mom and twin sisters were flying in from Michigan tomorrow night and staying until Sunday. The timing was perfect. Two days to cool things down and get my head straight.
The front door sensor beeped and I looked up to see Addy at the keypad punching in her code. Liberty, Shiloh, and one of Addy’s clients, Chelsea, were jogging their way from the parking lot.
Thursday workout.
I was still thinking up an excuse that would be a total lie to get out of working out when Addy walked in with her hand up as if she could read my mind.
“No excuses. You’re coming with us,” Addy barked and Shiloh gave me wide eyes.
“Wait, I’m confused. Are you Adalynn or Hadley?”
Addy didn’t miss my sarcasm. It had taken me a few months to be able to differentiate the identical twins but after years of working at Triple Canopy and being close friends with all the Walkers, I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was Addy standing in front of me. Though the attitude she was throwing was more along the lines of Hadley’s normal snark than Addy’s.
“I’m pissed at you,” Addy snapped.
“Oh, shit, little sis is on a tear,” Quinn muttered and stopped at my desk. “Maybe I’ll bow out of class tonight. I don’t feel like getting my ass kicked.”
“I’m pissed at you, too,” Addy continued.
“Me? What did I do?”
“It’s what you didn’t do, sister.”
Then in the worst timing in the history of bad timing Logan, Matt, and Luke walked into the reception area. I didn’t miss Luke’s wince as his gaze slid around the room. Though when his eyes landed on his fiancée Shiloh he smiled. Matt didn’t look around, he’d zeroed in on Chelsea. Interesting. However, my observation was cut short, because bad timing turned into something so much worse when Logan opened his mouth.
“Ren, baby?”
“Huh?”
I started to look at Logan but froze when I heard Addy growl.
Sweet Addy growled like a bear—a cute polar bear—but still, she growled.
Ren, baby.
Shit, damn, and fuck my life.
“I’m gonna be late tonight. Luke, Matt, and I have to run to Richmond Hill.”
Richmond Hill? That was where Guy lived.
After Logan had found out that not only had my ex cornered me in a grocery store but that he’d also frequently called—which I never answered—and texted, Logan was off-the-charts irate. Nothing I said calmed him down, not even when I explained that after the first ten or so texts that consisted of me telling Guy there was nothing he could do to change my mind and to please leave me alone, I’d stopped responding altogether. The more I tried to appease Logan the angrier he got, so I’d dropped the subject Tuesday night and decided Logan was going to do whatever he thought he needed to do to make Guy leave me alone. I didn’t want Guy bothering me so I actually didn’t care what Logan said to Guy. Though him taking Luke and Matt out to Richmond Hill sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.
“Why are you going out there?”
Logan gave me a look that said I knew why and his one-word alpha answer confirmed it.
“Babe.”
“He’s a five-foot-eleven computer geek, Logan. I hardly think there’s a need for three former SEALs to show up on his doorstep. Just the sight of you alone will make him pee his pants.”
Logan’s smirk was a clear indicator he not only agreed with my assessment but he also took my comment as a compliment.
“He’ll be pissin’ into a bag he thinks to fuck with you again after today’s visit.”
“Logan—”
“And Matt and Luke aren’t going to be seen. Luke’s putting a tracking device on his car since it’s parked in the driveway and not his garage. Matt’s going around back to take down a nest a damn bird built right in front of one of the cameras and I’m pulling double-duty laying out what I will not be tolerating while causing a distraction.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Chelsea cut in, not sounding like she hated it at all. “But why didn’t someone stop the bird while it was making the nest? I mean, what if there’s eggs in there? The poor mama bird’s gonna wonder where her babies are.”
“I think having eyes on the dipshit’s backyard is more important than a few bird eggs,” Matt returned.
“Whatever you say, bird killer,” Chelsea huffed.
I glanced over at Matt and waited for him to volley but all he did was scowl.
Yes, very interesting.
“We good?” Logan asked.
“Sure.”
“Then we’re leaving. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“I’m busy tonight,” I blurted out.
Logan’s lips quirked up into a knowing grin right before he winked.
“Yeah, you’re busy tonight all right.”
Addy made another sound, this one not quite a growl but more than a grunt, and all eyes went to her.
“I’m so totally pissed at everyone.”
“Ren?” Logan said from beside me—right beside me, as in so close when I turned my head I was easy pickings and had no way to stop Logan from kissing me.
Kissing me in front of everyone.
Thankfully it was a short, closed-mouth peck but it was still a kiss and his lips were still on mine and people were watching.
“Have fun.”
And with that, before I could kick his ass he and the guys strolled out the door. But not before Luke stopped in front of Shiloh and kissed her goodbye. Luke’s smooch was not short and closed-mouthed. It was the type of kiss a man gives the woman he loved.
I wasn’t jealous.
Nope. Not even a little bit.
The door had barely closed behind Matt when all eyes came to me.
“What?”
“What?” Addy screeched. “You’re going out with Logan and all you have to say for yourself is ‘what’?”